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Four Stages of Real Thinking

(Excerpts From Various Sources)

First Stage:
a. decide upon a subject to be known, that is, to turn the Light on that
subject and on no other.
b. the selection of the subject, and giving attention to the subject.
c. the selection of a subject or the formulation of a question
d. the presentation of the subject, which is a nature impression, its acceptance
and turning the light on it
e. turn the Conscious Light on the selected subject of the thinking
Second Stage:
a. the second action is to hold the Conscious Light on the subject of the
thinking and not to allow the thinking to be distracted by any of the
myriad things that flock into the Light
b. Second, holding the Conscious Light on that subject
c. the second is the fixing and cleansing of the subject, which is done by
training the Light upon it
d. the fixing of the subject, which is done by training the mind on that subject
and so holding the Light steady upon the subject.
e. turning the Conscious Light on it, which is done by giving one's
undivided attention to it
Third Stage:
a. the third action is the focusing of the Light on the subject
b. Third, focussing the Light on that subject... The Light is more or less
diffused over an area, so to say. By looking steadily at the subject as a point,
the Light becomes more compact and is directed from the area to its
central point, which is the subject.
c. the third is the reducing of the subject to a point, which is done by
focusing the Light upon it
d. Then comes the reducing of the subject to a point by focussing the Light
upon it.
e. the steady holding and focusing the Conscious Light on the subject or
question
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Fourth Stage:
a. Fourth, the focus of the Light.
b. the fourth action is the focus of the Light as a point on the subject
c. the focus of the Light on the point, which is that impression, and the result
of the thinking.
d. the steady holding and focus of the Light on the point, that is, the thing as
it is in itself, the opening up of the thing and the revealing of itself to the
Light.
e. by bringing the Light to a focus on the subject as a point

Man, Woman & Child, p. 91: The only way to self-knowledge is by thinking.
Thinking is the steady holding of the Conscious Light within on the subject of the
thinking. There are four stages or actions on the way or process of thinking.
The first action is to turn the Conscious Light on the selected subject of the
thinking;
the second action is to hold the Conscious Light on the subject of the
thinking and not to allow the thinking to be distracted by any of the
myriad things that flock into the Light;
the third action is the focusing of the Light on the subject;
the fourth action is the focus of the Light as a point on the subject.
Then the point of Light opens the subject into the fullness of knowledge of the
subject
These processes as actions are here stated to show the right way of thinking.
They should be seen as logical and progressive thinking. But while thinking on the
subject of self-knowledge, all thinking other than on that subject must be
disregarded for the focus of all the Light on that subject, else there will be no
actual focus of Light resulting as the real knowledge of the subject.

T&D, p. 661: (the great way)

There are four stages or degrees in thinking.

