The Light Bringer III: Darkness Over Tibet

“All was there, intelligence, power, but no – soul! Everything in me cried out in one wild agony. I sat down and put my hands before my face. I had recognized the nature of all these saviours of souls. They were – fallen angels! … And they now live for the purpose of making others share their dreadful fate by dragging them down with them into the abyss. The Prince of Light was really the Prince of Darkness in disguise!”

— Theodore Illion, Darkness Over Tibet

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[ Note: The Light Bringer I and Light Bringer II should be read chronologically before reading the following]

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A recent National Geographical Society documentary Light at the Edge of the World: Science of the Mind (2007) made by anthropologist Wade Davis, explores the state of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal, and the rituals and practices of monasteries in Sanghas, and a hermatice in the Himalayan foothills. There are inspiring scenes of wisdom and peace evident in many of the Tibetan monks and the positive effects of those who radiate an “embodied compassion” on the path of transforming the mind and spirit. But what of the other paths of Tibet Buddhism that are not so often discussed, yet clearly exist?

The ritual of summoning of spirits via mediumship or trance-channelling which is really just another form of “possession,” is routinely used in the so-called “positive” path of Tibetan Buddhism. In another documentary by the same director The Oracle: Reflections on Self  the State Oracle of Tibet forms an important part of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. We are told that the Oracle is: “… seen as an “ancient spirit, which has inhabited a succession of thirteen human mediums” and “advises the Dalai Lama on matters of public and religious policy.”

The narrator continues:

“Five Nature spirit Kings have protected Tibetan Buddhism since the eighth century” one of which possesses the State Oracle to dispense advice. In the Buddhist Great Chain of Being there are 6 realms of existence and within them sentient beings can exist on 31 different planes. We human beings exist on a gross material plane. Nature spirits exists on a very subtle level. They are completely formless. … “When the eighth century Indian came to Tibet to bring Buddhism to its inhabitants he found a war-like people practicing a highly-developed form of Nature religion called Bahn. Mountains, forests and rivers all had their local deities; they were alive and animated with the spirit’s actions.”

The legend said that the Guru Rimpoche bound them to his great spiritual will and made them declare an oath to protect the great Buddha Darma. The traditional forces of the elemental world in the occult form the basis of manipulation of energy and magick. How are we to then to differentiate the real purpose behind ritual and magick when contacting such a realm, whether it is in the mind of the contactee or as a real dimension beyond the senses?

The “highly ritualised form of spirit possession” brings into the focus the possibility that such entities and rituals can equally be drawn along the path opposite to compassion and love while claiming to be the same. That is their raison d’être, after all. Regardless of whether the Dalai Lama has immediate knowledge and safeguards which determine the authenticity of the “spirit” in question, what of other groups within the vast tapestry of Buddhism which have a similar tradition and which may have equally engaged with the West as the camouflaged nemesis of the Dalai Lama?

Whether we believe in such things or not, within pagan and occult beliefs, deities and demons will engage with anyone who open their doors and it depends entirely on the quality of consciousness and the intent of the practitioner as to which path opens up before him. It is the nature of existence that “Symbols of good [clash] with demons – the positive and the negative” as the narrator mentions. Learning to discern which is which may come from playing with fire and being burnt. But as is the case in Western society, lies are made palatable when they are sandwiched between truth.

It might be useful at this point to look at Theodore Illion’s book Darkness Over Tibet  in order to observe some parallels and alternative possibilities in relation to the Lucis Trust and affiliated organisations. (PDF HERE – Be aware a reader alerted me to the fact there are possible sections/pages missing)

Published in English from the original German in 1937, the book describes an autobiographical account of Theodore Illion’s journey into the heart of Tibet between 1934 and 1936. Illion (a pseudonym) writes in the preface:

“In my book In Secret Tibet I have given an outline of my recent journey to Tibet … After witnessing various marvels … I reached the final stage of the journey in the most inaccessible part of the country where live the genuine Tibetan hermits, who can read people’s thoughts and possess the strange power to maintain themselves young almost indefinitely.” ^[1]

Although the book is probably non-fiction many people have expressed reservations that this may be along the lines of Carlos Castenada’s work in that the events may have occurred, but perhaps not as described. Rather, the events were used to fashion an allegorical tale on the nature of reality. If so, this does not diminish the profound insights on the nature of spiritual deception.

