 (Jacob wrestles the Angel Samael as referenced in the Zohar) Sexual magic constitutes the most transformative and powerful element of the Gnostic teachings. However, it is also the most controversial and contested, because it strikes the heart of our most cherished beliefs, assumptions, and identities. This is why Peter―whose name is slang for a phallus, genitalia, or stone―symbolizes the foundation of genuine faith and the inner church, constituting "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense" (1 Peter 2:8). While many can appreciate the versatility, depth, and eclecticism of Samael Aun Weor's writings, countless students, due to attachments and desires, cannot overcome an aversion towards his stipulations on chastity, thereby seeking evasions and justifications for denouncing his teachings. The verse from 1 Peter 2:8 also states: "They stumble because they disobey the message," in that, while accepting other aspects of the Gnostic doctrine, detractors are unable to transform the provocative, pervasive, and paramount message of sexual purity. Such a conflict reflects a terrible paradox: how students who flock towards religions and scriptures reject the very principles upon which they were founded. However, chastity is the foundation for understanding, from experience, the essential truths of religion, regardless of the time, space, language, messenger, or culture. The reality is that sexual magic is not the sole property of one man, but is a universal science present within all traditions. Such knowledge was encoded for those who know how to interpret wisely, primarily since this practice is so potent that it was only given to those who had first proven their purity, ethics, and candidacy within the esoteric mystery schools of initiation. Some have asked if Samael Aun Weor's explicit denunciation of orgasm is just some trick to protect pleasure-seeking students from attempting these practices. On the contrary, the reason sexual magic was masked throughout the centuries by every authentic spiritual order was to protect pleasure-seeking students from the harm caused when one seeks power without purity. However, this teaching was always present for those initiated students, and we have a large collection of scriptural evidence to demonstrate its existence long before Samael Aun Weor wrote his books (Scroll down Scriptures and Sacred Texts to access this wisdom from all major religions). Is Sexual Magic Repressive?There is a need to comfortably manage our sexual desires rather than repressing them, and that is precisely the skill that Gnostic science teaches us. Certainly, pure sublimation of the chaotic sexual impulse is probably the most difficult skill for an ordinary person to master, hence, the rarity of true spiritual masters. However, it is possible to those with sufficient willpower and self-discipline. While we fear the deprivation of our greatest source of physical pleasure, orgasm, we remain ignorant of the supersubstantial bliss of conscious awakening. Yes, the heights of spiritual development are very costly. No one can transform into someone greater without first sacrificing who he currently is. A lot of spiritual movements preach abstinence. However, merely retaining the sexual energy is not enough, but sublimation and transmutation is what counts towards spiritual development. Through pranayama and other mantric exercises, the bachelor or bachelorette learns to not only conserve, but redirect that energy for conscious purposes such as meditation. This is how we regenerate ourselves and acquire longevity, health, mental stability, concentration, serenity, imagination, and psychic abilities. Transmutation is very positive, because we learn to guide the sexual force with intelligence and wisdom. However, many mistaken yogis and monks believe that prayer, celibacy, avoidance, and sexual repression is enough, and yet we can see some of the myriad problems that arise from it (like nocturnal pollutions and even sexual perversity among clergy, as well as all over the world). You can save energy, but if you do not utilize it with the consciousness, then such spiritual energy decays, degenerates, and devolves, much in the same manner that fuel in a car tank will degrade between three to six months when unused. In the past before yoga and monasticism degenerated, practitioners were dedicated to transmutation for years before getting married. This is due to the fact that it is easier to learn how to direct sexual energy as a single person than with the added temptations of a marriage. Beginners often struggle if they are already married and never learned how to transmute their sexual energy on their own. Therefore, ethics and chastity are the requisites of the perfect matrimony, and only when students truly defined themselves for this work did they gain the right, in those ancient, Piscean, and conservative traditions, to enter a marriage. However, we are now in the Aquarian era where the sexual teachings are free and open to the public, so any couple can learn to apply these principles with study, understanding, and application with the consciousness. Lust is not conquered by running away from it, neither by feeding or justifying it. Seeing and comprehending desire leads to its transformation. Just because one does not conquer lust by avoiding it does not mean we should seek out those scenarios (like going to bars or night clubs). Through consistent dedication and training in transmutation, divinity provides the necessary ordeals to face and overcome such adversities. To take advantage of hardships―which divinity places upon us when we work and dedicate ourselves to chastity―we must learn and practice meditation:  Meditation EssentialsWhy Are the Teachings on Chastity So Severe?To answer this question, we must understand who סמאל און ואור Samael Aun Weor is, the founder of the modern Gnostic tradition: The first portion of this name is Samech Mem [סם]. Is Sexual Magic Dangerous?Critics are absolutely correct that there is a dangerous aspect to sexual alchemy―those who remain impure while practicing alchemy can awaken as demons. Thus, we always advise those who are not serious about the total annihilation of the ego to avoid these studies altogether. Samael is very intimately related with the potency of our sexual energy, and depending on the purity or perversity of our sexuality, it will regenerate or poison us. Therefore, one who practices sexual magic will become either an angel or a demon: there is no other outcome. A demon is a slave to desire. Such persons awaken powers within hatred, pride, envy, selfishness, vanity, gluttony, greed, avarice, conditioning, negativity, lust, etc. Ironically, these negative states are commonly taught, propagated, defended, and worshipped by "spiritual" groups, because many devotees never discriminate the origins of their behaviors. Most of us are not willing to question, renounce, and annihilate our most cherished sense of self. In this manner, humanity corrupts authentic spiritual traditions, scriptures, and mysticisms to fit a limited narrative. To become an angel, buddha, or master of oneself is therefore the greatest difficulty, since if orgasm were a way to liberation, then our humanity would already be perfect. Instead, we are witnessing greater and more intense suffering every day. An angel is psychologically dead to desire and therefore possesses divine sexual expression: one that is in mastery of all sexual, instinctive, and creative faculties. They are no longer driven by the desire to copulate, for they have perfected the sexual act. Sex to them is no longer carnal―like beginners in the teachings―but spiritual. And I brethren cannot speak unto you, as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal even as unto babes in Christ. ―1 Corinthians 3:1 While on the physical level the sexual act may look similar between alchemists (those who practice chaste sexual magic) and fornicators (those who expel their sexual energy), on the more subtle levels of nature, our purity or perversity generates totally different effects, either for liberation or pain. When looking at humanity in light of these teachings, its psychological and spiritual level of being becomes astonishingly evident: wars, prostitution, slander, violence, murder, rape, extortion, crime, alcohol, drugs, addictions, pornography, sexual degeneration, perversity, morbidity, sectarianism, beliefs, and political systems. Many enslave their minds, hearts, bodies, and souls to spiritual theories, whose validity often remains unverified from experience. Since this is the common level of humanity, sexual magic can become a tool for destruction, which is why in the past such knowledge was secretly preserved for the sincere who proved their worth. Yet out of compassion, divinity has recently made it possible for this practice to be known, venerated, and practiced by the public, yet at a terrible cost―one's life. People with subjective psyches are absolutely utopian. They mistakenly suppose that they can be enlightened without having achieved the death of the ego in a radical and categorical way. These people do not want to understand that as long as they are self-imprisoned, genuine, objective enlightenment is completely impossible. The price of enlightenment is paid with one's own life. In the sacred land of the Vedas there are chelas (disciples) that after thirty years of intensive work are only at the beginning, in the prologue of their work. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Mystery of the Golden Flower If we wish to receive the benefits of divine sexuality, then it is necessary to fulfill its ethical principles at all times, not inconsistently and half-heartedly, nor out of blind adherence, dogma, or fanaticism. Only the soul knows how to capitalize on the libido for the expedient, spiritual awakening of our consciousness. Samael Aun Weor himself wrote: We give this caution so that the student knows what to expect. It is best for the curious, the profane and the profaners of the temple to withdraw. This science is not for the curious. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony The mission of Samael was to teach openly the dangerous truth that can regenerate or poison the soul: sexual magic is the key to the highest levels of spiritual awakening and power. He was not being duplicitous with his criticisms of orgasm, adultery, masturbation, homosexuality, etc. He was being so explicit with the truth that most of us contemporary people would merely laugh with disbelief, especially in the United States where we are most materialistic. Isn't Chastity Just an Outdated Remnant of Puritanical Religions?Some have condemned Samael Aun Weor's practices of chaste sexual magic as the product of puritanical white religions. Samael Aun Weor was neither white nor a puritanical Christian. He was Hispanic, born in Columbia, and spent decades in far-from-puritanical settings. Early in his young adulthood, he left the Jesuit tradition to investigate spiritualism. After discovering the harms incurred by the mediums he met, he went on in search of occult knowledge and joined the Rosicrucians. He was widely read in esoteric and religious literature and had many discussions with spiritual teachers and leaders from major world religions throughout his life. He practiced and learned from the ancient shamanic traditions while traveling through the Sierra Nevada en route to Mexico. As you can imagine, the Kogi masters taught Samael Aun Weor much more wisdom than any puritanical could have stomached. While his explicit instructions on sexual magic require purity of application, transmutation has nothing to do with Puritanical repression or forced celibacy. Unfortunately humanity is "third-force blind" as stated by Gurdjieff, because people approach sexuality in accordance with two mistaken extremes: indulgence or suppression. Neither gratifying lust nor abstaining from sexuality resolves its genuine functionality. Sexual energy must act: it is a dynamic, creative force with marvelous potential beyond mere reproduction or animal pleasure. Affirming or denying lust does not indicate governance of its power. Instead, the more one feeds or runs away from such an impulse indicates victimization, subservience and servitude to its influence. Rather, comprehension, sublimation, or intentional redirection of the sexual energy constitutes the third force of reconciliation, whereby our psycho-biological and spiritual state achieves lasting equilibrium through the profound mastery of one's intelligence and understanding. Are Samael Aun Weor's Sexual Teachings Misogynistic?Samael Aun Weor has often been called a misogynist for emphasizing the need to conserve one's semen, which critics interpret as a direct correlative for men and not women. What some ignore is that the term semen is esoteric; it signifies not only the sexual, generative fluids, but the spiritual seed, principles, and virtues of the soul as possessed by both men and women. Semen (pronounced שמן shemen in Hebrew) signifies the sexual oil that lights menorahs within Jewish temples during Hanukkah. Judeo-Christianity as well as Hinduism, Buddhism, and many world religions retain the outward forms of this esoteric symbol, how through harnessing the creative sexual energy for the spirit, a true human being can be anointed by such holy oil to receive the fire and light of divine favor. Throughout his writings, Samael Aun Weor specified that a true man is תפארת Tiphereth in Kabbalah, or the theosophical, Sanskrit मनस् manas: abstract mind or soul, which can occupy a male or female physical body. He enjoinders many times how women have the same rights as men in the esoteric work, and that one's physical sex is not a deterrent for spiritual progress: Student: Master, the ladies always wonder why they are relegated by some to an inferior level. Consequently, they want to know what their accomplishments could be, that is, what they could get if they work on themselves with the three factors of the revolution of consciousness? Unfortunately for millennia, many men have utilized scripture to defend misogyny, patriarchy, hierarchy, dispossession, and