What is esotericism and what is it. What is esotericism in simple words: mysticism or science?
(author of the article: Gainutdinov Zufar Islamovich)
The lecture will consist of two parts. First: the general part where the definitions will mainly be given. The second part is a review of some esoteric movements.
Lectures on such topics are a completely new thing, and what we called the foundations of esoteric knowledge is not that. And their study is impossible using conventional teaching methods. By normal I mean that a sufficient number of students come ready to listen to the material. Just like that, studying the basics of esoteric knowledge is impossible....... and for several reasons.
If we talk about this particular lecture, then now it would require from you an impeccable knowledge of physics...., chemistry...., biology...., psychology..., the foundations of at least two world religions for comparison, as well as...... some innate qualities.
Elements of esoteric knowledge are inaccessible, including to many prominent scientists official science. Esoteric literature sources contain a hierarchy of several levels of complexity simultaneously.
Once the review of life has come to an end, even the eternal vital body is abandoned and the person becomes surrounded by his emotional body. You remember that, speaking of the lunar globe of desire or emotional substance, we said that in it there is the first internal division globe developed, characterized by two currents, towards the center and towards the surface. Well, in a sense, our emotional body is part of that period in which its evolution has evolved and brought in two currents of its own: the centripetal current, which is located in the lower regions, which is closer to the physical size, and the centrifugal current outside, which is located in higher areas.
To understand the esoteric content in in this case· and IN GENERAL you ALWAYS need several mandatory conditions, which in turn are first-order problems. The problems are very complex.
First: The presence of a listener who has some innate abilities, or he must be prepared to the appropriate level.
Second: The listener does not know what he wants.
Once a person is separated from the etheric body, he finds himself with his own emotional body on this plane of feelings and emotions. Activates the centripetal force closest to physical world, and sees that the just ended reverse look at earthly life But here the landscape cannot leave him indifferent, because we are on the plane of feelings and sentiments: for every image that flows before his conscience, he suffers emotions in play. When he reviews an episode in which he has hurt others, it is vital that he lives those episodes well and carefully because the lessons learned from the experiences that have been experienced flow from him.
Second order problems are also quite difficult.
1. Availability of a source of knowledge. There must be a source, but they are not lying around in an accessible place.
2. If these sources exist, problems of translation and understanding arise. (In some cases, the meanings of words are hopelessly lost).
3. The presence of impurities and new erroneous reinterpretations in esoteric sources.
(How many of you know where smoking came from, the habit of drinking alcohol, songs and dances, give examples).
4. The difference between the mentality of the ancients and modern people. Which requires constant reformatting of data into a more modern language.
5. Incompleteness and scattering of esoteric materials. No one will collect them for you; there is no such industry.
6. The more time passes, the greater the losses.
This is precisely the basis of progress and spiritual development: When in future life he will be faced with similar facts and the possibility of harming others, unconsciously. The watches resold at the above stage will warn you and prevent you from making the same mistake. Indeed, if he or she follows facts, episodes or chances of others making the same mistake, they will feel an impulse to do everything to prevent it, so the social level will also be affected by the benefit.
Fearing the faithful folk religions who understand a vengeful and fearless god has no basis. True judgment is what we will ultimately give to ourselves, and its only purpose is to make us recognize the right behavior. The sharpness of the teaching is directly proportional to the accuracy of the images inserted into the mind of the trap, and the attention with which he was able to observe them for the first time in three years. half a day after death, so it is a crime against the person and society to disturb the deceased during that period, with shouting, screaming or interference on his body.
