Eastern and western mysticism

[3bob]

"The most sublime truth of all has never been stated or written or sung, not because it is far away and can't be reached, but because it is so intimately close, closer than anything that can be spoken".

 

- Gangaji

 

It is not so much that we will find the teachings and teachers it is that the teachings and teachers (that are needed) will find us when we work with a good heart at whatever we have been given so far.

 

Om

[hajimesaito]

Greeks had some influence of Buddhism it seems. An ancient Buddhist text is about a philosophical dialogue between Greek king Menander (Milinda) and a prominent Buddhist monk called Nagasena.

[Apech]

Greeks had some influence of Buddhism it seems. An ancient Buddhist text is about a philosophical dialogue between Greek king Menander (Milinda) and a prominent Buddhist monk called Nagasena.

 

The Silk Route connected the middle east and the far east. Also Alexander the Great got to Afghanistan and India.

[gendao]

I met someone who knew someone who had trained in a druidic tradition and apparently had some pretty impressive powers...But the impression I got was that one had to apprentice with a master... so there ARE some good western systems out there. I personally didn;t find any. Too much controversy and new agey nonsense to sift through (for me).

So, you personally witnessed these powers? What were they?

 

I think if there were some visible, living examples of Western masters (of Western traditions) with real attainment, then I'd certainly be interested in learning their arts. One could say there are some individuals with some demonstrable powers in the New Age scene...but many of them are inconsistent and developed from an eclectic amalgam of practices, of natural ability or by other random means. Not to mention, many of them are extremely theoretical & talk a lot more than they can do.

 

For example, Bernard "Drunvalo Melchizedek" Perona talks up some great theory about sacred geometry...but I still don't really see how to apply it much in real life? And have many people attained much from his star tetrahedron meditation? How many people has he healed using sacred geometry?

 

Aleister Crowley was one celebrity Western "magician," but I've never heard of any actual power that he possessed? All this talk about sexual "magick" & esoteric symbolism, blah blah - but what could he actually DO? Wouldn't your average Reiki healer today have shown more power than him?

 

Whereas, I've met a number of masters of Eastern arts (qigong, neidan, etc)...and have tangibly experienced their genuine power firsthand. Just compare Wang Liping to Drunvalo, for instance. The difference in actual real-life achievement is enormous. Liping can (at least in 1 case) psychically read your personal history upon meeting you & that's probably one of his lesser skills. Now, I've also felt genuine ability from various random people in the "New Age" scene - but again, they may be personally guided by their spirit guides or had latent ability - so that doesn't really fit within the East/West categories.

 

In addition, I agree with apepch7 that many of the Western secret society esoteric practices (Hermetics?) are derived from Egyptian sources...who many believe came from an Atlantean diaspora. Which also does not neatly fit within the East/West duality.

 

I think there have been some great examples of Western individuals demonstrating some veritable siddhis or attainment (Nostradamus, etc) - but these were more often based upon the unique individual & not some practice they were following. But if someone does know of a real live Celtic or Druidic master who has proven powers or attainment, please do let us know!

Edited April 21, 2010 by vortex

[Sloppy Zhang]

So, you personally witnessed these powers? What were they?

 

I think if there were some visible, living examples of Western masters (of Western traditions) with real attainment, then I'd certainly be interested in learning their arts. One could say there are some individuals with some demonstrable powers in the New Age scene...but many of them are inconsistent and developed from an eclectic amalgam of practices, of natural ability or by other random means. Not to mention, many of them are extremely theoretical & talk a lot more than they can do.

 

For example, Bernard "Drunvalo Melchizedek" Perona talks up some great theory about sacred geometry...but I still don't really see how to apply it much in real life? And have many people attained much from his star tetrahedron meditation? How many people has he healed using sacred geometry?

 

Aleister Crowley was one celebrity Western "magician," but I've never heard of any actual power that he possessed? All this talk about sexual "magick" & esoteric symbolism, blah blah - but what could he actually DO? Wouldn't your average Reiki healer today have shown more power than him?

 

Whereas, I've met a number of masters of Eastern arts (qigong, neidan, etc)...and have tangibly experienced their genuine power firsthand. Just compare Wang Liping to Drunvalo, for instance. The difference in actual real-life achievement is enormous. Liping can (at least in 1 case) psychically read your personal history upon meeting you & that's probably one of his lesser skills. Now, I've also felt genuine ability from various random people in the "New Age" scene - but again, they may be personally guided by their spirit guides or had latent ability - so that doesn't really fit within the East/West categories.

 

In addition, I agree with apepch7 that many of the Western secret society esoteric practices (Hermetics?) are derived from Egyptian sources...who many believe came from an Atlantean diaspora. Which also does not neatly fit within the East/West duality.

 

I think there have been some great examples of Western individuals demonstrating some veritable siddhis or attainment (Nostradamus, etc) - but these were more often based upon the unique individual & not some practice they were following. But if someone does know of a real live Celtic or Druidic master who has proven powers or attainment, please do let us know!

 

Two users on http://vsociety.net/, Prophecy and Veos, claim to have attained high levels in Franz Bardon's system. Back when the board was much bigger, they used to have "Vcons", and apparently these guys showed up and displayed a lot of stuff (clairvoyance, certain elemental control) and won over a few students. But that was some time ago, the forum is a lot smaller, and they say they are really dedicated to only training a select few students up to a very high level before branching out.

 

Regardless, they have some good materials posted for free on that website, and both of them are still routinely active members of the forum, and are open for questions. Polite questions anyway. But if you really want to find someone in a high level of western mysticism, these guys are the highest I know that are contactable.

 

And, as a side note, I read through some of the Dragon's Gate book on Wang Liping. While I don't claim to be an expert on either system, there seemed to me to be some pretty noticeable overlap in the methods between what Wang Liping went through and some methods used in Bardon's system. Just saying.