CHAPTER 1

THE FOUR ADORATIONS

In former great ages, man realized intuitively his relationship to nature and tothe living universe in which he lived and was a part. He felt his unity with allthe elements. In the fullness of his life he worshipped the Sun as a visiblesymbol of the unknown God in whom we live and move and have our being. It isaxiomatic that light is life and both are dependent upon the Sun —which thusbecomes a vital symbol of God.

In our modern scientific age of gadgets and things, with our unnatural way oflife divorced from contact with the dynamic root of things, we have lost thisessential wisdom. In order that we may once more progress towards the fullawareness of the source of life and love and liberty, we make ritual gestures ofaffirming a link between the Sun and ourselves. Upon the basis of these gesturesof adoration, every act in life may be dedicated in such a way that livingitself becomes sanctified and transformed.

Though God is a unity, the Sun, as a symbol of God, appears differently at eachof its four daily stations — dawn, noon, sunset and midnight. Therefore anadoration is directed towards the Sun at each of these four stations.

At dawn, or upon arising, he should perform whatever ablutions are customary andthen turning towards the East, say audibly:

Hail unto Thee who art Ra in Thy rising,
Even unto Thee who art Ra in Thy strength,
Who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark
At the Uprising of the Sun.
Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow
And Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.
Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Night!

Much of the symbolism inherent in this act of simple adoration may be missed bythe student for some considerable time. It does not matter just yet. But thisshould not be permitted to serve as an obstacle to daily practice, nor to deterhim from adoring God in the form of the rising Sun every day of his life.

At noon, wherever he may be— at home, in the office, on the streets, or in afactory — let him adore God. It will help in some measure to bring God into hislife. Face the South and say:

Hail unto Thee who art Hathor in Thy triumphing,
Even unto Thee who art Hathor in Thy beauty,
Who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark
At the Mid-course of the Sun.
Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow,
And Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.
Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Morning!

At the eventide, when the Sun goes down, let him face the West and adore theLord of the Universe in these words:

Hail unto Thee, who art Turn in Thy setting,
Even unto Thee who art Turn in Thy joy,
Who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark
At the Down-going of the Sun.
Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow
And Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.
Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Day!

At midnight or upon retiring, turn to the North and say:

Hail unto Thee Who art Khephra in Thy hiding,
Even unto Thee who art Khephra in Thy silence,
Who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark
At the Midnight Hour of the Sun.
Tahuti standeth in his Splendour at the prow
And Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.
Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Evening.

This particular practice should be made a regular part of everyday life andshould be persisted in until it becomes a part of your way of life. Otherexercises described here may be performed for limited or varying periods oftime, but these particular Fourfold Adorations are to be integrated for all timeinto the daily pattern of living.

Step I

BODY AWARENESS

One of the major goals of any system of self-development or spiritual growth isthe acquisition of sensitivity or self-awareness. There is only one way ofacquiring this awareness — and this is to become aware.

Sitting comfortably in a straight-backed chair, or lying flat on one's back inbed, one merely attempts to observe what is happening, as it were, "under theskin." You simply watch your body, its sensations and feeling here and now. Thisonly — and nothing more. Do not try to relax or to breathe in any unusual orspecial way, or to try to control the thoughts that float through the mind. Allthese processes and methods will be dealt with later. For the time being, merelybecome conscious of any sensation that arises anywhere in the body.

I suggest you wriggle around for a moment or two to find that one position whichseems most comfortable. Having found it, stay in it, and do not move from it inany way. There should be absolutely no voluntary muscular movement for the restof the practice session. Not even a wriggle of a toe, or a wiggle of a finger.The session should last not more than ten minutes at first, but gradually by theend of a month should be extended to half an hour. For many people this willseem an eternity in which every instinct will cry aloud for a wiggle of somekind to ease the tension. This should be resisted. Other students will find theten minutes to pass, as it were, in a flash.

It is important to develop your powers of concentration while practicing theseawareness exercises. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back. Your power ofconcentration will improve each day.

As you sit or lie quietly, you may become conscious of an itching of the scalp.Leave it alone. Do not do anything about it. Do not scratch. Just watch. In amoment or two, it may die down and disappear, or else your attention will bedistracted by a tingling somewhere else. Presently, you may become conscious ofthe back settling down into the bed or chair. Just watch this process. Try onlyto become exquisitely aware of the accompanying body sensations without in theleast trying to ignore them or change them.

Make no judgements about what you observe. Merely notice. Do not criticize norreject any of these sensations. They may be comfortable or uncomfortable,pleasurable or otherwise, but they are your own. Accept them just as they are.They are you!

