In our previous post, we established that the 'tantra' of modern day spiritual 'masters' of the yuppie franchise variety (and some who honestly believe they have the truth) is not equivalent to the tantra of the early Indian races which made use of it. However another point can be made: the 'tantra' spoken of by the document is not an exact match with the tantra of historical times either.

Nevertheless, examining the writings about what was supposedly a group of renegade researchers... we find features in their course that parallel this tantra perfectly, as well as establishing certain other aspects.

The first clue we have is that the document speaks of the first stage of the course parallelling average spiritual work aimed at 'refining the faculty of attention'. The attentive faculty being described is the ability of the mind to focus without reservation on a single object of concentration. This is the major objective of dharana, the last 3 stages of Yoga (ending in one of the various forms of samadhi). The general objective is to enable the force known as the Will to more easily effect the causal plane.

One of the lesser known keys of the Rosy Cross (I think it is in the Theoreticus grade) speaks of the Universe as composed of progressive levels of energy (energy being defined as the force in Kether that radiates via Chokmah, the force known as energy in the famous equation of general relativity). In other words, matter is a very dense or contained (perhaps by Binah) form of spiritual energy, as Einstein established in the early 1900s. The thing that isn't generally known however is that the various 'levels' of energy are under the control of the level just higher, for example the mental (etheric) plane affecting the physical plane.

I'm not exactly sure how this relates to the aspects in the lower half of the tree (the etheric is in Hod if I remember correctly), but what it means is that the Will affects the physical via the inter-relationship of the different levels. Another key which I think is in the Grade of Magus relates to sex, explaining 'the force which reproduces things is the force that allows miracles to be worked'. This is the energy of Yesod, and considering the inter-relationship of thought, breath and semen in Yogic esoteric texts, its likely that Hod affects Malkuth via Yesod, or something similar.

Consider what this means with regards to their 'tantrik' activity.

Our next clue comes from their hint of things considered paranormal. The abilities they mention parallel the siddhis of Yoga - especially those acheived via khecarimudra and pranayama. This mudra, along with other important exercises, is supposed to produce: 'absence of disease', 'rapid healing' and 'inner heat'. The inner heat particularly is thought to be caused by transmutation of semen or sexual energy. When, during proper yogic health, the breath is held, heat builds up. This can be witnessed by people in good health in everyday life, although in yoga, the texts say that it is on a larger scale and that 'luminous effects' accompany it.

What does all this mean for I&OH? Well, for a start it gives us a basis from which to work from, as they use terms from yoga throughout the document, including satchitananda (although in a rather strange way). Thus we can assume that the I&OH group that wrote the documents have a basic understanding of the concepts involved in Yoga. There are some hermetic aspects that have to be taken into consideration, especially the fact that we do not know their exact understanding of terms such as satchitananda, which may be different in traditional yogic doctrine. Nevertheless this is the ground floor entry level.

The factor of mind altering drugs is an interesting one. As soon as one brings this into the equation all sorts of suspicions arise. Sections on the (currently) illegal aspects could have been added at a later date. Alternatively, the mention of traditional intoxicants like pot/hemp could indicate the group's desire to resist authority and challenge the consensus. At the time the commune was supposed to be in existence, the 'War on Drugs' was in full swing, and it becomes easy to see how the traditionally unaccepted drugs could have worked their way in as an insurrectionist tactic, even despite their obvious properties of opening certain areas of the brain.

Of more interest is their use of drugs not generally considered by the mainstream in these days, such as vasopressin derivatives and various hallucinogens. The mention of beta endorphins is odd - this is reminiscent of the underground S&M scene where pain releases endorphins to give people a high of sorts. Whether or not similar methods are used remains to be seen.

The point to remember with the drug component (which I won't go into in great detail here) is that the aim is non ordinary consciousness. Drugs are taken not for 'getting high' but to produce a specific form of sensory stimulus which allows the Will force to create the right signals to interact in the desired way with the physical level. Understanding the nature of these effects can only be done via experimentation.