Author and historian Laura Knight-Jadczyk in her own commentary on Darkness Over Tibet quotes traveller Alexandra David-Neel who experienced similar bizarre and paranormal events and which were, in her case, verifiable. She explores the same discoveries and most importantly the “dark methods” by which a short cut to so-called spiritual power is induced:

“There exist, so [some anchorites belonging to the Dzogschen sect] said, certain human beings who have attained such a height degree of spiritual perfection, that the original material substance of their bodies has become transmuted into a more subtle one which possesses special qualities. […] A morsel of their transformed flesh, when eaten, will produce a special kind of ecstasy and bestow knowledge and supernormal powers upon the person partaking of it.”

Knight-Jadczyk comments:

“David-Neel describes for us the rituals of these ‘sacred feasts’ in some detail, and the feeling that one begins to get about the whole Tibetan ‘spiritualism’ is one of revulsion. Nevertheless, she confirms that there are mystics and hermits who are of the light, though it seems that the vast majority of Tibetan mysticism is purely and simply black magic and sorcery.” ^[2]

This is a worrying statement when we realise that Theosophy and particularly the offshoot represented by Alice A. Bailey, had its genesis in the very same conjunction of East and West, sought by Blavatsky and others in the mountains of Tibet.

It is along these lines of witnessing the same mediumship spectacle that Illion travels to a nearby monastery in the hope of seeing “The Oracle” along with a religious play presented by the lamas of the monastery. Written in the 1930s, the witnessing of “entities” or “demons” was in evidence and documented in a similar manner in both documentaries above. Various kinetic and psychic skills such as bending metal are also on show. The crowds in the monastery are whipped up into a virtual hysteria by these “miracles” which leave Illion impressed as well as shocked.

He tells us something pertinent in relation to the spectacle:

“Crowds easily fuse into one ‘group soul,’ and then the individual no longer behaves as he would behave individually. Crowds really are not the sum total of all the individualities present. They seem to be a suddenly formed new entity actuated by a kind of ‘group soul.’ It is man sinking back temporarily into the “group consciousness” from which civilized man is just about to emerge. I think only the greatest of the great [are] fully and definitely individualized and beyond the possibility of lapsing back temporarily into group consciousness.”

Where have we heard about this “group consciousness” before? “The soul is naturally, inevitably group conscious” says Sarah McKechnie, International President of the Lucis Trust, the Arcane School and its service activities. She equates this with an impersonal association that limits the needs of the personal self and offers an international and inclusive perspective. Yet, that is not what is being offered when we peruse all of the literature. What is being sold is obedience to a “Divine Plan” under a blanket of half-truths and complicated occult principles which appeal to a specific kind of intellect. Being “group conscious” is one thing but plying the virtues of “group consciousness” as the end goal to fulfil a form of occult synarchy, is quite another. ^[3]

                         © infrakshun

Illion’s journey takes him deeper into the Tibet religion and lore so that he ends up in a religious sect or “Holy Brotherhood” led by “Mani Rimpoche, the Exalted Jewel or Prince of Light, the Ruler of the Holy City.” One of the followers named Narbu befriends Illion and becomes his friend:

“The next few days would be of vital importance for me, said Narbu. No one here had a right to force my hand and I had to decide quite freely whether I wanted to become a member. I was quite free to come and go as I liked, and so long as I had not taken a pledge I was under no obligation to the Holy Brotherhood. Then he whispered: ‘Many of us here realize of what enormous value you could be to us if you decided to join us of your own free will.’ He even hinted at a quick rise in the ranks of the Hierarchy, rapidly succeeding initiations and the possibility of my being entrusted with a ‘really big job’ once I had decided to become a member….the moment you have taken your decision the Prince of Light will assign to you the exalted position in which you will be most useful.” ^[4]

He felt bad to have doubted his friend and the Brotherhood. Nevertheless, Illion was no fool. He could not shake his conviction that all was not what it seemed:

