Practices of Black Path (68)

1. There are many ways in which a soul evolving along the path of initiations may fall and begin the process of involution, a process of spiritual decline called the path of darkness or the black path. There are only two paths on what is known as Jacob’s ladder. One path leads to liberation (salvation), i.e. to Kaivalya, and the other turns the soul away from its journey, causing a fall. It is extremely important for an adept of the White Brotherhood path to know the more important stations of fall, the stations we visit during our pilgrimage along the path of planetary initiations. The ancient Rishis thoroughly described the ten major gateways to the black path of demonic decline and similarly the ten stations of strong spiritual growth. There are as many stations of ascension and elevation as there are stations of the soul’s falling into darkness. We usually talk about the stations of the dark path of darkness as trials befalling an adept of the White Brotherhood, such as our spiritual organism. Traps that lead you to darkness and decline should be strictly avoided. Nine stations of darkness await the pilgrim (Parivrajaka) wandering through the planetary initiations, of which there are seven. One important trap station awaits the adept of the second planetary initiation, i.e. the adept in the eighth period of life, or if you prefer, on the eighth circle of spirituality, where the Kaivalya gate, the gate of salvation, is located.

2. Each of the stations of the dark lodge can be the cause of the fall of the soul if the adept succumbs to certain temptations of dark forces and engages in dark, demonic activity. The second level of evolution is marked by two stations causing falls, and the seventh level is fortified with three stations – traps. The transition from the state of Parivrajaka (Pilgrim) to the Kitichaka station (the second planetary initiation or, if you prefer, the eighth level of development) is extremely difficult, because three temptations await the Pilgrim. The three temptations of Jesus show these three stations of the seventh level, which may be the cause of the fall. The selection of adepts (souls) ready for the second planetary initiation is extremely precise and thorough. Even sustaining oneself on the second level by the pilgrim on the spiritual path is difficult because of two stations that trap the soul in demonic darkness.

3. Those who consider themselves very spiritual and aspire to be at the level of the second planetary initiation should be warned against the trap of passivity in the areas of spiritual practice. The most advanced disciples, Purnasamnyasini (candidates for Kaivalya) cannot afford to be passive, they cannot rest on their laurels, but must be active in the creative field and should actively participate in various fields related to spiritual development. Those who have achieved Kitichaka’s insight and decided to rest will be absorbed by the principle of passivity and, as we say, brought back to earth. The fall of Kitichaka, succumbing to passivity and stagnation, is not yet great, because the soul involves onto the sixth level of spiritual development. However, the habit of such an increase to the high eighth level, which is decided by Kalkin (Savior) – the emanation of Vishnu (Christ) – and then falling to a lower level causes the soul, instead of achieving liberation, to wander around in somewhat spiritual spheres and so its evolution is stopped. An adept who has completed the Path of Pilgrimage and achieved the peace of Kitichaka, the peace of God, ataraxia, must be active in an almost superhuman way!

4. Adepts of the second planetary initiation should become most involved in the activities of the spiritual organization and provide zealous spiritual assistance to their human brothers and sisters. Tamaguṇa, rest, passivity and lack of will to activity is the beginning of the path of fall, although guṇa itself is pure energy, it causes consciousness to flow from top to bottom, from heaven to earth. Be active, act, engage in spiritual creativity, work to serve others, of course maintaining all the ataraxia you have achieved, all this state of peace and tranquillity of the Spirit. The higher the spiritual development, the greater the responsibility that the elevated soul bears. A person who, rising through the seven planes of transcendence, has raised his consciousness to the cosmic level and is trying to achieve an even higher achievement, devaic (angelic) or divine (arhatic) consciousness, must be very active and creative on many levels of life. We strongly encourage adepts to even intensify the cultivation of Seva, spiritual service for the spiritual organization and in matters to which the Guru devotes himself. Work for the salvation of others and work again, this is the credo of an adept with the second planetary initiation, and more broadly of adepts starting from the Kitichaka level.

5. There are seven levels of transcendental consciousness, the consciousness with which the Pilgrims of the Way are absorbed at subsequent levels of their spiritual development. The first level is a deepened awareness of the physical plane, awareness of the world around us. This is a step called “being here and now” and although it is a more material consciousness, its sublimation allows you to enter higher dimensions of yourself. The second level of evolution on the path of pilgrimage is the achievement of awareness of the astromental plane, called Kamamanas in yoga terms. Astral and mental travellers have undoubtedly developed and established this level of transcendence. It is the awareness of the world of the dead and the life of the soul after the death of the body. We must have experiences with this sphere of transcendence, for example through lucid dreaming or through contact with the world of the dead and other astromental beings. Another way is deepened awareness of one’s own thoughts and emotions, i.e. awareness cultivated as if inside oneself. The third level of transcendental consciousness is settling in one’s own Self, consciousness of the Soul, consciousness of angels, inhabitants of heaven, a world higher than the astromental world. We call this level of consciousness Svarga and it is the experience of the presence of devas (angels) and the achievement of one’s higher Self. Svarga is a state of a very purified and sublime Self, where the adept has gotten rid of everything that he really is not. This is the level of extraction of one’s true Self – Soul. The fourth transcendental level is the plane of consciousness of equilibrium, balance, harmony and alignment. The accumulation of good tendencies, efforts to sanctify the whole of life supported by the intelligent cultivation of the religion of the heart – this is what leads to the levelling of our psyche. It is a plan of synchronization and harmony between mind, feeling and body. We become able to adapt to any conditions, synchronize and harmonize with any other soul. Nitya, or harmonious life, leads quickly to a state of clarity of mind. Moderation and the ability to find the golden mean and the unity of thoughts, feelings and instincts – this is the fourth stage of transcendental consciousness.