Finally I should underline the point they mentioned: "In this project, the kind of awareness fostered by meditational techniques plays a part just as vital as the 'techne' of machines and the pure mentation of mathematics." This is a blunt statement of fact, indicating the ways in which Incunabula draws from the traditions of the past in order to pull off their feats. The obvious effect of this is that one will never reach Ong's Hat until the will is developed to the level at which meditational practices can be performed at any desired time, and the Senior Warden of the West is in complete control of the Junior Warden.

That's always a bear to deal with. The 'great religions' have the essence of this concept of innate enlightenment within them, yet they also cross over into political control. If they didn't, we wouldn't know about them anymore because big egos w/ big weapons and torches would have snuffed them, which has happened, at least to some extent. So, when the spiritual path becomes corrupted w/ memetic control structures aimed at selfperpetuation of ideals, forms, etc. does the original essence get lost, requiring a new path?

And the last question is that if we as individuals cross back into the innate state, how can we bring the rest of us along? If we don't, are we doing nothing more than separating ourselves from the rest of humanity (think of the tao te ching chapter describing how lao tzu feels sadness and isolation through all his experience on the path of sage while common people, all wrapped up in ego and memetic control structure seem happy)? Then again, going w/ the status quo keeps that egoic separation very well preserved and guarded. So, endgame scenarios aside, what's the way out for humanity?

(And if you think that the mahayana tradition would say that, having attained enlightenment you're free, that's not so. While you've freed yourself from the uncontrolled samsaric cycle, the bodhisattva commitment to bringing about enlightenment for all sentient beings keeps you coming back, because your buddhahood isn't really complete without the enlightenment/unity of us all. And of course, this extra cycle can be seen as a meme for propagating the buddhist tradition, as well as a doorway for ego to sneak in because then you can say 'I'm the reincarnation of <>')

PS Bodhichitta is more or less considered the path of/to a Bodhisattva. Bodhichitta describes the emotion and bodhisattva is one who has cultivated and committed themself to it. I also see a correlation between this bodhisattva vow to return everyone to enlightenment and this statement on what makes a good shaman that I read as one who can integrate anyone's experience into their own experience/mythos/models...

As for taoist longevity, you're right, it didn't do too well at integrating with native traditions. Buddhism, on the other hand was noted as being an ancient path that shakyamuni rediscovered(?) It's largely technical, more or less using yoga as the path. Yoga had already integrated with the nomadic Indra culture which became hinduism (I know the aryan migration theory of indian history is debated but oh well) and endured that drastic change in control structure and social hierarchy, and buddhism has integrated with the local mythos of pretty much every region that it's stretched to. This is a mixed blessing, because it's so easy to get caught up in those local eccentricities (look at the political necessities imposed on zen to stay alive throughout the past millenia) but people do relate better to stories told about familiar forms of archetypes rather than ones from another time and place. And I don't really think that taoism died or anything like that. It just wasn't called taoism anymore (though with someone like huang po, I'd say he was a taoist even though he was patricarch of chan buddhism) and that's pretty much the way it should be. How to pass the knowledge/experience/... on, I wish I knew. We do our best, what more can we do.

pahana, I've never heard of that board and I've never used this handle anywhere else (OK, on an RPG and yahoo mail but thats it). Maybe I have an alter ego???

Hearing the word palimpsest brings me back to the story of how Isaac Luria, usually considered grandaddy of kaballah and author of the zohar (or its most popular interpretation, it's been a while). A stranger was present while he was speaking and he noticed writings added to this man's tanakh/torah/bible. He had to give the man political favors to get him to part with it even though the stranger couldn't read the language that these additions had been written in. So most if not all of what kaballah is is just that, or at least derived from it, a palimpsest. Of course, we speak english now and want to seem scientific and not deal with things in terms of angels and demons but I always appreciated the teachings of kaballah for how well they reflected just about every other mystic/spiritual tradition's teachings. I'd say that it's a great starting point and I always come back to it. However, it's possibly the most dangerous in terms of ego entrapments and misinterpretations, especially since the rehashing of western occult mysticism and the lack of insight into hebrew and aramaic that the translators had.

