Occult Ruminations

[Valis1]

Some ideas gleamed from occult sources. In occult theory the physical universe is in fact only the outer most shell of a multidimensional onion. In their eyes it represents both a place of spiritual darkness and inertia, a cave if you will, but also a place of extraordinary opportunity. The physical universe then is not only a prison, but a place for the creation of Gods. Only here, in this world of strife, can the sword of wisdom be sharpened, it is only here that the gem of the soul may be polished. There is a interesting parallel in some Buddhist sutras with this, it is said that the human body is the ideal vehicle and this world the best place for reaching enlightenment. ( In other systems like pure land Buddhism, one can reach enlightenment if one is reborn in a pure land. In Tibetan Buddhism one can gain enlightenment directly after death in the bardo, but most systems agree that the physical world is the best place to practice.) In occult thought each individual has the potential for visiting these higher layers of reality, but only after developing their inherent potentialities through occult practice. In occult theory the Non-physical body must be built and energised before it is capable of doing anything important or interesting. They say that the non-physical body is composed of particles from each of the seven layers of existence, a undeveloped person is composed of matter primarily from the lower levels, resulting in a prolonged and constant state of spiritual inertia. The more of these lower vibrational atoms one has, the less developed will be ones spiritual faculties. Besides purifying and strengthening the mind, incorporating higher energy particles within this body is the most important work to be done. The reason people lack access to their spiritual abilities, which includes astral projection, is a lack of these higher intensity atomic particles. The magician keeping this hypothesis in mind, uses a variety of methods to alter his energy body to better uphold spiritual and out of body states. It is said that man is not actually born with a proper astral body, it is a weak and unstable thing, quite inadequate for any real occult work. This makes a great deal of sense when comparing the experiences of a beginner and a master of astral projection. The astral body is not a given, not in its true form, in order for the astral body to 'crystallise' into a stable and easily accessible vehicle for consciousness, it must be developed through occult methods over a long period of time. This is not fare from Buddhist tantra, Hindu Yoga, or Taoist inner alchemy, these eastern schools hold these energy body systems with the highest regard and see them as effective methodologies for reaching enlightenment. The eastern schools are admittedly much more complex and systematic in their practice of energy body manipulation than most western occult works, besides maybe Franz Bardon, or at least the western occultists are keeping their more advanced methods hidden somewhere. It is my opinion that in leaving the astral body behind we may have left behind a model with no theory of equal or far reaching pragmatic value. How else does one make the connection between these energy body practices and their heightening effects on 'lucid dreaming' or 'out of body travel', I have thought hard on how consciousness could be drastically amplified and altered by focusing on this 'subtle body' if in fact this subtle body was not real, there is nothing in science I have found which explains this. And if there is no subtle body which there might very well not be, there is no scientific terminology to replace it as of yet and thus it is necessary to postulate one in order to explain the various occult methodologies experiential effects, and these effects on the mind and consciousness are verifiable. The occult methods still work, but in having their theoretical underpinnings taken from them they have been shunned by a community which can no longer explain them, to their great misfortune perhaps. With highest respect for the scientific perspective, have we in trying to move forward left something behind? These terms like astral body and non-physical realm are distasteful to many of us, but in letting them go have we also let go of the truths they signified? In getting rid of the old occult perspective haven't we also been deprived of its inherent pragmatic value which has yet to be properly replaced?

[Windhover@]