6. The first four levels of elevation, transcendence, are relatively easy to achieve and, to some extent, correspond to the first four initiation energies in our Vedic Laya Yoga. This means that the energy of initiation leads to a transcendental level, appropriate for each subsequent stage. The next three stages of transcendental awareness constitute the goal for subsequent lessons of initiatory practice. The fifth level is called the awareness of full humanity and a person who reaches this level intuitively recognizes the purpose and meaning of his life and makes every effort for self–realization. Realizing what a human being is, what humanity is, and what the individual purpose of the human soul is – this is the work of consciousness performed in the transcendental sphere of Nara. The sixth level of transcendentality is manifested by great zeal and commitment to God’s affairs. Tapas is the heat of asceticism, sacrifice and restraint, the heat of great discipline of student. In the sixth degree, consciousness itself becomes alive, Ćittam is active by itself and we accomplish most things through the power of consciousness. Tapas often culminates in spiritual devotion with the sacrifice of our whole lives and everything we have, culminating in total devotion to the things of God. The seventh, last and highest level of transcendental consciousness is the level of Truth seen from God’s point of view, excluding one’s own personal truths. Satyam is a state of reality, a state of perception of spiritual truth in accordance with the existing reality. The Experience of the Real, this is how this highest level of transcendentality is described. Sometimes we say that we go deep within ourselves until we immerse ourselves in the Truth. And so the path of personal (with the help of the Self) spiritual development comes to an end. Some people divide each level of transcendence into 3 levels, which gives 21 degrees of transcendental consciousness, but for effective practice and discrimination, it is enough for us to know each level in a general way.

7. When we cross the levels of transcendence (elevation), then the gates of cosmic consciousness will open, i.e. the awareness of fullness, the awareness of the wholeness, because the cosmos is the whole, the fullness. Cosmic awareness brings the fullness of spiritual knowledge and wisdom, which manifests itself whenever it is needed. Awareness of wholeness is the gateway to liberation, the gateway to salutary Kaivalya. The overall experience and perception is a feature of the adept of the eighth level of spiritual development, the adept of the second planetary initiation. Achieving cosmic consciousness is the beginning of liberation known as Kaivalya. We do not mention the higher degrees here, because although they are a good goal, it is rare to meet people who have achieved the third initiation called solar (first) and the heavenly awareness of the living and direct presence of angels. Cosmic consciousness contains the synthesis of the seven previous, transcendental levels of spiritual development. In particular, the synthesis of humanity, discipline and truthfulness is the higher part of cosmic consciousness, and the synthesis of being here and now up to embodiment in a given area, awareness of spirits, devas and the state of harmonious synchronization is the lower, fundamental part of the experience of cosmic consciousness. Particularly strong transcendental features of this higher cosmic consciousness are Nitya and Satya, the ability to balance, equalize and harmonize, and the ability to perceive the truth, the real state of seeing things as they are.

8. Every Master of the Spiritual Path (Vali Rishi) warns against ten traps that affect an effective spiritual journey towards salvation (Greek: Soteria), towards Kaivalya. The Christian Apocalypse speaks of ten horns of the Beast that must be defeated. The higher we climb the heavenly ladder of spiritual, planetary evolution, the more subtle and difficult the traps are to overcome. A spiritualizing person must also avoid nine psychic energies that keep the soul at a lower level of evolution. Racial and national attachments, illusoriness and delusion, anger and spite, gluttony and greed, materialism (worldliness), falsehood and deceit, pride and tardiness, stinginess and lustful sensuality – all these energies we must refine and weaken so that they do not hinder our spiritual development. Only when we purify ourselves and rise above these nine worldly–sensual, illusory forces, only then will we be faced with significant temptations that we will have to overcome with the strength of will and striving in order not to fall in our spiritual journey. Some Masters of the Spiritual Path describe these struggles with temptations in terms of spiritual battle, as a very dramatic process to undergo.

9. An Adept preparing for the Spiritual Path and a Pilgrim in the first period of the life of an initiate in the Blue Lodge of Spiritual Brotherhood struggles primarily with nine forces that depress and keep him in the demonic circle. The Buddha spoke of a great struggle and dramatic overcoming of the forces of delusion and illusion, which is called Maya. Christianity devotes a lot of attention to overcoming sensual passions and desires, which in yoga terms we call Indriya (senses). Islam and Judaism devote much attention to overcoming religious materialism in the form of idolatry, the worship of statues and images that are considered gods, although they are merely the work of craftsmen. The Japanese Shinto tradition devotes a lot of attention to overcoming the tendency to anger, ire and worry (Krodha). Religions also often mention greed and avarice as significant sins that prevent spiritual development. Yoga often teaches and reminds us to loosen the bonds of materialistic attachments, from nationalistic, racial or caste attachments to attachments to objects desired by the five senses. All this is a Dharma struggle, a spiritual struggle of people who are preparing for initiation in the Blue Lodge or are in the first period of life in which they were touched by the sceptre of Kalkin Maitreya, the Master of Masters of Wisdom.

