A QUERY: In Chapter Nine you gave Shankara’s four prerequisites to higher knowledge. How do we acquire the necessary discernment, dispassion, virtues and passion for enlightenment?

APHORISM #1: The first two steps on the spiritual ladder, namely, the path of religion and the path of Yoga help us fulfill these four requirements.

APHORISM #2: The path of religion, although including various means of moral and ethical development, is, at its core, the practice of Karma Yoga or selfless service and giving to others. All major religions recognize this principle.

COMMENTARY: Of course, for some people, Karma Yoga will also be the primary step-two spiritual practice for achieving meditative concentration.

APHORISM #3: How we serve and give to others and what we consider to be moral and ethical in a particular situation are issues determined by our caste nature.

APHORISM #4: The Art of Multi-Dimensional Living ® provides that precious knowledge of the various caste natures and how they differ from one another, as well as a technology, based in spiritual science, that allows each individual to know his or her own caste nature.

APHORISM #5: Without this knowledge of caste an individual can be somewhat handicapped in conducting the first step of the spiritual ladder.

APHORISM #6: Step two of the spiritual ladder is often symbolized as the practice of Bhakti Yoga for two reasons: 1) the practice of meditation over a long period of time requires a certain faith and devotion to the spiritual life; 2) the practice of meditation at this level proceeds under the assumption that there is a doer doing some practice to achieve a goal. In other words, the practice is based in duality rather than in the non-duality of the third level understanding just as Bhakti Yoga requires a sense of duality between a lover and the beloved.

APHORISM #7: In actual practice however, there are eight different archetypal styles of meditation (seven Yogas plus Tantra) and each person is predominantly suited to one of these eight approaches.

APHORISM #8: Spiritual aspirants make greater progress on step two of the spiritual ladder if they know which meditative path is most suitable to them. The Art of Multi-Dimensional Living ® provides this knowledge, in both theory and practice.

APHORISM #9: Before the advent of The Art of Multi-Dimensional Living ® it was difficult for the average person to fulfill Shankara’s four requirements and, thus, to be able to adequately comprehend the non-dual Wisdom Teaching on the third step of the spiritual ladder.

APHORISM #10: This third step of the spiritual ladder is often symbolized as the practice of Gyana Yoga, just as the first step is symbolized as the practice of Karma Yoga and the second step, as the practice of Bhakti Yoga. However, each person will still use his or her predominant strength of personality and its related Yoga (level two practices) in comprehending the non-dual teaching at level three.

APHORISM #11: The use of the terms Karma yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Gyana Yoga to describe an integral yoga for all spiritual aspirants (the three steps on the spiritual ladder) should not be confused with the need of each individual to use one of eight archetypal styles of meditation, including Karma, Bhakti and Gyana Yoga, in a predominant way on step two of the spiritual ladder.

APHORISM #12: The term meditation is often used to describe the 8 archetypal processes on step two of the spiritual ladder. On step three of the spiritual ladder the word meditation has a slightly different meaning – a meaning that I have described in previous chapters.

APHORISM #13: There is some overlap between the level three practices and the integral yoga previously described. The process of listening can be thought of as activity conducted primarily on the first step of the spiritual ladder. The process of reflection and thinking can be thought of as an activity conducted primarily on the second step of the spiritual ladder. And the process of meditation, as a third step process.

APHORISM #14: At some point Realization takes place. Then the whole idea of there being steps on a spiritual ladder is no longer deemed true or appropriate, because there is no longer the experience of a person climbing a ladder to some goal. However, the idea is retained as a teaching tool for those who have not had this same profound Realization. A spiritual teacher should be able to use the tools of conventional knowledge and the Insights of Ultimate knowledge with equal skill.

APHORISM #15: The great debates over whether our relationship with God is a non-dual one, a qualified non-dual one, a dual one, etc. all indicate the failure of most seekers to adequately complete Shankara’s four prerequisites to receiving the higher knowledge. With the advent of The Art of Multi-Dimensional Living ® this defect may be substantially mitigated for those who avail themselves of this precious new knowledge.