The Place of Occultism in Spiritual Life-1
Question::
Why is it necessary to know what-is-what, regarding ‘occult experiences?’
(or)
Can ‘occult experiences’ increase the ‘scope’ and ‘range’ of one’s consciousness?
(or)
Why should one be cautious about one’s own ‘psychic capacities’ unfolded on the spiritual path?
(or)
Why many people are contemptuous regarding ‘occult experiences?’
(or)
Why some people consider ‘occult experiences’ as mental abnormalities?
(or)
What are “occult-dreams” i.e., dreams of occult significance? How are they different from ordinary dreams?
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Masters use ‘occult techniques’ very rarely. When and what for?
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How can ‘dreams’ help identify one’s own personality and shed light upon our past, present and future?
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What sort of experiences are considered ‘occult’ or ‘mystic’? Why are they overplayed, at times?
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What is the right/balanced attitude towards occult experiences?
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What are ‘hallucinations’ and ‘delusions?’ How to distinguish ‘real occult experiences’ from hallucinations and delusions?
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What are the characteristics of ‘occult experiences?’
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Why ‘strict secrecy’ should be maintained about one’s own ‘occult experiences’? What happens if they are discussed with others?
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Why ‘unshakable confidence’ in oneself and the Master is necessary?
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How can one confirm the authenticity of his/her own “occult experiences”?
(or)
Will the Master confirm aspirant’s experiences, whether they are genuine or not? How?
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What are astral journeys? What are the advantages of conscious astral journeys? Why ‘conscious’ astral journeys are preferred to ‘unconscious’ ones?
(or)
What for are “astral journeys”? How come ‘conscious travel of the astral
world’ is an achievement?
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Can “occult experiences” provide any benefit to the aspirant? When and How?
(or)
Can ‘occult experiences’ help realize the “Ultimate Truth?”
Answer::
(Extracted from Meher Baba’s literature, which is a copyright of Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust (©AMBPPCT), Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, Bharat/India)
The spiritual path leading to emancipation of consciousness brings with it an unfoldment of many ‘psychic capacities,’ which are latent in the human soul. This unfoldment increases the scope and range of human consciousness.
These new-elements often play an important part in helping or hindering the spiritual emancipation of consciousness. Therefore, the aspirant not only has to understand the value of such experiences as unusual and significant dreams, visions, astral journeys and glimpses of the subtle world, but he also has to learn to distinguish ‘real occult experiences’ from hallucinations and delusions.
Although it is customary to exaggerate the importance of occult experiences, it is not uncommon to doubt their validity and to treat them with the contempt usually accorded to all forms of mental aberrations and abnormalities.
The attitude of unqualified contempt for occult experiences is of course most pronounced in those who are not even abecedarians in direct knowledge of the occult. It hurts the ego to admit and feel that there might be vast unexplored fields of the universe that are accessible just to a limited number of persons and from which one happens to be excluded.
The underserved contempt that ‘occultism’ at times receives is almost always the outcome of profound ignorance about its real meaning. This attitude of contempt is of course different from a cautious and critical attitude. Those who have cautious and critical approach and who are endowed with ‘humility’ and ‘openness of mind’ are ever ready to recognize and admit ‘occult phenomena’ when they occur.
An aspirant is usually helped by a Perfect Master through ordinary means, and the Masters prefers to take him veiled along the spiritual path. But when there are specific indications, he may also use ‘occult techniques’ to help the aspirant.
Special types of dreams are among the common methods used for touching the deeper life of the aspirant. Masters have not infrequently contacted aspirants by appearing in their dreams. Such dreams, however, have to be carefully distinguished from ‘ordinary dreams.’
In ‘ordinary dreams’, the subtle-body is active in exercising its functions of seeing, tasting, smelling, touching and hearing; but, the ‘soul’ is not using the subtle-body with full consciousness. As these experiences in ordinary dreams are received subconsciously, they are in most cases purely subjective, relating to physical activities and concerning the gross world, and are the creations of nascent sanskaras stored in the ‘mind.’
In some cases, however, a dream that is indistinguishable from ordinary dreams may be the reflection in the subconscious of some ‘objective experience’ of the subtle-body and not merely a product of fancy.
Most dreams are purely subjective and sub-conscious experiences of the ‘subtle body.’ They have no special spiritual significance except that they can be occasions for forging new sanskaras or spending up old ones and that occasionally they shed light upon the ‘hidden complexes’ and ‘unfaced problems’ of one’s personality. Such dreams can never include something that is not in some way a part of the ‘past experience’ of the person. They allow scope for novelty only in respect to new combinations of items that have already appeared in past experience.
The rare type of dreams are those about persons and things unknown in this life but known in some past life or lives.
Still more rare are the dreams of persons and things that have never appeared in this life or former lives but are going to appear in the future. ‘Ordinary dreams’ are thus utterly different from dreams that have ‘occult significance.’
Very often, when the aspirant is undergoing psychic unfoldment, he has occasional mystic experiences of the subtle world in the form of
- significant visions,
- lights,
- colors,
- sounds,
- smells, or
- contacts.
At first these experiences are fitful, and the aspirant is likely to treat them as ‘hallucinations.’ But, even when he treats them as hallucinations, he finds it impossible to resist their directive influence because of their intrinsic potency.
The spiritual journey, however, becomes more smooth if the aspirant learns to cultivate the right attitude toward occult experiences, which consists in taking them for what they are worth. This balanced attitude is just what the aspirant in the initial stages finds difficult to maintain.
The beginner is apt to exaggerate the importance of his glimpses into the inner worlds and to develop an ungovernable craving for repetition of these experiences, or he tries to treat them as abnormal phenomena and underrates their significance.
Of these two alternatives, the attitude of exaggerating the importance of occult experiences is the most common because the novelty and rarity of occult experiences are factors that contribute to charging them with overwhelming importance.
In fact, the ego of the aspirant tends to become attached to this new field revealed to him, which gives him the sense of being a rare person admitted to an exclusive privilege. The more experiences a person has, the greater scope he desires. He also develops the habit of depending upon the occult goading for each step on the path, just as those who take drugs get addicted to them and require stimulation even for doing things they could formerly do without such stimulation.
In order to avoid this pitfall for the aspirant, the master takes good care not to cater to his new craving for occult experiences. Such experiences are vouchsafed to the aspirant if and when they are absolutely necessary for spiritual purposes and not when he wants or asks for them.
If the aspirant is found to attach undue importance to ‘occult experiences’ or to develop an ungovernable craving for them, the Master might deal with this obstacle in his own way by actually weakening or annulling the occult experiences that have become the basis for such craving. This is like giving immediate relief to a patient by surgical removal of the cause of a physical disorder. It serves the purpose of protecting the aspirant from forging fresh chains for self-limitation.
The aspirant must not be allowed under any circumstances to get caught up in false values and futile searching. These can only lead to side-tracking, and cause unnecessary delay in achieving the real goal, which is to get initiated into the truly spiritual life.
The introduction of the aspirant to ‘occult phenomena’ is necessarily a very gradual and prolonged process. The Master is never anxious to expedite it, as few persons are really qualified to stand the expansion of their experience in this new dimension.
In the initial stages, the appearance of occult phenomena is very fitful, and the aspirant sometimes doubts their validity, treating them with caution in order to rule out the possibility of his being deluded. But ‘occult experiences’ often bear unmistakable credentials of their own validity. Even when any such credentials are not evident, they compel due respect and attention because of the unusual
- significance,
- bliss,
- peace, and
- directive value with which they are surcharged.
Mainly because of these characteristics, the aspirant is able to distinguish ‘real occult experiences’ from hallucinations and delusions.
- ‘Hallucinations’ are erroneous perceptions and consist in actually seeing or hearing things that do not really exist. Though they are clearly different in this respect from merely imagining things, they remain objects of doubt in spite of their similarity to normal perceptions.
