In his famous book Pathways Through to Space, Merrell- Wolff describes his moment of realization like this:
I abstracted the subjective moment — the “I AM” or “Atman” element — from the totality of the objective consciousness manifold. Upon this I focused. Naturally, I found what, from the relative point of view, is Darkness and Emptiness. But I Realized It as Absolute Light and Fullness and that I was That. (Page 6)
The key step was something he calls abstraction of the subjective moment.
What does that mean exactly? What precisely did he do?
He answers these questions in the following excerpt from a letter. He uses the words ‘isolation’ and ‘abstraction’ as synonyms in this context.
The practice he describes here is a key component of the method that Ramana Maharshi calls ‘self-enquiry’.
NOW, I KNOW THAT SELF-REALIZATION is possible, but this is not knowledge of an object. Perhaps we might call the process an inverse cognition; I shall have to describe what I mean by this. If one studies the process of cognition, either sensual or conceptual, with careful subtlety he will find something like a flow out toward the object. This flow may be likened to a light-ray. The flow can be observed, itself. In some measure and it can be more or less completely stopped.
The object can be made to disappear and in its place may be found either a sense of darkness or of light. It may even induce an ecstatic state of more or less intensity. Now reverse the flow, which is a process of profound introversion, and you have Self-realization. It is a state of the Light centered in Itself and not flowing to objects. It is like beginning a judgment starting with “I” and going no further. This is the isolation of the subjective-moment. The absolute dissolution of the object is not necessary, for one may achieve his realization by reflecting only part of the ray back. This avoids trance. [Our emphasis.]
From ‘A Letter to Reid Gardner’ (1949) on the website of The Franklin Merrell-Wolff Fellowship.
Franklin Merrell-Wolff (1887 ‒ 1985) was an American philosopher, author, and spiritual teacher.
By Franklin Merrell-Wolff
By Franklin Merrell-Wolff
By Franklin Merrell-Wolff
By Franklin Merrell-Wolff
Non-profit oganization; site includes large number of recordings and documents. This article is a reprint of a PDF transcript from this site.
Franklin Merrell-Wolff website
Published by Merrell-Wolff's granddaughter.
This page was first published on December 12, 2018 and last revised on August 25, 2023.