According to the Esoteric Doctrine itself, there was a time when there was no division of teachings: everything was accessible to everyone. However, due to certain laws of evolution, the differentiation of humanity once began based on the tendency of some people to go the “right path”, and others to go the “left path”. The first path is in harmony with the Laws of the Cosmos, and those following it evolve relatively quickly, while making one or another contribution to the Common Good, i.e. into the evolution of all humanity. The second path is the path of self-interest, ambition and other personal traits of a person’s character. Anyone who follows this path, consciously or unconsciously, comes into conflict with the forces of the constantly developing Cosmos and, in the fight against them, not only does not care about the Common Welfare, but, on the contrary, strives in every possible way to satisfy his desires and achieve his goals for consideration of the interests and fair rights of other people. It was this affirmation of part of humanity on the “left” path that forced the Leaders of humanity to resort to hiding a significant part of knowledge from the bulk of people and preserving it for use only by those who chose the “right” path. The hidden parts of the teachings are called esoteric, secret or hidden, and those accessible to everyone are called exoteric. People who gained access to esoteric knowledge, which in ancient times were transmitted in the ritual form of mysteries, received the name mystics, or initiates. Subsequently, the term mysticism appeared, denoting not only those truly initiated, but those who recognized the limitations of the cognitive abilities of the five ordinary senses and were convinced by their own experience or simply believed the stories, to put it modern language, about the parapsychological experience of others, i.e. about the experimental knowledge of Reality with the HELP of the sixth sense, although inherent in all people, but manifested (and most importantly, recognized as such) not in everyone. We will have a detailed conversation about this sixth sense later, but here we will only note that it can be called spiritual penetration or touching the essence of phenomena, giving direct (i.e., not requiring rational activity) knowledge.
I will repeat the same thing again in different words. The study of esoteric heritage is not just another new science. This is unlike any existing branch of science. But out of ignorance, one can accept it this way. It’s as if there are new terms and definitions, and one can speak absolutely flawlessly using these terms without making a single mistake in words. These will be words, and the whole conversation will be of an esoteric nature.
Modern scientific world, as noted above, is often inclined to equate recklessness with unreasonableness, and, of course, this may be the case, however, in the general case and in particular in the manifestation of the sixth sense under consideration, such a concept is erroneous. Rational thinking is by no means higher activity Reason, but just one of the initial steps of the boundless ladder of Consciousness. Obtaining knowledge with the help of spiritual, or, as is more often said, intuitive, penetration (comprehension) should be classified not as unreasonable, but as super-rational activity, if rational activity is taken as the NORM of the mind. However, we note that, although such terminology is widespread, it cannot be considered successful, since it creates a false idea of the fundamental difference between these stages of consciousness, of the existence of a gap and even an abyss between them, when in fact, we repeat, these are all stages , very gradually leading the seeker to the boundless heights of Mind and Spirit, as if growing from one another and, at least on our plane of Existence, always retaining their special purpose in full awareness of the universe.
The phase we have described is defined in the esoteric phase of Christianity Purgatory. And we understand how useful it would be to pray for those suffering in it, as much as possible, and not vice versa, as ignorant religion usually suggests. In addition to the phenomenon described above, something else also happens. Unless these actions are overcome, the centrifugal current is not activated.
The review of the speed of life proceeds at triple the speed of the time we know in the earthly dimension, but only when we have broken out the above mentioned “vices” can we move on to the next stage. Moreover, they are necessary for understanding the true laws of nature and the teachings that we are called to assimilate into the world.
What is esotericism? · The concept of esotericism (from the Greek “esoterikos” - internal, also known as esotericism) does not have a clear definition.
This formulation of the question is impossible for several reasons. In the first days, esoteric knowledge written on paper did not exist in principle. Secondly, even if you and I come across fragments of esoteric knowledge, we will not recognize it, will not properly appreciate it and will not understand its true meaning. And even if we understand its meaning, we will not be able to adequately manage this knowledge. Thirdly, for us, given our unenviable condition, this knowledge is not at all safe. That is, it is also dangerous for us. I will talk about this separately.