While Incunabula draws many of its practices from Eastern disciplines of yoga, it appears to spurn the Buddhist idea of the body or any mental state as a prison. Many traditional forms of religion - Buddhism, certain forms of Gnosticism and Manicheanism, etc - see the spirit descending into matter and becoming trapped within it. As a result they focus a lot of their activity on trying to bring about the exact opposite - complete freedom of the spirit from the limited confines of the flesh.

The mysteries have spoken of the process as well. For example, it is my hypothesis that the passage in Apuleis' "The Golden Asse" regarding the thieves threatening to sew the handmaiden up inside the body of the dead Asse, is an allegory on the senses and vices entrapping the spirit and consciousness within the limited reality of the body (the Asse being a traditional symbol thereof in the early mystical Christian reaction against the doctrines of the Church). Even the Feast of Fools, while primarily being a tool to release the frustrations of servants bound by their masters, had many correspondences with donkeys, with the congregation braying rather than saying 'Amen' at the end of the prayers.

Yet if one takes an objective approach to the situation, it is easily seen that spirit and matter are inter-related terms. The Tamil Siddhas seem to come closest to Incunabula in this sense in their insistence on maintenance of the body as a tool towards obtaining immortality. Patanjali was involved with them. Their texts smack of the beginnings of Western alchemy. Its even contended by some authors that a derivative of Mercury Sulfide (the actual physical compound, and not an allegory on it) was used as a mechanism for prolonging life. The exact process by which this was accomplished is not known, but what is known is that the Tamils not only practiced Hatha Yoga and other bodily techniques, but also had a vast system of medical knowledge. They show striking similarities with our Rosicrucian movement, the Manifesto of which stated that the members 'healed the sick; and that for gratis'.

Given the reputation of the Bengali Tantrikas who the founder of Incunabula was reputedly initiated by, it would not be surprising if Incunabula was actually able to bring the attitudes of the Tamil Siddhas into the 20th century.

The prison metaphor has its merits and value, in that it allows us to recognise the limitations of our traditional outlook on ourselves. Modern man as he stands, is horribly weak. Our ability to focus intent, to visualise, to concentrate on a single task, is limited by the social constructs of the society we live in, which demands constant alertness to our surroundings. Our bodies are much less healthy than they were in Roman times - the Roman soldiers could routinely lift 3 times or more greater than the average human today could. Stresses put on our system through eating foods which our livers must process, chemicals which weaken our immune systems and other bodily functions - all of these contribute to our current condition.

Yet if we are to grow we must put aside the obsession many religions have with the prison metaphor. What is needed is an understanding of the relationship of the spirit or consciousness with the body. Various states of consciousness serve only to alter our ability to evolve ourselves and our surroundings. And our first line of defense to creating a healthy consciousness is through having the Doors of Perception cleansed. A healthy body can provide this.

There is a real bio-energy that flows through our body in the nervous plexuses, the movement of the cerebro-spinal fluid, and the cells of the body. There is no need to suggest a 'mystical' explanation for the aura or other such phenomena - the idea of the Eastern and other religions stands as it is: we are centers of force, surrounded by other centers of force, who's continuous interaction (both action and reaction) evolve the set of multiverses we live in. As such, it is our duty to live our lives in such a way as we see fit, to use our energies wisely, and take our liberties with emotion, pleasure and other such things as we see fit. Such a philosophy when seen in its true light does not create what we (reactionarily) call 'evil' - for activities such as anger and violence can be seen as useful only if they produce a useful and satisfying effect to effect our situation. Usually they do not.

I look forward to peoples comments on their view on how well this synchronises with Ong's Hat and how it relates to our hoped goal of realising at least some of the goals of the I.C.S.

