Franklin Merrell-Wolff begins recording his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by reading the preface and chapter 1 of part 1 (“The Ground of Knowledge: The Idea and Its Reference”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues recording his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by beginning to read chapter 2 of part 1 (“A Mystical Unfoldment”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues recording his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by resuming his reading of chapter 2 of part 1 (“A Mystical Unfoldment”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues recording his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by resuming his reading of chapter 2 of part 1 (“A Mystical Unfoldment”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues recording his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by concluding chapter 2 of part 1 (“A Mystical Unfoldment”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues recording his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by reading part 2 (“The Aphorisms on Consciousness-Without-an-Object”), chapter 1 (“The Levels of Thought”), chapter 2 (“The Aphorisms on Consciousness Without an Object”), and sections 1-5 of chapter 3 (“General Discussion of Consciousness Without an Object”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by continuing to read chapter 3 of part 2 (“General Discussion of Consciousness Without an Object”), sections 6-12.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by continuing to read chapter 3 of part 2 (“General Discussion of Consciousness Without an Object”), sections 13-14.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by concluding chapter 3 of part 2 (“General Discussion of Consciousness Without an Object”), sections 15-17; he then begins chapter 4 (“Commentaries on the Aphorisms on Consciousness Without an Object”) with aphorisms 1 and 2.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by continuing to read chapter 4 of part 2 (“Commentaries on the Aphorisms on Consciousness Without an Object”), aphorisms 4-12.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by continuing to read chapter 4 of part 2 (“Commentaries on the Aphorisms on Consciousness Without an Object”), aphorisms 13-23.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by continuing to read chapter 4 of part 2 (“Commentaries on the Aphorisms on Consciousness Without an Object”), aphorisms 24-37.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by concluding chapter 4 of part 2 (“Commentaries on the Aphorisms on Consciousness Without an Object”), aphorisms 38-56.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by reading chapter 1 of part 3 (“Introceptualism: Introduction”), along with chapter 2 (“The Four Schools of Modern Philosophy”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by reading chapter 3 of part 3 (“Naturalism”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by reading chapter 4 of part 3 (“The New Realism”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by beginning to read chapter 5 of part 3 (“Pragmatism”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by continuing to read chapter 5 of part 3 (“Pragmatism”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by continuing to read chapter 5 of part 3 (“Pragmatism”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by concluding chapter 5 of part 3 (“Pragmatism”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by beginning to read chapter 6 of part 3 (“Idealism”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by continuing to read chapter 6 of part 3 (“Idealism”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by continuing to read chapter 6 of part 3 (“Idealism”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by concluding chapter 6 of part 3 (“Idealism”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff records his manuscript “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” by beginning to read chapter 7 of part 3 (“Introceptualism”).

Franklin Merrell-Wolff reads from and comments on section 7 of the third chapter of part 2 of The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object (“General Discussion of Consciousness Without an Object”). He makes use of the physicist’s technical terminology, including ‘ponderable matter’, ‘radiant energy’, and ‘energy-momentum’, to convey the meaning of Consciousness-without-an-object-and-without-a-subject.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff offers a critique of the material found in the book, The Impending Golden Age. He contrasts its categorical approach to the analytic approach offered in Theosophical literature and considers categorical assertion injurious because of its complete lack of appeal to discriminative judgment. He discusses the role of intuition, but insists that it should be augmented by discernment, judgment, and reason. He gives The Impending Golden Age a poor mark because it is lacking in the spirit of science and enslaves the mind. He affirms that there is a valid use of categorical statement, but not in the process of truth determination.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff offers this summary as an epilogue to the first edition of The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object, which was privately published. He affirms that the two most important points made in this philosophy are the factuality of a third organ, faculty, or function of cognition that he calls “introception”; and, the possibility through this form of cognition of realizing metaphysical knowledge. He outlines the epistemological and psychological context within which these assertions are considered by reference to positions taken by Kant and Jung, and he invites comments and criticism regarding his work.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff reads the “The Prajñā-Pāramitā-Hridaya-Sūtra” from the book, Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines, in order to establish a correlation between the conception of the “Voidness” or Shunyata, and Consciousness-without-an-object.