sexism, ignoring scriptural symbolism and the role of femininity within the esoteric work. Eve has served, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, as ammunition for an onslaught of degrading stereotypes and offensive diatribes against the feminine sex, ignoring that she is a symbol who represents the creative sexual organs, while Adam, who must control that force, is the brain. Eve (Hebrew חוה Chavah) is the "mother of the living" (Genesis 3:20) or sexual energy that gives both physical and spiritual life. אדם Adam, whose name means "red," is the blood that circulates the sexual force and constitutes the power of the mind and heart, which must control the serpentine sexual energy so as not to fall into temptation (orgasm). This subject is extremely dense, deep, and extensive. To understand more about the intricacies, nuances, and subtleties of this topic, you can rely on the following resource:  Kabbalah of GenesisLikewise, Samael Aun Weor wrote extensively about the Divine Mother, the eternal feminine principle within all religions, which is symbolized within the feminine sex as the Divine Father is represented in the masculine sex. One without the other constitutes a degraded and incipient system, teaching, and religion: Question: Venerable Master, what is your concept about woman; how do you define her? Why Isn't Chastity Mainstream?As evidenced by intensified animosity from both ends of the American political spectrum, it is very easy for anyone to give credence to a multitude of conflicting ideologies, all of which can be articulated, defended, and propagated with great enthusiasm, efficacy, and approval at the exclusion and condemnation of the rest. And yet, the state of humanity has become increasingly chaotic, violent, destructive, and hateful as a result of such dissemination, which proves the point that if a great majority of people agree with a given belief, it is probably wrong. In the words of Jesus: Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Given the small number of people―in comparison with the rest of humanity―who practice sexual magic, it is evident that these teachings, while freely offered, have not achieved popularity, reach, interest, or engagement with the majority. Instead, most individuals hate chastity, which is normal, because such sexual behaviors run contrary to commonly held assumptions and beliefs regarding sex, marriage, lust, pornography, adultery, and desire. In North America, the focal point of sexual indulgence, decadence, insatiable appetites, and bacchanalias, many have made tremendous efforts to convince the world that giving in to your desires will produce happiness, and yet the results of such behaviors are accelerating and escalating humanity's collective decay. No one wants to confront in themselves how desire, which seeks to get what it wants at the expense of others, is the root cause of suffering, and yet this is the fundamental precondition of every genuine religion and mystical tradition. What you find, instead of virtue being proliferated and emulated, is the gratification of desire and lust, no matter what the cost. What else could constitute the most damaging (and successful) propaganda, especially when everyone believes it to be true? Is Sexual Magic Suitable for the Modern World?Whether or not the sexual teachings are "not entirely suitable for the modern world" is irrelevant. The truth doesn't change just because it has become inconvenient in our contemporary society. Precisely because promiscuity is everywhere in today's culture, we need the science to master our sexuality, to refine and purify it above the mainstream habits of our spiritually-asleep peers. How can we truly harness our sexual power if that instinct is out of control, pulling us in every direction, mandating fascination with particularly attractive people, so that we become hypnotized and obsessed with our own fantasies? That lifestyle will never lead us to reality, because through it we live as slaves to our animal instincts. Personal Testimony on Sexual MagicI speak from experience, because, like many, I also found a promiscuous lifestyle unavoidable in my youth. I believed (as I had been programmed to) that the only way to attract a partner was to be sexy and promiscuous, and that sex with multiple people before marriage was the best way to find the right fit for a long-term relationship. Therefore, when I found this teaching in my early 20s, I enjoyed the Gnostic philosophy while rejecting the sexual practices as an aberration. During that period, approximately three years, I endured the most painful series of heartbreaks of my life. As I was forced to face the reality that mainstream sexual practices and relationships were harmful, not only for me, but for my friends and the partners I damaged with my capriciousness, it never occurred to me that Samael Aun Weor's peculiar denunciation of orgasm could be true. Only at the end of that time, desperately crying out to divinity for help and guidance did the epiphany occur: I had had the wisdom I needed all along, practices I had discarded due to their uncomfortable impact on my well-educated American psyche. I had never taken them seriously before, so I had to return to the study of these teachings again to really learn how to practice chastity and transmutation. Through great willpower and the poignant comprehension of the deception of modern sexual propaganda, I never returned to the practices of orgasm or masturbation. Why Do Gnostics Practice and Teach Sexual Magic?Many read, study, reconstruct, and filter these teachings so one can more easily understand, and that is normal. We don't begrudge people's condemnation of sexual magic, because if it were actually as they imagined it to be (repressive, cultish, fanatical, inhibitive, unhealthy, weird, satanic, pornographic, etc.), then it would be condemnable. The reality is that innumerable students and instructors practice this science with profound and lasting results. There is no problem for alchemists who renounce orgasm within their marriage in conjunction with transmutation, meditation, comprehension, and elimination of defects. The health problems associated by most medical professionals towards continence apply to people who:
Alchemists learn to develop more fruitful, productive, energized, disciplined, intuitive, and happy lives, precisely because the sexual potential that could be used to produce a child or gratify the senses is utilized and transformed to empower one's psyche and spirituality. The vast majority of doctors, scientists, and religious paragons who reject sexual magic have not practiced it. Therefore they do not fulfill the very basis of the scientific method and lack a serious control group to invalidate sexual transmutation through clinical trials and experimentation. Rather than rely on anyone's testimonies, it is better to investigate and practice for oneself. The positive results of sexual magic are experienced by anyone who takes the time to study, practice, and live by its principles, precisely because it leads to results that can only be determined through personal experience. To reject something we do not practice or understand is not a validation of one's suppositions. To believe or not believe does not signify comprehension of a given subject. Spiritual birth, as encoded by Jesus in the Gospels, is not a matter of belief, but investigation, action, and discernment within one's sexual domain. It so happens that people think that by belonging to this or that faith, to such and such religion, or to one or another sect, that they are already saved. Naturally, this is false. A seed never germinates because of what a person believes or stops believing. An insect is never born because of what a human being thinks or stops thinking. A man is never born from the parchment of theory. This subject matter is sexual and in this, the Angel is no exception. Our suggestion is only to first decide whether or not you seriously wish to pursue the levels of spiritual development that this doctrine describes. If you are not serious, then we advise against dabbling in these practices. However, if your soul genuinely seeks union with your inner divinity at any cost, then you must first genuinely attempt the practice of chastity before prejudging it. If your sincere interest is to experience and develop the skill for yourself, rather than to theorize about it with spiritual teachers, then we will help you. Either way, we wish you the best in your spiritual journey! Learn more about spiritual sexuality The Evolution of Sex
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 Question: I’m wondering if folks who are in the spectrum of LGBTQ can still achieve union, sacramental fulfillment, and enlightenment by being who they are... Answer: No. None of us, whether heterosexual, homosexual, “asexual,” transgender, etc., can ever achieve enlightenment by “being who they are” currently. Many people criticize this teaching as anti-LGBTQ, because we explain how the perfect matrimony―the sexual, psychic, and spiritual communion of a man and woman―is necessary for self-realization. The fact is that this teaching is anti-egotism, anti-desire, anti-suffering, and anti-ignorance. In the words of Samael Aun Weor: We are not against anyone; we only reveal and indicate where the danger is. —Samael Aun Weor, Types of Spiritual Schools People want to achieve spiritual enlightenment without renouncing their own selfish desires. People have to be willing to renounce all of who they are currently to even start in this work. People want to achieve enlightenment and still have their preferences as part of that path. But the path doesn’t change according to our desires. The path is what it is, and we must change to accomplish its demands and requirements. Egotism is our sense of self, who we believe we really are, who we feel we are. We teach that ego is an illusion that has been created over a long period of time and which we cling to as an identity. The person who mistakenly believes that they are “asexual” is actually a sexual being who experiences his or her sexual instinct in a less obvious or common way than others. No one is without sexual impulse on this planet. We would not have life in our veins without sexual energy. That misperception is a great ignorance. This teaching is anti-desire because we seek to become liberated from our habitual cravings, aversions, and attachments. The vast majority of what people today describe as love is nothing more than desire and attachment. We seek to be free, to no longer be controlled by the desires and attachments of a false identity. We want enlightenment to perform God’s will—not the will of the ignorant, egotistical people we are today. There are many more desires beyond our sexual attractions or partner preferences to renounce before we reach a higher degree of spiritual development. While the perfect matrimony between man and woman is fundamental for initiation, even the heterosexual couple must fight to overcome the unique habits of their lust and desires. As for discovering what love really is, rather than our skewed conception of it, we should meditate deeply and pray daily for our inner divinity to reveal the truth to us. Real love far supersedes our superficial ideas or perverted passions. It transcends even our strongest egotistical attractions to another person. Real love would sacrifice anything, even one’s desire to be with the one he or she loves, to do what is right, because it comprehends that virtuous action is the most beneficial gift possible to give to those we love. Real love is to follow the wisdom of God and not the desires of others. Tchaikovsky is an example of an initiate who sacrificed his egotistical desires for the sake of his spiritual development. As a master on the path, he faced tremendous ordeals and sufferings relating to his close relationship with a male friend. Through these struggles, he paid off karma from a past life, which you can intuitively study in his Sixth Symphony. Of course, the sacrifices made for the highest spiritual attainment are never easy. No one can achieve this spiritual endeavor to become an angel or a master without sacrificing what he is now. The trials of this path radically transform us into a different person. The things that bother and hurt us today are quite small from a cosmic point of view, and that irritation is the result of false self, a delusion. Dion Fortune wrote: A knowledge of even the elements of esoteric science leads to a complete change of all of our values. We see that things we considered of supreme importance are not the vital points we thought they were; we see that things we did not think mattered at all are the real strategic centres of our lives. —Dion Fortune, The Training and Work of an Initiate Learn more:  The best science we have is the knowledge of chastity and transmutation, given by the greatest human beings in history. That science is objective and profound, but has been hidden from the public because we cannot be trusted with power. To access genuine Gnosis, you have to work sincerely and patiently, usually in silence, because the public—being uneducated in this science—will do everything it can to dissuade you from it, since we have a collective mind, not individual mind, and do not like anything that contradicts our habits and desires. As we all believe, if everyone else says it is right, it must be ok! This is also part of why you will not find any support for chastity and sexual transmutation in "modern science." No scientist or doctor is willing to go against "the industry." Those who do are ridiculed, expelled. Although the vast majority of doctors and researchers repeat the claims they learned in medical school that orgasm and masturbation are healthy, the science they depend upon is entirely one-sided and lacks a serious control group, i.e. a group that practices scientific chastity or sexual transmutation. As such, the modern medical community has scarcely researched the chastity recommended in the sacred doctrine of all religions. Proof of this science is found through living it. By living it, you need no documentation, public support, or so-called authorities. You will know because you experience it. Can you really base your spiritual future on the opinions of others? Is it not better to rely on proven sources of guidance? Christ offered a parable in the Gospels regarding the Christic teachings of chastity. To truly understand this wisdom, one must practice it. It requires a transformation of one’s deeply-ingrained attitudes, beliefs, and concepts about sexuality. However, mentioning the role of chastity in the spiritual path sparks heated debate, defensiveness, and controversy. This is because: Gods and demons live in eternal struggle. The Gods defend the doctrine of chastity. The demons hate chastity. In sex, the root of the conflict between Gods and demons is found. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony, “The Great Battle” The reality is that if lust is truly acceptable before divinity, then humanity would be in a very different state. Instead, individuals defend their desires at all cost, while failing to recognize the consequences for their behaviors. This is why Christ said that to truly enter the spiritual path, one must revolutionize one’s mind: No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, "The old is better.” ―Luke 5:36-39 Lust and Sexual Energy Lust is a psychological phenomenon that stimulates physical reactions. Therefore, the appearance of lust is not dependent upon external circumstances: being married or not, etc., but by the quality of our psychological environment. Lust is like a weed that will grow in any garden: a single life, married life, within children or adults, etc., so we need to be vigilant and uproot it as soon as it appears. Lust is not the same as the sexual power. The sexual power is part of life. Sexuality is normal and necessary for life to exist. Sexuality exists in all levels of creatures, from the lowest to the highest. However, when that power becomes trapped in psychological addictions to sexual sensations, lust emerges. In other words, in us, our sexual power has been corrupted, infected with illusion. This psychological problem is the basis of all religions, and the basis of why we suffer. What Constitutes Masturbation?In the process of conserving, transforming, and elevating one’s sexual energies, there should be no straining or exertion upon the sexual organs. Vices like masturbation, which involve the hands touching one's sexual organs, is strictly prohibited within ancient religions and Gnosticism. The hands do not belong on the sexual organs, whether for men or women, and that type of self-stimulation, which leads to tension and stress on our generative organs, has adverse psychological and physical effects. Degeneration is the opposite of generation: the flow, transference, and conscious utilization of the creative energies with the Essence. To degenerate is to break down, decay, and no longer generate the spiritual principles of the Being, the Innermost, which Samael Aun Weor speaks about so abundantly in his writings. A masturbator does not generate life, but through self-copulation takes the seed potential for spiritual awakening and expels it, degenerating the very life source that can give them being. Masturbation is self-stimulation to feed desire, referred to as black vajroli within esotericism. This is considered 100% black magic within schools of White Tantra. Masturbation: From the Latin words manstuprare, from manus "hand" (as in manual) + stuprare "defile" (oneself), from stuprum "defilement, dishonor," related to stupere "to be stunned, stupefied" (as in stupid). ―Gnostic Glossary: Glorian Publishing Masturbation is dishonorable before divinity and degenerates the mind, eventually leading to psychological imbalances. It engenders many mental illnesses and detrimental forms of behavior that are well documented within the pornography and sex slave industries. Masturbation is the source of emotional imbalances and many problems that afflict our humanity: individually, socially, and globally.  What is Semen?Semen is not the exclusive physiological property of the male sex. Semen is the generative fluids, waters, or energies of both men and women. As indicated by the Hebrew word for "oil," שמן Shemen or semen is the raw matter or substance through which the Gnostic practitioner generates light, consciousness, and positive awakenings. If there is no oil in the lamp, one cannot achieve spiritual illumination. The same with the sexual force. Both men and women can lose their seminal matter, generative fluids, and energy through masturbation or orgasm. Unfortunately, women, like men, lose the divine forces when they commit the error of reaching that which is called "orgasm" or "spasm" in organic biology. ―Samael Aun Weor, “Woman’s Saintly Predestination” When semen or seminal energy is ejaculated, the lamp of the consciousness is snuffed out and desire is awakened. Religions on Masturbation and Sexual TransmutationIn the heart of all genuine mystical traditions and mystery schools, masturbation is forbidden, because those self-stimulating "movements" are identification with sensation and the fortification of desire through the wrong use of the sexual energy. All religions teach that there is no spiritual benefit to masturbation, since it involves defiling one’s body and soul, whether alone or in sexual union: Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: The sacred texts assert that orgasm is the root of uncleanliness (ego), whether physical or psychological, and must be renounced to enter the path. According to the ancient mystery schools, a true human being, a Hum (Sanskrit: spirit) united with Man (Sanskrit manas: mind) utilizes all their energies for divinity, never for lust or procreation (animal generation). The orgasm is an act of animal procreation and desire. If one wants to remain an animal, one is free to do so. However, one’s consciousness, experience, life, and spirituality will remain at the animal level. Continence, chastity, is the method to create spiritual life, as Jesus indicated: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water [seminal matter] and of the Spirit [the creative energy], he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Schools of White Tantra also state that the conservation and transformation of semen into energy is the foundation of spiritual development. I [Shiva] am the semen, Sakti [the Goddess] is the generative fluid; when they are [perfectly] combined in the body [through this practice], then the body of the Yogi becomes divine [immortal]. Masturbation exhausts the creative potential to awaken spiritual intelligence, thereby resulting in the successive degeneration of one’s creative faculties. Within the Zohar and kabbalistic traditions, masturbation is the doctrine of Lilith, a demon who relates to the inverted sephirah of Binah upon the Tree of Life. Binah is intelligence, but when inverted in hell is “subtle stupidity.” Demons or black magicians, while possessing sparkling intellects, are really devoid of spiritual wisdom, intelligence, and understanding, because they engage with many fascinating philosophical subtleties justifying masturbation while ignoring the tremendous sufferings caused by their desires. Rather than sexually stimulate oneself, it is better to transmute one’s creative energies through pranayama, runes, alchemy, and sacred rites of rejuvenation. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. ―1 Thessalonians 3:3-5 Therefore, control your body through transmutation and do not dishonor yourself through your own hands. And if thy right hand [used in masturbation] offend thee, cut it off [abandon your lusts], and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members [your ego] should perish, and not that thy whole body [soul] should be cast into hell. ―Matthew 5:30 Masturbation without Orgasm While the orgasm is forbidden by the White Lodge, sexual self-stimulation without orgasm, while using imagination to feed desire, is also renounced in White Tantra. Let us recall that there are three types of Mercury or sexual energy, as documented in the alchemical traditions and the Hebraic Kabbalah:
Although you may not ejaculate your physical semen, fornication may occur on more subtle levels, such as through sexual fantasy and inner desires. Many people think that even if you do not physically orgasm, it is "OK” to stimulate oneself through masturbation or by watching pornographic films. Whether one ejaculates one's semen or retains it during masturbation, the act of copulating and arousing oneself in such a lustful way destroys the soul. Although the Brute Mercury (entity of semen) may not be lost, the other two types of Mercury, known as the electronic essence of the sperm and the Mercury fecundated by fire (Kundalini), are wasted through masturbation. Identification with self-copulation, induced through pornographic images or self-generated arousal with lustful intentions, wastes the superior two types of Mercury or sexual energy. Without energy control your sexual activity is fornication... ―Yeshe Tsogyal Fornication is more than just ejaculating semen: it is how one wastes energy through lust. If people arouse themselves with lust, even without ejaculating their semen, they are committing fornication. They do not control their animal desires, but ignite their sexual fires for the sake of pleasure. This is 100% against the teachings of the White Lodge, since a student will lose energy by how he or she identifies with desire. Wherever we direct attention, we expend creative energy. ―Samael Aun Weor, Fundamentals of Gnostic Education Therefore, even if we are physically chaste, our mind can take us into suffering if it is not controlled. Remember that Jesus said a man commits adultery simply by looking at a woman out of lust (and of course, the same principle applies to women). Therefore, what is essential is ethical discipline and mindfulness of how we expend creative energy with our consciousness. Sexual Fantasy and Impotence Sexual fantasy is the expression of animal, lustful desires, the pluralized self or ego. Sexual fantasy is the origin of a lot of suffering and pain for humanity. Sexual desire, rather than going away when fed, becomes stronger and more demanding. This is why people who masturbate become more insatiable in their appetites, indulging in more extreme forms of pornography. By artificially stimulating the sexual energy through masturbation—whether there is spilling or not—students damage their brain, nervous systems, emotional center, and sexual organs. Moreover, they will only strengthen those desires (lust), thereby making their craving for sexual sensations more intense. Instead of doing that, they should learn to practice pranayama. Masturbation and sexual fantasy also creates impotence, for by investing one’s sexual energies into desire and lustful imagination, the creative potential is squandered, leaving men incapable of arousal or erection. Sexual fantasy produces impotence of a psychosexual type. People with that kind of illness have normal erections; they are apparently normal men, but in the moment in which they try to connect the penis and the vulva, the erection abates making the phallus fall, leaving the man in the most horrible state of desperation. They have lived in sexual fantasy and when they really find themselves facing the crude sexual reality which has nothing to do with fantasy, they become confused and are unable to properly respond to reality. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony While this TED Talk is not about masturbation, but recent research on pornography, it is applicable to almost any addiction, especially of a sexual nature. Such research determines how fornication, masturbation, and pornography addiction affects the brain and body, leading to impotence and sterility. It also details how some people are successfully changing such habits for the better. Incubi and Succubi Lust has a definitive, concrete effect on the psychological, physiological and spiritual life of masturbators. Not only do men become impotent and women sterile, but it is well documented within spiritual literature how masturbation produces living entities within the astral plane, which have a singular purpose: to extract the life-essence, sexual energy, or seminal matter from their progenitors. Masturbation or self-copulation with one’s sexual organs engenders egos of homosexuality or lesbianism, as well as incubi and succubi, because one is sexually relating to their own gender and feeding fantasy. These entities become a serious obstacle in the Gnostic work. As Gnostics, we are deeply concerned with conserving our creative sexual energy, because without it one cannot enter and complete the spiritual path. As stated by Paracelsus: Incubi and succubi are formed from the sperm of those who perform the imaginative anti-natural act of masturbation (in thoughts or desires). Sexual Attacks in the Astral PlaneSuccubi and incubi are terribly lustful egos created through masturbation and fornication, yet we can be attacked by sorceresses and sorcerers whose internal lust is very fat, who thereby seek to lead us into temptation. To know the difference between an external and internal demon, continue to conjure, meditate, and pray. Discrimination is a quality of conscious perception that is strengthened through conjurations and self-reflection. Intuition is also born in us as we empower our psyche with positive forces (through transmutation) and by dispelling negativity through prayers. Conjurations can work well not only against black magicians outside of us, but our own inner demons as well. When using such prayers against our own mind, these invocations to Christ can temporarily dispel or keep the hounds at bay, but in order to be permanently free of them, we must meditate and destroy them through comprehension and prayer to the Divine Mother. Thus, to restore the natural function of the sexual energy, one must stop the unnatural use of imagination: sexual fantasy. Pornographic MediaAnother serious danger for students is pornographic media. Images from lustful magazines, websites, online dating platforms, and other media strike the mind