Theos-Talk Archives (May 1996 Message tl00876)

Martin:
>What will be the title of your new book? I might buy it to see
>whether it provides some good visualization techniques.
	Its called The Angel's Message to Humanity.  I wanted
to call it Enochian Mandalas, but was overruled by my publisher
(Llewellyn).  Actually, if you want some basic visualizations,
try my Enochian Yoga.  The new book is rather like a sequal
to the yoga book.

>Ah, the famous controverse about spiritual vs. psychic line of
>development comes to my mind.
	A "psychic" approach will only get you so far.  To
go higher, beyond the human mind, you have to employ
buddhi-manas techniques.  For some reason, most
theosophists consider magic to be psychism, while yoga
is ok.  They are, in fact, two roads to the same goal.

>Like getting possessed by an elemental while practising
>OBE/astral projection. Motive is all-important of course. Do
>you warn people for dangers of this kind in your books?
	Yes, I do.  In fact, I once was praised by a leader
of one of the Golden Dawn groups in California, who told me
that my books were the first one's he ever read that emphasize
karma and the karmic implications of practicing magic.  As
far as I know, this is true, because I do talk a lot about motive
and karma.

>Well, initiation is a term that is used very loosely by all kinds of
>organisations, spiritual or pseudo-spiritual.
	Any new experience in which learning takes place
is an initiation, in the broadest sense of the word.  You can't
be initiated by reading a book, although you can certainly learn
from a book.  A good book is like a finger pointing at the moon,
but not the moon itself, nor a direct view of it.

>I remember GdP saying that leading a spiritual life in service of
>mankind is the essence of the Path and I personally agree whole-heartedly
>with his remark. This is the major and only *safe* route to initiations, I
>think.
	I agree with G de P, that it is the "essence" of the Path.
But there is more to the Path then altruism.  For example, how can
you teach someone about spirituality, if you have never experienced
it?  How can you help a person through the Dark Night of the Soul
is you have never been through it yourself?  How can you help a
dying person if you have never looked into the eyes of the Lord of
Death yourself?  And so on.

>When we apply the esoteric wisdom to our daily lives a sound and balanced
>development is the result (provided we have enough common sense).
>This route also provides the necessary balanced development for those having
>some psychic or paranormal qualities (partially) developed. At least it has
done
>and still does so for me.
	Applying "esoteric wisdom" to your daily life is exactly
what theosophy is all about.  Paranormal abilities should be considered
as aids or tools for helping others.

>Meditational practices can be useful for many as a training of the mind,
>enhancing the power of visualization, &tc. In that respect I'm interested
>in your books.
	The first goal is to control your mind.  The second is to
go beyond it.  Medical tests have demonstrated that visualization
techniques can cure (or at least regress) cancer, with statistical
significance.  The power of visualization has been known in occult
circles for ages.

>Motive comes first and last, though.
	I agree.

>The astral realms are full of illusions as anyone can find out while
>phantasizing. While I do not deny the possibility of learning and growth
>by certain practices, I would not encourage astral projection exercises
>because these exercises per se don't garantuee a safe, balanced,
>growthprocess.
	The astral realms are full of illusions, yes.  So are the physical
realms.  BTW, the physical and astral realms are merely the tip of a
very large universe.  You can rise through them to higher planes.
	I personally do not believe that there is any "safe, balanced,
growth process" insofar as the spiritual Path is concerned.  Most
theosophists do not like to hear this.  They think that Karma Yoga and
altruism together with reading and studying the literature will get them
where they want to go.  I think they fool themselves.  The safest path is
one that is horizontal.  Its safe, but it won't get you very far up the
mountain.  On the other hand, the steepest path up the mountain is
the most dangerous.  Most of us should be treading a middle path,
somewhere between safe and dangerous, such as throwing a little
yoga into one's daily routine.

>No need to leave the body until the fourth initiation. Then you can control
>your vision of the astral realms from a higher point of view, i.e. from
>a truely spiritual view.
	You are perfectly free to sit and wait for a "fourth initiation"
if you want to.  But we all leave our bodies when we go to sleep, and
anyone can learn to control their dreams here and now.  Again, I
suspect those who think they can safely bypass the astral realm
and zoom right into the spiritual, are in for some surprises.  The astral
realm is full of emotions, and until we learn to control our emotions,
the astral plane will always be our stumbling block.  But once we
have learned to control our emotions, the astral plane will no longer
appear so illusionary or fearful a place.  I still say that there is more
truth to be found in the astral, than in the physical.

> What about the protection of the body when one travels astrally?
	How do you protect it when you go to sleep?

>Personally I see no need for projections of any kind. The Spirit within,
>sometimes called the Guardian Angel, provides for initiation if the individual
>is ready and worthy and the first three initiations don't require a
>(complete) separation of soul and body.
	Agreed.  The need for protection stems from fear.


> The term 'initiation' is often used in the meaning
>of 'getting acquainted with something new', 'an introduction into a party,
>an organization, an order', etc. In that sense, you will probably get
>'initiated' if you meet new people, new entities, on whatever plane. But
>that use of the term is not exactly identical with the theosophical meaning,
>although related.
	Theosophy uses the term in a more specific sense, in the
sense of 7 specific occult initiations.  But there are countless initiations
possible.  My new book describes 88 of them, as they are related to
Enochian Magic.   But you won't gain any of those just by reading the
book.  You have to put the material into practice.

	Jerry S.
	Member, TI