Sensations in different portions of the body will come and go, without apparentrhyme or reason. Watch them. It is often a good idea to verbalize audibly justwhat you do feel. It is a procedure I often use in my office, where I encouragethe patient, lying on the couch, to express audibly enough for me to hear hisdescription of exactly what he is presently feeling, and where.

The outcome of this is that a profound relaxation of nervous tension developsmerely on the basis of watching. You do nothing else but observe the rise andfall of sensation without attempting in the least to modify whatever phenomenamay occur. But day in and day out practice will heighten enormously thisfunction that is called self-recollection, mindfulness, self-awareness, and manyother names. Without this self-awareness, very little can be accomplished on thePath. All other exercises and complex procedures actually begin from thisheightening of self-awareness.

Start it now. No special time need be set apart for this exercise. You maypursue it wherever you happen to be, at any time, in any place. Certainly, inbed when retiring at night, or when arising in the morning; these are excellentperiods of time to practice this art of self-recollection.

While performing one's daily ablutions — bathing, washing, shaving, evacuating,applying makeup, dressing, etc. — one can sharpen one's perception of what oneis doing to become conscious of the most minute and hitherto insignificantsensations.

This art can be extended enormously in a variety of different directions asfamiliarity with practice makes one aware of more of what is going on inside.For example, if Carl Jung's definition of psycho-therapy is that thereby onebecomes conscious of what hitherto was unconscious, then the pursuit of thismethod will result in the heightened consciousness of a large number of innersensations of which previously one was totally unaware. And to this extent,one's horizons of one's self will have become enlarged. The Path has beenentered upon.

This exercise should be pursued for at least one month. Two practice periodsshould be set aside at the very least every day, no longer than ten minutes at atime. This altogether apart from the momentary cessation of activity at varyingtimes during the day in which to observe what is going on inside.

Step II

RELAXATION

There are well-defined techniques for developing the process of relaxation, andwe can use the gains derived from the preceding exercises. Whatever position hasbeen employed previously should be continued now. Either a supine or uprightposition may be used. If the latter, a stiff-backed chair to support the erectspine is undoubtedly best. If lying down on a couch or bed, the mattress shouldbe moderately firm: but if not, the best alternative is a well-carpeted floor.The reason for this latter recommendation is that the floor will not yield, soit will have to be the practising student whose body yields to relaxation.

Before lying or sitting down, there are a couple of movements that I recommendto patients in the office. First of all, spend a minute or two, skipping with aninvisible rope in a stationary position. This is not merely an exercise toenhance the blood circulation and stimulate deeper breathing, but by virtue ofthe alternate contraction and relaxation of muscles, it will go far towardsproviding the right somatic basis on which to proceed with these psychologicalrelaxation techniques.

Following this, stand upright, with legs about a foot apart, and having inhaled,expel all the air as you let yourself fall forward from the waist, limp like arag doll. It is similar to a calisthenic exercise of trying to touch the toeswithout bending the knees, falling forward completely relaxed. We are strivingto produce relaxation however, not to do calisthenic exercises. Let the bodyabove the waist fall down with the exhalation, with the fingers and handsdangling near the feet for a second or two, then, as you inhale, slowly rise upto the standing position. Repeat this process a dozen or more times. It willhelp you to get your wind back, after the skipping exercise and also to relaxmany of the muscles of the torso. The head and neck too should be permitted todrop limp as you exhale, while letting the upper body drop from the waist. Thiswill relax the neck musculature.

Keep your mind attuned and focussed on your body sensations. Think only of whatyou are doing. Observe and concentrate on the various sensations of the body.

Now you are ready to begin the relaxation exercise proper. Take a few very deepbreaths and, as you exhale, heave some very deep sighs. If the diaphragm andabdominal muscles relax, the greater part of the musculature and other tissuessupplied by the involuntary or vegetative nervous system, too, will loosen upwith it. Lie quietly in this position for a few seconds, observing yourself allthe time. Become familiar with the body; learn to notice what the body feelingis like, becoming even more aware. The former exercises will have acquainted youwith this method and its sensations.

The next stage of the process actively employs the imagination to extend theboundaries of your awareness. There is a well-known physiological law that anincreased flow of blood to any part of the body can be produced by concentratingon that part of the body. Whether it is merely becoming conscious of the bloodalready in the vessels there, or that nervous impulses are conveyed to themuscular wall of the arteries and vessels in the area contemplated, thusrelaxing those walls to permit an enhanced blood-flow, does not matter; eitherexplanation will suffice. That this can be done is an actual experience you candemonstrate to yourself.