and consciousness of the observer. Such images enter the psyche and crystallize in the form of incubi and succubi, tempting elements that the spiritual aspirant now has to fight against within their own consciousness. Sexual fantasy corrupts the mind, heart, and body. It likewise has far-reaching consequences and effects that many refuse to recognize or acknowledge. Intellectual criminology is found in books, magazines, bull fighting arenas, movie theaters, pamphlets, etc. Spiritual progress is based upon psychological and physical purity. If we wish to avoid the prostitution of our mind, heart, and energies, it is important to renounce addictions and behaviors that perpetuate suffering. The Struggle against Masturbation Many students write to our Gnostic instructors that they seriously strive to practice these teachings, but arrive to a very serious obstacle: masturbation. Despite the provided instructions on transmutation and chastity, many students struggle to overcome this habit. In response to students' inquiries, we have stated: You are the only one responsible for your actions. If you beat yourself up, that is your choice. If you want to be happy, that is your choice. If you vacillate between doing what is necessary for the benefit of your soul and your egotistical desires, you will continue to suffer. The truth is that you have the power to change yourself and renounce bad habits. But in order for you to change, you have to want to. Our experience with students who break chastity has shown us that such students are usually unclear about what they want from these studies. If you do not comprehend what you want from Gnosis, you will continue to retrogress. Knowledge is intellectual, but comprehension is of the heart. One may know intellectually that masturbation, fornication, or drugs are harmful. An alcoholic or drug addict knows what they are doing is wrong. Yet they continue to indulge in these destructive habits because they do not comprehend their actions or the harm their behavior causes. The sole reason students continue to fornicate in these studies is a lack of comprehension. Reading how lust is harmful will not do anything. Only comprehending karma and the effects of bad behavior will lead to change. If you comprehend how lust destroys your soul, you will never dare engage in such activities again. Comprehension transcends intellectual knowledge and guides our heart. If you do not follow the hidden inclinations of the heart, then you will continue to allow yourself to suffer. Laziness is not only an ego, but the sleep of our psyche. One can be very engaged with work and daily routines, have established tremendous discipline in time management, and yet be totally asleep as a consciousness. Therefore, in this manner we continue to feed all our defects and desires. If one longs to advance on this path, one must completely renounce degenerated behaviors. Do not vacillate. If you want to be serious, destroy all of your pornography and abandon lust. Comprehend in yourself how lust destroys the mind. If you do not meditate on how lust destroys the soul, you will never comprehend how such behaviors produce tremendous suffering. Without comprehension, students continue to indulge in masturbation and remain where they are, in the mud and filth of affliction. It is very easy for the intellect to rationalize how masturbation is harmful, but comprehending how desire produces suffering is something else. An alcoholic may know that consuming liquor will destroy him, yet he continues to do so anyway. The same with the masturbator. However, if an alcoholic comprehends how alcohol is demonic, he will never allow himself to be tempted. The same with masturbation. Knowledge is of the mind, comprehension is of the heart. Only the heart can comprehend and overcome all problems, not the mind! Techniques to Overcome MasturbationHabits, especially those that have been programmed into our minds over the course of many years, are difficult to break. However, it is possible to overcome them, and many people do. Our first piece of advice to you would be to set up a daily practice of transmutation, such as pranayama. We have many such practices in our tradition. Samael gives a very simple one here: If the energy is not flowing in our organism in the proper way (facilitated by transmutation), then it will try to act in ways that are detrimental to our growth. Second, seek to understand the aspects of your psychology that are connected to this habit, and free the parts of your consciousness that are trapped within those egos. Masturbation isn't usually something that happens spontaneously. It is usually the end result of a chain of events. What were those events? Meditate and reflect on what led you to that state, and cut off the chain before you reach the end. Get out of the environment you are in and pray to your Inner God (a powerful prayer, such as the Pater Noster) for help. Go do something else to change your state of mind. Further on this topic, don't just seek to remove yourself from external phenomena, but look into the internal drivers of those phenomena. For instance, if we find ourselves looking lustfully at women, this is because the consciousness is trapped in an ego that believes it can acquire happiness through beauty (Nahemah). This is a false conception, and a wrong perception. Meditate on this. Understand that beauty and ugliness are just two poles of the same thing. What today is beautiful will in the future be ugly, because all things with form will deteriorate and pass away. Finally, don't give up hope. Masturbation carries a heavy karma, but God is merciful, and will help you if you reach out to Him. Many people have overcome that vice. The first step of chastity is to retain the sexual energy, but the second step is to transmute it. Many people miss the second step. At a minimum, this means learning how to perform pranayama and sexual transmutation. Without pranayama, you will likely always lose your sexual energy. Concentrate on doing pranayama and meditation. Every Gnostic must transmute the sexual energy, and if one is single, this means pranayama. Other practices that will help are vocalizations (mantras), sacred rites for rejuvenation, and runic exercises. The seven runic vowels, including the Rune Dorn, are excellent for creating a strong spiritual will to overcome addictions. Even with a dedicated practice, perfect chastity comes through a lengthy and emotionally painful processes. Once physical chastity is won, chastity must be fought for in the deeper sub-, un-, and infra-consciousness layers of the mind. The drama of the Nativity of Christ show us that the King Herod (the ego) kills many firstborns in the process. These are the failures, the humiliations, that the aspirant must go through. We have a lot of karma from previous lives, not only this one, and while we cry at our painful experiences, sometimes the Gods await until the moment we have paid our lot until we are allowed to progress. Chastity is won though the comprehension of lust. The comprehension of lust occurs through the practice of meditation, and work with the Divine Mother. The elimination of lust, or any psychological defect, occurs when we have comprehended the reasons and causes behind it. The dreams that accompany nocturnal emissions must be meditated upon, explored, comprehended, and the aggregates then eliminated. If you cannot remember the dreams, then you must begin working to awaken your consciousness using Dream Yoga techniques. You need to understand that your own actions are creating this suffering. You also need to understand that superior actions (chastity) bring new, different effects (happiness, inner contentment, etc.). Meditate on that action and its inevitable results. Meditate on the pain and how it was made, what led to it... Study the chain of actions! Only in this way, by becoming convinced of how your experiences are determined by your actions, can you develop genuine understanding. And it is only understanding that leads to freedom from temptation. When you deeply know that an act leads to pain, you will flee from that act, you will not feel tempted at all. So: meditate. In the meantime, when temptation arises, use The Prayer of the Lord, and flee from the temptation! Go outside, go someplace else... then reflect on the temptation, and understand it. To receive inner strength, work with the Eucharist to receive spiritual strength every day. Whenever you feel lust seeking to push you to masturbate, take the time to commune and pray to your Innermost God to bless and help you overcome this addiction. How to Counter Lustful ObsessionsMany students relate how their efforts to end masturbation often make them obsessed and afflicted. Obsessions to end lust often exacerbate the issue. In trying to perfect one's sexual life, one can often feel like a victim to oneself, always in pursuit of an impossible standard. Practitioners become frustrated when their goal eludes their most sincere efforts. Such feelings are often followed by discouragement, self-incrimination, and self-disparagement, the thoughts of "I will never be chaste! I cannot do this work! It is impossible for me." Rather than beat oneself up as a failure, it's necessary to remember that lasting change does not come overnight, but through consistent efforts and comprehension. Negative thoughts and emotions are an obstacle. Likewise, obsessing over the problem will distract and confuse your mind. If you are overwhelmed by desire, you should occupy yourself and direct your energy towards creative endeavors: hiking, painting, sculpting, writing, exercise, playing moderate sports, reading sacred scriptures, serving humanity, etc. It is not enough to practice pranayama, although this is the foundation for change. Once you have transmuted your sexual energy, take the time to engage in healthy activities. Saving energy is not enough. One must transmute and direct it towards positive action, being a serviceable and compassionate person, sacrificing for one's family, community, or partner, etc. If you just obsess over your lust and try to meditate, your mind will already be frazzled. If you surround yourself with temptations and have no constructive activities to replace them with, then you will seek out trouble. Learn to find psychological equilibrium, balance your activities, and engage your consciousness in superior acts. In this way you will gain enough stability to actually root out the ego and comprehend it deeply in meditation.  How to Cleanse Oneself and HomeAlso, burn sage and smudge yourself with its smoke while reciting the Conjurations of the Four and Seven. This will help reduce obsessive thoughts and behaviors. Maintaining one’s chastity also involves keeping one’s home clean from negative forces, energies, or astral parasites. Through frequent cleanses with incense and prayer, we generate better influences in our home environment that aid our spiritual practices, deepen our connection with the Being, and preserve our chastity or creative energies. Learn how to protect and cleanse your Home and Altar with high quality incense and prayers. Masturbation and Mental Health Masturbation exacerbates mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bi-polar, depression, and make one more sick, physically and mentally. The reason why many people experience mental illness is due to masturbation at an early age: Unfortunately, although it is pitiful to realize it, nowadays many children of twelve and thirteen years of age are already copulating. Moreover, those who are not yet copulating commit the crime of masturbation [and sodomy]. They eliminate their hormones, degenerate their brains and atrophy their pineal gland through masturbation. This is how they become sure candidates for a mental home. Healing the Damages of MasturbationMasturbation destroys the mind and exacerbates illnesses like manic depressive disorder, schizophrenia, etc. When a person ejaculates their semen, the sexual organs perform peristaltic movements in order to reabsorb lost forces. However, through masturbation, cold air is absorbed into the sexual organs which eventually reach the brain and cause dementia. Damages caused through fornication and masturbation can be healed with patient transmutation of the sexual energy, meditation on the death of lust, desire, and egotism, and diligent, daily practice with the sacred rites of rejuvenation. There are numerous methods to cure the damages caused by masturbation, such as runes, sacred rites (including the vajroli mudra), and sexual magic. The mantras: Om Masi Padme Hum is also effective for healing the damages of masturbation. Curing Impotence Impotence is another common consequence of masturbation, yet it can be cured with the following remedy:  The aloe is a great panacea for the healing of impotence.  The procedure is as follows: put into a casserole dish, pan, or pot one white panela (hard sugarcane commonly found in Colombia) so it can be melted by the fire. This casserole dish must not contain water.  Once the panela is liquefied, you must add the gel of a complete aloe plant, then add ten grams of iron. While it is on the fire, stir this very well with a handmill. When everything is very well stirred, then take the casserole dish from the fire and bottle up this substance, adding a little bit of sodium benzoate so that it cannot ferment. Label it, and take one spoonful of the remedy every hour. Impotence is cured with this marvelous formulae. ―Samael Aun Weor, Esoteric Medicine and Practical Magic Another Remedy for VirilityYou can also consume dishes of bull or goat testicles for virility. The goat has traditionally symbolized the force of Lucifer, which in synthesis constitutes the creative sexual energy. Samael Aun Weor explained in a lecture:  Listen: Lucifer represents the sexual potency. Who could deny that a male goat possesses a great sexual potency? The concoction for goat's testicles and milk is for impotence, when men lack sexual strength. This remedy is taken for as long as needed until the man's sexual strength returns and a normal erection can be produced for the rite of alchemy.  