10. The ten trap stations do not yet pose a threat to the adept who is struggling with the dark, demonic forces of the basic level of spiritual development. The average human consciousness is polarized in the world of darkness, in the demonic world, and the human–demon (jinn) must make an effort to purify and refine, which means weakening the connection with the powers of the world of this darkness. The limit lies in the ability to weaken and defeat demonic tendencies. If we have control over the nine main sins or energies of demonism and are able to consciously refrain from producing them and mindlessly falling into these states, we have undoubtedly made an effort worthy of an adept of the Path of Pilgrimage and we have achieved the first stage of development on the path of initiations. Temptations come later when we are higher in our spiritual journey, and the three most severe temptations only happen to those at the seventh stage of spiritual initiation. The seven spiritual initiations that we give on the Laya Yoga path are designed in such a way that they lead a person along the shortest path to the appropriate level of spiritual development; however, receiving initiation does not automatically mean achieving a given level of development. The first initiation is the most important, because the foundations must be constantly strengthened and developed, and the courage to undertake the initiation is the courage to say NO to demonic forces and to direct yourself with all your willpower towards the first planetary initiation. When we achieve the transformation (rebirth) of the first initiation and rise to an increasingly higher level of development, we cease to belong to the world and become participants, citizens of the spiritual Kingdom of God (Community).

11. Getting out of the world of delusions and illusions, from the traps of Maya(ku), freeing oneself from personal, often pleasant, illusory beliefs, freeing oneself from illusory knowledge or drug consciousness is not an easy matter. Many of our false beliefs instilled in us from childhood are simple illusions, illusory, false knowledge that we must get rid of. Beliefs such as the belief that eating meat is necessary for life, or that God is the Holy Trinity, or that life ends at death are just minor examples of useless, demonic illusions that keep man trapped in the trap of the demon Maya. The world of illusion created by pharmacological agents (drugs) is also an example of extreme immersion in the world of illusory delusion. Extreme submission to one of the nine demonic forces accelerates our physical death, and even worse, spiritual death. That’s why most drug addicts have a short lifespan. Due to anger and rage, serious diseases such as cancer kill us.

12. Prince Siddhartha, the great reformer of the Brahmin religion and the prophet known by the name Buddha, attached great importance to cleansing himself of all delusions and illusions. This is an important point in spiritual training to lose various illusions, especially since we know from another source that it was the demon Mayak, called Asmodeus there, who ordered the Prime Mother of Humanity (Chawa) to eat the fruit from the tree of illusion, from the tree whose fruits gave knowledge about the world of good and evil (relative) in the form of drug visions. Then the first man, the Forefather of humanity, also ate this fruit and thus from our first parents we inherit the tendency to fall because of falling into illusions. Practicing the awareness of being here and now without illusion, anger or falsehood allows us to overcome this material, worldly (demonic) force that is the demon of illusion. The basic science of yoga teaches us that yoga is the non–generation of conscious sensations (emotions and thoughts) and we must master this non–generation of illusions first. Overcoming the demon Maya means examining the truth and authenticity of everything that comes to us. We should not thoughtlessly repeat even the most trivial rumour until we check its credibility. In this way we must examine all our beliefs, dogmas, views and customs. Everything must become purposeful, useful and conscious. Then we will defeat the demon Maya, just like the Buddha did, remembering the original sin, the tendency to drug addiction that our first parents fell into.

13. When we look at the fun and pleasures of worldly people, we will quickly understand that they are mainly used to release the emotions of ire and anger. Discos and concerts release accumulated tensions of anger, sometimes to the point of acts of destruction and violence. Sports games that release anger so that both athletes and their fans fight each other, these are all games that release accumulated anger. We will see crowds of fallen people overcome with unloading and venting their anger. Acts of violence, aggression, all this shows that we are ensnared by the demonic power of the anger station. When we weaken ire and anger, then many of the games and frolics of worldly people will no longer be necessary for us, so that we will lose interest in them or shift our interest to higher forms of spiritual play that are not laced with anger. In this way, we can be attracted to spiritual dances or concerts of religious songs, and if sports are to be performed, those that show beauty and are not filled with angry and brutal competition. This is how we bring Krodha (anger) under our control to finally ensure that it does not arise. It’s funny that sometimes a person who has got rid of anger but is stuck in illusions can consider himself or herself to be more spiritually developed than a person who becomes angry, although in fact both belong to the lowest circle of evolution, from which it usually takes three periods of life (three approaches) called the Path of Trial to emerge from it.

14. Practicing the first initiatory lesson of Layasadhana (the spiritual practice of Laya Yoga) and in general every first initiation has a deep and still current meaning, because we can always deepen and strengthen the foundation. That is why Sadhana (practice) is so important and essential. Initiation is given for the entire period of life, for the entire incarnation, in order to establish oneself in spiritual life and follow the path of pilgrimage along the Spiritual Path. Sadhana symbolizes the entire seven–story process of development, although it serves to build and strengthen the foundations for the energy that initiates the soul into transcendental consciousness. Subsequent initiations accelerate the pace of our development, provided, of course, that we cultivate the entrusted vehicle of practice deeply and sincerely. Traps to some extent relate to the level of initiation, because when we realize the transcendental consciousness of the appropriate level, temptation in the form of a trap will lie in wait for us and affect us. The first level is rather the level of struggling with the spirit of worldliness and its nine demonic forces that bind us in materiality, which we perceive more in terms of flaws and imperfections than as personifications. However, Prince Siddhartha personified the demon of illusions in the form of Maya (Mayak). In a similar way, yoga personifies the rulers of the senses, and the entire work of liberation consists in bringing the senses under the guidance of the soul (Atman). Man is supposed to be the ruler of the senses and desires, and not the other way around, as is the case with demonic people, that the soul is a slave of the senses, passions, illusions or anger. Man as a soul must gradually become the ruler of himself; otherwise he will not separate himself from demonic humanity towards the spiritual Path. Abandoning a spiritual practice, even the simplest Sadhana, is a sin against one’s soul, a sin of wasting one’s chance for spiritual liberation. As the Rishis, the Sages, say, it is better to be a slave to spiritual exercises than to be a slave to anger, delusion or sensuality.

