Esoteric Basic Training

Level Four: Transference of Consciousness

Objective. In the following esoteric exercise, I’ll present the process of transforming consciousness, through the power of the imagination, into (1) objects, (2) animals, and (3) human beings.

Practical application. These exercises offer the initiate-in-training the skill to connect and influence their fellow human beings; influencing their thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Warning. With great power comes great responsibility. An Initiate can influence people in one of two ways: positive (white magic) or negative (black magic). One must keep in mind the ancient proverbs: “What a man sows, he shall reap,” and “what you do unto others you do unto me.” Therefore, a noble White Magician will never use his power and influence for selfish or manipulative agendas; or to force people to act against their own free will. A noble initiate does not abuse knowledge to exploit his fellow brothers and sisters. The great power bestowed upon a Magician is to be employed for noble purposes, bringing well-being to his community and humanity at large.

Exercise 1, Objects. Place a couple of everyday objects in front of you. While sitting in a comfortable meditation posture, fix your eyes on one of the objects; capture its shape, color and size. Next, imagine yourself being transformed into the object. You must feel as the object itself and adopt all its properties. You must feel certain of the fact that your mind has now transformed into the object of focus. Under no circumstances are you to break concentration unless it’s by your own free will; for if you can control your willpower, you can control your destiny. You should even be capable, through intense concentration, to observe the object's surrounding from the point of view of that object. For example, suppose the object is sitting on a table, you are to then sense your mind inside the object, and imagine it's relationship to the table. After managing this task, you may then choose bigger objects like flowers, plants, or trees. The nature of Consciousness is not constricted to time nor space, it is boundless and unlimited, this is known as the Akasha principle in the hermetic system of initiation.

Requirements for completion. Exercise one is completed if you have managed to connect with each object completely merging with its shape, size, and quality, and remaining in this reconfiguration of imagination for at least five minutes without interruption. The concentration must be so intensely focused that you’ll forget your connection to your physical body.

Degree of difficulty. This is an intermediate level exercise (level 4). In learning and acquiring any new skill, one must practice atleast one level higher than one's current capacity, this offers a goal to aim at. Establishing a reasonable high goal, offers one the possibility to reverse engineer the skill and progressively achieve it. Let's use a gym analogy to better understand. One does not immediately start with the heavy weights, rather, one begins with the light weights and progressively increase the intensity. Similarly, reverse engineering an esoteric exercise facilitates the learning process. Every initiate-in-training will require a unique approach in order to establish new esoteric skills. Therefore, creativity, imagination, and diligence is necessary throughput the initiation process.

In my presentation of the hermetic system of initiation, I offer my personal approach which I believe will facilitate learning and development of those who find these kinds of esoteric ideas intriguing. These basic exercises set a foundation in which further advanced magical work is built upon.

Exercise 2, Living Creatures. We are now going to transform our imagination into the mind and body of living creatures. Imagine your mind transformed into the shape of a cat, dog, bird, or any other animal form you like. At first, one imagines the animal in a motionless condition, later on, walking, running, creeping, flying or swimming. The initiate must be able to transfer his consciousness into any living form he likes without interruption for five minutes.

Consciousness is timeless and spaceless, therefore, the object of meditation does not need to be within ordinary eyesight. Employing the mind’s imaginative capacities, one may transfer consciousness into people, places, and things which are in another room, city, or dimension.

Exercise 3, Human Beings. If one has trained sufficiently in the previous exercises to the point of being capable of adapting any kind of animal shape, and if one can manage to maintain this imagination for five minutes without interruption, then the same exercise technique is to be applied to human beings. In the beginning, select acquaintances, friends, members of the family whose imagination you can recall to mind. One must always be certain that the transference of consciousness feels completely real. From known people one may now imagine strangers, putting oneself in other people’s shoes. Finally, you may choose people of different races as experimental subjects. The exercise is complete if you manage to transplant your consciousness for at least five minutes into one of the imaginary bodies.

Oriental Magic. The magician will now better comprehend the Oriental (Buddhist) approach towards the relationship between student and master. The eastern style of magic is based on “guru devotion,” which enables the student to connect instinctively with the master’s consciousness, thereby “downloading” the insights and virtues of his teacher in a faster manner. This approach may seem weird or “cultish” to the western mind, but it makes perfect psychological sense if employed properly. Just like a child will inherit the qualities (and vices) of his parents, an eastern student will inherit the pure qualities of his eastern guru. The oriental approach regards a master (guru) absolutely necessary for the development of the disciple-- as in the case of Je Tsongkhapa’s Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment.

Western Magic. In the western Hermetic system of initiation, there is no guru or master, only fellow students on the path who simply share their experiences, wisdom, knowledge, and techniques. The Hermetic tradition is not a doctrine or institution to pass on, but a support community which offers modern methods of initiation. Like a vehicle (plane or train), once you arrive to your destination, you leave the vehicle behind, for it has served it's purpose.

Real-world application. The aim of many magical training systems is to initiate the student into the mysteries, giving them the ability to pierce through the veil of illusions. The question then arises: “How do we use esoteric knowledge in the world.” There are multiple approaches:

1. You can become an esoteric teacher and pass on the knowledge to the next generation;

2. you can incorporate magic into your hobbies, arts, and crafts;

3. you can employ magic and esoteric principles to develop an ethical (or manipulative) business.

The challenge is this, since we live in a world of disenchantment, where many people have lost their magic, each initiate will need to get very creative in their approach and application in order to bring wonder back to the “real world.” There are millions of sleeping beings waiting for magic in their life, and this is where the fun begins for an initiate.

Conclusion. In this brief set of esoteric exercises, i've established a general goal to aim at, which sets the foundation for intermediate and advanced magical work. These skills when achieved bring lots of practical value unto everyday living. Initiation is complex and confusing in the beginning stages, but as one gradually establishes the foundations, new worlds open up and new opportunities to serve the world arises.