This stage in esoteric Christianity is called the First Heaven, as spoken of in the upper regions of the emotional plane of desire. After the stages described, even the emotional body is abandoned, and the individual is so alone with the mind in terms of thoughts. The mind is also the vehicle of the spirit, 'I am', and here all the teachings received are assimilated at this time to lay the foundation for future existence on Earth. It is the “voice of conscience” that suggests correct behavior in all cases we encounter, and that intuitively we are drawn to listen to; Work that finds its way on the mental plane in the second heaven.
The term appeared in the Hellenistic era (IV-III centuries BC) and meant secret knowledge, something that is accessible only to initiates. For many centuries, esoteric knowledge was the property of a few. The philosophy, scriptures, and practices of various orders, schools, and teachings were hidden; they did not talk about it among strangers.
But we are here to discuss certain issues. We cannot talk about esoteric knowledge here. Since we are not prepared for them.· Let's first talk about the esoteric traditions of the past and present. As for knowledge, we can talk about esoteric knowledge. Let's immediately make a reservation about things like clairvoyance, superpowers, telepathy and travel in space and time, we will simply skip - this borders on quackery, any references to yellow press or any scientific popular literature we'll miss it. You can only rely on verified and serious sources.
Only this knowledge of what happens after death allows us to understand why, in the course of history, we see a progression, both at the collective and at the individual level, a constant progression Which we call “civilization.” Death, then, is not an injustice, but a useful necessity for our individual advancement. This follows a period when the spirit, stripped of all its vehicles in its past life have the inner confidence that they have come home: he has exhausted the task that has been given to him and can finally rest while the emerging need for a push arises within him to take the next step: a new rebirth on Earth.
Esoteric - hidden, secret, internal, hidden, concealed, intended exclusively for initiates. Knowledge about what?
A system of knowledge about the world and its laws, about its origin.
Cosmogenesis, anthropogenesis, picture of the world, harmony and symphony of natural processes, organization and self-organization, order and chaos, matter and movement, the phenomenon of consciousness and will, issues of the energy information paradigm. Here are just some of the aspects that esoteric sources touch upon.
Finally, the time has come to prepare for future earthly experiences. This preparation is carried out in the Archetype Plane, where the environmental conditions are also adapted to the new needs. You'll remember what we talked about natural evolution and two theories of Lamarck and Darwin. In fact, none of them exhausts the question when viewed from a spiritual point of view, that is, taking into account all the forces that are at stake. The physical environment, which is the background for the modification and adaptation of species, the external conditions in which life develops, are part of the “game”.
Problem number one and practically unsolvable. Unpreparedness of the listener. In order to understand anything from esoteric sources, it is necessary to specially prepare the listener for many years or decades, to teach him a special esoteric language. Teach the listener methods of effective thinking and physiology. Help him acquire levels of consciousness sufficient for these purposes. For many, these tasks are completely impossible.
The scientist who sees only the material aspect of life contrasts the idea of Nature with the idea of God, arguing that if he finds laws to explain the former, the latter becomes superfluous. In fact, Nature is nothing but the effect of this activity, mind and will, which we use to call God. Someone said: "God is a seal, and Nature is his imprint." To more fully understand the law of evolution, it is necessary to consider that the environment is also prepared for the evolutionary-spiritual needs of the creatures living in it.
From a more complete point of view, that is, the purpose of existence is told in accordance with the Spiritual needs, which are the cause of the whole movement that we are considering, it can be said that any evolutionary theory that does not take into account spiritual needs cannot even rationally give a complete explanation . If, in essence, the improvement of the species is the goal of evolution, how do humans and more advanced societies seem to move in the opposite direction, namely to protect those less suitable for improvement, that is, the weaker?
On the other hand, you can take any of the many university textbooks with concepts modern natural science, the contents of which formally coincide with the issues that we are discussing.
There is plenty of esoteric content in the most open sources knowledge. For example, in ordinary known version The Bible contains plenty of revelations.
