Consequences of Maharaji's Teaching on an Individual's Esoteric Development
After reading through the horror story that comprises the life and teachings of the Guru Maharaj Ji, one might be tempted to think that no one could really fall for this, and if they did, certainly one day they would wake up and see the truth. When they do, they can get on with their lives and their search.
Would it were so easy. Unfortunately, engaging in the wrong work, especially over a long period of time, can have extremely damaging effect on one's potential for esoteric development. To explain why, we will need to go into the basics of our personality structure.
We are not integrated. There are many different little 'I's within us, struggling to be heard and to have their way. The tradition gives us the image of a container filled with iron filings. Give the vessel the slightest nudge and the filings change position. So it is in our inner lives. We are constantly changing from one moment to the next. The goal of esoteric work is through the fire of our work and conscious suffering to fuse these filings into a solid whole, the real 'I'.
However, if we become strongly identified with anything before this fusion occurs, lumps can form in the cup, lumps where small numbers of the iron filings have fused together. The Personality is no longer fluid in these areas. It is solid. The trouble is that such a partial fusion will prevent a later complete fusion. Once a lump is formed, further esoteric progress can only be made by going back and breaking it up. The shocks needed to do so are extremely painful as large and important parts of our lives must be put into question. Whatever it is that we have so identified with that it has created the lump must be analysed, understood, seen for what it is, and discarded.
Worse, if the lump is strong enough and the influence which led to its creation is active in one's life for long enough, a black magnetic centre can be formed within the individual. Boris Mouravieff, in his work Gnosis, describes the formation of the black magnetic centre this way:
This figure, with black magnetic centres, represents the situation where man deludes himself and, believing he is absorbing Esoteric influences and making the necessary selection all the while, he in fact absorbs Deception influences, those of the black arrows that are in some way parallel to the white arrows of the Esoteric influences. This will put him into contact with people who possess magnetic centres of the same nature: who are themselves duped or who dupe others, and who have no direct or indirect link with the esoteric Centre.
To understand Mouravieff's comment on "believing he is absorbing Esoteric, or 'B' influences and making the necessary selection all the while, he in fact absorbs Deception, or'A' influences, those of the black arrows that are in some way parallel to the white arrows of the 'B' influences", one needs to study the following diagram:
Here we see many small, black arrows pointing in many different directions. The large white arrows are all pointing in the same direction. The small, black arrows represent the influences of the material world, what Mouravieff calls the 'A' influences: sex, success, money, riches, etc. The white arrows represent the 'B' influences, that is influences that put us in touch with our higher nature.
Black arrows are those 'A' influences that mimic or appear to go in the same direction as the 'B' influences. However, they are false teachings, teachings such as that of the Maharaji that lead the person further into that which he believes he is attempting to escape. They move the person towards the 'A' influences under cover of moving him or her towards the 'B' influences.
This problem can result in a magnetic alignment with the Entropic force. Under such an influence, real 'B' influences will be seen as 'A' influences. Remembering back to our discussion of gnosis above, the metaphysical reality is not seen. The veil is not pierced.
There is little or no hope for individuals so aligned, at least in this life.
