Part I
THE VALUE OF OCCULT EXPERIENCES
SPIRITUAL emancipation of consciousness brings with it an unfoldment of many psychic capacities which are latent in the human soul. Psychic capacities help or hinder emancipation This unfoldment increases the scope and range of human consciousness. New elements often play an important part in helping or hindering the spiritual emancipation of consciousness. Therefore, the aspirant not only has to understand the value of such occult experiences as unusual and significant dreams, visions, glimpses of the subtle world and astral journeys, but also has to learn to distinguish such occult realities from hallucinations and delusions.
Contempt for occult experiences born of ignorance Although it is customary to exaggerate the importance of occult experiences, it is not uncommon to doubt their validity and to treat them with a contempt which is usually accorded to all forms of mental aberrations and abnormalities. The attitude of unqualified contempt for occult experience is of course most pronounced in those who
are not even abecedarians in direct knowledge of occult realities. It hurts the ego to admit and feel that there might be vast unexplored fields of the universe which are accessible just to a limited number of persons, and from which one happens to be excluded. The undeserved contempt which occultism at times receives is almost always the outcome of profound ignorance about its real meaning. This attitude of contempt is of course different from a cautious and critical attitude. Those who have a cautious and critical approach are endowed with humility and openness of mind, and are ever ready to recognise and admit occult realities when they occur.
The Master usually helps the aspirant through ordinary means and prefers to take him under the veil, but when there is a special indication he may also use an occult medium to help him. Some dreams spiritually important Special types of dreams are among the common media which are used for touching the deeper life of the aspirant. Masters have not infrequently first contacted aspirants by appearing in their dreams. Such dreams, however, have to be carefully distinguished from ordinary dreams. In ordinary dreams the subtle body is active in exercising its functions of seeing, tasting, smelling, touching and hearing, but the soul is not using the subtle body with full consciousness. As these experiences of ordinary dreams are received subconsciously, they are in most cases purely subjective, relating to physical activities and concerning gross living, and are the creations of nascent sanskaras stored in the mind. In some cases, however, a dream which is indistinguishable from ordinary dreams may be the reflection in the subconscious of some objective experience of the subtle body, and not merely a product of fancy.