“I again looked at Narbu and felt ashamed to have entertained such thoughts. He seemed to feel so sincere about it. He wanted me to join a Brotherhood working for the good of the world, and gave me freedom to make my choice. The pendulum swung back once more and I felt a perfect beast to have entertained these thoughts. […] All these people were a little proud to have the privilege of working for the world. They had a rather high opinion of their own spirituality. Some of them even linked up the Prince of Light with certain highly placed spiritual entities who are what Hindu philosophers call karmic agents and regulate the unloading of karmic reactions on men and nations. Some of them even seemed to feel that the Holy Ruler could actually influence the destinies of the world by hastening or retarding the outbreak of wars, the evolution of new types of epidemics and the disappearance of older kinds of diseases, as well as the action of other scourges of humanity, including the various catastrophes of Nature. They seemed to consider the Holy Jewel as a kind of supreme judge dispensing Divine justice, and naturally felt very elated at the thought of standing so near a being who possessed all these powers.

Human intelligence they only held in mediocre esteem. They seemed to feel that man’s mission was to get past the human stage, and that passing beyond the limited matter-of-fact intelligence of man and soaring to intuitive levels was the best method of becoming more ‘Divine.’” ^[5] [Emphasis mine]

As the reader may remember from the previous post, the Lucis Trust is very familiar to me having spent five years as a member of the Arcane School and attending many conferences and meetings. What was clear and which became more obvious in hindsight, was the underlying intellectual superiority, largely unconscious, that could be seen in conversation and focus. So many students were indeed proud and with a “rather high opinion of their own spirituality.” Yet, discipleship, hierarchies, magical formulae and the emphasis on being in the front line of a New Order fosters such a feeling of specialness, as though one has the inside scoop (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). It was certainly something that appealed to my own intellectual bias and personality awareness at the time. (When you have suffered trauma and your centre of gravity is intellectual, you often seek sanctuary via information. Which is why so many of our academics are clueless when it comes to real-life and emotional intelligence).

Conversely, sincerity, charity and kindness were very common to see at the meetings. The same ideas emanating from the United Nations and its agencies such as world government and New World Religion, a global education system were seen as wholly safe in the hands of those who gave us the Great invocation (See notes). No objective analysis was present regarding the nature of ponerology and the lessons of history that are riven with geo-political manipulation and spiritual deception. For teachings that pushed often complex “esoteric science” the simplicity of spiritual blindness was tangible. Since so many of us are often unconsciously afflicted with the results of a loss of meaning and the materialistic, narcissistic visions which are daily injected into our consciousness it is little wonder that we are unaware of the subtler dimensions of spiritual deception.  Once again, our survival persona, carefully fabricated to buffer ourselves against the entropic tide also separates us from our soul, bolstering the very thing we ostensibly wished to avoid.

This is just how Illion experienced it:

I listened to the conversation of the people seated in the neighbouring circle. They were talking on evolution. People in the City did not seem to talk much about any human topics. All of them seemed to want to get past the human stage and to be God-like.

One of them envisaged the glory of evolution, life passing from the mineral stage through plants, animals, man and angels up to the archangelic and Divine stages, and every creature automatically becoming a god.

Glory, in their eyes, seemed to be the automatic and inevitable destiny of man. They did not seem to be aware of the dreadful alternative of annihilation, of the fact that there is a downward trend of satanic evolution as a counterpart to the upward trend of Divine evolution.

They seemed to feel that the great spiritual struggle was between spirit and matter. They seemed to utterly ignore the vital fact that there are two different types of spirituality, the upward trend and the [downward] one, and that the real spiritual struggle is one between the two different types of spirituality with matter serving as the battleground. ^[6] [Emphasis mine]

Are we truly aware of this fact? Namely that from an esoteric or spiritual point of view, this world is “inside the devil” and as such He is Master of it? What are the implications of the hypothesis that ceremonial psychopathy / evil will take human constructs and build elaborate theories which will have just enough truth to trap the unwary in order to invert their energy of will and harvest it for its own ends?

