November 27th 1967
Always in the holy teachings of all the sages and the great ones of the past, light has been proclaimed as God.
And the Christian master, Jesus Christ said, "I am the light of the world."
And this light is the Christ Spirit kindled into a flame within your own heart. Not the heart of the body, but the heart of the mind. The spiritual centre, the holy shrine, in the head. And if you try as hard as you can in these troubled times, to bring up from your deeper self the concentrated spirit, the whole light of the body, into the mind, and here in the stillness, in the dark recesses of your own mind, allow this Christ, this light, to shine steadfast and pure. And keep the eyes of the soul fixed upon this light. We ask you to do this now, at this very moment. See the light between thine own eyes, see it clear, burning bright, and keep your vision upon this power, this Christ spirit. It will have the power to warm when you are cold, and to cool when you are hot. To give you peace when the outside world would disturb you. Feel its power. And know that it is of great value, because all around you is the great darkness, and there are they that are in the great darkness, and comprehend it not.
So, dear children, you will realise the great importance of this burning, spiritual light. And although they know not what it is that brings them, others will see you, will sense this something. And also its rays will go out far and near, and heal, and bring peace. Perchance you may think that these talks are all so similar, that we emphasise the same things, again and again. It is, dear children, because there is nothing else to say.
This light, this power, this God, this spirit, is within you, and because you realise this, because you know this, thou shalt feel at peace. But, the greater the flame, the greater the darkness around, and in the outside, outward world there are many winds that blow fiercely on the flame and would disturb it, and quench it, and put it out forever. The unkind thoughts of others, the fear, the ignorance, the darkness, the others, the lust for power, the sensuous things and the great wave of materialism that is all around. And sometimes even the greatest saint will see and know that the winds are reaching his flame and sending it hither and thither.
But through faith end prayer and quiet meditation, and quiet realisation of all that you have been taught, of all that you have experienced, will stand you in good stead. And you will see the flame burning again and again steadfast and bright. And the darker the conditions round you the brighter will burn the flame.
And we want you to do this when you feel that the darkness and the winds of fate are blowing in upon you, and upon your spiritual being, and you feel that it is indeed making an impact, then close your eyes, and see the flame, between the eyes, and know that. Thou art That, and that this is your spiritual self which nothing can destroy.
This transcript is a practical instruction as much as a teaching — a meditation, explained in the plainest terms this collection uses anywhere. Bring attention up from the body into the mind, "the heart of the mind... the spiritual centre in the head," and hold a single point of light there, "between thine own eyes." This is close to what yogic tradition calls the ajna or third-eye point, though the transcript needs no such vocabulary to explain its use — it simply asks for the light to be seen, steadily, and held there.
What the flame offers is described in terms of balance rather than escape: warmth in cold, coolness in heat, "peace when the outside world would disturb you" — a steadying centre rather than a retreat from difficulty. And the transcript is honest that even this steadiness is tested: "the greater the flame, the greater the darkness around," and "even the greatest saint" feels the winds reaching his own flame from time to time. The remedy offered for those moments is this same practice repeated — faith, prayer, and quiet meditation bringing the flame back to steady burning, not a promise that the winds will stop coming.
Its closing instruction gives the practice as something to reach for specifically in distress, not only in stillness: when the "winds of fate" are felt directly, close the eyes, see the flame, and know "Thou art That" — the recurring teaching of this whole collection, offered here not as an idea to understand but as something to do, in the moment it's actually needed.