There are plenty of life coaches and guides teaching simple meditation in order to calm the mind and derive some temporal benefit out of it. Occult meditation is however, the science and art of spiritual awakening meant to lead one towards soul union. Occult meditation is not simple mindfulness. It is a scientific practice for awakening the latent powers of man. The purpose of Occult meditation is spiritual awakening, initiation, and other forms of occult development. Occult meditation leads one towards adeptship and seership. It awakens the latent faculties like kundalini, clairvoyance and the chakras. Although the student must never seek these things initially, ultimately occult meditation leads to awakening of these faculties.
It is mentioned in the writings of Alice Bailey that meditation is beneficial only under certain circumstances:
“…..for meditation is dangerous and unprofitable to the man who enters upon it without the basis of a good character and of clean living. Meditation then becomes only a medium for the bringing in of energies which but serve to stimulate the undesirable aspects of his life, just as the fertilizing of a garden full of weeds will produce a stupendous crop of them, and so crush out the weak and tiny flowers.
Meditation is dangerous where there is wrong motive, such as desire for personal growth and for spiritual powers, for it produces, under these conditions only a strengthening of the shadows in the vale of illusion and brings to full growth the serpent of pride, lurking in the valley of selfish desire. Meditation is dangerous when the desire to serve is lacking.”
– Holy Master DK with Alice Bailey
A treatise on White Magic
This is the very first step in meditation. To stamp out selfish desire. Students who consider self-interest to be healthy. Aspirants who meditate in order to use the energy generated during meditation for some self gratifying goals can never grow on the occult path. The first three laws of walking the path are as follows:
“1. Kill out ambition.
2. Kill out desire of life.
3. Kill out desire of comfort.”
– Light on the Path by Mabel Collins
Now moving on to the dangers of occult meditation practice, there are many dangers. The most prevalent ones are mentioned below:
1. The Danger of Overstimulation – When we meditate for too long, when we play with kundalini fire, chakras and breathing exercises etc, it can result in overstimulation. The following paragraph from the book Intellect to Intuition by Alice Bailey explains this quite perfectly.
“Students frequently complain of over-stimulation and of such an increased energy that they find themselves unable to cope with it. They tell us that, when attempting to meditate, they have an inclination to weep, or to be unduly restless; they have periods of intense activity wherein they find themselves running hither and thither serving, talking, writing and working so that they end by undergoing a violent reaction, sometimes to the point of nervous collapse. Others complain of pains in the head, of headaches immediately after meditating, or of an uncomfortable vibration in the forehead, or the throat. They also find themselves unable to sleep as well as heretofore.
They are, in fact, over-stimulated. The nervous system is being affected through the medium of fine and subtle “nadis” which underly the nerves and to which we earlier referred. These troubles are the troubles of the neophyte in the science of meditation and must be dealt with carefully. Rightly handled, they will soon disappear, but if they are ignored they may lead to serious trouble. The earnest and interested aspirant, at this stage, is himself a difficulty, for he is so anxious to master the technique of meditation, that he ignores the rules given him and drives himself, in spite of all the teacher may say or the warnings he may receive. Instead of adhering to the fifteen minute formula which is given him, he endeavors to force the pace and do thirty minutes; instead of following his outline, which is so arranged that it takes about fifteen minutes to complete, he tries to hold the concentration as long as possible, and at the height of his effort, forgetting that he is learning to concentrate, and not to meditate, at this stage of his training. So he suffers, and has a nervous breakdown, or a spell of insomnia, and his teacher gets the blame and the science is regarded as dangerous. Yet all the time, he himself is the one in fault.
When some of these primary troubles occur, the meditation work should be temporarily stopped, or slowed down. If the condition is not sufficiently serious to warrant the complete cessation of the work, a close observation should be made of where (in the human body) the inflowing energy seems to go. Energy is tapped in meditation, and it will find its way to some part or other of the mechanism.