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff reads from Meditations on Savitri, which is a four-volume collection of illustrated excerpts from Sri Aurobindo’s epic poem, “Savitri.” These excerpts were selected by the Mother, who also directed the design of the illustrations that were painted by Huta. In this recording, Wolff reads from Cantos I, II, and III of Book One.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff reads from Meditations on Savitri, which is a four-volume collection of illustrated excerpts from Sri Aurobindo’s epic poem, “Savitri.” These excerpts were selected by the Mother, who also directed the design of the illustrations that were painted by Huta. In this recording, Wolff reads excerpts from Canto IV of Book One.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff reads from Meditations on Savitri, which is a four-volume collection of illustrated excerpts from Sri Aurobindo’s epic poem, “Savitri.” These excerpts were selected by the Mother, who also directed the design of the illustrations that were painted by Huta. In this recording, Wolff reads excerpts from Canto V of Book One.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff offers a critique of Yoga and Psychotherapy: The Evolution of Consciousness. While he rates this book as an important contribution to the subject, he does make some observations as to its limitations and inadequacies.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff asserts that the study of mathematics not only serves to clarify the mind, but that it can also act as a substitute for many of the disciplines that are offered in various forms of Oriental yoga. He discusses the definitions of mathematics given by various schools of mathematics, such as the logicists, the formalists, and the intuitionists, and offers his own definition of mathematics as logic plus “Vision.” He maintains that mathematics in this sense may be a path between our empirically based scientific knowledge and the formless metaphysical knowledge given by non-sensuous immediacy.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff raises the question of what extent Oriental yogic methods can be transplanted to the West and grafted on Western culture. He notes that Jung has discussed this at some length in his psychological commentary preceding The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation, and concludes that the right path with the wrong man leads to wrong results. He traces the psychological roots that differentiate Western man from Eastern man and suggests that Pythagoras struck the keynote for the West with his emphasis on logic and mathematical proof. He goes on to say that although mathematics is of prime importance in developing a Western way of yoga, philosophical understanding and the religious attitude of self-giving, surrender, and acceptance of the mystic death, are also essential components in all types of yoga.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff comments on the book, Living with the Himalayan Masters, by Swami Rama. He notes that this book is not only an intriguing account of the lives of Eastern sages, but also a revelation of the astonishing powers that some of these sages have mastered. He cautions students not to abandon their critical, rational orientation by adopting a credulous fascination with such powers. He goes on to argue that while some siddhis may ultimately be explained by the application of our physical laws, to fully understand their manifestation would require an integration of our conceptions of matter, energy, and consciousness. Wolff then reviews examples of some of the phenomenal siddhis presented in the book and issues a strong admonition against developing such powers for immoral or unethical behavior. He concludes by maintaining that if such powers do exist, the proper attitude toward them should be scientific and not religious.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues his reflections on the book, Living with the Himalayan Masters, by Swami Rama. He begins with the question of the reality of the deity. After reviewing the various philosophical and religious terms used to refer to the Supreme Principle, Wolff submits that the meaning usually given to the term ‘Brahman’ in the East should not be understood to have the same sense as the term ‘God’ in the West. He goes on to comment on the tenth letter in The Mahatma Letters, in which the author delivers a scathing critique of the belief in God and attributes two-thirds of humanity’s evil to religious institutions. Wolff then discusses four philosophical orientations toward the Root Principle (namely, theism, pantheism, panentheism, and nontheism), and examines the difficulties involved in attempting an integration of these different points of view. Next, he makes a distinction between the experience of Brahman as bliss and a full identification with Brahman, an identification in which one knows both the pain of sangsaric existence and the bliss of nirvanic consciousness and thereby has the capacity to bring something of the redemptive power of nirvanic bliss to the starving multitudes in Sangsara. Wolff suggests that such a Realization of Brahman is identical with the Alaya Vijnana of the Buddhists and that this enables an integration of Vedanta with Buddhism. He then discusses the logic of this non-dualistic position and contrasts the role of the Pratyeka Buddhas with that of the Buddhas of Compassion. Wolff concludes with a description of the imperience of the transcendental Other and a discussion the meaning of inner assurance and immortality.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff reads some of his poetry from Pathways Through to Space, including “Myself,” “Concerning the Spontaneity of the Self,” “Seek Me First,” “The Drama of the Triune Man,” and “I Who Speak.”