Can Supplements Heal Damages from Masturbation?Most supplements are chemically derived and thus introduce more problems than they solve. Your body is an alchemical laboratory that acquires everything it needs from nature and from divinity. If you truly want healing, then eliminate the cause of the illness, i.e. if the cause is lust, the sufferings will disappear when the cause (the ego of lust) is dead. Therefore: meditate on the lust until you eliminate it completely. Any other attempt at a solution will fail. Meditation is the only way to fully comprehend lust, the animal ego. Therefore, to overcome any obstacle, learn to meditate on the causes of suffering so that your Divine Mother can aid you. The Meditation Essentials course will provide you the foundations for this seminal practice. Wet Dreams Many students also write that, due to many years of masturbation and fornication, they experience involuntary seminal emissions, wet dreams or nocturnal pollutions when practicing chastity. There are methods for healing such an illness, specifically through the Melon Seed Remedy. However, radical healing will only occur once the egos of pollutions are comprehended and eliminated in meditation. Samael Aun Weor addressed this issue in one of his lectures: Question: Would it be good to apply the technique of meditation on the death of the ego to the defects that we have in our dreams? How many years or even lifetimes have you trained your body to ejaculate? You cannot expect to train it to stop in one night or even one month. Furthermore, you cannot change anything fundamentally, fully, unless you comprehend the causes in meditation. No amount of supplements or practices can ever match the power of conscious comprehension. Instead of wasting time online, students should develop meditation skills.  Massage During Vajroli MudraIn the final exercise of the sacred rites of rejuvenation, Samael Aun Weor explains that one must massage their genitals with a soft, medium, or hard pressure, so as to turn the Christic force into energy, sending it to the brain. Regarding the massages over the prostate/uterus area and the sexual organs, there are three types: Some have asked whether or not this is masturbation. In reality, a massage simply activates the sexual energy; the degree to which it is activated depends on the volatility of the person's energy. The critical thing is to not allow the mind to drift into impurity, nor to let the rite degenerate into "self-stimulation" or masturbation. If one successfully activates the energy and maintains psychological purity, then the energy can be transmuted. White and Black Vajroli MudraThe Vajroli Mudra is not masturbation, because one does not massage the sexual organs for prolonged periods of time out of lustful desire. One must not massage one’s sexual organs more than three times, according to the sixth rite. And during that very short period of time, one is deep in prayer and meditation to the Divine Mother. Masturbation stimulates the sexual organs to feed animality, prolonged through consistent copulation with oneself. The Vajroli Mudra takes a few seconds for each massage, not twenty minutes. White Vajroli, the sixth rite in the sacred rites for rejuvenation, should not stimulate you so much that you approach orgasm. That is Black Vajroli. You should not be stimulating yourself during pranayama. That is masturbation and constitutes 100% black magic. White Vajroli does not require so much stimulation that you provoke lust. It requires stronger massage for a few seconds, not minutes, since when you perform the sixth rite, you only massage your sexual organs when your breath is completely exhaled, and when you rise up to take in air, cease the massage and direct the stimulated sexual energy to the mind. This process should be repeated, at most, only three times. Finding an Alchemical PartnerMany Gnostic students, after reading The Perfect Matrimony by Samael Aun Weor, long to find a spouse for the alchemical work. Unfortunately, many people still continue to masturbate, precisely because they contain so much sexual drive and fire that is not being sublimated. If a person with a lot of virility does not transmute their sexual energies consciously, then those forces are utilized by lust to act in detrimental ways. If disciples want to find a partner in the Gnostic work, he or she needs to practice chastity first, to learn how to transmute their sexual energy through pranayama, runes, sacred rites of rejuvenation, Ham-Sah, etc. One must acquire balance and psychological equilibrium first, since it will be very difficult to learn transmutation in the sexual act if one has never accustomed his or her body, mind, and energy, to practice sublimation on their own. In synthesis, like attracts like. Our level of being attracts your circumstances. If we want a Gnostic, chaste partner, we must become chaste ourselves. Impure women are for impure men, and impure men for impure women, and pure women are for pure men, and pure men are for pure women: these are not affected by what people say [who are scandalized and offended by chastity]: for them there is forgiveness, and a provision honorable. ―Qur’an 24:26 What to Do When Breaking One’s Chastity?One leaves the path when, having maintained chastity, decided to return to the orgasm. Those who have not been in chastity have not entered the path yet. Karma is cause and effect. If you wish to follow a superior law (chastity), then you must chose to enact the causes and conditions for its fruition. Fornication is a choice. So is chastity. You reap the results of your actions. If you continue with fornication, it’s because you have yet to comprehend how fornication destroys the soul. When you comprehend how fornication is harmful, you will stop. Intellectual understanding is not enough. This is why we need meditation. Do what thou wilt, that shall be the whole of the law. But know that you must answer for all your deeds. Once you stop masturbation, many temptations will arise, as well as changes in your physical body, chemistry, appetites, etc. Even though you might find it difficult to eat while remaining chaste, you should try to increase your appetite through engaging in exercise and other creative activities, such as walking, painting, sculpting, drawing, writing, etc. This is because when you save sexual energy, you need to use it consciously, creatively, with intelligence and purpose. As alchemists, and even while single for many years in these studies, we always find ways to channel transmuted sexual energy through exercise and creative endeavors. This guarantees the proper flow, function, and fortification of the Holy Ghost within oneself. If you are determined to walk this path, then you must fulfill this commandment of chastity with all your heart, mind, body, strength, and soul, as Jesus taught us. To vacillate is to suffer unnecessarily. No matter the circumstances, fornication causes damage. However, the consequences are worse for the one who knows the teaching but chooses to act harmfully anyway. And just look at these men: their eye says it—they know nothing better on earth than to lie with a woman. As to the specifics of that case, when one willingly spills, any raised Kundalini descends in proportion with the act. Then, if one attempts to raise it again, it is much harder: the requirements increase. And of course, instead of filling oneself with joy and ecstasy through chastity, spilling immediately fortifies and stimulates many negative psychological qualities. Whosoever spills his semen after having worked with the Kundalini inevitably fails, because the Kundalini then descends one or more vertebrae in accordance with the magnitude of the fall... The initiate falls when he spills the semen. The work to raise the serpent after having fallen is very difficult and arduous. The Lord of Perfection said, "The disciple must never let himself fall, because whosoever falls then has to struggle a great deal to regain that which was lost." ―Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony Question: How can a man learn to control his lust that incites him to masturbate? What practices help with this? And, in the case that he falls, what can he immediately do to correct the mistake (pranayama, prayer, etc.)? Answer: Your question about doing a practice right after masturbating truly reveals a lot psychologically. To want to practice after having fornicated, after having enjoyed the disgusting vice of masturbation, is very hypocritical. We don't prove our loyalty to divinity by practicing after the fact, but by restraining and killing desire before it takes over.  The Greeks symbolized this hypocritical tendency of innumerable devotees through the myth of Sisyphus. People who practice chastity for a time, raising the stone of Yesod up the mountain of the spiritual work, and who let themselves fail through fornication, are dropping the stone back into the mud and mire again. Afterward, the struggle to rise again is much more difficult. So? Why continue with the monotony of masturbation or Grey Tantra? The moral of this story is that we have to be defined in these studies. If you chose to fornicate, that is your will. It is pointless to want to be spiritual if you keep masturbating, because trying to pump water from an empty vessel is pointless. One's genitalia are empty after masturbating and reaching the orgasm, so how can a person be truly healed and spiritual when such an individual intentionally takes the path of destruction? If you choose to be chaste, do not destroy yourself and thereafter lie by trying to practice only after having enjoyed such a vice. Such a habit is really ludicrous, and to continue being "spiritual" while maintaining this vice is extremely dangerous. If you want to change, do so. Do not deceive yourself. So long as you do not firmly renounce masturbation, you will never enter the door that leads to true peace of the spirit.  The Reality of Sexual FallsAny lapse into lustful behavior is a sign of a weak, dispersed will. Just as a warrior in the ring must train for years to defeat a powerful enemy, you must strengthen your will over time to cultivate the willpower to end indulgence in lustful behaviors. Your lust is Goliath. Each time you struggle against it, you are strengthening the will to resist its power over you. Use all the methods, meditation, and suggestions you are aware of to increase the duration of time that you can remain in chastity. The longer you can go without physically indulging in lust, the stronger your willpower will become. Free, conscious willpower is fueled by the energies we cultivate through chaste transmutation. Never miss a single day's pranayama practice—not even once. Find at least 15-30 minutes daily for pranayama somewhere in your day. Struggling to resist lust will strengthen you. Over time, the intervals between sexual falls will become longer if you are sincerely putting the teachings into practice. Eventually, these falls will become very rare, until your have finally cultivated the will to eliminate sexual falls entirely. After the physical habits of lust have been conquered, you will continue into further conquering the psychological habits of lust at deeper levels. You cannot expect from a weak man something that requires strength. One can make demands of a man only in accordance with the strength he has to fulfill them. —Gurdjieff We do not want to diminish the severity of a sexual fall, because it is a serious crime against divinity and oneself. The best approach is always to completely renounce orgasm and to never return to it. However, if one is incapable of conquering his lust, what other option does he have but to struggle against himself over time until he can accomplish self-discipline? If the reality of your situation is that you continue to fall, you must work to develop the strength of will to master yourself over time. This is not a change to the teachings, but if you lack self-discipline, you must then acquire responsibility and accountability as your first task. As long as a man does not separate himself from himself he can achieve nothing, and no one can help him. To govern oneself is a very difficult thing — it is a problem for the future; it requires much power and demands much work. But this first thing, to separate oneself from oneself, does not require much strength, it only needs desire, serious desire, the desire of a grown-up man. If a man cannot do it, it shows that he lacks the desire of a grown-up man. Consequently it proves that there is nothing for him here [in the esoteric school]. What we do here can only be a doing suitable for grown-up men. —Gurdjieff If you fail, you start again and work again at developing chastity. That repeated effort will develop willpower, although, of course, each sexual fall is depleting your willpower. In order not to become a perpetual Sisyphus, you need to hold yourself accountable. Track the length of your time in chastity, and each day make a commitment to be chaste that day. Find alternative activities that allow you to be successful in overcoming a lustful sensation. Don't surround yourself with temptations. Learn to separate yourself from your own lust, so you can observe your lust without being controlled by it. Our mind, our thinking, has nothing in common with us, with our essence—no connection, no dependence...  Repentance We invite you to seriously reflect on the following regarding repentance: According to the lexicons, tawbah (repentance) means "to return." Taba, aba, and anaba all have one meaning, which is "to return." Thaba is similar; people say, "The milk returned (thaba) to the udder." Outward repentance is the return from blameworthy actions to praiseworthy ones and from foul words to righteous ones. Inner repentance, with which the Sufi folk are concerned, is to turn away from all things and toward God, mighty and glorious. Repentance is not valid without three things: remorse for sin, abstention from it, and the resolution to not return to it. When one of these conditions is not met, repentance is not valid. This is the rule for repentance for sin between the servant and his Lord... If you want to stop masturbating, then stop. If you do not want to stop, then you will continue in bad behavior. It is a choice! You have to want to stop and to not turn back to degeneration for your renunciation to be considered authentic before your Innermost. Remember Lot's wife who turned back when leaving Sodom and was transformed into a pillar of salt: she entered devolution within the mineral kingdom and became a pillar of hell. Repentance is nil if you turn back from your vows. It is sincere when you are steadfast in it. Do not be like Sisyphus, throwing the stone when reaching the summit of the hill, only to begin the climb once more! Vacillation will only cause you pain... However, remember that God is the Beneficent, the Merciful, and will guide you if you are sincere and truly repent: Satan frightens you of poverty and prompts you to [commit] indecent acts. But Allah promises you His forgiveness and grace, and Allah is all-bounteous, all-knowing. ―Al-Baqarah 268 If the soul fails, the Innermost will gather a new people more worthy for the great work. However, God is merciful and wants to aid us out of compassion! Comprehension, Self-Reflection, and HonestyFor those Gnostic students who wish to stop the vice of masturbation:
