Copyright 1969 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 C.
OW C!" I CO#$ TO %"OW T$ OCC&LT?
"T$ FL'I"( S!&C$)S !*$ L!"D$D. T$ C)IST WILL )$!++$!). WILL 'O& ,$CO#$ !"
I"ST)&#$"T FO) COS#IC )$S$!)C OF T$ ()$!T O"$S?" reads possi-l. one out of man.
countless ads in occult and ps.chic maga/ines, seemingl. to ad0ertise and offer
instruction. We 1onder if it 1or2s, -ecause our method certainl. does, and 1e cannot
spea2 for an.one else. ,ut it is all a 3uestion of ho1 1e can 2no1 the occult. &suall.
the methods of 2no1ledge consist in 0aried re0elations from those of superior 2no1ledge
to those see2ing that same 2no1ledge. This means that .ou are told something and then
as2ed to memorise it. Others as2 .ou to perform ps.chic e4periments in 1hat is reall.
self5hallucination, thin2ing that if .ou are a-le to decei0e .ourself, the. 1ill more
easil. -e a-le to do the 0er. same thing. Others offer complicated oriental e4ercises
to middleaged 1esterners 1hose -odies are simpl. not geared to contortions and untried
postures. With all of this 1e must politel. disagree, for our approach is holistic, 1e
aim at presenting a 1a. of 2no1ing 1hich 1ill appeal to the 1hole person, -od., soul,
spirit, and di0init..
We do not -elie0e that it is possi-le to 2no1 1ith the mind 1ithout 2no1ing 1ith
the -od., nor does the #onaster. thin2 it good that our appeal should -e 6ust
emotional, 6ust mental, or 6ust ph.sical. That is 1h. in the past t1o lessons 1e ha0e
ta2en illustrations from the 2no1ledge of the -od. 7sensations8 and spirit 7dreams and
images8 to sho1 the first e4periences of the occult. Furthermore, 1e distrust an.
method 1hich states that one must den. the -od. and its ph.sical realit.. We teach, on
the contrar. T$ +&)IFIC!TIO" OF T$ ,OD' I" ITS +'SIC!L "!T&)$ WIT !" !I# TO
+$)F$CTIO" !"D ,$!&T'. For this reason 1e are not too unli2e the ancient 9e1ish
ascetics, at the time of the manifestation of Christ in 9esus 1ho 1ere 2no1n as the
$ssenes. We are essentiall. $SS$"$ in our 0ie1 of human nature, although our cosmic
illuminations and inspirations go -e.ond an. 2no1n or manifested occult conte4t, 6ust
as our 1ish is to transform .our 0er. life into the a-ode of this same illumination and
inspiration. ,ut, 1e must aim at 2no1ledge at all le0els of the real and the true and
for this reason our 2no1ledge is CO#+L$T$ %"OWL$D($.
OW DO$S T$ +'SIC!L ,OD' CO#$ TO %"OW T$ OCC&LT?. 55We repl. 3uite simpl. -.
sa.ing that the ph.sical -od. 1hen it is purified of all those ha-its 1hich ma2e for
impurit., such as improper diet, lac2 of harmonious e4ercise, lac2 of proper sleep, and
misunderstanding of the se4ual function5551hen the -od. is purified of these
limitations, and 1hen it stands forth in the na2edness of its true solar -eing,555for
it is deri0ed from the Sun (od imself 55it -ecomes the most perfect of all ph.sical
instruments of precision and research, more precise and e4acting than an. scientific
instrument or machine that 1ill e0er -e constructed: -ecause the gods can ma2e -etter
machines than an. human can. Then, .ou can hear 1ith .our ear those ph.sical sounds
1hich the impure cannot hear, then .ou can see 1ith .our e.es those lights, colours,
and shades 1hich none else -ut the pure can ga/e upon and percei0e, then .ou can touch
and taste and smell the heart of nature and its delicate -eaut., 1hich none else sa0e
those purified can e0er e4perience and there fore come to 2no1. This is ho1 the
ph.sical -od. can come to 2no1 the realit. of the occult, that 1hich is fundamentall.