After a meeting with the so-called “Prince of Light” it does nothing to allay Illion’s fears. The evening was beset with: “… grave doubts as to the real nature of the whole Brotherhood of Light.” During the night he suffers from a series of nightmares full of demons and the angels which come to his aid:

The boys in pure white robes still looked very concerned. All their feelings found a visible impression in their expressive faces. They stood behind me, but during my nightmare I could see forward and backward at the same time. The demons, however, had no individual expression in their faces. They were all alike. There was no personality about them. They seemed to mechanically carry out the behests of someone else. The [good angels] seemed to possess strong individualities. This very individuality was their best defence against the large army of spiritual dummies.” ^[7] [Emphasis mine]

With his disciple friend Narbu they visit the shaft in the centre of the Holy City which had particular ritual significance for the Masters. Illion’s companion described the shaft as “immeasurably deep” where one except the Prince of Light and a few of the highest Initiates who are called Lords of Compassion know where it leads to. Anyone discovering the “secrets” of the place was said to “die automatically the following night.” However, the author had been given permission to attend the temple service where he discovers that human blood is drunk as part of a communion and where human bones litter the edge of the temple.

© infrakshun

On its walls Illion finds various inscriptions in Tibetan including:

“‘Give your soul to the Master and He will show you the light.’ I thought of a man buying a cat in a bag. Another one read, ‘Distrust your brain. Deep understanding is beyond intelligence.’ This only increased my desire to trust my brain. Another inscription ran, ‘Blessed be you who suffer. Come to me and I will give you relief.’ And another, ‘Everything is unreal, only my own words are real.’ This inscription, I thought irreverently, was none too modest.”[8]

Here we have the giving away of one’s free-will, individuality and one’s very soul for something which masquerades as light but in fact, is derived from darkness. Deception is its mode of seduction and the absence of humility it’s way in.

Illion wanders around the library building and looks at the pictures on the walls depicting the Masters or “Soul Saviours” and “Redeemers” of the past. He continues to look into their eyes only to realise to his horror that:

“All was there, intelligence, power, but no – soul! Everything in me cried out in one wild agony. I sat down and put my hands before my face. I had recognized the nature of all these saviours of souls. They were – fallen angels! … And they now live for the purpose of making others share their dreadful fate by dragging them down with them into the abyss. The Prince of Light was really the Prince of Darkness in disguise!” ^[9]

He experiences what could be described as a “Dark Night of the Soul” where illusions and beliefs come crashing down and sadness engulfs him. Upon confronting the Prince of Light as to his true nature, he realises that he has placed himself in extreme danger. He resolves to leave the City as soon as he can to protect himself physically and psychically. His friend Narbu accompanies him, sad that he is leaving. Illion laments on the spiritual fate of his friend:

The poor, kind-hearted man! He thought he was in the city of a Great Light Power, and the thought that I did not want ‘salvation’ made him sad. For a moment I contemplated whether I should tell him bluntly that he really was in the city of the Evil One, but strange to say I felt that I could not. For spiritual realizations entail enormous spiritual responsibilities.

Even the Powers of Evil have their spiritual mission. They snatch souls if men themselves give them up. By his spiritual sins, man himself weakens the ties which link him to his soul, and the more he sins spiritually the more he strikes himself with blindness until he can no longer see the difference between ‘Gods’ and the Creator, no matter how high are his occult accomplishments. The devil tempts, but he can only seize souls that voluntarily yield to his temptation. That is the law of the universe. […]

There stood Narbu, kind-hearted and only afflicted with a slight dose of spiritual arrogance, but otherwise good at the core. He wanted to save me, although it was himself who needed salvation, and I could not save him. ^[10]

If that doesn’t strike a soul terror into you then nothing will.

“Even the Powers of Evil have their spiritual mission”. And their greatest trick is to work through the frailties of our own minds by encouraging ignorance and wishful thinking. The author reiterates the point: how easy it is to follow lies and deception because within so much of what passes for New Age philosophy is the idea that somehow the intellect and reason is suspect. Only is it useless if used as the master of perception rather than an essential tool married to the heart. Dispassionate reasoning is absolutely crucial in determining truth from lies. The Lucis Trust veils the same ideas while constantly appealing to the intellect, paying lip service to integration of the heart and mind. But it is in favour of submerging one’s consciousness and energy in a mass mind and a Plan that promotes a form of centralised group slavery right across the board, from politics to spirituality.

Even if we were foolish enough to accept the many truths sandwiched between subtle deviations from the truth, delivered so adroitly by the Lucis Trust and its Arcane School, what will follow in the 75 years after its inception can only be the onset of ponerogenesis if there is no awareness of how psychopathy can infect large-scale institutions and ideologies – particularly those of a ceremonial psychopathy. While advocating free-will and choice they are seducing a largely white, middle class man by throwing the meat of occult magic to the intellectually polarised in order to cook it in self-importance. It is all a repackaged form of Synarchy with lots of juicy esoteric ingredients to keep the neophytes occupied.

And the brighter the individual the more complex the delusion can be.

Illion writes of how the Dark Brotherhood’s influence had permeated the more traditional forms of Tibetan Buddhism, tainting the philosophy with rituals and beliefs, the likes of which were even part of the Dalai Lama’s belief system as mentioned before:

The lamas also spoke of the necessity to believe blindly in the contents of their 333 holy books. Just like the members of the Brotherhood in the City, I thought. There, too, the most sublime gift of man – his intelligence – had to be discarded and transcended. […]

They continually spoke, too, of “salvation”, of “saving” one’s soul by giving it up to the Divine. Many, perhaps most, of the conversations at which I had been present in the City – in the dining-building and elsewhere – had a distinct parallel in the sermons of the lamas. The Prince catered for the elect, the lamas for the multitude, I thought, but I failed to see any fundamental difference between the two. ^[11]

Is this what we are seeing at the Lucis Trust and other branches of New Age discourse and practice? As mentioned, both Blavatsky and Alice Bailey’s teachings are firmly rooted in Tibetan Mysticism which is replete with sorcery and Magick the residue of which can be seen in the ostensibly “healthy” beacons of Tibetan thought. The perception of the “elect” is transplanted into the values of the “multitude” and we fail to see that the elect themselves may be duped, setting up mostly well-intentioned people to follow. It matters little if 99 percent of the Ageless Wisdom is truthful. What of the emerging framework materialised at this level of existence? Does the theory truly match the reality when we consider the centres where this “White Magic” is manifesting – not least its membership?

Illion’s companion’s only crime against his soul was “arrogance” and wishful thinking that his Prince of Light was the Great Being he thought he was. And it is our own ignorance of the spiritual jungle and our desperate wish to believe which may lead away from the very truth we seek. What is more, we would never even know it. Which leads us on to an even more disheartening episode in the meeting with a “wise hermit” whom a friend of Illion’s had spoken and described as a great spiritual teacher. So, the protagonist travels to see him, his curiosity piqued, eager to reclaim some true spiritual nourishment.

Upon his arrival he asks the hermit:

“Is it not your spiritual duty to warn me of demons who may easily appear in the disguise of angels, as occasionally happens in Western countries?” I had asked further. “No,” he had said. “Even if I realized their nature myself, it is a man’s highest spiritual duty to respect another man’s spiritual freedom. […] You must discover things for yourself. You are going to Tibet. You have to take the risks, not I.”

Illion seems to be reminding us – as have many spiritual teachers – that true guidance allows the student to learn for him or herself and by respecting spiritual freedom and choice. Despite the Bailey teachings placing emphasis on free-will and the opportunity for the disciple to choose, the problem seems to lie in the fact that we must learn to discern and discriminate what are real choices or just a collection of sweeteners which only offer the illusion of choice.

The hermit known by the name of “Gentle Friend” lived simply, drew no attention to himself, had no real followers or disciples and honoured the principle that people should follow “the light of their own intelligence.” Illion thought the signs were good. He liked him. Just like the place with its yaks and open-minded villagers: “There seemed to be so much common sense and sincerity about [the] man.” The teacher talked of the futility of spiritual guidance and that it could not be given. It was up to man to perfect himself by introspection, “understanding oneself and discovering the real value of things.” And here Illion comes to a fascinating point in the context of psychopathy in the human world and the predator in the natural world.

On the principle of non-resistance for all animals Illion could not agree:

There were obviously two realms of animals in nature. If I was kind to a horse or a dog and in exceptional cases even to a bear or a squirrel, the kindness would be justified. But how about kindness to parasites, to snakes, to crocodiles or sharks? The latter animals belonged to a different branch of life. No amount of love, kindness, and non-resistance would ever disarm a shark or a louse, I thought.

Was it not a crime then to eat, because the food taken by the Gentle Friend and our circle could have fed many more rats? Surely many of them were hungry, for rats and other parasitic animals always multiply a little faster than the food supply available for them could justify, so that they always need more food.

Life is a struggle. In this struggle, a just and equitable balance CAN be kept between man and animals of the non-parasitic type, but the animals belonging to the descending branch of life, such as gnats, mosquitoes, rats, mice, flies, etc., must be FOUGHT.

I wondered whether the Gentle Friend would also object to disinfection during epidemics out of kindness to germs of disease if he happened to come to the West! ^[12] [Emphasis mine]

This is the reasoning we must take when confronted by the psychopath, individually and collectively. Can it be said that humans too have those that follow a “different branch of life” opposite to inclusiveness, love and creativity? As in the animal kingdom, perhaps there are predators who seek to trap and feed, the only difference being in terms of awareness and in some cases an entirely different reason for Being: – Non-Being. The same tools of defence must operate if we are not to be dragged down into that same psychic abyss.  They must be fought by building our knowledge base of their behaviour so that we can protect ourselves and our loved ones from their corrosive influence. Essential psychopaths do not change. Kindness or “turning the other cheek” in the face of evil will mean an easy meal for the Predator.

 

Illion agreed with the teacher’s stand on undue asceticism, fasting to obtain spiritual results and the opinion of magic as a “veritable crime.” According to Illion’s lecturer: “The only way to salvation… was through the disappearance of ignorance, stupidity.” In other words, gaining knowledge protected the seeker against manipulations drawn from ignorance of evil’s wily ways. Nevertheless, despite these apparent truths, the idea of discarding one’s separate spiritual existence and giving up one’s personal will reappeared. Illion disagreed, explaining his reasons in the following terms:

The idea struck me that to try to be “like God” by entirely destroying one’s I- consciousness amount to committing spiritual suicide. Annihilation could not be the supreme goal of life. Just as in material things, as much egotism is justified as is absolutely necessary to maintain our separate existence, it is the duty of the creature to maintain its individuality also in the realm of spirituality, otherwise life would have no meaning. […]

Prehistoric man was group conscious. Modern man is not yet fully I-conscious. Again and again he is drawn back into the clan and family spirit, that is to say, he is alternately group conscious and I-conscious. So the trend of evolution in modern man is from group-consciousness towards FULL I-consciousness.

And now the Gentle Friend proposed that man, whose I-consciousness is just emerging from group consciousness – should jump back to a state of ‘total’ consciousness which existed prior to group- consciousness! ^[13]

Group consciousness is a state prior to being spiritually mature or “individualised;” a truly independent and sovereign soul. A retrogressive path was suggested by the Gentle Friend all along, yet littered with gems of truth. Illion laments the fact that: “There had been so much truth in them, and yet they were only nearly true. The word ‘almost’ in spiritual matters is an ominous one. The Evil One is Almost God, and in this little word ‘almost’ makes all the dreadful difference.”

Which is why occultism, fundamentalist religion and any dogma which purports to be “spiritual” can lead us in the opposite direction if we have not honed our “inner-tuition” partnered with a cold-bloodied objectivity. And there is nothing more tragic then men and women of goodwill serving the: “… cause of darkness while they honestly believe they serve the cause of light.” So much New Age thought seeks a safe, warm place within, shunning the exploration and analysis of negative things because they believe the fallacy that this gives negativity power. In fact, understanding the dynamics of negativity in ourselves and the external world dis-empowers it and offers the best protection. It seems an exclusive search for love, light and happiness is not the answer. It  merely lives to nihilism, to be dragged by default into the slipstream of Non-Being.

Illion tells us:

That day he lectured on nothingness, on becoming like ‘nothing,’ and the “happiness’ one derived from becoming like nothing. What motive did he recommend for seeking a non-egocentrical conception of life?

Happiness! The search for happiness!

Not a word about the intense suffering of a man who feels one with all the joys and sorrows of the world. All he recommended was an escape from life, ‘nothingness,’ and subsequent happiness, viz. the very height of selfishness. ^[14]

And in a growing culture of narcissism and other pathologies it is so easy to forget that we daily give away our response-ability and freedom in the deepest sense when we acquiesce to the “almost”-evil. And the more we follow the Pied Piper the harder it is to see objectively. Which is why a rigid belief is so essential to any authoritarian system: through a belief – especially a slippery spiritual one – you can create fear and through fear you have control.

Illion’s appraisal of evil continues:

Before he withdrew I looked at him fully for the last time. There was nothing in his eyes, voice, or bearing that could have provided any clue as to whether he really believed in the destructive things he had said or whether he was a mere tool. He may have been the latter. In most cases, apostles who are themselves deceived are very dangerous. It is easier to deceive people if the deceiver believes in his own message.

I realized how dreadfully clever and adaptable the Evil One is, and in how many different and cleverly disguised ways he carries on his soul-snatching activities. There is the appeal of wealth and power and the snare of excessive care for the needs of the body. Many people sell their souls to get them. Then there is the appeal of spiritual distinctions and paradises. … And for people who cannot be caught by either of the two, there are subtle philosophical systems. Decidedly the devil’s shop is a well-stocked on; he caters for all possible tastes, and his snares are everywhere. […]

At top speed I left the mountain where the Pied Piper plays the tune of simplicity to catch souls. When I sat down to take my lunch […] I pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down the following sketch:

Once upon a time there were clever philosophers. They did not believe in the Creator.

“We follow our own light, ” they said. And in all matters they only relied on the light of introspection. Then they came across the Devil.

“What a monster!” said one of them. “What a comfort to know that nothing is real and everything is a mere reflection of ourselves!”

“You are right,” put in a second philosopher. “Everything is subjective; nothing is objective.”

Then the Devil opened his mouth and swallowed them.

When they arrived inside the Devil’s body the clever philosophers said with a superior smile: “Is it not obvious that we were right? The monster has disappeared.”

I intensely realized that the more man approaches full individualization, the more he is conscious of his duties to the Creator, the rising branch of life, and himself. […] The province of man is action. In this world of matter, which is really the battleground for a formidable struggle of two different spiritualities, the few wise men of Tibet who are great and dynamic personalities intensely personal, yet acting impersonally, represent a kind of bodyguard of the Creator which holds in check the other camp of methodically working “annihilators” and “soul snatchers.”

I could feel their thoughts. They possessed the power to rule over the forces of Nature, but their very nature prevented them from using those powers unless it was absolutely necessary in the service of the Creator. ^[15]

Since most major international institutions are embedded or affiliated to various occult clubs, the Lucis Trust being the most public, we have to ask the most obvious question prompted by Darkness Over Tibet and related warning signs: Are they predominantly overshadowed by a rising branch of life; those that are on hand for assistance but allow humanity to work out their lessons as all wise teachers would do?

Or are they the often gullible representatives of the “soul catchers” who weave their intricate spells through a thousand proffered beliefs?

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Notes

[1] Darkness Over Tibet (Mystic Travellers Series) By Theodore Illion. First published in 1938 by Rider & Co. This edition published by Adventures Unlimited Press; New edition, 1991.| ISBN-10: 0932813143 (Preface).
[2] ‘Darkness Over Tibet: excerpts and Commentary’ by Laura Knight-Jadczyk 2003 quoting Alexandra David-Neel from Magic and Mystery in Tibet 1971.
[3] From an extract “Freedom in Unanimity”, an address given at the Arcane School Conference in London, June 17, 2000).
[4] p.116; Darkness Over Tibet by Theodore Illion, Published by Adventures Unlimited Press 1997 |ISBN 0-932813-14-3.
[5]   Ibid. (p.118)
[6]   Ibid. (p.120)
[7]   Ibid. (p.122)
[8]   Ibid. (p.145)
[9]   Ibid. (p.150)
[10] Ibid. (p.155)
[11] Ibid. (p.165)
[12] Ibid. (p.175)
[13] Ibid. (p.177)
[14] Ibid. (p.179)
[15] Ibid. (p.188)

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