You also have to really reflect on what it is you want. If you want to masturbate, then that is what you will do. If you want to know God, you have to really comprehend this purpose and what it entails, since if you do not know what you want, nor want to see beyond your current state of suffering, you will continue to allow yourself to wallow in suffering. But if you are tired of suffering and the suffering that masturbation causes, then you will really comprehend what this means, without having any person tell you that "this is right" and "that is wrong." We knew one missionary who, before entering gnosis or even reading about anything in a book, abandoned the vice of masturbation and pornography simply because he comprehended, from his own insight, how masturbation was draining him of life and destroying his mind. He destroyed every pornographic file he had on his computer and removed every video he used to indulge in this vice. He never read a book by Samael Aun Weor or heard instruction from a teacher that masturbation was wrong; he simply knew from his experience that he was killing his soul. Therefore, he made the firm decision to renounce it, and never walked back. It took him a year to eventually find the Gnostic teachings, but heaven rewarded him for following his heart, and thereby confirmed his efforts by giving him superior teachings. You, on the other hand, have instructions telling you why it is wrong, but you continue to masturbate. What's missing in your case is that you do not comprehend why masturbation is wrong. If you comprehend why it is damaging, you will not dare to even touch yourself or think in such a horrible way. What you have is knowledge that masturbation is wrong, but not comprehension for why it is so. Therefore, you have to know what you want. If you are unclear, you will continue to vacillate and deepen your pain. Decide now what it is you want, and follow through with your promises to God, if that is your will.  Our interest in Gnosis is in reaching the full knowledge of the inner Being, which necessitates a radical psychological revolution, meaning that we must become fit vessels through which the Innermost can express. The path to achieve this is internal, psychological, and guided by the inner Being. The method to achieve this has been taught by the greatest human beings: Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Moses, etc. When studied integrally, one can easily see they all taught the same methodology for the same path. Thus, since we seek to become like them, we follow in their footsteps. We aim to be like those masters, who are beautiful, pure beings, kings and queens over nature. A king or queen of nature commands nature, and is not dominated by nature, whether inside or outside. That is, such a master does not need plants or comestibles in order to awaken or acquire knowledge. They simply acquire it inside, through their own faculties. We study the teachings of these great masters, not only the written scriptures that are made up of thousands of pages of deep and multilayered meanings, but also the secret knowledge that until very recently was not written down. In all of that knowledge, both written and secret, there is no mention anywhere of ingesting hallucinogens. The only places you will find such things are in teachings of black magic, which are very abundant, but only result in the formation of slaves of desire. Those who sincerely practice according to the instructions given by the masters we study awaken consciousness, develop the powers of their inner Being to acquire knowledge directly, and thus they experience the steps of the path. This is known by all of our instructors and by the many thousands of students all over the world who are studying this path. All of us are experiencing what the greatest masters have taught. None of those masters taught the use of hallucinogens, thus none of us use such substances, need them, or want them.  Meditation, Psychedelics, and AwakeningMeditation is the science of awakening and liberating consciousness. Contrary to popular belief, recreational drugs and psychedelics are completely antithetical to meditation. Meditation is not a technique: relaxation, breathing or concentration exercises. While these are preliminary and facilitate the experience of meditation, the latter is a state of consciousness: luminous, clear, and unconditioned. The purpose of meditation is to liberate the consciousness from all conditioning, specifically the limitations of self, ego, desire―the “me, myself, and I.” Within all the ancient mystery schools and spiritual teachings of the prophets, desire is strictly equated with ego, defects, or conditions that produce suffering. They taught that such desires, and the behaviors that perpetuate them, must be renounced, comprehended, and systematically eliminated to produce happiness, serenity, and genuine enlightenment. Desire never rests by enjoyment of lusts, as fire surely increases the more butter is offered to it. ―Laws of Manu 2.94 Meditation, as a state of pristine awareness and clarified perception, is utilized to remove desire: the afflictive psychological states, egos, and conditions of mind. Ingesting drugs does the opposite: they condition the psyche within its egotistical cage. Introducing substances into the consciousness does not liberate it from its conditions. Marijuana is not used by white magicians. It is only used by black magicians. LSD is a poisonous chemical used only by black magicians. Psilocybin, as a substance that occurs naturally in certain plants, has a very limited medicinal function when used by a doctor whose consciousness is awakened. However, this use is strictly limited. In synthesis, there is no acceptable, casual use of these substances because of their inherent dangers. In addition, there is no need for them: the awakened experiences you want to have are much more safely and easily acquired by learning how to meditate. Meditation poses no risk, yet bestows all of the greatest gifts one can acquire. Yet, people are too lazy to learn, and always seek justifications to feed their desires, such as for drugs. Feeding the desire for drugs, especially with the sophistry of experimentation and having “spiritual” experiences, only fortifies the ego with its subsequent hallucinations, which is not the purpose of meditation.  What Is the Difference between a Hallucination and a Mystical Vision?In some native American cultures, initiates were sent on a vision quest, which required several days without food and sometimes without sleep. Modern scholars say that the visions seen on such a quest are hallucinations. So how can we be sure? What happens when one stops eating, especially heavy foods like meat, is that the physical conditioning of the consciousness is lessened, and one can directly perceive the more subtle levels of nature. However, changing our physical conditioning doesn’t alter our psychological conditioning, and what we perceive in those subtle levels of nature can be heavenly or hellish, depending upon the quality of our psyche. Dreams reflect the quality and conditioning of an individual’s internal psychological states, in that the body with its five senses, which originally filtered, obscured, or veiled one’s perceptions, is absent. What remains within the world of dreams is the consciousness, which, even without the five physical senses, processes in accordance with its own egotistical conditioning, i.e. the animal ego, attachments, cravings, or desires. A dream, therefore, is a projection of our conditioned selves within the astral dimension, much in the same manner that a film projects its images, qualities, and scenes upon the screen of a theater. One does not see what is actually there in its objective reality, but merely what one wants to see, precisely because in daily life, we constantly seek to feed our desires. Therefore, the consciousness is diffused, dispersed, or inattentive due to a lack of training. We are typically not aware of our most submerged internal states because we lack strength, depth, and utility with our unconditioned consciousness: the natural capacity for innate wisdom, cognizance, and understanding of spiritual reality. So if the majority of our dreams and visions are actually subjective, how can one distinguish an objective vision? Plato stated: “A man is known by his dreams” because our dream life reflects our daily psychological state. The type of mental projection we mentioned occurs not only during the hours of sleep, but even physically. Whenever we identify with a defect of anger, pride, lust, fear, avarice, hatred, or any egotistical desire, we interpret, view, and experience the impressions of life in accordance with those psychological conditions. Naturally, as stipulated in every religion, ignorance of this dynamic is the cause of suffering. Due to the heavily degenerated condition of our modern psyche, mushrooms and psychedelics exacerbate these demonic psychological perceptions, which can rightly be denominated hallucinations, dreams, or illusions. The extra-sensory perceptions of mushrooms, psychedelics, and drugs intensify the egotistical conditioning of what already subsists within our subconscious, unconscious, and infraconscious desires. The consciousness is contrary to the desires, habits, tendencies, and cages of our defects, for the soul belongs to divinity and can see the truth, i.e. perceive mystical visions, whereas our defects perceive life without objectivity. Since our free consciousness is not trained, but weak, we lack the bandwidth to directly investigate the full spectrum of conscious experience with competence, efficacy, and skill. Unfortunately, this often becomes the excuse for people to experiment with psychedelia, so as to perceive that which is beyond the senses. Psychedelia, the easy door to internal sensory perceptions, is a false one, for while offering experiences that are beyond our normal range of being, most individuals do not discriminate how their own states are a reflection of their submerged subjectivities. They are merely dreaming, not perceiving the reality of life free in its movement. Mushrooms and other plant substances are an extension of one’s dream life, the projected simulation of a conditioned mind that cannot see but through a glass darkly. This is the opposite of an objective spiritual experience: visions, whereby the consciousness witnesses higher realities without any self, attachment, craving, ego, or desire. This is the soul, the ability to observe a phenomenon and intuit its objective reality without relying on external stimuli. This is the natural functioning of the psyche we seek to activate with our Gnostic studies, but which is currently in a virginal or embryonic state. Enlightened beings, prophets, masters, buddhas, angels, or gods, never relied on chemicals or intoxicants, because that is contrary to the goal of objectively perceiving reality. The latter can only be witnessed when desire is absent, including that for psychedelia. This state does not require any external factors, but is spontaneously produced and sustained through meditation. Just because one has experiences from such substances does not validate them, because awakening is a spectrum, either in more selfless states (without desire) or within greater densities (attachments and grasping at a false identity). Psychedelics activate the consciousness that is already trapped within one’s conditioning, thereby producing experiences, perceptions or sensations that were originally submerged, dormant, or hidden. One does not become free of such states through mushrooms, but is merely becoming awakened within the cage. Therefore, there is no correct way to experience psychedelia, because their sole function is to intensify conditioned states, which are inherently faulty, flawed, and mistaken, processed in accordance with the egotistical lens, dispensation, or flaws of the individual. Experiences through DrugsExperiences through cannabis, marijuana, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ayahuasca, DMT, mushrooms, ketamine, etc., are one hundred percent subjective and egotistical, within the inferior dimensions, the hell realms or Klipoth of the Hebraic Kabbalah. Despite popular myths, there is no correct way to use drugs, because they all produce the conditioning of the consciousness. Psychedelia comes from psyche (soul) and delia (drug). Some proponents of drug use state that such an etymology is not factual, since delia originates from delouse, signifying “to reveal.” However, these “revelations,” perceptions, and visions are within conditioned states, egos, the hell realms. The extra-perceptions of a drug addict have their own roots in the abominable Kundabuffer organ (the tempting serpent of Eden). Mind-altering drugs or chemicals do not produce spiritual enlightenment, since these awaken perceptions or hallucinations within desire. The problem is that people have extrasensory experiences as a