I have often spoken to you about Jnana-yoga, the practice of self-knowledge. The purpose of a disciple who practises Jnana-yoga is to make it possible for their consciousness to break out of the narrow circle of their own personality into the limitless consciousness of the cosmic being dwelling within him, of which they are still not fully aware. This being, this particle of the Godhead, dwells within each one of us, and a disciple’s goal is to become one with it.

A sublime being seeks to manifest itself through you, visualise it doing so
There are two poles therefore: the pole of yourself, the consciousness of your own being, of your own lower self; and the pole of your higher, sublime self, that being of whom you have no real awareness, but who lives, works and manifests itself through you. You are not yet capable of knowing how this sublime being manifests itself in the higher sphere, but from where you are down below you can visualize it dwelling within you and know that it seeks to manifest itself through you.

For as it knows itself on high it wants also to know itself in you, in the density of your physical matter. If you work with your imagination in this way your efforts will eventually be rewarded, and as you draw closer to your higher self you will experience an illumination so intense that your consciousness will know no bounds. You will be suffused with light and radiance and you will sense that you have become one with that sublime being, your higher self.

The realization that ‘I am That’; that nothing else exists; that the Lord is the only Being
This is very difficult, of course, but it is one of the most powerful and effective exercises that exists. If you persevere with it you will obtain significant results. And once you have created this link with your higher consciousness it will always be there, whatever your activities, always ready to take part in all you do.

This then is the meaning of Jnana-yoga, the realization that ‘I am That’; that nothing else exists; that the Lord is the only Being. You are simply a reflection, an illusion formed by him, but your desire is to work your way back through this illusion of self until you reach that sublime consciousness and become one with it, lose yourself in it and live for ever in its fullness.

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

Complete Works Vol. 26, A New Dawn: Society and Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science