The Expanded or Transpersonal being goes beyond the dualistic ego
to the mystic and the cosmic states of existence. This is the state
of consciousness that one must pass through in order to attain realisation.
It has been given various names in different philosophies and cosmologies.
In Ken Wilber's
involution-evolution
psychology this stage would seem to include the "Centauric",
"Low Subtle"
and "High Subtle"
stages. More on this stage follows.
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But from the perspective of the ordinary consciousness this is a cosmic exansion and awakening, which we can call Expanded Consciousness. Here the consciousness moves beyond the boundaries of the individual's own limited sphere, and become seemingly universal in extent.
Different esoteric techniques enter this consciousness from different directions.
The path of Patanjali Yoga, Buddhist meditation, and similiar systems constitute a dual movement of inwardness (from Outer to Inner Being) and expansion (from Dualistic to the Cosmic) in the Mental body of Physical existence. During deep meditation the mind is stilled and consciousness expands until it becomes potentially limitless (this is the next stage - the Cosmic).
Tantra in the true sense, as opposed to the degenerate Western sex-aid spin-offs, constitutes the inner and expansive development of the Etheric body. Through these techniques, one moves beyond the Dualistic state through the awakening of the latent Shakti power (or kundalini) within each individual, and culminating in the attainment of Cosmic or Universal Shiva-Consciousness. Taoist practices of Internal Alchemy (nei-tan), Natha Tantra, and Tibetan Buddhism also incorporate these dimensions of being.
The Magical path of the Western
Hermetic tradition constitutes the development of a Psychic Expanded
Consciousness. It is in fact impossible to have any really dramatic
and important occult-magical experiences unless you attained, or at least
tapped into, the Transpersonal-Psychic state. But unlike the
above Oriental yogas, there is no specifically Inward movement. In
fact, Magic by its very nature is an Outward-directed phenomena.
Some occult traditions remain at the inner Outer Being level, whilst others
such as Chaos Magic and Kenneth Grant's Maatian approach tend more and
more to the Outer dimension; the primordial chaos beyond the cosmos.
Physical Shuddhashuddha Gods are the gods behind matter or the world of nature, which is self-contained and evolutionary. Some of these pertain to the descent or incarnation of higher principles, while others are native to the Physical Universe itself. There are many important Chthonic gods revealed in in mythology and religion; some being the source of life (e.g. the shamanic journey to the underworld, the resurrected Osiris, Christ's descent to the underworld, etc) and others the source of death (e.g. the Christian Devil, Rudolph Steiner's Ahriman, etc).
Psychic Shuddhashuddha Gods pertain to the "divinised" Psychic, as opposed
to the ordinary Psychic. This realm constitutes an Intermediate
Zone (to use a term of Sri
Aurobindo's) between the ordinary being and the true Spiritual-Divine.
In the Intermediate Zone are various orders of Psychic Gods, some native
to the Psychic Universe, whilst others
are the result of higher resonances, e.g. Noeticised Psychic. The
existenec of these sometimes only partially or incompletely divinised higher
principles in the Astral Psychic
realms produces a mixture of Truth (the higher planes) and Falsehood (the
lower). If the Divine Light predominates, the result would be a God
on the Psychic plane. But if there is very little Divine Light and
a great deal of Astral light,
the result is a confused and misleading, pseudo-spiritual Intermediate
zone. This zone, especially taht part that I have termed the Numinocosmos,
has a tremendous magnetism and power, due to the bits of genuine spiritual
Light being vitalised by the Psychic nature. The forces and gods
of this region are often mistaken by the ignorant (and even sometimes by
the relatively wise) for the Supreme Godhead, and consequently worshipped.
The great majority of revealed religions actually derive from this Intermediate
zone rather than from the true Godhead. That is why religions and
revelations are often so full of stupidity, but also contain some spark
of wisdom. The little wisdom (or "universal truth") in them comes
from the Divine planes, while the great
deal of stupidity and ignorance is from the Astral
plane.
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