- ‘Delusions’ are even more deceptive because, they consist not only in actually seeing things that really do not exist but also in having complete conviction of their existence.
However, hallucinations and delusions DO NOT BRING extraordinary bliss or peace to the person who experiences them. The bliss and peace that are attendant upon real occult experiences are fairly reliable criteria by which to distinguish them as genuine. Hallucinations and delusions are like nightmares of wakeful consciousness.
Even when real occult experience can be clearly differentiated from ‘illusion,’ it suffers in its power and efficacy if it becomes the object of doubt. This can happen when the person who has had the experience, discusses the matter with others who, because of their incapacity to understand such things throw out contrary thoughts and shake his conviction.
For this reason, the Master usually requires a disciple to maintain strict secrecy about his experiences. Even a deep experience is likely to become weak through the contradiction and scepticism of others, unless the aspirant has learned to follow his own inner experience irrespective of what others might think or say.
If the aspirant is to make quick progress and to profit most from the Master’s help, he must develop immense and unshakable confidence in himself and the Master. He must not look to others for guidance, because those who will understand his problems or his experiences are very few.
The aspirant must indeed be prepared to face the possibility of not being completely understood by any of his friends or relatives, for they may be in the dark about the grounds for his ideology and course of action.
If at the time of its occurrence, an occult experience has served the purpose of giving new momentum to spiritual endeavour, it often does not matter if the aspirant considers it in retrospective analysis and thought as being a form of delusion.
However, there are some ‘occult experiences’ that are deliberately vouchsafed to the aspirant, in order that they should be standing sources of ‘inspiration’ and ‘guidance.’ With regard to these special experiences, it becomes necessary that the aspirant cease doubting their validity and importance.
The general attitude of seeking endless corroborations of occult experiences is definitely unhealthy, and the Master gives corroborative confirmation only when he considers it necessary. Further, He takes the initiative in the way He judges best in the situation.
Whatever he does, arises from his unfettered discretion and is in no way related to or dependent upon any expectation developed by the aspirant. But, when it is spiritually necessary, the Master does increase the efficacy of occult experience by confirming its validity and authority through some direct or indirect corroboration from the aspirant’s normal range of experience.
In the advancing stages leading to the beginning of the path, the aspirant becomes spiritually prepared for being entrusted with free use of the forces of the inner world of the astral bodies. He may then undertake astral journeys in his astral body, leaving the physical body in sleep or wakefulness.
The astral journeys that are taken unconsciously are much less important than those undertaken with full-consciousness and as a result of deliberate volition. This implies conscious use of the astral body.
Conscious separation of the astral body from the outer vehicle of the gross body has its own value in making the soul feel its distinction from the ‘gross body’ and in arriving at fuller control of the gross body.
One can, at will, put on and take off the external gross body as if it were a cloak, and use the ‘astral body’ for experiencing the inner world of the astral and for undertaking journeys through it if and when necessary.
The
- sights,
- smells,
- tastes,
- contacts, and
- sounds
that are experienced through conscious use of the astral body are clear and definite, like the experiences gained through conscious use of the gross body. They are not vague or subjective as in ordinary dreams, but are as objective and effective as other experiences of wakeful consciousness. The ability to undertake astral journeys therefore involves considerable expansion of one’s scope of experience. It brings opportunities for promoting one’s own spiritual advancement, which begins with the involution of consciousness.
The harnessing of occult forces is not to be regarded in any way as a substitute for the inner effort the aspirant must make to advance further.
When occult experiences are gifts from a Perfect Master, they serve the purpose of unveiling much of the hitherto obscured intuition, removing some of the difficulties leading toward the spiritual path, and filling the aspirant with the great confidence and enthusiasm that are necessary to cope with the new requirements at each stage.
But the aspirant makes real progress by putting into practice the best intuitions of his heart, not by being the merely passive recipient of occult experiences.
– Meher Baba
Source ::
Discourses, Pg:: 179-185
© AMBPPCT, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India/Bharat
