F. VAST FACE-CENTERED MEDITATION ROUTINE
Small Face meditation practices involving God-with-Name-and-Form are best
suited for most people. All of the root mantra that have been mentioned
above include mechanisms for making the transition into Vast Face, if by
chance one has the presence of mind to renounce the blissful experience
of Small Face. However, in practice, most people will find that they are
unable to do so. Even fewer individuals in these latter days have the innate
mental and spiritual constitution to ignore Small Face completely and engage
in solely Vast Face-centered practices. While Small Face meditation practices
use a process of directed imagination to unite all experiences in the realms
of Name and Form, the aspirant on the path of the Tree of Perfection after
the Ayin cultivates dispassion and discrimination to systematically renounce
and negate every experience, until the individuated consciousness dissolves
in the Ayn like a “salt doll walking into the ocean.”
Hence, exercises which cultivate discrimination (Sans. viveka) and
one-pointed concentration (Sans. samyana) are a central element in
the Vast Face practices of most mystical traditions. Such practices might
involve the use of inscrutable imagery (e.g. the koans found in some
schools of Zen Buddhism), open-ended questions (e.g. “Who am I”),
or strings of thought intended to lead the mind beyond finite rationality.
Consider the following examples:
1. Imagine objects of increasingly larger size until greater than the size
of the Multiverse:
Physical Body--Earth-- Sun-- Galaxy-- Universe--Multiverse--Pure Energy
beyond Multiverse.
2. Imagine objects of increasingly smaller size until smaller than the smallest
nucleonic particle:
Physical Body--Fertilized Cell--Atomic Nucleus--Planck Dimension in One
Atomic Nucleus-- Beyond Planck Dimension (logic stops).
The Mystical Qabalah and the Tantra both have distinct male and female
allusions for both Small and Vast Face. In the Mystical Qabalah, and most
notably in the Idra Rabba Qadusha (Greater Holy Assembly),
Small Face is alluded to as a black-haired and bearded male youth. Vast
Face, often called Atiqa (Hidden One) in qabalistic texts, is distinguished
by the contrary image of the white-haired and bearded Ancient of Days. Qabalah
also alludes to Small Face as Shekhinah, Holy Queen and Divine Mother,
and to Vast Face as the Ancient Mother. In the Tantra, Small Face is alluded
to as the black-bodied Goddess Kali, who is seen emerging from the
chest of Vast Face—the inert, ashen-white form of Shiva. Their
union underscores the fact that the difference between the two Faces is
only distinguished by human thought. The Tantra also has Small Face images
of Shiva as Rudra, and female images of Vast Face such as
Mahakali. These variations reinforce the flexibility within mystical
worldviews to present aspirants with a range of viable options for their
Chosen Ideals.
A shrine room dedicated to the practice of Vast Face-centered meditation
might look different from one that centers upon Small Face. If a Tzimtzum
is placed upon the wall of the altar, it may be devoid of content and bear
only the surrounding Vast Face image of Leviathan, surrounded itself
by the clear blue Light of the Endless. Another object that might be included
in a shrine to Vast Face is a smooth vertical stone, called a lingam
in the Tantric tradition. The lingam represents the erect penis,
and is symbolic of the yang or “male” potency of Vast Face.
As part of the Tantric ritual involving a lingam, the priest or celebrant
pours milk or some other special liquid mixture over the stone. The reader
may certainly find it odd to include an apparently Tantric article of worship
on a Mystical Qabalistic altar. However, the ancient Hebrews had a ritual
similar to the anointing of the lingam, which is mentioned prominently
on a number of occasions in the Torah. Two different chapters
in Torah B’reshith mention two separate instances of
a ritual performed by the Patriarch Ya’aqov, in which he “anointed
with oil” and “poured a libation over” the stone pillar he
erected at Beth ElTorah B’reshith 28:18 and 35:14. This obviously important component of the ancient
Hebrew religion is conspicuously absent from modern Judaic ritual.
Relative to external ritual, it may appeal to the Vast Face aspirant to
make ablution before entering the shrine room. He/she may then also want
to perform prostration before the altar, light a candle and burn incense,
and offer a flower to the Ancient of Days. In essence, these are acts of
devotion to God-without-Name-and-Form. At this point, if a stone lingam
is included as a central feature on the altar, one would pour milk or an
unguent oil over it, and intone the mantra: “Yod Heh Vav Heh, Yod
Heh Vav Heh El Rachum vuh Chanun Arikh Afim” (“YHVH YHVH El
Merciful and Compassionate (who is) Vast Face”).
)
In Vast Face Yoga, the internal environment is prepared as in the Small
Face routine. After you don a shawl and become comfortably seated, intone
a Vast Face root mantra out loud, followed by some breathing practice to
calm the mind and relax the body. At this point, you may wish to visualize
your teacher, if they have one, or any Gatekeeper to whom you feel a connection.
You can then proceed to consciously follow or witness the breath, allowing
the consciousness to move progressively deeper, and ignoring all thoughts
and images that arise in the mind. This is a common practice in many mystical
traditions. Vast Face meditation can also involve the repetition of root
mantra, combined with visualizations of allusions that are specific to Vast
Face. In the Mystical Qabalah, three of the most prominent Vast Face root
mantra are: “Ani Ayn” (lit. “I am Nothing”),
“Shomer Mah Mehlylah” (lit. “Watcher WHAT of the Night”),
and “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” (lit. “I will be THAT I will
be”). While remaining conscious of the breath, silently repeat the
root mantra. If you wish to visualize an allusory image in conjunction with
the mantra, you can picture the image of the Leviathan encircling
the empty Tzimtzum, or see the white-haired Ancient
of Days or Ancient Mother. The images can be seen either in front
of the eyes or in the forehead center. Your eyes can be open or closed.
Since Vast Face-centered aspirants are not focusing on a form or attribute
of Small Face, they will generally experience Sefirah Beauty/Last as formless
and empty in the World of B’riyah. If the bliss of ananda
samadhi with Small Face does arise, it is renounced and ignored as
an illusion. They will then continue to move up the Central Column through
the Gate of the Alef, over the Face of the Abyss of the invisible Sefirah
Knowledge/First, and into the World of Atziluth in Sefirah Crown/Above.
From Atziluth, the movement into the roots of the Tree is seamless.
In merging with the negatively existent roots, all (including the idea of
the substratum) disappears in the experience of complete extinction (fana
il fana in Sufism, nirvikalpa samadhi in Vedanta). The realization
arises that none of this ever existed, none of this ever happened. It's
like waking up from a dream.
When the connection is opened up to the negatively existent substratum,
all the programming in the neuronic synapses of the cerebral cortex is completely
shattered by this experience, always. You can only continue by leaving a
copy of your programming in Small Face at the edge of the Great Void BEFORE
you access the negatively existent substratum, with any changes that you
wish to make “to the file.” You continue as this program if/when
you reenter the Small Face Creation as a differentiated being. The old self
is totally gone upon movement into the roots, like a salt doll dissolved
in the ocean. You can also place an executable code in the “Silver
Cord” of the Geviyah, which establishes a vibrational affinity
between the “Salt Doll” copy you leave in Small Face and the “Stone
Doll” in the Ayn. The process of creating a copy of yourself
is very deep, and difficult to describe.