If I seem overly scientific or bland in saying this its only because I believe people are not used to mixing scientific objectivism and religion.

What can we learn by studying the Incunabula documents? Most importantly perhaps, what do they insinuate for us and what possibilities do they open to us for action?

As a result of looking at the documents in the light of some aspects of the older Mystery Traditions we have developed themes and lines of thought that diverge towards a conclusion, one which is continuously evolving. In sort it goes something like this:

• Life is a dynamically evolving system in continuous flux, where all systems have a chance of affecting remote systems directly or indirectly. The ancients recognised the process of the renewal of Nature through death, for example the process of composting. Thus they constructed ideologies including (for example) one interpretation of the Ouroborous serpent - Gurdjeff's Trogoautoegocrat (Eating Myself, I am Renewed). The philosophical ramifications of ideas such as these put human concepts of morality and emotional ideas of 'good' or 'evil' into perspective, as personal tastes and preferences.
  
• The human mind-body-spirit complex is capable, by its unique method of design, of multiple talents. Yet we use surprisingly few of them, and rarely to their full potential. This is because the human organism is squashed into a box of social constraints and a mistake form of 'education' in order to pass on our knowledge. By creating stability in our lives in this manner, we limit the forward motion that can occur. As creative evolution can only occur as the result of the synthesis of 2 dissimilar ideas, it takes the eternal rebel, the archetypal Prometheus, to bring about many changes.
  
• The lack of full potential is also due to a poor understanding of the proper way of interfacing the different parts of the human being together. Mystery Schools in the past have traditionally taught concepts on how to obtain non ordinary states of perception, maintenance of the bodies, and subjugation of the body to the inhabiting force we call mind and consciousness. The greater the understanding we have both scientifically and intuitively of the process of life happening inside us, the more we can apply these ideas with the Will to acheiving our results.
  

These principles are applied in the light of some other facts - first, the teachings of the traditions on refining the attention faculty and modifying the effects of the Will or perception via various methods. Secondly, our desire to reach a specific goal - whether it be a Siddha or simply good health.

But there is more to it than this. Concepts such as 'desire demands the other', sex as a tool to higher consciousness rather than a degradation of it, and so on. In a way the authors of these documents, whether they wanted to or not, opened up a Pandora's box when they wove the many counter-culture elements together within it. In the vast world of routers, switches and hubs it has developed a life of its own. What I see in it may differ from yours, mileage may vary.

What I see is an invitation to a unification of science, religion, culture and such. Unification into a new 'uncommon sense' where Truth and truth are wed. Our science has a lot it could teach spiritualism, and vice versa, spiritualism has a lot it could teach materialism. All that is required is an unbiased outlook and a desire to learn what tangible phenomena we are talking of when we say 'energy' or 'aura' or 'vibe' (for example).

I'm sure all of you have noticed the weird energies going around lately, as a result of disruption in the grounding of Malkuth. Combine this with the political hotcakes we are experiencing and its a wonder theres not more New Age Yuppy Franchisers talking about End Times, Earth Changes and Transformations. Something is certainly afoot, whether we phrase it in the buy and sell manner of the New Agers, or couch it in more cautious terms such as a 'Nexus Point' or hiatus in the development of man.

In these conditions it can be equally foolish to act as not to act. And yet we must act, wisely, if we are to get the best effect out of the strange things going on at the moment. To me the need for practical application has never been so obvious as it has recently become. Whether this yet needs to be a group effort, or whether individuals are required to put their own practices to work first, is something for us to think about. But I certainly think (with my Sun and Mercury only 15 degrees apart in Sagittarius) that proper communication and elaboration of one anothers practical methods is important. And often these forums can be too restrictive for full elaboration of these ideas, despite the freedom they give one to put ones point across.

In summary, I think its become clear what the goal of Incunabula is and now its time to implement and live it. Whether or not this is merely a reflection of my own inner state I don't know, but it certainly feels to be correct. The need is to unify science, religion and culture and redefine the way we interact to become more liberating rather than restricting, according to our own tastes. Liberation has been a continuous theme in the mysteries, and perhaps the Masons can be forgiven by us for helping the Luciferian forces, for co-creation with the all powerful Fire is exactly our goal.