15. Overcoming the bondage of the chains of the senses involves building the ability to obey the tenth commandment of the Decalogue, which says: “You shall not covet!” In yoga this is the practice of Vairagya, which means lustlessness. The desires must gradually become sublimated and relaxed until the coarse emotions and passions become subtle and delicate desires, and from the sublimation of desires there will emerge a subtle world of the wonderful and beautiful desires of the Self, or the divine Soul (Jiva), and finally the intentions of the Spirit (Atman) of God will emerge. There is no end to the cultivation of Vairagya, as we continually engage in the Layam process of dissolving the crudest lusts and desires into their subtler counterparts until we reach the world of higher spiritual feelings to become a fully sentient human being. There is no end to the spiritual practice of Laya Yoga or any other spiritual training. The exercises of Chinese masters, such as Tai Chi or Chi Kung, perhaps best made meditators realize that there is no end to self–improvement for a person, and whoever abandoned the training basically failed and fell back into the shackles of material demonism. The greatest masters, after spending their entire lives in spiritual practice, often remind their students that they are only at the beginning of the Great Heavenly Way! Well, it’s probably obvious that after finishing the first grade, we enter the second grade, which contains more difficult, deeper and more important material. The End of the Way is the beginning of a higher Way, and this truth is reflected in the knowledge of the planetary, solar and Sirius circles of initiation.

16. The second level of Parivrajaka’s spiritual development or, if you prefer, the second period of life after the first initiation (or rather from the beginning of the initiation process) reveals two tendencies in the form of a trap. This means that at the second level of initiation, when we reach the level of initiation, we are subjected to two tests, two temptations. Both traps taken together can be called hate stations, because the first one is jealousy, envy, and the second one is reluctance, aversion, discouragement. This is not only about jealousy in intimate erotic relationships, but also about envy towards others who have something or even jealousy about the position in a spiritual group, jealousy about access to the Guru, blessings or envy about the knowledge one possesses. We must illuminate and refine all shadows of jealousy and envy to finally eliminate this demonic energy from within us. When the states of jealousy are dissolved, then the obstacle will be overcome, the trap will be avoided. A life without envy, without any jealousy, guarantees maintaining the second level of spiritual development. Having overcome the inherently hateful emotions of envy and jealousy, we open the gates to the inner space, Akaśa, and to transcendental experiences with consciousness on the Kamamanas (astromental) plane. The cause of paranoia is the jealousy complex and jealous delusions (suspicions), and the result of jealousy is unbridled stinginess. Therefore, it is recommended to give alms as a donation to the poor and for the purposes of the spiritual community (group, school, brotherhood) and in this way we eliminate the possible fruit of our jealous Nature. We must remove envy especially within the spiritual community, because this is the first place to put spiritual ideals into action.

17. Dvesha – aversion, reluctance is the second trap that the Pilgrim encounters in the second period of his spiritual development. Dvesha means everything that repels, discourages, all disgust and revulsion, both towards people and towards fauna, flora, things and events. Loathing spiders or mice can cause us difficulties in spiritual development just as much as resentment we carry in our hearts towards our neighbours. The obstacle is the discouragement that arises from studying the scriptures, cultivating prayer, or participating in groups and practice circles. Many people fall away from the Way because of resentment towards other practitioners or because of discouragement towards the spiritual organization, community (Sangha). Cultivating aversion leads to falling into greed and becoming a so–called “hungry ghost”, a consciousness that is constantly missing something. Such a fallen person, when he comes to a community where light is cultivated, will complain that in this group he lacks love or social life (which is a substitute for love), and when he comes to a circle cultivating love, he will find that he lacks distance in relationships with people he doesn’t know. This is how aversion likes to manifest itself. The less reluctance and discouragement we have, the more surely we will overcome this temptation by Dvesha. Adepts of schools of dark, black magic specifically cultivate envy and aversion in order to awaken these demonic forces, on the one hand, to draw energy from the spiritual plane, and on the other hand, to use it for various magical purposes… White magic does not use these energies, because ultimately nurturing them leads to fall and self–annihilation, to the destruction of the soul.