In mental types, or in the case of those who have already some facility in “centering the consciousness” in the head, it is the brain cells which become over-stimulated, leading to headaches, to sleeplessness, to a sense of fullness, or to a disturbing vibration between the eyes or at the very top of the head. Sometimes there is a sense of blinding light, like a sudden flash of lightning or of electricity, registered when the eyes are closed, and in the dark equally as in the light.
When this is the case, the meditation period should be reduced from fifteen minutes to five, or meditation should be practiced on alternate days, until such time as the brain cells have adjusted themselves to the new rhythm and the increased stimulation. There is no need for anxiety, if wise judgment is used, and obedience to the advice of the teacher is present, but should the student at this time begin to push his meditation, or to increase the time period, he may lay up for himself a good deal of trouble. Again common-sense comes into play, and with the reduction of the time, and with the practice of a little meditation every day, it should soon be possible to bring the work back again to normal. We have had students who have suffered this way, but who, by obedience to suggested rules, and the use of common-sense, are now doing their thirty minutes’ or an hour’s meditation daily.
In emotional types, the trouble is first sensed in the region of the solar plexus. The student finds himself prone to irritation and to anxiety and worry; also, particularly in the case of women, there may be found a disposition to cry easily. Sometimes there is a tendency to nausea, for there is a close relation between the emotional nature and the stomach, as is evidenced by frequency of vomiting in moments of shock, or fright, or intense emotion. The same rules apply as in the first set of cases: common-sense and a careful and slower use of the meditation process.
Another result of over-stimulation might be mentioned. People find themselves becoming over-sensitive. The senses work overtime and all their reactions are more acute. They “take on” the conditions, physical or psychic, of those with whom they live; they find themselves “wide open” to the thoughts and moods of other people. The cure for this is not to lessen the meditation periods – these should be continued as per schedule, – but to become more mentally interested in life, in the thought world, in some subject which will tend to develop the mental capacity and so bring about the ability to live in the head and not in the emotional region. Focussed attention to life and its problems, and some potent mental occupation will effect a cure. It is for this reason that wise teachers of meditation parallel the meditation work with some course of reading and study, so as to preserve the balance of their students. A rounded out development is needed always, and a trained mind should accompany growth in the spiritual life.
There is a third category of undesirable results which should not be omitted. Many students of meditation complain that their sex life has been tremendously stimulated and is giving them much trouble. We have come across such cases. On investigation, it will usually be found that these students are people whose animal nature is very strong, who have led an active and ill-regulated sex life, or whose thoughts are much engrossed with sex, even if the physical life is controlled. A strong mental complex as to sex is often discovered, and people who would regard it as wrong to lead an abnormal sex life, or to practice perversions, are mentally occupying themselves with sex or are discussing it all the time and letting it play an undue part in their thought life.
Some most worthy people have also a settled conviction that celibacy must always accompany the life of the spirit. May it not be possible that the true celibacy to which the ancient rules are intended to refer concerns the attitude of the soul, or spiritual man, to the world, the flesh and the devil, as our Christian Scriptures put it? May not the true celibacy have reference to our abstaining from all appearance of evil? This may in one man involve his abstaining from all sex relations in order to demonstrate to himself his control over the animal nature; in other cases, it may, for instance, involve refraining from all gossip and idle speech. There is nothing sinful in marriage and it is probably the way out for many who would otherwise lead an unduly active mental life where sex is concerned. It is needless, surely, to add here that the true student of meditation should not tolerate in his life promiscuous or illegitimate sexual relations.
