Copyright 1969 by Monastery of the Seven Rays, Quito, Ecuador, All rights reserved

Monastery of the Seven Rays

First Temple of the Outer Court
Student I Degree, I. "What is Occultism ?"
Lesson
!" FI#ST $%&$#I$'C$S OF T($ OCC)LT
*s +e ha,e said -efore, +ithin oursel,es rests the .e/ to our a+areness of +hat
is -e/ond. ut there are other +a/s in +hich +e can also approach occult e0perience.
For e0ample, e,er/ sensation that I ha,e contains the element of the m/sterious a-out
it, and the more I concentrate upon a feeling the more it seems to me to -ecome
detached from m/ -od/, 1ust li.e the contemplation of a colour ta.es me a+a/ from m/
-od/, and separated from the -od/, +ith the colour separated from its -ac.ground there
1ust seems to e0ist the act of e0periencing the colour, e,er/thing else seems far
remo,ed and actuall/ foreign. it is reall/ in e0periences of this sort +hich e,er/one
should tr/ 2for if the/ did the/ +ould -ecome spiritual and occult, li-erated from the
causes of materialism and inner strife3 that the +orld of the occult is first
e0perienced -/ the child. This is 4uite interesting -ecause +e are tr/ing to de,elop
some sense of the -e/ond +hich is +ithin, -ut for the most part +e can onl/ e0amine our
o+n impressions and -ecome one +ith them. This is an attempt to e0pand consciousness,
and as such it is the secret of /oga and the eastern m/ster/ schools, -ut for us, it is
the most elementar/ e0perience of the m/stical +orld, +hich lies -e/ond the ,eil of
matter, and sensation. We do not as. /ou to ignore matter and sensation, +hich is the
+a/ in +hich, 2I am referring to sensation3 the +orld of matter is .no+n. Thus, tr/
this little e0ercise each time /ou feel the need to approach the occult, for it is most
certain that m/ means of identif/ing +ith sensations in this impressionistic +a/ /ou
+ill -ecome a-le to grasp the inner truths, +hich teach that +e are in the midst of the
spiritual +orld and the ,er/ essence of the m/stical5 /et man.ind has sought to ignore
this simple form of approach, 6and has sought to concentrate upon -oo. learning and
dogmas, +hich tend onl/ to dull the senses, rather than to 4uic.en them, ma.ing them
ali,e, .een, and doors to the e0tra7sensor/ +orld.
It is also possi-le to -ecome lost +ithin one6s self to such an e0tent that it is
difficult to -ecome free. This means that the person +ho see.s to meditate reaches
deepl/ +ithin his o+n self and then finds a strange ne+ +orld, +hich he cannot
recognise, for this is a +orld -e/ond all the .no+n images and dreams, he has e,er
e0perienced. Therefore, +e as. onl/ that +hen +e realise this +orld +e are a-le to
understand that it is su-stantiall/ the same as the +orld +e touch +ith our meditations
on impressions and sensations. ut, +e +ill not allo+ /ou as students to plunge into
this inner +orld +hich is in truth the most difficult of the genuine m/stical +orlds to
e0plore +ithout the masters6 assistance, for he +ho meditates apart from our, direction
on an/ specific point is reall/ in danger of falling into one of the ic/ realms of
nothingness, called the "!eon" +hich e0ist -oth -e/ond and +ithin the ,er/ spheres of
m/ o+n a+areness of the concrete. (o+e,er, it can -e e0plored safel/ and +ith
direction, for from it come into -eing those +onderful +orlds of spiritual light and
hol/ radiance +hich are called together, or collecti,el/ "&leroma", that +hich fills
the spirit and the ,oid. ut, +e no+ 1ust +ant to cite the fact that meditation can
lead to an inner occult e0perience, +hich often +ells up during dreams, fantasies, and
simple imagination, and +hich can -e e0plored -/ our techni4ues of spiritual
li-erations and self7disco,er/. This inner +orld is a +onderful realm of light, indeed
it is the source of all light and thought and e0perience, so much so that to the
spirituall/ oriented person, e,er/ thought and feeling that he has, once he has
attained the true goal of his m/stical ,o/age, -ecomes in actuall/ ,erifica-le fact
-athed in the lumen, or the light of the initiates and the gods. !an/ indi,iduals ha,e
+ritten -oo.s a-out this e0perience of the light, -ut none so far ha,e -rought out so
+onderfull/ clearl/ that the -eginnings of this e0perience are 4uite simple and are to
-e found as m/ first e0periences of the occult.
The e0perience of union +ith m/ impressions of the +orld around us and m/ inner
e0perience of spiritual truth, deepl/ realised and m/stical illuminated are t+o forms
of li-eration, +hich can come to us from the ,er/ e0periences of e,er/da/ life, +hich
+e do not often seriousl/ consider. ut, it is reall/ necessar/ for us to consider that
e,er/ e0perience of e,er/da/ life is trul/ m/stical, and indeed, since cannot gi,e us
an/ e0planation of the ultimates of e0istence, and since as +e .no+ e,en philosoph/ is
a field of open competition -et+een contending minds 2often separated from all -asic
human e0periences if /ou read the li,es of certain philosophers3 e,er/ -reath of life
is a m/ster/ and perhaps e,en more, for it appears to -e e,en a miracle. To +al. do+n
the street for the thoughtful person is a miracle, since +e cannot e0plain full/ the
,er/ reasons +h/ the +orld should remain in its place holding together so firml/, +hile
motion occurs. 'o science can e0plain this, nor can an/ philosopher offer an/ proof5
/et I mo,e and the +orld remains fi0ed and dependa-le. I as. m/self +h/ is this so, +h/
should m/ life -e so regular in its outer form. I .no+ there is an ans+er, -ut +here?
The fundamental 4uestion a-out m/ most elementar/ e0perience can -e e0pressed as
this, "+h/ is the +orld a-out me possi-le, +hen no one can offer me an/ certaint/?" Our
repl/, -ecause +e ha,e e0plored this 4uestion so long, and indeed -ecause +e ha,e
participated in this process of teaching, and therefore e0plaining so long is this,
4uite simpl/. The +orld is go,erned -/ la+s of a spiritual origin, e,er/thing is ruled
-/ these la+s, therefore m/ e0periences of the +orld around me are intense spiritual,
e,en if I don6t realise that m/self. I am much more a part the spiritual +orld than I
am the material o-1ect certain s.eptics claim me to -e. I e,en deri,e m/ ,er/
life7-reath from spiritual protection, and conse4uentl/ the occult is much more real
than the apparentl/ non7occult, and spirit is closer to m/ heart than matter. !/ e,er/
e0perience is ruled -/ po+ers of light, +ho guide me and +or. through m for I am their
instrument, and the/ are m/ spiritual selfhood, ,ie+ed in its state of -liss.
$,er/thing that happens to me is due to this participation in the life of -liss, +hich
reaches do+n to the roots of m/ ph/sical e0istence and incorporates m/ e,er/ effort in
the spiritual processes of the uni,erse. Therefore, m/ child of the 4uest, do not thin.
of /ourself as -eing separated from the +orld of light, for /ou can see in part +h/
/our e,er/ e0perience is, occultl/ consecrated and carried up into a +orld that is much
more real than an/thing that can -e seen. 8no+ again, 9 child of the 4uest, that in
e,er/ o-1ect seen the di,ine and eternal light is +ritten in in,isi-le characters,
+hich +ill -e read -/ /ou after /ou ha,e -ecome part of us. *nd .no+, al+a/s, and more
than .no+, feel, -e, li,e in the realit/ that lies in and +ithin and a-out and near
e,er/ impression or sensation from the outer +orlds, for this +orld is the true +orld
of -eing, and +hen /ou are united +ith the impression of the outer +orld in the state
of normal detachment fro6 the ph/sical self, then /ou are trul/ one +ith the realm of
spiritual consciousness, +hich penetrates all, -ecause it is all.
Therefore, +e sa/ that our first e0periences of the occult are 4uite e,er/da/
matters, if /ou +ill ta.e the time to stop and +onder and to en1o/ them. $n1o/ment of
the +orld of the spirit is most important -ecause it does not mean that /ou can turn
/our -ac. on realit/, rather /ou enter more and more deepl/ into the +orld of e,er/da/
cares, +oes, pro-lems and facts -ecause /ou .no+ +hat is reall/ there. This ma.es /our
life a 4uest for the -eing +ithin all things, and as +e ha,e taught that the -e/ond is
+ithin as the +ithin is -e/ond, or deepl/ spiritual, so +e teach the second principle
of the initiatic doctrine to summarise this lesson, +hich is: I C*' $%&$#I$'C$ T($
)'I;$#S$ $C*)S$ I *! S&I#IT)*LL" O'$ WIT( T($ )'I;$#S$ )pon this teaching depend all
of the ideas e,er e,ol,ed -/ m/stics and hol/ men to fathom the m/steries of life and
human nature. We onl/ as. of /ou at this stage in /ou 4uest to li,e according to this
principle for a fe+ da/s, for if /ou do, /ou +ill li,e according to it he rest of /ou
life7time. "our o+n life, each and e,er/ hour of the da/, +ill -e its proof for /ou
+ill cease to -e limited or confined -/ an/ narro+ pattern, -ecause 4uite candidl/, /ou
+ill ha,e the infinite as /our hori<on.
!/ -lessings *l+a/s,
!aster !ercurius *4uarius