THE Sanskrit word “Dharana” is defined as “the intense and perfect concentration of the mind upon some one interior object.”
This intense focus is “accompanied by complete abstraction from everything pertaining to the external Universe, or the world of the senses.”
Further, The Voice of the Silence instructs its aspiring students: “from the stronghold of your Soul, chase all your foes away—ambition, anger, hatred, e’en to the shadow of desire—when even you have failed.”
The devotional books Light on the Path, (“Kill out ambition…”), and The Voice of the Silence, (“let the Disciple slay the Slayer”), are metaphors for self-control as we pursue a spiritual path.
Similarly, the setting of the Bhagavad-Gita is on the plain of a great battlefield called “Kurukshetra.” This plain is considered sacred, and is symbolic, W. Q. Judge says in his essay, “of the body which is acquired by karma.”
This metaphorical “killing” or “slaying,” is not contrary to the Buddhist and Hindu doctrine of “Ahimsa” (harmlessness). It refers rather to inner control over our physical senses, ambition, intellect, etc.—and to resolving our personal karmic challenges, including non-violence and non-separateness.
Complete post updated and republished at:
The Silent Center
Theosophy Watch 