The aspirant to the life of the spirit conforms not only to the laws of the spiritual kingdom but to the legalized customs of his age and time. He, therefore, regularizes his physical every day life so that the man in the street recognizes the morality, the uprightness and the correctness of his presentation to the world. A home that is based upon a true and happy relation between a man and a woman, upon mutual trust, co-operation and understanding, and in which the principles of spiritual living are emphasized, is one of the finest aids that can be given to the world at this time. A relation that is based on physical attraction and the gratification of the sex nature, and which has, as its primary objective, the prostitution of the physical nature to animal desire, is evil and wrong.If the goal of our effort is to demonstrate God immanent in form, then no level of consciousness is more intrinsically divine than another, and divinity can be expressed in all human relations. If a married man or woman cannot attain illumination and achieve the goal, then there is something wrong and divinity cannot express itself on one plane, at least, of expression; to put in terms that may sound blasphemous but which will enable us to grasp the futility of these reasonings: God is defeated in one part of His Kingdom.
This point has been enlarged upon because so many people, and particularly men, find that the animal nature requires attention when they begin to meditate. They discover within themselves uncontrolled desires, plus physiological effects which cause them acute trouble and discouragement. A person may have a high aspiration and a strong urge towards spiritual living and yet have aspects of his nature still uncontrolled. The energy that pours in during meditation pours down through the mechanism and stimulates the entire sex apparatus. The weak point is always discovered and stimulated.The cure for this situation can be summed up in the words: – control of the thought life and transmutation. An intense mental preoccupation and interest should be cultivated in other directions than the line of least resistance – sex. There should be an endeavor at all times to keep the energy contacted in the head and to permit it to work out through creative activity of some kind. The eastern teaching tells us that energy, usually directed to the functioning of the sex life, has to be raised and carried to the head and throat, particularly the latter, as it is, we are told, the chakra of creative work. To put it in western terms, this means that we learn to transmute the energy utilized in the procreative process or in sex thoughts and use it in the work of creative writing, in artistic endeavor, or in some expression of group activity. The tendency in modern times to find the one-pointed thinker and purely mental type evading marriage and as he frequently does leading a purely celibate life, may be a demonstration of the truth of the eastern position. It is causing a good deal of concern among those who study our falling birth rate. Transmutation is not surely the death of an activity or a cessation of functioning on any level of consciousness for the sake of a higher. It is the right utilization of the various aspects of energy wherever the Self feels they should be used for the furthering of the ends of evolution, and the helping of the Plan. The mind, illumined by the soul, should be the controlling factor, and when we think straight, live straight, and raise all thoughts and energies into the “Heavenly places” we shall solve our problems through the development of a spiritual normality which is greatly needed at this time, particularly among aspirants and esoteric students.
It might be well also, before this chapter comes to a close, to refer to the dangers to which many are liable if they respond to the appeal of teachers for pupils to “sit for development.” They are then taught to meditate upon some chakra of energy, usually the solar plexus, sometimes the heart, curiously enough never the head. Meditating upon a chakra is based upon the law that energy follows thought, and leads to the direct stimulation of that chakra and the resultant demonstration of the particular characteristics for which these focal points – scattered throughout the human body – are responsible. As the majority of people function primarily through the collected energies that lie below the diaphragm (the sex energies and the emotional energies) their stimulation is most dangerous. In view of this, why take risks? Why not be warned by the experience of others? Why not learn to function as the spiritual man from that point, so quaintly described by the Oriental writers, as “the throne between the eyebrows,” and from that high place control all aspects of the lower nature, and guide the daily life in the ways of God.”
Excerpted as indicated from FROM INTELLECT TO INTUITION /CHAPTER TEN – THE NEED FOR CARE IN MEDITATION
2. The Danger of Wrong Motive- When the purpose of meditation is self seeking, instead of awakening the powers of the soul, the practice awakens the powers of the ego. The practitioner as a result can get imbalanced and can develop a megalomaniac ego.
3. The Danger of Chanting- Torkom Saraydarian explains:
“Some people wonder about chanting. If chanting is done mechanically, it is extremely dangerous because it leads you into posthypnotic state of consciousness. If you know what you are chanting and what the chanting means and are always conscious while doing it, then there is no danger. If you are frequently chanting in a conscious way, you must be certain that you can contain that energy which comes into your centers. Sometimes your most active centers absorb the energy and then go out of control.