1ithin and -e.ond e0er.thing in our e4perience. +urification is achie0ed -. proper
diet, such as eating onl. that 1hich is necessar. for health, rather than -eing a sla0e
to the ta-le. It is achie0ed -. proper e4ercise, 1hich teaches the -od. to -e harmonius
and graceful in its mo0ements, and -. ade3uate rest, for the -od. demands rest and
rela4ation in order to re-uild its strength. It is achie0ed -. realising that se4ualit.
is essential to life and its manifestation, -ut that there are 0er. m.stical po1ers
connected 1ith se4ualit. 1hich form an occult science of their o1n, and one in 1hich
.ou 1ill -e full. trained, so as to -e li-erated fore0er. ,ut, 1e do not den. the
realit. of se4, nor do 1e teach that such impulses must -e suppressed, for in truth
the. are the 2e.s to happiness and all ph.sical lo0e must -ecome spiritualised and
occultised through a proper understanding of the nature of 1hat I 1ill tell .ou is
mainl. "! COS#IC S$;&!LIT'", for the polarities of se4 are uni0ersall. found in all
forms of life: and in the spiritual 1orlds, 1e read of the m.ths of gods participating
se4uall. in the -odies of humans of great -eaut., and therefore a t.pe of -eing made
perfect through purification.
OW DO T$ SO&L, T$ S+I)IT !"D T$ DI*I"IT' OF #!" CO#$ TO %"OW T$ OCC&LT?555!t
this le0el of stud. 1e can onl. gi0e indications 1hich are going to ha0e to -e 0er.
general. The reason for this is that this constitutes the su-6ect of man. courses, such
as our instructions to .ou in $.S.+. the .oga of meditation and contemplation, the
capacit. to de0elop a supermind, and the m.stical union of the di0ine self 1ith the
$ternal. ,ut, one thing is held in common 1ith all of these different forms of
2no1ledge and it is this that in each case, the soul, the spirit. and the di0init. ha0e
all -een purified and freed from the e0il and negati0e influences of the atmosphere,
1hich e4ist around and a-o0e and -elo1 us. These parts of m. totalit. are no longer
confined to an. one place, the. are so pure that the. ma. roam the 1orlds of light 1ith
a-solute freedom, and the. are a-le to realise 1ithin themsel0es, the fundamental truth
of all -eing, and -ring it -ac2 to us in our natural conditions for en6o.ment. o1 can
the. -e free, 1e might as2, and as such 1e 1ant some 2ind of concrete ans1er. Let me
sa. that -asicall. it is this, that through occult 1or2, and this means ph.sical 1or2
on the -od., the soul is no1 free to -e freed of emotional tensions and ps.chological
complications, the mind is free from error and self5dou-t, and the di0init. is no1 free
of ignorance of its o1n self5hood, for it can see itself as one 1ith all, and this
$T$)"!L &"IO" OF T$ DI*I"IT' WIT T$ DI*I"$ !"D $T$)"!L IS T$ T)&$ F)$$DO#. ,ut,
this is a 0er. gradual process, and 1e 1ill teach it step -. step, so that .ou 1ill
-ecome so illumined -. the e0er gro1ing glo1 of perfection that .ou 1ill ne0er feel
limited or left outside of the 1orld of the occult e0er again. ,ut the 2e. to all of
this is purification, in fact this is our principle to -e taught in this lesson< T$
OCC&LT %"OWL$D($ OF T$ ,OD', SO&L, S+I)IT, !"D DI*I"IT'. This is the real reason 1h.
one person ad0ances in occultism and another doesn=t mo0e ahead, e0en though the latter
has more -oo2s, has ta2en more courses, and has attended more lectures. ,ut, the
impurit. of his -eing has -een holding him -ac2. We 1ish to -ecome li-erated from this
-loc2, so as to -ecome perfected and a-le to participate in the infinite process of
2no1ledge and m.stical e4perience. For 1hen .ou achie0e perfection, then .ou 1ill
realise that 'O& !)$ T!T I"FI"IT$ +)OC$SS OF %"OWL$D($ !"D #'STIC!L $;+$)I$"C$,
-ecause 1ithin .our heart of hearts, O m. -elo0ed child of the 3uest, the infinit. of
light is .our true selfhood.
#. -lessings al1a.s
The #aster #ercurius !>&!)I&S
3-2