18. The result of cultivating envy is stinginess, and the result of cultivating aversion is greed. As the Qur’an says: neither the miser nor the greedy will attain the Garden of Eternal Bliss. Cultivating a state of emptiness, emptying yourself of thoughts and emotions allows you to overcome the trap of jealous delusions. Devoting yourself to works of mercy, relying on God’s grace and mercy, developing a charismatic gift, helps greatly in overcoming states of aversion and discouragement. Cultivating a state of subtle, heartfelt joy in the soul helps overcome both envy and resentment, both poles of hatred. Both stations of fall are extremely severe during the second period of the pilgrim soul’s life and often lead to the ruin of the spiritual life, and psychics connected with the astromental world can fall into the depths of black magic through these two gates of hell. If someone from this circle becomes a spiritual leader, he is most often very greedy for profit and likes to sell his limited skills in guiding along the path at a very high price, as if it were something most valuable. We have a lot of propagators of some specific shamanic–spiritual training who highly value what they convey. Unfortunately, it has little to do with The Way.

19. In the third circle of spiritual development, in the third period of life, the trap is bad company, associating with people with evil inclinations, with people of demonic darkness. You have to actually separate yourself from the world to avoid this trap. People with suffocating emotions and stinking thoughts, people opposed to the Way, the Guru, the Practice – all are bad company to be avoided. People in the third circle of pilgrimage are very sensitive to all kinds of energetic pollution brought by uncleaned people. Subjecting the adept to the pressure of people reluctant to practice spirituality and thus dragging him down by the environment is one of the most important, favourite methods used by ‘blacks’ towards the pilgrim soul. The good company of practitioners actively engaged in serving in a spiritual organization makes it easy to overcome this temptation. It often happens that ‘blacks’ influence even the closest people, who demonically attack an adept reaching the third level of transcendental consciousness. We must resist this evil influence, which can be very difficult, especially in a godless family that does not believe in God. It is not easy to leave bad, depressing company, but if we want to develop further, we must somehow cope with such satanic attacks. We can, of course, practice a lot with the intention of opening our hearts among our closest people, family and existing friends. If we are zealous enough and persistent enough in following the spiritual path, the satanic influences of the ‘blacks’ will cease, the devil and his demons will depart, although it often happens that they leave after a drastic infliction of torment and separation from previous friends. An adept exposed to the influence of bad company should participate particularly zealously in the spiritual life of the Community, zealously attending meditation and prayer meetings or courses in asanas and mudras. Good company with fellow practitioners is the best medicine.

20. In the fourth period of life, after the beginning of the initiatory path of the first initiation, at the fourth stage of spirituality, a difficult trap set by the ‘blacks’ appears, the trap of godlessness and atheism. An adept who has achieved the fourth stage of transcendence, namely the plane of harmonization and balance, thinks that once he has achieved a calm and soothing state of the interior, he no longer needs any spiritual practices, rituals and ceremonies, especially since the intellect saturated with mystical knowledge whispers to the adept that he already knows everything and has known everything. Godlessness is not only about ignoring the need to continue working on yourself, but also about bringing to the fore many different doubts. Everyone who questions the path of science or the Guru falls into this trap. The fourth state of transcendence makes the adept a very sensitive and sensitive instrument, and often a rough impulse, a conflict in the community is enough for the soul to abandon the spiritual school or Guru, and at this level of development it is, unfortunately, a reprehensible sin, according to the principle: the higher the rank, the higher the responsibility. The atheism of this station is also the negation of good tendencies and impulses that flow from the depths of the soul, from the divine Self (Atman), because such a tendency of negation is exactly denying God, saying NO to God when he sends us some suggestions in the form of intuitive impulses. It is important to cultivate all good tendencies and inclinations that God reflects in the mirror of our Self, on the screen of intuition. People who are not satisfied with the results of their previous efforts in spiritual development often fall into this trap. Impiety, rejection of God or Guru causes us to go back in evolution to the station of deceit and falsehood, because denying God is the worst kind of lie inspired by the dark powers of eternal darkness.

21. The station of impiety often looks like this, in which the adept contradicts everything he has done so far. So far he has lived in accordance with Dharma, God’s Law, and now he is trapped and commits everything that Dharma prohibits, and ignores what is God’s commandment. That is why we call the trap of the fourth level of development the Adharma station, which means lawlessness, irreligion. Many priests in religions that educate clergy in a rational and intellectual way completely fall apart in the station of godlessness and atheism. A person who has fallen into this trap, pleasing Satan’s black mafia (piśaća), usually becomes a false guide or a false prophet, and it is precisely such darkened incarnate spirits that the Masters of the Way warn us against. Many fallen ones delight in bearing false witness about their Guru, spiritual organization or community, so that their falsehood is a demonic denigration of the Dharma. Some people become so fixated that they develop prejudices against all spiritual schools and all methods of spiritual development. We must beware of such fallen demonic people and their philosophical concepts, especially since when listening to such a person we may have the impression that a highly spiritual authority is speaking. Meanwhile, we mindlessly succumb to a fallen person who is exploited by dark demons. Now we will know where people who deny the need for cleansing, Seva or self–improvement work in general come from. The fallen Adharimins are a reliable source of false and deceptive pseudo–spiritual teachings.

22. The trap, the snare, set in the fifth circle of spiritual development is Avidya, i.e. ignorance, benightedness, stupidity, nescience, not seeing things as they really are. Avidya is all kinds of false beliefs. The fifth stage of spiritual development is the degree of intuitive wisdom of the soul, as well as proper knowledge received from the authentic Guru, while Avidya is all distortions and false interpretations of knowledge about what is seen. Avidya is false perception through the senses, and the trap of ignorance itself brings the soul down to the station of sensuality, the station of sense addiction. The temptation of Avidya is very subtle, and ignorance itself (darkening of the heart and mind) often leads to idolatry. The worst Avidya, apart from idolatry, is missing the purpose of living in our human body, ignoring our own divine destiny. We must recognize our Dharma (meaning of existence), burn all obstacles to the fire transformation and realize the fullness of our humanity. Then we will have a chance to overcome the trap set by the ensnaring powers of darkness of the black lodge.