By knowing that there are tensions in a certain limb or organ we can, by usingthe imagination, stimulate vasodilator fibers which relax blood-vessels enablingthe blood to flow there in larger quantities. A surplus of blood—a congestion—willcause a degree of heat which in turn will induce the relaxation of muscularfibre and tissue that we desire. This is the theory; it leads directly topractice.

It calls for the active use of the imagination. First of all, visualize yourbrain. Everyone has seen diagrams and drawings of the brain frequently enough toknow what it looks like in the main, without naming the technical neurologicaldetails. It is a mass of white and gray substance, convoluted and twisted inupon itself, divided by a long fissure into two lateral hemispheres, with afront and rear portion. Picture it, as you have seen it in the drawings. Holdthe picture firmly in your mind until you begin to sense a warm feelingspreading out from the center of the skull. Sometimes it may be accompanied by agentle tingling, a pins-and-needles sensation. Facilitate this process byimagining that the blood-vessels within the brain have dilated enough to holdlarger amounts of blood, thus turning the brain pink, and that this congestionhas produced the warmth that has already been sensed.

From the brain proceed to the eyes, imagining that these are like two balls,each hanging from four tiny muscular chains. Manage this picture as you have theprevious one. By building the imaginative picture, the lumen of the bloodvessels in the muscles become enlarged and hold more blood which warms thesurrounding musculature. They then relax, yielding the sensation of the eyeballssinking back into their sockets.

It is important to develop your powers of concentration while practicing theserelaxation exercises. Do not allow your mind to wander from what you are doing,or more particularly, from the area you are relaxing. Concentrate. Think only onwhat you are doing. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back. Your power ofconcentration will improve each day.

Pursue a similar procedure with regard to the rest of the head—that is,visualize the warm blood flowing through widened blood-vessels to the temples,the ears, the cheekbones, then to the nose, mouth, lips, tongue, jaws and chin.In much the same way, after having made the mental constructs, you will feelwarmth and tingling build up in the areas imagined, with the gradual emergenceof the relaxed feeling.

By the time you have gone thus far — and at least ten minutes should have beenspent in this action — the greater part of the body will reflexively haveundergone a relaxing process. No matter how greatly relaxed you felt after thefirst exercise of merely observing your body — this merely prepared the pathway.The current exercises carry them tremendously further.

The remaining part of the half hour — and the exercise for this month shouldtake not one minute less — should be devoted to dealing with every part of thebody in much the same way as described above. The whole neck should be dealtwith thoroughly. Work down easily through the shoulders and the arms until theabdominal area is reached. Give this then a thorough working over. The more yourelax this middle area of the abdomen, the more likely it is that the whole ofyour body will respond with massive "letting-go". Dr. Georg Groddeck, the fatherof modern psychosomatic medicine, called this area the "middle-man" of the body.In the beautiful imagery and psychological symbolism that this physicianemployed, this middle part of the body was conceived to be endowed with aspecies of intelligence even as is the breast and the head — this belly-mindbeing often opposed to the cold inclinations and rational activities of thehead-mind. It is the seat of the instincts, feelings and passions, and all thedynamic forces inherited from the past that we attribute to the Unconscious.

Finally, visualize the stream of blood separating from the aorta into twopowerful arterial streams, two rivers of warm blood descending from the pelvisinto the thighs, legs and feet. Be very attentive here, too; visualize all thetight, stiff, taut thigh and leg muscles thoroughly in order to relax them underthe stimulus of the imagination and the warmth of the blood. In this manner,proceed until the toes are reached. Then pause.

You have completed a great cycle in the relaxing process. Pause to consider andobserve. Note how you feel. Your previous work should have heightened yourability to sense what is happening somatically. Record your feelings. Permit thesense of real pleasure and enjoyment and freedom to make an indelible impressionupon your mind.

If the memory of this experience is well-recorded, it can be evoked at anymoment from your storehouse of memories. It doesn't matter if you are riding inthe subway or driving your car, at home reading or listening to the radio, youhave only to remember the pleasure of relaxation and forthwith the memory isevoked from your psyche to impact itself upon all the tissues and fibres of thebody. Relaxation then follows.

It is well to enjoy this feeling of deep relaxation. Impress it thoroughly uponyour mind. Get the feel of complete relaxation as vividly and as strongly as youcan, because henceforth, when you need to relax, you can restore this state ofcalmness, serenity and complete relaxation merely by thinking of it.

When you next want to relax, all you have to do is take a deep breath and as youexhale, think of the word relax and remember this wonderful serene feeling ofcomplete relaxation and once again it will be immediately restored to you.Inhale and as you breathe out, mentally command yourself to relax. Soon thisconditioned reflex will be immediate, automatic and complete.