They say that the non-physical body is composed of particles from each of the seven layers of existence, a undeveloped person is composed of matter primarily from the lower levels, resulting in a prolonged and constant state of spiritual inertia. The more of these lower vibrational atoms one has, the less developed will be ones spiritual faculties. Besides purifying and strengthening the mind, incorporating higher energy particles within this body is the most important work to be done. Wow thanks for the information. I'm more experience-oriented so I could only say from my experience, but especially with this quote I couldn't agree more. A guru I follow said, to make 'crystal body(or light body, more like crystal version of physical body rather than the astral body)', a type of body should dissolve one by one. The first one is etheric body, which dissolves by tapping into ultimate questions of life and universe, god, or life and death. Astral body is the second, dissolved by purifying your thoughts. Third is emotional body, dissolved by purifying your emotion... and the last, which is the physical body - dissolved by controlling material. Sounds insane in this particular modern day thinking, but I'll just say it for now. But in overall this is same as raising your consciousness, which is done by controlling your thoughts and emotion first and replacing negative ones with positive. I'm not discrediting religious/ occult traditions, although they are valuable, but I found that anyone can do it if one's willing to. Thus your whole body vibrates into much higher one. I was finding a lot of connections of these with dreaming practices as well. It's true, your consciousness must be high to enter 'higher realms/ dimension'. It was same with LDing. The quality of dream in general hightens a LOT than a regular LD. The huge difference I discovered was, it was a matter of which stage of conscioiusness you're in before going to bed. I found that being in egoistic mind(brain) causes a lot more nightmares in non-LD, short dreams, less stable and vivid, or less quality of dream plot(even tho it might be vivid). But when in the 'heart', where your consciousness is united, not polarized, makes your dream more 'coherent', only with 'good things', memorable, fanstastic, longer and vivid dreams without any effort. So there are 2 types of dreams - brain and heart dream. The only scientific explanation I could find to this was that human magnetic field is toroidal shape - the axis of our fields is aligned at heart and its 'zero point' is also located at the center of physical heart. Somehow there's a lot of connections between magnetic field and consciousness. Even just feeling in the center of your heart unites your polarized thinking and behavior. Brain is very divided, so your mind keeps trying to find 'this happens cuz of this' ...logics and limitations. I personally feel a lot of people in DV have ego-oriented dreams. Not that I mean to offend them, I was just like that too in the past. But after I started having 'heart dreams' I started doubting modern science. I do respect it too, but it has limits. If you've ever heard about Upanishad bible, it talks about 'going into' the center of heart in the dream. It claims this is the place where all the answers of universe is there, which is the place of 'god', and the way to get there - you must experience it. There's another layer above it which you should access first called 'sacred space of heart'. They emphasized that your 'consciousness' should leave the logics behind and be fully one with nature and respect the 'creator' of the universe before you get in there, otherwise it won't let you in. Well, what the hell? I thought, but if you must experience to understand it, then why not try. First I have to say I haven't had real OBE/ AP experience. But this I can say I astral projected 'inside' my body.(who would have thought, APing inside body, not outside? lol) However I had a lot of encounters in LD, when I try to find other 'dreamers' to share dream, I always hit this 'void' or white void. At first it was scary because my whole dream body would disappear, but my awareness is very 'high'. Sometimes I heard very strong sound of beep or saw strange, big starlights or hypnagogic images, and then I'd always wake up afterwards. When I even tried to AP in LD for real, it brought me to the void space. Although this happened the very same with going into the sacred space of heart, I could actually get into it for the first try. I just entered it by 'feeling'. I can say it was very different, sensational experience I never had before even tho I'd been LDing for a while. It was literally another reality. Ppl say there's still distinct feeling that only dream has which is different from reality... but hell no, this wasn't. It was exactly the same with reality. I can't really describe it since heart only thinks of images. I also saw sacred geometric shapes and very symbolic archetypes which weren't random. When I woke up from this dream it totally changed me as a person afterwards. If having the first LD was my turning point in my life, this was just much bigger than that... transformation point? lol I could get why just practicing 'LDing' doesn't really bring any 'change'. The big change can happen only with your intent in mind to find ultimate answer, the truth... Anyway what I found was, after the first try I couldn't get into it for a while, hitting this 'void'. It was the same place when I tried to AP or find other dreamers. This proved to me that your consciousness had to be in 'right place' in order to acccess it. But why did it work only for the first time? It was because I didn't 'expect' anything, I was just like a child with curiosity in pure state. Then after that, I wasn't pure anymore, contaminated by my logics and unnecessary thoughts. So to be pure again was a little difficult in the process, but I found that being in high consciousness was just like the mind of child. I can tell you more experiences but I'll talk about just 2 for now. The one happened in the very first dream at night, asking my 'higher beings' how to go to their realm. They simply told me in telepathy 'erase your ego'. Once I did that I suddenly saw strong blue light that actually hurt my eyes. I saw a figure of a person(maybe an angel) and I woke up with my heart beating so fast because it felt too real. Of course it was amazing, but my subconscious beliefs made me scared. The other time was when I tried to go into the tiny space of heart - I was about to fuse with a giant sun. But it suddenly told me 'you're not ready'. I could stop cuz I agreed with it, my consciousness or my 'spiritual path' wasn't there yet to fully realize the ultimate truth. Later when I woke up I knew this wasn't my imagination because I remembered I didn't do something in sacred space of heart beforehand which was the right procedure to go into the tiny space. Obviously, after I had these experiences, they definitely told me that this reality isn't just all of what we perceive. There IS something going on beyond our imagination. There's a reason why 'occult' means 'hidden'. My life also drastically changed. Despite I know this kind of information would baffle modern people, I do see the need for us to go back to what was fundamentally given to us - that is not of science, even religion, beliefs, or concepts, but just nature... that's inherent within us. And from there you only realize the answer was so simple yet it was everywhere. Anyhow, the only way to raise your conscioiusness is just being positive, with all your thoughts and acts. Thoughts do create matter, and matter cannot form consciousness. Even Einstein said, matter is 'light'. And the only way to make this happens is taking action. Sorry for the wall of text, but I wanted to share my story because I resonated with your post. which would sound crazy haha. Not that you have to believe everything what I've said. If you're further curious, I'd recommend a book called 'Living in the Heart' by Drunvalo Melchizedek. Hopefully this brings more wonder and enchantment to our understanding, though I don't know everything