23. Avidya also manifests itself as a denial of what we have observed with our eyes. For example, a person who experienced a miracle–working Guru and saw Siddhi (miracles) with his own eyes can deny the facts and claim that the miraculous phenomena were fiction and fraud. Wrong perception, wrong assessment is the basic trap for people who realize through Kriyasadhana (the fifth lesson of Laya), the fifth dimension of transcendence. Therefore, we advise adepts to refrain from judging and hasty judgments and opinions. Avidya is an illusory judgment resulting from false perception. Correct knowledge received from a Guru who has overcome ignorance is the best spiritual medicine to combat the ambiguity of ignorance. Vidya is clear vision, pure, undistorted reception of impressions that reach our mind. We can also say that Vidya is right understanding, right understanding of things as they are in their essence. All misconceptions and misunderstandings belong to ignorance, benightedness. A person reaching the fifth level of transcendental consciousness often feels advanced and thinks of himself as a perfect being, and therefore ignores the need to continue working on his own spiritual development. The awareness of full humanity and the ability to freely implement life’s goals leads us to a black, demonic path of decline if we give in to these stupid ideas. It should also be remembered that as soon as we adopt an erroneous view, we will immediately intensify the sensual passions and desires that characterize the final achievement of the path of fall. The frenzy of passion and various sensual excesses often clearly accompany the fall of the soul through the Avidya station.

24. The sixth level of transcendental consciousness also contains one important trap set by the ‘blacks’ as a snare for the pilgrim soul, but the process of fall only brings one to the fourth level of development, so the fall is not too drastic. Violence is a temptation of the sixth level of development, especially violence against those who belong to the community or follow us. Imposing religion by force (under penalty) is also a sign of falling into Bala – the tendency to solve various social situations by force. Those who fall into the trap of violence are those who have a certain amount of power over land and people. A soul falling through the use of violence reaches a station called purgatory, Mrija, a station of overcoming the tendency to die. A characteristic phenomenon is falling in a loop between levels six and four, going around in circles without further spiritual development. Such a person seems to be sublime and spiritual, but he is a dark demon in the heavenly heights. We must be able to recognize the ‘blacks’ who in their lodge use the elements and energy of the pure Way, while they themselves strengthen themselves on the path of falling and wandering in circles. Suicide is a common way of ending life used by those ensnared by the Bala trap. This trap also gives rise to endogenous psychosis marked by a tendency to depression for spiritual and mystical reasons and to commit self–destruction for no apparent reason. And so it goes, incarnation after incarnation. Bala means not only the use of violence (sadism) against others, but also violence against oneself (masochism). Some ascetic movements that use self–mutilation consist of Balins, whose final state is a demonic, self–repressive purgatory (Mrija). Many dictators are adepts looped through the station of violence, as the exercise of power provides many opportunities to manifest sadistic tendencies. The Inquisition is also the sinister activity of fallen people who were trapped in the Bala station.

25. Methods of forcible spiritualization, forcing people to accept religious faith, forcing them to join a church, as the Inquisition did, are manifestations of Bala’s demonism, visible externally. A more subtle method of violence is psychological, telepathic violence, coercing others with the force of one’s will, the force of psychic influence. Many strong and influential psychics are adepts of the black path, looped in circulation between the sixth and fourth levels. The asceticism of these people serves to return them to the Bala station, from where they fall again to the level of purgatory, often through death. Black magic loves to use this loop on the spiritual Path. To overcome Bala, it is recommended to cultivate spiritual exercises related to the spirit of waters and to practice the awareness of relativity and indifferentism. The extreme, final state of the soul permanently entangled in the circle of Bala–Mrija shows the spiritual level of the adept of the first initiation on the black path of demonism. The rishis place great emphasis on the principle of non–injuring and non–violence in order to prevent their adepts from falling into the black magic path. So here Ahimsa becomes a particularly beneficial and helpful, very special training. It is better to follow the rules of non–violence to the point of absurdity than to fall into the loop set by the dark forces of this planet. Asmodeus, influencing Chava (Eve), the Mother of people, used psychological violence to force her to eat the forbidden narcotic fruit. Chava then influenced her partner to consume the poison for the mind and soul. Cain used violence against his brother Abel. These are the old archetypally described traps of violence. Forcing us to follow a religion or follow a spiritual Path always shows us a leader – a demon. Encouraging or persuading, missionary work is the job of aćaryas (apostles), but it should not border on coercion. Demons use religious repression and these should be avoided.

