CYCLE EIGHT: METAPHYSICAL CONTRASTS

1. Just as there is an inner metaphysical universal self, the superconscious mind, so there is likewise an outer metaphysical universal self, the subconscious mind, and this mind has less to do, in sensibility, with lungs and breath than, in sensuality, with ears and airwaves, in due 'once-born' terms.

2. Hence we can plot a progression, within outer metaphysics, from the subconscious mind to subnatural will, the will of the ears to hear, and thence to subcultural spirit, the spirit of sound-bearing airwaves, with the subconscious mind of the outer metaphysical universal self reacting to what comes-in upon it from the airwaves, which may or may not lead it to a deeper positive experience of itself, even to the extent of aurally-conditioned joy.

3. But to achieve such a deeper positive experience of itself, the outer metaphysical universal self must be committed to the outer metaphysical universal not-self, and thus be utilizing the ears to listen to what is at large upon the airwaves. For while ears hear, no less than lungs breathe, only the (sub)conscious commitment of the outer metaphysical universal self to them results in listening, the aural equivalent of meditating.

4. Thus listening is the prerequisite of receiving what is on the airwaves, for only through listening is the subconscious mind 'turned on' and therefore in a position to be transported towards the sound to which it is aurally committed, as the outer metaphysical universal self utilizes the comparable not-self to achieve selfless universality in relation to the airwaves, but only as a vehicle for enabling it to rebound back from such selflessness to its own inner core, and thus experience itself more fully or profoundly than would otherwise be possible.

5. For it to have any prospect of joy, albeit merely in relation to sensual conditioning, the subconscious mind must be listening to something which is likely to lead to its being positively enhanced, and this requires recourse, as a rule, to music, and only to such music, moreover, as is likely to result in positive feelings, even unto joy, for the self in question.

6. Hence music, the metaphysical art form per se, is a prerequisite of self-fulfilment for the outer metaphysical universal self, which, in listening, is able to distinguish music from noise, and thus to rise above sound in pretty much the same way that meditating enables the inner metaphysical universal self to rise above the breath, thereby achieving an accommodation with spirit.

7. Hence music is to noise what spirit is to the breath, and as the subconscious becomes more attuned to listening, so noise is transmuted into music, and music is duly reacted against time after time as the self in question rebounds from selfless universality to its own soulful depths, its inner kernel, and experiences itself for better or worse, though usually for the better with better-quality music, in relation to what it was listening to.

8. Thus in no way does one, as outer metaphysical universal self, listen to music for the sake of listening, any more than one meditates, as inner metaphysical universal self, for the sake of meditating. In both cases, what the relevant self does is a means for it to a greater end, the end, namely, of joyful self-realization, aided and abetted by the appropriate not-self, in response to selfless universality.

9. More important than what is being listened to is the effect it creates for the outer metaphysical universal self, and if this effect is positive and self-fulfilling, then the experience will have been justified. For more important to the mind than will or spirit is soul-mind, and such soul-mind, centred in joy, is the reward for mind's commitment to either sensuality (if auditory) or sensibility (if respiratory), as the case may be.

10. I teach, however, that the deepest, most profound and lasting joy can only come from sensibility, and thus from meditation, and that sensory joy is indeed a poor cousin of that ultimate joy which comes from the soundless spirit of turned-on breath, once the superconscious mind has rebounded from selfless universality to an extent which results in the deepest, and therefore most joyful, self-knowledge it is possible to achieve.

11. But as air, breath, and spirit are three stages of inner metaphysical progress for the superconscious mind, so sound, noise, and music are the equivalent stages of outer metaphysical progression for the subconscious mind, stages of ever-deepening metaphysical idealism which portend the possibility of joyful self-realization for the self that selflessly cultivates them via the intermediary will of the appropriate not-self, and not, be it remembered, for their own sake, but as a means to the deepest contentment.