Nosce te Ipsum - Sic Itur Ad Astra.

AD ASTRA!

Dante - I haven't heard much from you in the Travel Tech thread. I would have thought you would have had a whole heap to say about that sort of thing ;-). Whether as a Knight or a 'Night'. I'd like to hear your thoughts in the practical area.

Peace, and remember the words of Yoda ;}.

ain soph aur

buddhamind

true will

kundalini

kaballah

...

If the difference is any more than sociocultural apparent difference due to language and environment, then I'm Papa Legba!

stare at two spots simultaneously for long enough and individual and infinity digress into each other.

Dont make more OR less of anything, all paths lead to the same way. Get too wrapped up in the semantics of a given path and you trivialise what's beyond the path and start spinning around in loops of your own creation.

Continuing... Eastern schools of thought speak of detachment, of the arbitrary nature of the sensory experience, etc, and even speak of their own version of the Path of Return. But they do not speak of Ego or ego. These are terms invented by Westerners or mistranslations/misunderstandings of western and eastern terms in an attempt to present Eastern philosophy in a Western light. This does not work.

Some concepts in Eastern philosophy are in fact so abstract and intellectual that one would have to study with an Eastern yogi, and at that one from a true initiatory line, in order to have any possibility of understanding them.
The Western and Eastern systems are very different. They should be - they are built to do different things. Western Rosicrucianism focuses on development of the vital body for example, while some types of Yoga work on the desire body. Some yogic magical methods work for knowledge through union on the mental plane with the object in concept, Western systems might have another method that works just as well. Western works on trying to allow the Ego and the Desire/Vital bodies to interact properly and perfectly (although certain Western strands attempt a version of ascension, something I don't feel is right at our current time in history). The point is that these systems do not converge. There is a wealth of information in both systems, IF YOU TAKE THE TIME TO STUDY THEM PROPERLY. We should accept this, and take what is useful from both systems. But my feeling still stands that the Eastern magical methods are somewhat alien to the Western mind, and while some of them can be used successfully without damaging spiritual progress, there are others that would hurt the attempt to acheive certain purposes.

As to how all this relates to Incunabula, it's important to have a solid theoretical background just as the practical background is also important.

If we don't understand our past history in the Wisdom Traditions in its proper historical and practical contexts, make progress in the methods of meditation and psychic development become difficult.

Understand that I am not trying to split hairs or be a nitpicker here, nor to criticise what in some cases are very interesting comments. I am trying to ensure that we do not get lost in 'modern' definitions of these traditions which have evolved through misunderstanding. I also think that scientific backups would be useful, eg related to blood's function in the vital body and how that relates to Fred Bell's research.

To some extent the 'essence of source' seems to be a factor, but its not the only one for sure. The extra stuff that makes the writings seem 'confused' or conflicting can't be ignored... just look whats happened by the New Agers doing cursory readings of old religious texts - we have so many people saying 'its all relative man!', 'peace love and harmony are all we need', 'i am a nature lover' (while packing away a couple of packets of nacho corn chips and 2 litres of Coca Cola), and so on. The fact is, its not all relative (there are certain things you can do that will lead you away from a particular goal), we don't need peace love and harmony alone (hate, anger and other emotions still exist - we need to develop proper foresight and rational skills, emotional maturity etc), and we need to learn proper usage of natural resources and health for our physical and vital bodies.

My next article, in Mystery Traditions and Incunabula II', should be about the Sufis and Incunabula. This avenue does relate to the 'source essence', which you speak of.

I, like Harla, am not going to be posting as much soon. I've found a need to begin applying what I've learned in order to find Hurqalya, and maybe eventually conversation with the Qutub. I've now found the major link between West and East however, and I think that this is the main thing I've had to do. The rest can wait.