ADVANCED CONTEMPLATION
Category 23, Volume 15, Part I
July, 2026
Paul Brunton offers valuable guidance for practitioners of meditation, offering suggestions and exercises for the many levels of this spiritual growth from the development of concentration to advanced contemplation. PB begins Category 23 with the following introduction, and in section 1 on the Short Path he suggests that we “begin and end with the goal itself.”
“Whatever path a person starts with, they must at the end of it come to the entrance of this path—the destruction of the illusion of the ego and giving up identification with it.”
It is the paradox of the Short Path that it begins with the end, in order to arrive at the end! [23:1.15]
This progress through a series of attitudes leads in the end to something transcending them altogether—a shift of consciousness from ego to Overself. [23:1.50]
As we aspire to surrender ego to Overself, what challenges do we face? PB cautions about the limitations, possible self-delusion, and the paradoxical nature of the Long Path/Short Path.
Most Short Path teachings lack a cosmogony. They evade the fact that God is, and must be, present on the plane of manifestation and expressing through the entire universe. [23:2.19]
The Short Path devotees who believe they have nothing to do and can leave all to the master, or to the Overself, believe wrongly. Such spiritual idleness may lull them pleasantly into a thin contentment, but this is not the same as real inner peace won by grappling in the right attitude with difficulties as they come, or by keeping the personal will submissive during tests and obedient during temptations. [23:2.46]
It comes to this paradox—that the farther they travel on the path of ego-effort, the farther they move from their goal, and the less they try to approach their Source the closer they come to it! [23:2.102]
The Long Path expresses a partial truth. The Short Path expresses another—although higher—partial truth. Bring the two parts together and the result will be that whole truth which humanity must have for the adequate guidance of their lives. [23:5.153]
Our seeming failures in meditation have value in that they teach us humility and we learn that we as ego must call on the Higher and beg for grace.
A person’s own power will bring them to a certain point, but it will not be able to bring them farther along. When this is reached, they have no alternative but to surrender patiently, acquiescently, and wait. By such submission they show their humility and take one step in becoming worthy of grace. [23:7.254]
It is not enough to make the mind a thought-free blank: one’s thoughts should expire in a state of deep fervent aspiration. After this achievement it (the mind) must be held motionless, for then only can the touch of grace be felt, the authentic inner experience begin. [23:7.166]
Follow this invisible thread of tender holy feeling, keep attention close to it, do not let other things distract or bring you away from it. For at its end is entry into Awareness. [23:7.210]
Some of the exercises and guidance PB gives us can be practiced as we go about our daily lives as well as in formal meditation.
Do not let the mind occupy itself with any thoughts whenever there is no actual matter needing attention. [23:1.26]
Let the thoughts drift away into a state of harmony with the body, both getting more and more inactive. This is a practice which can be done whenever the time is convenient, and for as short or as long a period as desired. [23:7.217]
One has to learn a new art—that of remaining relaxed and at ease, almost an impassive observer, while one’s body or intellect does its work in the world, performs in the role set for it. [23:6.96]
To keep the Overself constantly in our thoughts is one of the easiest ways to become worthy of its grace. [23:6.153]
By keeping close to the Overself one can gain its protective guiding or helpful influence. No day should pass without its remembrance; no enterprise should be begun without its invocation. [23:6.169]
The practice of extending love towards all living creatures brings on ecstatic states of cosmic joy. [23:6.60]
In formal meditation PB shares the following hallmarks of advanced contemplation.
At this critical point consciousness shifts from forced willed attention, that is, concentration, to passive receptive attention, or contemplation. This happens by itself, by grace. [23:7.240] [23:7.240]
What happens next comes from no effort on one’s part and depends on nothing that one does. One is simply to remain still, perfectly still in body and mind. Then from above, from the Overself, grace descends and one begins to experience the joy of feeling the divine presence. [23:7.260]
There, in the deepest state of contemplation, the awareness of a second thing—whether this be the world of objects outside or the world of thoughts inside—vanishes. But unconsciousness does not follow. What is left over is a continuous static impersonal and unchanging consciousness. This is the inmost being of a human. This is the supreme Self, dwelling within itself alone. Its stillness transcends the activity of thinking, of the knowing which distinguishes one thing from another. It is incommunicable then, inexplicable later. But after a while from this high level the meditator must descend, returning to their human condition. They have come as close in the contact with the Great Being, the most refined ultimate Godhead, as is possible. Let them be grateful. Let them not ask for more for they cannot know or experience more. This is as far as any human can go, for “Thou shalt not see God and live.” [23:7:293]
When completed, you have now developed the capacity to open the door of your inner being. You have reached the stillness which envelops its threshold. But this is only a beginning, not the end. You have now to pass beyond it and find out what the light itself holds for you. [23:7.284]
Compiled by Judy S.