Let us say that your most active center is your sex center and you are chanting. Because your charkas are not harmonized, integrated and balanced with each other, the energy created by chanting will immediately go to your sex center. As you increase the chanting, you become more excited and sex oriented. The more energy you receive, the more your energy must be used in a field of worthy labor. Chanting is less dangerous if it is done by a group.”
– Torkom Saraydarian
Obsession and Possession
4. The Danger of premature awakening of Kundalini- This is a great danger because sometimes the effects are incurable. According to esoteric science Kundalini awakening should never be forced through dangerous techniques of kundalini yoga, and chakral meditation. Kundalini should awaken naturally according to the expansion of consciousness. Those who practice techniques of kundalini awakening are therefore in great danger.
“Some of the dangers of arousing Nature’s hidden forces in the body, unless under the direction of a Master:
(1) Premature arousing of Kundalini with its disturbing effects.
(2) Sex excitation.
(3) Emotional disturbances due to incursions from the Astral Plane of forces and beings through the solar plexus on to the sympathetic nervous system, which does not readily rationalize and so becomes confused. Those belonging to schools, classes or movements may already experience this.
(4) A sense of increased self-importance from which immoderate pride can develop.
(5) Enhancement of the powers of will and discovery of means of using will to influence others adversely.
(6) Whirling sensations in the brain, with consequent distress and fear of insanity. (Actually there is no ground for this fear.)
(7) Physical sensations of various kinds, such as being touched, subjected to seemingly electrical energies, a crawling sensation on the skin, especially at the chakras and a feeling of heat in the spinal cord, particularly at the sacrum.
(8) Partially seen and therefore misinterpreted clairvoyant visions of the Astral Plane. These may increase any sense of self-importance which may have arisen.
(9) Eccentricities of conduct, personality and speech outside of the immediate control of the mind.
(10) Susceptibility to being influenced by superphysical beings, notably shells of deceased persons seeking renewals of their fading vitality and so fastening upon sensitive people, greatly to their detriment.”
– Geoffrey Hodson
Theosophy in New Zealand, Vol. 35, No. 4, 1974, p. 78
Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov also warns about the same:
“Kundalini power is coiled like a serpent asleep at the base of the spinal cord. This is the power that has been called Mother of the Universe, and that Hermes Trismegistus calls the ‘strong fortitude of all strength’. Once awakened it may flow either up or down. If it moves upwards, it is very beneficial, and favours great spiritual development; if, on the contrary, it rushes downwards, it can have disastrous results.
He who awakens the power of Kundalini without being absolutely pure and wholly in control of himself becomes a prey to uncontrollable sexual passions which plunge him at lightning speed into the deepest abyss, and to an inordinate, overweening ambition which leads him to defy the whole world.
This is why disciples are strongly advised not to attempt to arouse the Kundalini force before they have cultivated great purity and humility, for this most powerful of all forces is just as liable to destroy as to create. In point of fact Kundalini can be aroused on different levels: it can be aroused seven times, for it sleeps with seven sleeps and is hidden by seven veils of matter. In one way it is quite easy to awaken Kundalini, but what is important, indeed essential, is to know what orientation to give to its energies and how to guide them, and this is much more difficult.
The forces of Kundalini are not subject to man’s will and cannot be driven in whatever direction he chooses; they will follow the direction determined by his qualities and virtues. When the fiery Serpent awakes it rushes headlong towards the nearest source of nourishment, and if this happens to be in a man’s lower nature, then that is where the Serpent goes, and the man is doomed and dragged down into the pit. Whereas, if he can offer the Serpent nourishment on a higher plane, then it will rise into the higher levels of his being.
When Kundalini rises it passes through the channel called Sushumna in the spinal cord. On either side of Sushumna are two other channels: Ida, which is negatively polarized and linked to the Moon, and Pingala, positively polarized and linked to the Sun. These two channels interweave upwards in a spiral movement, until Ida terminates in the left nostril and Pingala in the right.”
– Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov
