There is only one LIGHT
In this article we examine the claims of the many mystery schools and contradictory occult teachings the better to recognise the One Light of Truth
Many of you will know that when white light is passed through a prism it is broken up into seven colours. Moreover, each of these colours is composed of an almost infinite graduation of shades and tints — yet all are derived from just one Light. The same applies to Spiritual Light. This too is broken up into many colours, shades and tints as it is diffused through the 'prism' of man's understanding, but there is still only ONE Light; one source, and that source is God, however we wish to regard that Divine Being, Cause or Principle. We can liken the colours to the branches of a tree, and the shades and tints of each colour to the leaves, some bright, some dull, and some mottled, such as the heterogeneous melting pot of New Age beliefs and practises.
In The Teachings of Li Wang Ho we may read that:
"The Great Message," replied the Master, "has rung forth many times, and those who have listened have been saved. It is the newcomers, who have but lately evolved from the Shadows, who must ever be taught anew. The true Teachings should never cease; nor would they if all men were always ready to receive them, but all have to learn their lessons in the hard school of the material before they can ascend to the spiritual."
This is true. It is because we do so want with all our heart to help these newcomers that we are now discussing the various colours, shades and tints into which the one Light of Truth has been split in the form of the various mystical and occult teachings that exist in the world today. The first thing we would say is that we all need to go wrong in some way and experience falsehood, the darkness and the twilight before we can recognise and appreciate the bright light of Truth. An example of this are the many well-known mystery schools which are nothing more than social clubs whose members behold the vanity of their own dreams until the day of disillusion arrives and they leave to join yet another group which promises something better or more thrilling.
Malpractice and misconception in Mystery Schools
Many mystery schools, occult orders and groups plunge the newcomer into all manner of complicated rituals and occult exercises — without ever explaining the mechanism behind them — generally because the leaders of such groups do not know themselves. Such exercises are quite useless unless the occult student has first learned to master their turbulent emotions, divest themselves of their selfish desires, and acquire a measure of self-control. If you know anyone who is a member of such schools or orders you will know we speak the truth; if you do not, you may take our word for it that not one in a thousand of the self-styled 'adepts' and 'magicians' who belong to such organisations are in possession of that inner calm and self-mastery which is the first and hardest attainment on the Path to the Light.
One famous occult order claims Sir Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin among its past members whilst others confidently assert they were founded by Solomon, Moses, or — the Lord help us — Brahma Himself! Yet others claim to represent the mysterious 'illuminati' we hear so much about nowadays. Then there are the innumerable little cliques that offer 'channeled' teachings from extra-terrestrials, 'ascended masters', Tibetan 'saints' or New Age 'angels'. Finally, there are those groups who teach some variant of the so-called 'left-hand-path' or 'chaos magick', hoping in this way to gain what they think are 'occult' powers over demons or the satisfaction of their petty, material desires. What the members of such groups and followers of such teachings really gain is dissatisfaction and confusion at best and the ruin of their physical and mental health at worst. The 'light' of such groups and teachings is often very muddy indeed.
When the 19th century occultist H. P. Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society she did not claim to be the reincarnation of some famous personage from history to impress the foolish or adopt a 'saintly' persona to overawe the gullible. No, that wise and honest woman had better ways of transmitting the one Light of Truth to her pupils. Sadly, even before her passing in 1891, her followers felt the need to 'dress up' the simplicity of the Ancient Wisdom she taught by grafting upon it the vain imaginings of their wandering minds. Some leading theosophists even went so far as to expend their hours in so-called 'clairvoyant' investigations of the previous incarnations of themselves and their acolytes, making endless lists and charts of their lives as famous figures from history. Those theosophists who did not go along with this self-indulgent mystical mumbo-jumbo found themselves taken off the lists or assigned lives as serfs and other non-entities!
You may smile at such antics, but we assure you from our own personal experience that similar vapid practices are still rife in many of today's occult orders and groups. If only all the effort expended on all such useless fantasies was channeled into learning the simple Truths Madame Blavatsky tried to teach, the 'golden age' longed for by so many mystics would already be a reality. Unfortunately most seekers prefer the gaudy colours of psychic phenomena and the shimmering shades of mysterious 'mahatmas' to the simple purity of the One Light of Truth.
There are no such things as 'up-to-date' Truths
Many contemporary mystery schools take great pride in the 'modernity' of their teachings, forgetting or never knowing that there can never be such things as 'up-to-date' truths, for how can the eternal verities ever change? Some even go so far as to dismiss and deride any occult books or teachings that were published more than fifty years ago on the assumption that there is nothing the ancients knew that we do not know much better. The Books of Hermes, written many thousands of years ago, explode this silly fallacy in the following words:
"This certainly is true, that we know nothing of Truth. How should it be otherwise, my son? Truth is the supreme virtue, the sovereign Good which is not obscured by matter, nor circumscribed by the body; the naked Good, evident, unalterable, august, immutable. Now, the things which are here below thou seest, my son, are incompatible with the Good; they are perishable, changing, various, passing from form to form. That which is not even identical with itself, how can it be real? All that transforms itself is illusive, not only in itself, but by the appearances which it presents to us one after another."
Such simple truths are not for the 'chaos magician' or seeker after occult thrills. Their eyes are blinded by the One Light, and fly instead to the colourful speculations of the pretenders to truth and imposters of wisdom, to dream away their time on earth until once again they are precipitated into a new incarnation, having forgotten the little they once knew, to begin a new cycle of dreams. Yet we have all been such fools once and even a fool can become wise in the end — there is no hurry in eternity!
We could name many mystery schools and occult orders which become so enamoured of one tint that they miss the bigger picture entirely. Such are those which base all their teachings upon the Qabbalah, Ceremonial Magic, the Tarot or Astrology. Whilst this approach may lead to an understanding of some aspects of the occult sciences, it is also likely to mislead the seeker into mistaking the various tints and shades they behold for the one Light of Truth. An example of this is the contemporary obsession among many mystics with so-called 'healing' in various forms. It must be clear to everyone that without a thorough understanding of the physical body, of anatomy, pharmacology, and the laws that govern health and disease, any attempt at 'spiritual' healing is haphazard at best and dangerous at worst.
The modern obsession with 'healing'
The fact of the matter is that much of what passes for 'healing' in many mystery schools and among mystics is nothing more than fantasy at best and deception at worst. Not so long ago we visited a 'Psychic Fair' where we observed many interesting things, among them a 'Reiki Master' giving a 'treatment'. The patient had their eyes closed and could not see as we could, that the 'healer' yawned several times whilst they were making their 'mystical' passes in front of the poor dupe. The only 'magical' part of the operation was the breathtaking audacity of the 'healer' and the gullibility of their patient!
With the inner sight we could clearly see the aura of the 'Master' which abounded in the muddy brown, dull orange and grey-green tints that denote greed, deceit and cunning. Here we have a good example of one of the darker tints which lead so many seekers away from the one Light of Truth. This is not to say that all healers are fakes or that there is no value in Reiki. Many practitioners do good work, each in their own way. But to do real good the healer has to know a very great deal about the workings of the human body, the mind, the forces they are working with and the laws and principles of magnetic healing. This is only common sense, is it not? Moreover, these laws and principles have never been revealed outside the few genuine Occult Orders who teach them to their carefully selected students in secret.
Speaking of auras reminds us of a reader who wrote to us recently complaining that the 'aura cleansing' exercise their teacher had given them was not working. Whilst we are not going to provide any details about this exercise we may say that it included intoning various 'Tibetan mantras' and the burning of certain herbs. This unhappy seeker went on to tell us that his levels of anger and depression all increased after each ritual! We are not in the least surprised since our aura is nothing more nor less than the invisible atmosphere which reflects our thoughts and emotions. Attempting to 'cleanse' it in this way is rather like trying to get clean by washing one's clothes whilst we ourselves remain as filthy as ever! One would think this would be obvious to anyone. Sad to say all too many seekers are so overawed by the various 'rituals' and 'initiations' they undergo (when these are used by unscrupulous persons for their own questionable purposes) that they lose all sense of proportion.
The One Light of Truth
We have barely touched on the countless shades and tints that lead us away from the One Light of Truth, and we daresay you could enumerate many more yourself. But ask yourself honestly if the few we have discussed provide real answers to the great questions of life. Answers that you can test and prove for and by yourself that explain who and what man truly is and the purpose of life on earth and elsewhere in God's Universe. This is the great difference between the One Light and the many colours, shades and tints derived from it. If you study the many quotations we have taken from the writings of the great Sages and Masters, such as you can find in our various articles you will see that they all say the same thing.
In The Golden Star, the author uses the diamond as a symbol for God, just as we have done in this article to illustrate our theme of the One Light of Truth. Some of you will know that the atoms of a diamond are always arranged in groups of five, and as five is the numerical Symbol for Pure Love, the diamond is a perfect symbol for this most perfect attribute of the Supreme Creator which reflects the Light of God to His creation. Each one of us is free to respond to the colours, tints and shades which most appeal to us. But whichever colour we respond to, or if we respond to none at all, the Great Light is ready and waiting to blaze forth at the first opportunity in all the glorious hues of a sparkling and scintillating diamond.
In the same book we may read:
O! God of Mercy, pour out Thy Sparkling Vials of Beauty upon the Mind of Man; so that he may bathe in Thy Effulgence, and his sight may be washed clean of all earthly matter. For with the realisation of the beauty of all Thy Creations will come Love for Thee and Thy Creatures, so that evil shall be no more; nor Darkness or Shadow; but instead, Thy Eternal Light shall shine upon all. For once the scales have fallen from the eyes that behold Thy Glory there can be no more returning to Darkness and Ignorance; and those that are so Blessed will ever after look up to Thee and merge with Thy Holy Spirit.
Not long ago a reader wrote in to say: "there is so much information out there that it's hard to sort the true from the false." Another visitor wrote that: "I've searched for truth in churches, occult groups, books and people — only to find time and time again that none of their answers lend me peace." Our archives are filled with similar comments from grateful seekers, who, after many years of floundering in an ocean of half-truths and wrong beliefs have learned to recognise the One Light of Truth through reading our articles and books.
We take no credit for this, nor is this a cheap form of advertisement. We do not claim to have all the answers. What we do say is that never before has the One Light of Truth been presented with such clarity and simplicity for all to partake of according to their capacity and willingness to accept and comprehend it. Take then, whatever you can from our website, and be quite sure that what you read here are not our personal opinions or fancies, but the One Light of Truth, and nothing but the Truth, which you can find confirmed in the words of all the great Messengers from God to man.
This page was last updated 29 May 2023 — © Copyright occult-mysteries.org.