result of these substances, but what they lack is discrimination of what is genuinely positive or negative. They do not know the difference between the consciousness and the ego. There is a clear difference between awakened states of free consciousness and the subjective states of the ego. Many people smoke marijuana to have astral projections, as addressed in one question to Samael Aun Weor during a lecture: Student: There are many stimulant plants like marijuana, which, for example, serve in order to achieve astral projection in a quick manner… There is nothing spiritual about desire, nor its hallucinations induced through plants and chemicals. The state of craving or aversion constitutes the ego, the self, which originates suffering. The Being (divinity) and the ego (our inner satan) cannot mix, like oil and water. Drugs and meditation are incompatible. We naturally feel bliss in the consciousness free of the ego, yet drugs condition the soul and trap it in desire. Drugs cannot liberate the soul, but trap it. This is why divinity is very strict in every meditative tradition: do not take intoxicants. They will pollute your consciousness. Genuine spirituality is about annihilating desire, so that the consciousness can be free, experiencing its own innate, blissful and divine nature. Enlightened spiritual experiences are free of conditions, since they are the natural function of the awakened, liberated consciousness. It is not necessary to ingest chemicals to awaken our natural state of being, since this is achievable through serious meditative training and psychological work. Are Drugs and Psychedelia Natural?Advocates of drugs, psilocybin, ayahuasca, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and psychedelia argue that these elements belong to nature, and that their ingestion is therefore natural. While hallucinogens belong to nature, psychonauts ignore its chief characteristic and fundamental law: eat and be eaten. Nature functions in accordance with two principle laws: evolution and devolution. There is evolution in the birth, genesis, growth, life, nutrition, and blossoming of a plant. There is devolution in its degeneration, decay, withering, and death. These laws operate in all levels of mechanical nature: whether the mineral, plant, animal, and humanoid kingdoms. Everything that lives must die, including our psychological states.  Many other kingdoms exist beyond the mere humanoid level and possess an infinitude of variation, hierarchy, and orders: angels, archangels, cherubim, principalities, thrones, etc. These distinct levels of divine beings are mapped throughout the mystical Kabbalah and designate human beings who have conquered, within themselves, all conditioning elements that belong to nature itself. They are no longer subjected to external elements, pressures, and forces, since they have eliminated internal psychological conditions belonging to the kingdoms of nature that were acquired through the evolutionary process of cosmic transmigration. They now vibrate with superior laws beyond nature and mechanicity, subsisting as gods with mastery over the elements. Having conquered birth (evolution) and death (devolution), they are now immortal. Humanoids like us have the potential to become spiritual, free from our animal desires, egotism, defects, vices, and evolutionary past, to enter the truly human and divine kingdom of enlightened masters, buddhas, angels, or prophets. If we do not remove our animal instincts, desires, and tendencies willingly so as to enter the kingdoms of divinity, nature will recapitulate the evolutionary process in its inverted form: devolution, which are retrogressive incorporations into inferior states of being via animal, plant, and mineral bodies, until nature has disintegrated the conditions of mind that belong to it. Religions call this purification process hell. Nature is a recycling plant. Whenever there is disequilibrium, nature balances in proportion and intensity to humanity's disharmony. Also, nature balances constructive and catastrophic states with equal fervor. It does not discriminate in relation to our ideologies, assumptions, preferences, and beliefs. It does not care for our religious ideals, devotion, nationality, or political affiliations. It merely sustains and claims that which belongs to it. Nature abundantly provides the gifts of material and psychological vehicles, via mineral, plant, animal, and humanoid bodies, so that our consciousness can gain necessary experience throughout progressive lifetimes. However, nature progresses to a limit. When we choose not to remove the qualities of the inferior kingdoms from our psyche and enter those spiritual regions beyond mechanicity, nature claims what belongs to her: our psychological, animal, instinctual, and bestial tendencies, known as ego. The ego, self, desires, or identity we so ardently cling to belong to nature and must return to nature, willingly or not. Humanoid existence is the height of evolution. It cannot progress further in accordance with nature. To transcend the humanoid state, one must revolutionize the consciousness against nature. We must be in control of it, and not its slave. What is natural or normal for humanoids, mistakenly called human beings, is to be swallowed by nature and recycled within the inferior dimensions, known as the hell realms, so that the consciousness can be liberated and reduced to its primeval state of innocence. In this manner, the soul reinitiates a new journey into the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms throughout millions of years, until finally regaining the long-lost opportunity of a humanoid existence. Therefore the Conqueror (Buddha) said that just like The psychic perceptions produced by hallucinogens belong to mechanical nature, not the superior kingdoms of the divine. To ingest psychedelia in any form is to be a slave to its conditions and influence. One can philosophize, argue, debate, and articulate delicate sophistries for their “balanced” use, yet nature does not consider our philosophies, religiosity, conceptions, or beliefs. When you consume from nature, you belong to nature, and will therefore be recycled by it when your desires for psychedelia and drugs subsist. Nature will balance out your imbalances through disintegrating you within hell, since the infernal worlds are the return to a primeval state with the purpose of equilibrating your consciousness. While a necessary step for those who refuse to change and follow superior laws, it is an extremely painful one, and not recommended. Drugs and psychedelia exacerbate, intensify, and prolong psychological conditioning, keeping the consciousness imprisoned within one's animal past. It is impossible to transcend nature while ingesting substances that condition oneself in its mechanicity and devolutionary laws.  The Dangers of Drug UseOne must comprehend based on conscious experience why drugs are harmful―yet this doesn't justify experimentation with drugs. Instructors can repeatedly warn and provide an intellectual basis for such an abstention, but that will not give comprehension from the heart. Hearing how fire burns the hand is one thing, but being burned by it is another thing. To live, it is necessary to comprehend the dangers of fire. Yet by saying this, we are not instructing you to put your hand on a burning stove. It is not necessary to put your hand in the fire to know that it is dangerous, since one can learn its properties through observation. In the same manner, we are not telling you that to know drugs are harmful, one must experiment with them. We only have to look at the life of drug addicts to perceive their affliction and low level of being. For “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:16). Comprehension of the ego and its illusory states lead the practical meditator to the conclusion that ingesting chemicals, plant substances, and intoxicants will deepen one’s identification with the animal “I,” because the hallucinations induced by drugs originate from the same Kundabuffer organ. It is well known that drug use, recreationally or “spiritually,” degenerates the brain, heart, nervous and endocrine systems, sexual virility, etc. This affects the psychic connection between the mind or mental body to the physical brain. Obviously, drugs annihilate alpha waves. Then, unquestionably, the intrinsic connection between mind and brain is lost. This, in fact, results in total failure. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Great Rebellion When the brain is no longer connected with the mental body, it devolves, degenerates, and ceases to operate. The behavior of drug addicts is well documented. They experience a systematic decay of ethics, moral judgment, discriminative faculties, and the ability to ascertain proper conduct in various social situations, all of which run contrary to the purpose of Gnosis and genuine spirituality. Drugs: A Gateway to Spirituality?People are free to believe whatever they want about drugs. If students wish to continue using drugs for recreation, medical, or “mystical” purposes, that is a personal choice. Despite the constant inquiries seeking the validation of drugs, our response will always be the same: psychedelics and recreational drugs condition the consciousness in hell, so that it remains awakened and trapped there. Ingesting psychedelics will keep one identified and trapped in the lower realms. There is no way to investigate and comprehend the lower realms of Kabbalah through drugs. Even if some people find Gnosis while they are experimenting with drugs, that does not justify their use. What happens is that divinity is offering a means of escaping addiction, vice, and degeneration, i.e. through the teachings, not because DMT, LSD, ecstasy, marijuana, cannabis, ayahuasca, mandragora or mandrake root, peyote, or drugs led the way to spiritual realization. We teach how to liberate consciousness from these lower levels, not how to increase one's attachment to subjective and infernal states of being―so we will never advocate the use of intoxicants. Our inner Being is trying to speak to us, to wake us up, in every moment of life. Some people nearly die before they awaken to the seriousness of their spiritual life. A personal tragedy, like the death of a loved one, can lead some into moral decay and others to God. Each experience matters due to what we make of it, how we respond. Even a shocking drug-induced episode can wake a person up when the Being fights to help the soul return to divinity, even though such an episode is traumatic, harmful, and unnecessary. But for some, this episode leads to addiction and confusion, while others set it aside and seek the truth within. Why do psychedelics exist? In most cases, people continue to derive or ingest these substances to experience certain subjective sensations. They were then sold or given to others who may be open to such experiences, who would likewise become hypnotized by these sensations. Nowadays, they are produced mostly for drug users to make money and continue in their habits. If some have the ability to experience war, illness, poverty, etc., as a chance to transform one’s life for the better, this is a good sign. But many misguided individuals consider themselves to be enlightened by whatever means and go off into even more confusion, because they cannot let go of desire.  Objective Consciousness and RealityThe experience of reality beautifully unfolds when we let go of desires and when the proper causes are met: the mind is silent, serenity and concentration are established, and the consciousness free of ego is activated. As for using free, objective consciousness to explore the hell realms, this can be very useful. In an objective state, we can see the immense suffering of these realms and cultivate compassion for those who are hypnotized by these subjective states. However, many of us on this planet have the majority of consciousness in the hell realms, and we see them through the filters of our attachments and desires, not as they truly are. If we wish to escape hell, you need to awaken the free consciousness, not the consciousness trapped in the ego. Psychedelics fortify the egotistical consciousness and keep it enslaved and imprisoned to desire. Unconditioned consciousness, free from desire, is the only way to free the rest of the consciousness that is caged. A prisoner cannot free anyone else if he or she is trapped in their own cell. You have to escape the cell first to free others. The same with the consciousness. The Philosophy and Religion of DrugsThe philosophy and mysticism of psychedelics hypnotizes many people. This type of mentality is evident in drug addicts who, while deteriorating and filled with incredible suffering, continue to defend their addiction despite the evidence around them, the sorrows of their loved ones, socio-economic, sexual, marital problems, etc. Do not let a vice become your religion: A drug addict turns vice into religion. Being misled, he thinks he experiences what is real under the influence of drugs. Unaware that the extra-perceptions produced by marijuana, L.S.D., morphine, hallucinogenic mushrooms, cocaine, heroin, hashish, tranquilizers in excess, amphetamine, barbiturates, etc., etc., are merely hallucinations produced by the abominable Kundabuffer organ.  