First, the selection of the subject, and giving attention to the subject.
Second, holding the Conscious Light on that subject.
Third, focussing the Light on that subject.
Fourth, the focus of the Light.
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In the first stage, the subject should be the only thing to which attention is
given. There should be nothing else with which the attention is engaged.
In the second stage, the holding of the Light steadily means that all the
available Light in his mental atmosphere that one has to think with is turned
on that subject. As soon as the Light is turned on the subject, that Light attracts
one's past thoughts, and any other idle or wandering thoughts. To the Light so
turned, thoughts and subjects of thought, pests of the night, all try to crowd into
that Light. The first effect on the thinker is that there are a great many subjects that
would obscure or prevent his seeing his subject. The thinker usually tries either to
get these out of his Light, or else to give attention to any one of the number of
thoughts that crowd in. This is too difficult and the thinker is usually distracted and
prevented from holding the Light on the subject of his selection. He will mentally
see one of the subjects or thoughts that have crowded in, and hold the Light on
that. But no sooner has he done so than the others try to crowd that one out by
getting in the line of his mental vision. Fight as he will, he cannot seem to get back
to his subject. And he turns the Light from one to the other of the innumerable
thoughts or things that crowd in; and he does not get any farther; so he finally
gives up the effort, or else falls asleep.
He may take this same subject up again and again, for what he calls contemplation,
or meditation, or by any other name. Then he will have itchings, or feelings of
irritation and uneasiness, changing his position and beginning over and over again.
He often tries to do away with these unwarranted intrusions. But the more he tries
to put them out of his thinking, the less he is able to be rid of them. There is one
way, and one way only, by which they are dispersed. That way is to keep on
trying to think steadily on the subject, and to mentally refuse to see anything
but the subject on which he is trying to hold the Light.
However many efforts and however long this may take, it is necessary for him
to do it. Because that is steadiness in thinking. Each time he thinks of things that
annoy him, he turns the Light on that thing and the other thing, and he is not
holding the Light on his subject. But when he refuses to see anything but what
he wills to see as his subject, then the unwarranted subjects flee, and he is
holding the Light steadily on the subject; he has completed the second stage.
Concerning the second stage, the holding of the Light: Each time the Light is
turned on intervening subjects, there is a change of distance and perspective.
One subject intervening comes closer, another closer still; another may come still
closer. Each tries to get closer in the line of vision, to attract attention. And the
poor thinker is so distracted that he does not know what he is thinking about. And
he becomes confused, ill at ease, or gives it up in discouragement. He does not get
the knowledge until all the Light is focused. With each focus of the Light he
acquires knowledge.
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The third stage is the focusing of the Light. The Light is more or less diffused
over an area, so to say. By looking steadily at the subject as a point, the Light
becomes more compact and is directed from the area to its central point,
which is the subject. The focusing must be continued until all the Light comes
to a focus, to its focus on the subject. As soon as the Light is focussed, the
subject as a point opens into the fullness of the knowledge of the subject,
which the Light shows at once in its entirety. It is a more complete revelation of
the subject of the thinking than a lightning flash which illuminates a landscape in
the darkest night. The difference is, the lightning shows what is seen by the senses.
The Light is the knowledge of the subject accomplished by thinking.
When one looks at a thing it is not seen as an entirety. To see it, one must see the
focal point of the thing that he looks at. And if he can see the focal point, he
can see the whole through that point.
How does one get the Light in thinking? The surest way of getting the Light is
by regular breathing. Whatever Light one gets will come through a point, at the
neutral point, between inbreathing and out-breathing, and between out-breathing
and inbreathing. So there is twice in one round of complete breathing where the
Conscious Light can be focused.
When the Light comes in at the two neutral points between the inbreathing
and the out-breathing, one must be thinking steadily on the subject, else the
Light is diffused. If he has more than one subject while trying to think, the Light
cannot be focused. So many subjects are hindering him in his steady thinking that
he does not get any focus when the Light would come in; it is therefore diffused
over the many subjects. But the continued practice of trying to hold his
thinking steadily on the subject selected, allows him to so exercise his mental
vision that if he persists long enough he will eventually be able to discover
something about his subject, because the Light will give a little illumination on
his subject, although it may not open it into knowledge.
In this way those who think, get information in business, in art, in any occupation
or endeavor in life. The Light gives information about the subjects of which they
believe they think. But one seldom thinks steadily enough to get knowledge on the
subject. All inventions, all discoveries in science and art, or in any earnest