Enter the concept of Soul. All the teachings that evolution produces are not deposited, so to speak, in the various bodies that were the instrument: bodies are simply a means, which from one life to another disappears and “dies.” They build this "food" which enriches the spirit with the quintessence of all experiences and which at the end of the entire evolutionary process will be included in what we call the "Soul". Therefore the soul is a permanent element that is transmitted and that This improves life in life and is the true purpose of evolution.
Therefore, it is not so much an adaptation to environment, but she uses the experiences that happen in the environment to feed and build the soul. Therefore, the soul teaches at every birth, indeed, at every “rebirth” in different vehicles previous, but always better, because they are built with the seed atoms of each, in which the level of vibration previously achieved has been included during the process of descent that will lead to a new "birth" in the physico-chemical plane.
Much has changed now, including attitudes towards information. The number of teachings, schools and orders has increased sharply and continues to grow. Much esoteric literature was published, after which it became exoteric (from the Greek exotericos, “explicit knowledge”). In general, any published esoteric information is already exoteric. The old concept was distorted; esotericism began to be called everything that has a spiritual aspect, is not limited exclusively to material qualities and leads to the development of body and spirit. But this is only among the masses. Among knowledgeable people everything remains the same. Esoterics is something that is not disclosed and transmitted exclusively by word of mouth, exoterics is published, accessible to the uninitiated.
All experiences can be accessible to consciousness if they know how to rise beyond the threshold of pure materiality: this is what the seers have already done and what each of us here can do. But intellectual curiosity or university research is not enough for this; We need to change our way of life so that we can open ourselves to this rope in the heart. This does not contradict our purpose for using logic: logic is a tool, the door opens for the treasure we are looking for. But even after opening the door, instead of looking into the treasury room, we continue to focus on the door and the inserts, we lose sight of our true goal, confusing the end with the environment.
As things stand, we can choose one among several esoteric traditions.
There are plenty of them. For example, any of the world religions, in addition to publicly available information, also has esoteric, hidden, secret data.
Judaism has Kabbalah, Islam has Sufism. (Buddhism ----Zen Buddhism) And so on, each religion has its own esoteric part or even several parts. There are many currents and directions. Some currents are more or less complete, fundamental. Other streams are more practical or applied. Sometimes these trends repeat or complement each other. Sometimes their fragments are repeated or vary greatly. But in any case, esoteric sources answer certain questions. These are questions of origin and evolution, questions about the action and interaction of the laws of nature, development, types of matter (By the way, this is not only what you see but also something else), the interaction of the laws of energy and information, including what is not available to us for viewing.
What we have said so far is extremely important, but to grasp the full value that we must place in connection with that element which has not yet appeared in its deeper aspect, as we promised from the very beginning: Esoteric Christianity. We will look at it at the next, fourth and final meeting. However, to prepare for this, we must ask the following question: We have seen how there is an evolutionary chain on the planet, represented by the four kingdoms of nature, the mineral kingdom, the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom and the human kingdom.
For example, what are these lines from the Bible about?:
There are several levels of understanding here
20 And He lifted up His eyes on His disciples, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are those who mourn now, for
you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you and put you away and
revile, and your name will be brought down as dishonorable, because of the Son of Man.
23 Rejoice in that day and be glad, for your reward will be great.
heaven. This is what their fathers did to the prophets.
24 On the contrary, woe to you who are rich! for you have already received your consolation.
25 Woe to you who are now full! for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now! for
you will weep and lament.
26 Woe to you when all people speak well of you! because that's what they did
their fathers with the false prophets.
27 But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate
you,
28 Bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you.
29 Give the other to the one who strikes you on the cheek, and the one who takes away your upper cheek
Don’t bother me to take clothes and a shirt.
30 Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask him back from the one who took what you have.
31 And as you would have people do to you, so do you also to them
Does this evolutionary chain stop here, or does it go on? It makes sense that this would happen: progress and evolution are actually endless. There are higher human kingdoms, that is, people who came to man in the evolutionary phase of man, and these are those that Esoteric Christianity calls by the following names.