[Valis1]

At first I was going to respond in more detail but would be too long i think. But I found what you said very interesting. I think people tend to see lucid dreaming or AP as something isolated, but it happens in the context of ones psychological, neurological, and 'spiritual' development as a whole. "But this I can say I astral projected 'inside' my body." I have actually come across this kind of thing in a few places, in Buddhist Tantra and Taoist inner alchemy practices. In their meditational practices they actually enter into their Chakras and energy channels, which produces as you experienced intense and unusual mental states and experiences. "When I woke up from this dream it totally changed me as a person afterwards." I have often thought that lucid dreams and astral experiences were catalysts for psychological change and evolution. In Buddhism these long term changes are usually called 'spiritual realisations'. "after I had these experiences, they definitely told me that this reality isn't just all of what we perceive. There IS something going on beyond our imagination." I agree. When I am in the midst of a lucid dream or AP, there is a intuition and feeling in the moment that "this is absolutely real, important, has inherent value." But it is impossible to explain the sensations I feel, the immediate character of the experience is too personal, too unlike normal experience, too subtle and multi textured. Thank you for your interesting response.

[Windhover@]

I think people tend to see lucid dreaming or AP as something isolated, but it happens in the context of ones psychological, neurological, and 'spiritual' development as a whole. That's very true. I realized categorizing doesn't really help the experience, it's endless. I have actually come across this kind of thing in a few places, in Buddhist Tantra and Taoist inner alchemy practices. In their meditational practices they actually enter into their Chakras and energy channels, which produces as you experienced intense and unusual mental states and experiences. I heard about this too but only thru anecdotes. I didn't know it was from Buddhist/Taoism.. now that you mention it I kinda wanna try! They say once you do this, you know that all emotions are beautiful. I have often thought that lucid dreams and astral experiences were catalysts for psychological change and evolution. In Buddhism these long term changes are usually called 'spiritual realisations'. Yes, LDing/AP is shortcut to spiritualism. The question is, how you use it... The gurus also say that most of people 'give up' in the middle of their spiritual path. If I can elaborate, after I went into the heart place, not only spiritual lessons bombarded on me, it quickly led me to ultimate truth realization, and then even physically changed my body and life. But a lot of these all come down to fundamental seed of spark: questioning reality. I agree. When I am in the midst of a lucid dream or AP, there is a intuition and feeling in the moment that "this is absolutely real, important, has inherent value." But it is impossible to explain the sensations I feel, the immediate character of the experience is too personal, too unlike normal experience, too subtle and multi textured. Haha after I built those experiences along with my other spiritual partner who also had the same, at the 'end' the truth was objective. The way to get there is very subjective. I understand well that words are limiting to describe such an experience because nobody can explain what 'god' is.. only you can. The desire to find the answers with intuition is crucial for spiritualism. And it always comes from inner mind. I finally got why science will be forever incapable of telling or 'validating' this cuz it's too limited. Once you experience it, you don't care about validations anymore lol Anyway, thanks for sharing your knowledge as well. It was fun writing