The Abstraction is that psychic process, that interior operation, by which the thought and the mind withdraw from the senses and, therefore, from exterior objects. Who is able to practice perfect abstraction obtains the isolation of the mind from sensory information, and will be able to practice a true concentration of this mind on God and on other points to be established: it is the first phase of the subjugation of the sense organs, to keep them under control, so that they obey and do not command anymore, for all the time decided by the Ascetic.

 

The exact purpose is to keep the thinking organ (the brain) independent of the continuous callings of the senses and, therefore, of the external world, with the result of inverting the attitude of dependence and assuring the stability of the brain in a new position of control.

 

During the control of the respiration and of the vital energy , the abstraction is a conditioning process for the success of all the ascetic work: a process intended to direct the mastered senses towards the inner self, to the search for the subconscious part of the mind, to be purified through exclusive concentration either on an involuntary organ, for example, the heart, which then functions by means of the impulse of this subconscious mind, or, directly on the three principles of the Ego .

 

The uncontrolled senses are the first cause of all our troubles. They stray freely from object to object and distract the mind, which is always ready to be attracted by the surrounding things. Every perfume, sound, noise, sensation or impression of the senses, disturbs the peace, the silence of the mind: silence and peace being the presuppositions to reach the Union with the Absolute.

 

The adroit and systematic control of the senses through abstraction, pushes away, with iron resolution, the things which disturb the mind. We can force the mind to calm itself and finally make it free and suitable to progress to the other “steps” with the exercise of the separation of our senses from the objects of desire, be they external or internal (inside us). Abstraction, after you are practiced in the control of breathing , becomes an easy to realize operation.

 

With this we are not saying that it is easy to withdraw the senses or the sensibility from the organs, but it can be reached according to the effort one makes. The individual starting on this pathway to purification must, for all the time of every exercise, become: deaf, blind, without palate, deprived of touch, that is, extraneous to skin sensibility, and with the sense of smell blocked. The environment, with all its stimuli, must not arouse one in any way. If you manage to detach yourself, until it becomes a habit, you will find solitude and isolation even in the din. We know from experience that when the practice of such exercises is lacking, complete isolation and perfect silence are not possible even for a short time. But when you manage to train yourself perfectly, then, the exercises for the memory of past lives, out of body experiences, and the visit to supersensible worlds, the contacts with the third Heaven, become easy.

 

Tommaso Palamidessi

excerpt from "ABSTRACTION, SECLUSION, WITHDRAWAL OF THE SENSES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE"

in the 9th Booklet