endeavor in life, come either as illuminations on the subject or as flashes of
knowledge, through the neutral point between inbreathing or out-breathing.
This is thinking, human thinking; not real thinking. Real thinking is beyond the
ordinary human. If it were necessary, when the Light was focused at the time of
thinking on the subject, breathing would stop. The Light would suspend the
breathing, and one would think into the Light, and see into any subject of his
choice. That would be real thinking, an extension of what may be called regular
thinking.
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T&D, p. 829: (thinking: the way to conscious immortality)
There are four stages in thinking. The first is the presentation of the subject,
which is a nature impression, its acceptance and turning the light on it; the
second is the fixing and cleansing of the subject, which is done by training the
Light upon it; the third is the reducing of the subject to a point, which is done by
focussing the Light upon it; and the fourth is the focus of the Light on the point,
which is that impression, and the result of the thinking. These four stages are
incipient in all thinking, but are completed only in the thinking which results in
knowing. Ordinary, casual, human thinking stops with the second stage, if it can go
that far.
Thinking usually does not go far because of adverse conditions. These are that the
body-mind is weak, untrained and unsteady and keeps turning from one
subject to another; then there is the unsteadiness, disagreement or lack of
coordination of the three minds themselves, and the fact that they are out of
touch with the nerve centers through which they should work. Further
difficulties are due to feeling-and-desire, which make no proper effort to call
their minds into action and often interfere with their own action after they
have been started by the body-mind. Then there are the interferences from
elementals pouring in as impressions and prodding, irritating, distracting and
confusing the body-mind so that they may become sensations.
Elementals, nature units, are attracted into and swarm in diffused Light. The
Conscious Light which the mind finds available is so diffused and obscured
that there is difficulty in turning and focusing it on the subject of the thinking,
and the Light is unsteady because the mind which guides it is unsteady.
The result of this is that human thinking is ineffective, beyond the bare material
achievements of a corrupt civilization, and leaves the human in his self-delusion
and ignorance of the world in which he lives. The results of human thinking are the
thoughts, which are ever being exteriorized as the acts, objects and events of the
lives into which they are drawn. The purpose of this system is to show you how
to think and yet to avoid the creation of thoughts, since they rule your lives
and subject you to nature.
T&D, 830. (thinking: the way to conscious immortality)
The first step is to decide upon a subject to be known, that is, to turn the Light on
that subject and on no other. Then comes the fixing of the subject, which is
done by training the mind on that subject and so holding the Light steady
upon the subject. Then comes the reducing of the subject to a point by focusing
the Light upon it. The fourth stage is the steady holding and focus of the Light
on the point, that is, the thing as it is in itself, the opening up of the thing and
the revealing of itself to the Light. Then the thing is known at once as a whole,
and in all its parts.
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The difficulties to be overcome in casual ordinary thinking become almost
insuperable as soon as you select a definite subject to think upon. To overcome
them you must have persistence. Persistence in thinking on one subject alone
is a necessary exercise to strengthen, train and steady the mind which gathers
Light and excludes from it obstructions and so makes it clearer and holds it
steady. As the Light, which is used in the thinking, increases and becomes
clearer, the nature units and thoughts which are attracted and swarm into
diffused Light cannot endure it; they flee. Persistence in thinking increases,
strengthens and tones up your nerve matter so that it can be worked by your mind
as that becomes more effective. You who hold the body-mind steady on a subject
and so hold the Light steady and focus it, know the subject and know that you
know it. Then you have the body-mind under control. That is, you, as feeling-and-
desire, are able to think with it. Thinking with the body-mind may begin with
nature as a whole or with any part or object of nature units, such as a star, an atom,
a tree or a geogen elemental. After the subject to be known is selected, thinking can
begin anywhere and at any time. Nor need your thinking be with any special
preparation or favorable condition.

T&D, 927: THINKING: is the steady holding of the Conscious Light within on
the subject of the thinking. It is a process of
(1) the selection of a subject or the formulation of a question;
(2) turning the Conscious Light on it, which is done by giving one's
undivided attention to it;
(3) by the steady holding and focussing the Conscious Light on the subject
or question; and
(4) by bringing the Light to a focus on the subject as a point.
When the Conscious Light is focused on the point, the point opens into
fullness of the entire knowledge of the subject selected or in answer to the
question formulated. Thinking affects subjects according to their susceptibility
and by the rightness and the power of the thinking.

(all references from 11th printing of T&D)

a: Man and Woman and Child, Page 91
b: Thinking and Destiny, Page 661
c: Thinking and Destiny, Page 829
d Thinking and Destiny, Page 830
e. Thinking and Destiny, Page 927