26. The seventh level of transcendental consciousness contains three traps: egotism, negativity and darkness itself. The samnyasins of our Brotherhood, if they finally achieve this high level of manifestation of Truth and Reality, will have to overcome all three ensnaring traps. The Transcendental Truth is not available to egoists, nor to pessimists, and especially not to people involved in the deeds of darkness. Cultivating the Self, Ego is a good spiritual practice for people at lower levels, where it is recommended to treat the Ego as a garden that we take care of and nurture. However, if we want to enter the level of transcendental Truth, we must learn to overcome the Ego, overcome ourselves and our personal tendencies, inclinations and interests. Asmita (Self), i.e. the consciousness of I am in the form of all “I” and “mine” we must definitely defeat in the fight. It is a fight with yourself, and the best preparation for victory over the Ego is obtained through long–term service (Seva) to the spiritual organization and through training in spiritual devotion (Iśvarapranidhana). Only people trained in selfless service to the spiritual community or Guru are qualified to achieve victory over the Self of the lower emotional–mental Nature. Asmita is our personality, and the falling station is that we do everything for ourselves and with ourselves in mind. We must lose all prioritization of ourselves in order to emerge victorious from the Ego station. Selfhood will absolutely bring us to the very bottom of evolution into a web of anger and malice (Krodha).

27. Overcoming the Ego means submitting our lower, personal Self to the decisive control of the will, i.e. the Atmic principle (will), which is free from the sense of “I” and “mine”. The entire training in selfless service in the form of Seva, also in service to society (the poor) in the form of Dana, and the training in selfless devotion to the living Guru – Iśvara, unlearns a person from experiencing and acting based on personal motives that previously fuelled the spiritual process of the adept. The seventh, crowning station of transcendence on the pilgrimage path is not very populated by practitioners who fully become Samnyasins in this station. Of course, the appropriate level of initiation means training yourself to awaken the strength to rise to the seventh level of transcendental consciousness. We must abandon all manifestations of “I”, all claims “for myself”, all sense of “mine”. We say that an adept, crossing the gate of Asmita, renounces the fruits of his actions, thoughts, desires and even life, offering everything to the Supreme Lord. It is a circle of resignation, renunciation or stripping. This is the price of achieving the circle of Truth. In exchange for experiencing God’s Truth, we renounce everything, especially ourselves. And then, instead of passing on the Truth to others, we will encourage everyone who thirsts for God’s Truth to pay the price for the Truth and acquire it in all its glory. The seventh level completes the course of the Pilgrim’s path and in this circle we become a fully realized Parivrajaka. The realization of I Am, the Self (Asmita) always means transcending the boundaries of oneself as a person and personality and reaching into infinite and formless spheres.

28. An adept who defeats the Ego and develops awareness of Truth will still encounter attacks of the trap of negativity and pessimism. He will fight a hard battle against the mind’s tendency to produce thoughts and images of a pessimistic, catastrophic or tragic nature. It is a trap of believing in the end of the world and the destruction of humanity, a trap of fearing for oneself and the future. We must eliminate all tendencies to negative thinking, and often even abandon watching movies or reading books in which negative, tragic events are presented. Duśta means everything that suffocates us, scares us and fills us with terror. A pessimist will not remain at the seventh level of spiritual development and will quickly fall into the station of vacuum and emptiness, because his good and bad thoughts will neutralize each other. We must consciously cultivate good thinking and good words to decisively overcome the Duśta trap. If we meet a person who is very spiritual, but easily angered or brought to wrath, we know that we are dealing with a person fallen by Ego. If we are dealing with a person who professes nihilism and believes in nothingness, we know that we are dealing with a person fallen by Duśta, by evil, negative and pessimistic thinking, which leads to immersion in nothingness. Of course, the constant repetition in periods of life, in subsequent incarnations, of a loop such as achieving Asmita and falling into Krodha (anger), or achieving Duśta and falling into Śunyata (nothingness), we know that we are dealing with fallen adepts of the black path, constantly repeating the fall. Repeated falls on the authentic spiritual Path are not accepted. Those who preach catastrophic visions of the destruction of the world are demons of the black path of fall.

29. The final, third trap on the seventh circle is the direct attack of all darkness. With light, righteousness and justice we overcome the attacks of darkness of Tamas. A direct attack by the forces of darkness is an attack of numerous temptations to do everything that is forbidden to adepts of the spiritual path. Tamas is a prompting for us to freely break the laws and rules established by God. A person feeling his or her high level of development begins to believe that the rules established for all of God’s people do not apply to him or her. And then one falls into sins and transgressions, into deeds of darkness that quickly and easily lead to the fall of the soul. The final stage will be a strong fixation in delusion and illusion. Tamas leads straight into the arms of the demonic Maya. The demon of darkness is fulfilling his last work and if we are not deceived, we will enter the Circle of Cosmic Consciousness, undertaking the second planetary initiation in the Blue Lodge of the Hierarchy of Masters of Wisdom. At the stage of cosmic consciousness we can achieve freedom from the need to be reborn in lower worlds such as the world of human existence.

30. Let us try to visualize some of the deeds of darkness to which we may be inspired by the influence of the spirit of darkness, Tamas, who attacks both from the inside, stimulating inclinations to evil, and from the outside through strong oppression and repression, which is described as torment lasting for 10 heavenly days, i.e. 10 earthly years. The impact of tamasic temptation can be extended to a maximum of ten years of our lives. Attack of Tamas, the spirit of darkness described as temptation by the Devil in Christianity and as temptation by Mara (Maya) in the Buddhist tradition. Tamas tempts us to perform various miracles and signs at our own discretion, it tempts us to turn stones into bread, although there is no need to obtain bread this way. The temptation is to use angels to perform miracles such as throwing yourself into an abyss and showing how angels save your soul. The temptation may be the desire for power over the world and gaining social position with the help of numerous dark spirits. Meanwhile, a man at this level does not care about bread, because he can live by the word of God, and he does not put God to the test and does not try to prove his position with miracles, because he knows that he has just become the least of the angels in the Kingdom of God. The Adept will also refuse to worship demons who give power over the world, because he prefers to be a slave of God rather than a ruler of demons, and he performs holy service and worship only towards the one God – the Creator. Om Namaśśivaya!