Human genre: humanity of the earth period. Angels: humanity of the lunar period. Reason: Humanity of the Saturn period. Virtue or Sig. forms: they work with the physical body of man in Earth times. Potesta or Sig. Individuals: They work with the emotional body of a person from the Moon period.
The second direct allusion to the law of karma
The word "esoterics" comes from the Greek "esotericos", which means "hidden", "inner". Already based on this, it becomes clear that esoteric knowledge, in contrast to exoteric knowledge, that is, intended for everyone, has at all times been accessible only to a select few. This is hidden, secret knowledge, entrusted to initiates, to those who, even under pain of death, did not have the right to disclose it. That is, if you are an esotericist, which means “chosen one,” be so kind as to comply with the high mission entrusted to you.
Dominance or Sig. wisdom: they have been working with the living human body since the period of the Sun. Flames: They worked with the spirit of man during the Moon period. Cherubim: They worked with the spirit of man on the Sun. Seraphim: They worked with the spirit of man during the time of Saturn. This is the famous Scala di Giacobbe.
He had a dream: a ladder was on the earth, and its top reached to heaven, and behold, the angels of God went up and down it. It's time to return to the biblical Genesis. Of course, most believe that you could live a really good life ignoring it, and that its function is only to dictate the rules for those who want to become religious. The Bible is a book that concerns us all because it speaks to what distinguishes us as human beings: creativity, which is the same energy with which it was created and is maintained in the “Universe:” creative energy.
What does esotericism study?
The mission of the chosen one, the initiate, is truly lofty. After all, what is esotericism? This is not just secret knowledge that has been collected over centuries and, passed on from generation to generation, improved in cultures different nations. This is sacred knowledge - it is about the laws of the universe and human soul as parts of the whole, as particles of God. Therefore, when we answer the question of what esotericism means, we certainly begin to talk about esoteric cosmology, metaphysics, psychology, about psycho- and anthropotechnics inherent in Buddha, Jesus Christ, and the Gnostics.
Unfortunately, partial interpretation and ignorance of the true meaning of this Genesis has led people to the Church and so-called moralists in general to feel the energy involved in sexuality is somehow ugly and dirty, to be removed, and which has nothing in common.
Nothing more is so: precisely because this is a phase of the more sacred power of the universe, it must be observed, the deepening of knowledge and taking into account its more aspects, which must be cultivated and strengthened in relation to its lower aspect, that is, its complementary phases. But we still have to deal with this: the issue must recognize it for what it really is and then don't abuse or denigrate it. We analyze this story as described in the book of Genesis, seeing which are the main actors and gathering where we left it.
Esoteric teachings
By the way, the teaching of the Gnostics is considered esoteric, that is, secret, just like Jewish Kabbalah, which is also called esoteric Judaism, like the ancient Greek mysteries and the teaching of the Gnostics. Currently, secret teachings include the teachings of the Masons, Sufis (mystical Islam), Theosophists, and Anthroposophists.
What is important for esotericists?
If experiment is important in science, then for esotericists the knowledge of the world through direct experience comes to the fore. This is the only way to learn the deep secrets of the Universe and man. Everyone discovers these secrets within himself, for man himself is the deepest secret. And this is true esotericism.
Esotericists, unlike religious people, are not characterized by blind dogmatic faith. In their mystical knowledge they rely on the fundamental structure of the Universe and man, who is a microcosm. That is why there have never been and cannot be disagreements among esotericists belonging to different schools and directions. After all, what they are engaged in learning is the same for any people and for any time.
By the way, about time. We live today in a very interesting period for our planet, when the secret knowledge of antiquity began to be actively revealed. And only a lazy and extremely incurious person will refuse to join in with what, giving us hope and understanding of the meaning of life, came from distant distances - from the depths of centuries.