31. Tamas is all kinds of darkening leading to illusion and, as a result, to a false path of darkness. We must constantly renew ourselves in the spirit that stimulates our mind – heart, we must put on a new personality created according to God’s will, and not according to the personality of the small self. The new personality is loyal to the Creator and completely dedicated to real righteousness. We must reject all falsehood and speak the truth to our neighbours, especially to our fellow companions on the Path. We should not sin by being angry, or offended, or even irritated. Let him who has stolen steal no more, but rather let him work hard to have something to give to his neighbours, especially his poor fellow members of the community. You have to do good work with your own hands. No rotten words should come out of your mouth, but only good words for the edification of others. All malicious bitterness and anger, shouting and abusive speech must be completely removed so that the adept can maintain himself in the seventh circle of evolution. Unseemly acts, unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, envy, tendency to murder, strife, deceit, malice, also spreading gossip, backbiting, arrogance and conceit, disobedience, taking harmful substances – all these must be eliminated to the highest degree. Great is the integrity of the adept who has overcome the attack of the spirit of darkness.

32. High adepts of the black path perpetuate their tendency to fall and circulate through incarnations so that they rise to their station of fall and then fall into the depths of darkness. The spirits passing through the gates of Tamas are called the most demonic beings because they ultimately fall into all manner of wickedness. Through the Tamas station we become piśaćas, and through the Asmita stations we become asuras, demons with a strong personality, which the Sufi tradition calls jinn. The three stations of the fall guard the Truth and test whether the candidate is worthy of initiation into heavenly secret knowledge. However, traps exist only because man, contaminated by the fall, has certain weaknesses, and his spiritual repair requires a strong will to overcome these sinful weaknesses. Demons, in their black hierarchy, wander the path of destruction, in which there is no repair of the entire being, which, in order to grow spiritually, must be fully transformed. A winner who reaches the seventh level of spiritual development reaches the sphere of the golden glow of truth and, as a fully initiated person, becomes worthy of co–reigning over the Spiritual Kingdom. As Christ – Maitreya says, “I will give the winner to sit on my Throne”, which means co–ruling over the Kingdom of Souls. An adept of the seventh level of transcendental consciousness therefore represents God on earth and is an ambassador of the Spiritual Hierarchy, an ambassador entrusted with many responsibilities within the Spiritual Realm. The seventh period of life ends with the second planetary initiation, which means the transition to the eighth level of cosmic consciousness. The fifth, sixth and seventh levels of transcendence prepare for the second initiation, while the first to fourth levels consolidate the energy of the first planetary initiation.

33. Reaching the seventh level requires, in addition to overcoming the three traps of dark forces, also cultivating experiences with primal vibrations, which means becoming aware of the deepest and most primal impulses of the soul, mastering cooperation with the spirits of wind and air, and achieving greater control over the breath. In addition to these things, the adept must develop the ability to emanate the spiritual properties symbolized by the wreath of 100 mantras (wasifas), that is, the ability to radiate the entire aura in a spiritual way. It is also necessary to develop and maintain a constantly positive mind, so that no bad thoughts are born, but only good, helpful and noble thoughts, because such thoughts are related to the experience of the world of God’s Truth. Maintaining lasting satisfaction and happiness, satisfaction with one’s fate, state of being and life conditions is also essential! So we have an image of some basic preparation for the perception of the light of the golden Truth. The freedom from selfishness, negative thinking and dark deeds must be almost absolute. And then the Truth of Divine Reality is revealed and the adept stands before the gate of the second planetary initiation. This is the transition from Samnyasa to Purna Samnyasa, which means complete renunciation and full release at the same time, i.e. the beginning of Kaivalya.

34. The eighth level of spiritual development or, if you prefer, the second level of initiation in the Temple of Nature of the Blue Lodge contains as a culmination, a station – a trap that is one of the cosmic principles of creation, namely the principle of passivity, inertia, or Tamaguṇa. Inertia and torpidity become the reason why the adept’s soul from the heights of Kitichaka consciousness slides down to the earth plane in the sixth circle of evolution. Circling this loop, i.e. falling to the plane of the earth, rising to the peak of the second initiation and falling again to a lower level of the evolution of consciousness, is a loop for demons of a higher kind, i.e. for the black lodge with its second initiation, and such an end may befall an adept with his Purna Samnyasa if he will reach the heights of the evolution of the human spirit. That is why we warn against resting on our laurels and spiritual passivity, we warn against inaction. With great work and great effort, we overcome the temptation of Tamoguna and rise to the ninth stage of evolution, that is, to the circle of holiness of adepts of the first solar initiation of the soul. Cultivating good deeds, good in the cosmic sense, good because they are consistent with God’s Will, as well as deep faith in the One God the Creator are important factors that strengthen our liberation and lead the soul upwards, preventing it from falling. Maintaining a state of constant bliss and happiness and actively working for the good of God’s Evolutionary Plan are further supports of our realization as Kitichaka.

We can only wish all adepts of the spiritual Path good luck in successfully overcoming each of the ten traps of the universal Path of Heaven! God bless you!

Aćarya Lalit Mohan G.K.

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