Peyote, Astral Projection, and ShamanismThere exists a very profound mysticism surrounding the conscious souls of nature for the development and betterment not only of our own spirituality, but of others. Every plant in nature has soul, known as an elemental. The conscious, spiritual work with the souls of plants is referred to elementotherapy. In the past, shamanic traditions and indigenous religions have utilized the souls of plants to awaken consciousness. Certain Masters of the White Lodge would work with certain elementals of plants, as explained by Samael Aun Weor in Igneous Rose and Esoteric Medicine and Practical Magic, to help disciples. However, you will not find these masters in the physical plane, but in the internal dimensions. We have personally received help in the internal worlds from masters who administered help through the elemental magic of specific plants. Yet we make this explicitly clear: you will not find these masters in the physical world, but inside. Humanity is now so degenerated that authentic shamans and spiritual doctors are not easily found. Due to the dangers, it is best to avoid them in the physical world, and seek them within. What you will find in this world, however, are confused individuals who use plants and substances to awaken conditioned consciousness: ego. They sincerely believe that perceptions induced by ingesting these plants are positive and objective. We call such persons, with awakened perception through conditioning, demons. Many people submit to such "wolves in sheep's clothing" due to naivety, inexperience, imprudence, and indiscretion. There are countless people in this physical world who perform ceremonies to certain psychedelic plants and substances. However, "drug addicts turn their vice into a religion" and are filled with innumerable excuses to justify their desires. Even positive practices with elementals have been abused due to the degeneration of these shamanic traditions. One such example is peyote. The elemental of peyote has been traditionally used to provoke astral projections. Yet the original purity of such practices have been adulterated, corrupted, and lost through innovations and abuse. To truly benefit from the elementals of plants such as peyote, it is necessary to enact the cosmic laws, ethical conduct, and divine principles necessary to command nature, not to be a slave of it. As related in a lecture by Samael Aun Weor: Student: You as well as the Master Huiracocha once spoke about peyote, precisely as help for these cases of astral projection. One can achieve full and complete development without peyote, therefore it is not necessary. Considering how vulnerable humanity is to temptation, and how easy it is to be distracted from the real work, it is advisable to avoid potential dangers. Moreover, in many places it is illegal. Why court danger, when the path is dangerous enough on its own? Therefore, we advise avoiding reliance on external substances. Did God Create Drugs?Despite these explanations, some have asked: If peyote, marijuana, and other plants are harmful to consume, why did God create drugs? The question is: Who said God made everything? God did not make concentration camps, atomic bombs, tequila, pornography, worldwide pollution, poisonous chemicals, etc. We took elements from nature and made our world the way it is now. "Drugs" are our invention.  The Demon of AlcoholFirstly, regarding alcohol, no one here will tell you what to do. That is up to you to decide based on recommendations and advice. Regarding alcohol, Samael Aun Weor was very clear in his writings: Never drink the accursed liquor, I tell you, because if you drink it you will quickly stray from the path. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Mystery of the Golden Flower Alcohol is not necessary for self-realization. However, with one drop of liquor, one can stray from the path. With the sinister demon Algol, it is impossible to make compromises, arrangements, or any kind of crooked deal. Alcohol is very treacherous and sooner or later will stab us in the back. Many people with Thelema (will) only drink one or two glasses a day; a terrific ruse, isn’t it? ―Samael Aun Weor, The Mystery of the Golden Flower As stated in the teachings and known by science, alcohol is a poison. We have to remember that the physical body is the temple of the Lord. Therefore, to be successful in alchemical practice, it is necessary to keep our temple pure. Alcohol destroys the body, mind and soul, and highly toxifies the blood. We know that the blood is the vehicle of the spirit, and when our blood is weak, toxic and impure, the quality of our seminal energy is also effected. There is no question that being a product of disintegration... alcohol has a vibratory disintegrating, dissolving and destructive tendency, drying our tissues and destroying the nerve cells, which are then gradually substituted by cartilage. In other words, alcohol promotes the exact opposite of the path. Dionysus, the god of revelry and wine, is a symbol of two distinct, contrasting forms of psychology. The positive polarity of the Dionysian influence is spiritual intoxication through objective consciousness, unconditioned mystical experiences, chastity, positive astral projections, lucid awakening in dreams, purity in ethics, body, speech, and mind, etc. The negative polarity of the Dionysian influence is intoxication of the ego through lust, fornication, drugs, and alcoholism. Regarding both polarities of Dionysus, you can learn more in: The Aquarian New Year. A student once said, "This path is not a path of deprivation." Actually, this path is 100% about depriving the ego of what strengthens it, such as fornication, drugs, alcohol, etc. The consciousness, the Being, does not need or want alcohol. Alcohol degenerates the mind, heart, and body. This is why it was forbidden by Prophet Muhammad amongst his disciples. O you who have faith! Indeed intoxicants [alcohol, drugs], gambling, idols and the divining arrows are abominations of Satan’s doing, so avoid them, so that you may be felicitous. ―Qur’an 5:90 Samael Aun Weor also specified that the Gnostic must not drink, smoke, or fornicate. Flee from lust and alcohol. Kill the most inner roots of desire. ―Samael Aun Weor, Tarot and Kabbalah Knowing alcohol is destructive is one thing. But comprehending its destructive attributes is another. The alcoholic knows alcohol is harmful, yet continues to drink anyway. Therefore, knowing alcohol is harmful does nothing. The person who comprehends how alcohol is destructive to the spiritual work no longer drinks it, because one understands the need to keep one's temple (physical body) clean and suitable for the Being. This is comprehension. Some people believe that to comprehend alcohol, it should be tolerated and consumed. However, as Samael Aun Weor states: Liquor and fornication must be banished from the bosom of Gnostic homes. However, we must not be fanatics. Whoever is incapable of handling one drink at a social gathering is as weak as someone who cannot control his liquor and gets drunk. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony This line about handling a drink does not mean that one should willingly drink alcohol, especially just to "prove" something. Rather, it means that one should know how to handle social situations with grace: holding a drink does not mean one gets drunk. In this case, the graceful one avoids offending his hosts, yet also avoids intoxication. This is how we fool the foolish. Regarding social gatherings: those initiates who have strong will, sometimes politely allow themselves to sip or to taste up to three small quantities of liquor or up to three small quantities of beer. They never go beyond three; if they do, they violate the law. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Divine Science: "Logos, Mantra, Theurgy" Most of us do not have strong will. Therefore students should be cautious. There are people who claim that avoiding alcohol is fanatical, thus they drink to "prove" they are not "fanatics." Perhaps they prove they are not fanatics, but they also prove they are stupid, for by that reasoning, they should also fornicate, take drugs, murder, rob, and in general perform all the other actions that lead to suffering. This is how their ego fools them easily. Wanting to prove themselves strong, they instead prove they are weak. And who are these idiots who seek to negotiate with Satan? Listen, my friends! With the sinister demon Algol, it is impossible to make compromises, arrangements, or any kind of crooked deal. Alcohol is very treacherous and sooner or later will stab us in the back. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Mystery of the Golden Flower Nevertheless, there is evil in good and good in evil. This is how we sometimes find medicine in poison. There are medicinal treatments that utilize small amounts of alcohol. These treatments are not sufficient to create intoxication. If someone becomes intoxicated, they have consumed too much. As you can see in the medicine book, there are medicinal uses for alcohol, but in very small doses. Yet once again, many people drink it for "medicinal purposes," when in reality they are drinking it because of desire for it. Drugs and Gnostic MedicineIf you study Esoteric Medicine and Practical Magic, you will find that many presumed impure or even poisonous sources can provide medicine. This is evidence that the genuine Gnostic approach is not fundamentalist, shallow-minded, or judgmental, but rather seeks to use what is useful while discarding what is not. Any element in nature can be used for benefit or for harm. However, humanity has no idea how to discriminate between them, since humanity is dominated by desires, hypnotized by whatever appears to produce blissful sensations, and oblivious to the harm that results from their mistaken actions. Elementals are simply the intelligence in living things. When you look into the eyes of an animal, the elemental is gazing back at you. If you study the mentioned book, it will explain.  SmokingCigarettes destroy the pulmonary and circulatory systems, which are essential to sexual magic. The oxygen or Prana should infiltrate our blood, purifying our internal glands and systems. Yet when we smoke tobacco, the lungs become incapacitated in their intake of oxygen. Prana, signified by the Hebrew letter א Aleph, becomes obstructed in its process of purifying the blood, or דם Dam. א Prana / oxygen and דם blood together spell אדם Adam, the man made into the image of God. Therefore, if we pollute our דם blood, we make it more difficult for א Aleph to purify it, thereby obstructing us on our path to becoming אדם Adam.  Medical MarijuanaWhile marijuana is medically used to treat symptoms of chronic pain and fatigue, it comes with a cost to the consciousness. There are many ways to heal the body, soul, and mind without resorting to marijuana or the elemental of marijuana. Therefore, since most people only want to get high, we do not recommend using this plant. There also exist many plants that intoxicate the soul once smoked, inhaled or ingested. This is due to the fact that fire, Fohat, releases chemicals by transforming matter. Smoking plants introduces many harmful chemicals into the body due to the destructive and transformative capacities of Fohat, and in the case of marijuana, ingesting its chemicals is absolutely detrimental to the soul, since it fortifies our animal nature in a terrible manner, heightened even more through crystallizing its properties through fire. This is why we do not recommend smoking or ingesting intoxicating plants, i.e. marijuana, nicotine, yage, at all. Smoking is a filthy habit that Samael Aun Weor expressly forbade his students from engaging in. There was once a cult in the middle east called the hashishans, who would ritually smoke hashish, marijuana, in order to awaken themselves in the ego and to murder for their religious leader. This is where we get the term "assassin." Therefore, those who smokes hashish or marijuana assassinate their inner Buddha.  The Astral Atmosphere of Drug AddictsConsuming alcohol, intoxicants, and drugs not only has adverse effects upon ones psychology, but also one’s home environment, aura, energy, and psychic atmosphere. Spiritual literature speaks often of incubi and succubi, negative, self-created astral entities that, due to fornication, adhere themselves to the astral atmosphere of their progenitors. Through masturbation and lust, fornicators engender such diabolic entities that have a singular purpose: to drain the sexual life force from their creators. Drugs, alcohol, and excessive stimulants feed such entities and give them tremendous strength: By permitting his senses to become deadened through indulgence in habit-forming drugs or alcoholic stimulants, the individual becomes temporarily en rapport with these denizens [succubi and incubi] of the astral plane. ― Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages Such entities can be eradicated by changing one’s behaviors and cleansing our homes with high quality incense, invocations, and prayers. Learn how to defend and beautify your Home and Altar. Mixing Gnosis with DrugsThere are people all over the world who mix drugs with Gnosis. These people define themselves as demons. This is why Samael Aun Weor announced, sadly, towards the end of his lifetime, that the entire country of Colombia has produced a rich harvest of hasnamussen: beings with a split personality: one heavenly, one diabolic―an abortion of the Divine Mother. Why? Because the Gnostic rituals are extremely powerful. When you mix the energies of Christ with hallucinogenic mushrooms, ayahuasca, marijuana, LSD, acid, or drugs, you take those powers and awaken them in the ego. All rituals have to do with blood and semen. Ritual is a double-edged sword that defends and gives life to the pure and virtuous, but hurts and destroys the impure and tenebrous. Ritual is more powerful than dynamite and the knife. It is only in rituals of black magic, black masses, where chemicals, intoxicants, and drugs are utilized. Black masses incorporate drugs to provoke delirium, hallucinations, and convulsions, accompanied with rape, orgies, and sexual violence. Such acts produce a synergy of devolving forces, which precipitate the consciousness of their practitioners into diabolic awakenings and the fortification of desire. Intelligence Resolves Problems, Not Drugs You may have a tremendous and explosive experience through one of these drugs, but will the deep-rooted aggression, bestiality and sorrow of man disappear? If these drugs can solve the intricate and complex problems of relationship, then there is nothing more to be said, for then relationship, the demand for truth, the ending of sorrow, are all a very superficial affair to be resolved by taking a pinch of the new golden drug. Surely this is a false approach, isn't it? It is said that these drugs give an experience approximating to reality, therefore they give hope and encouragement. But the shadow is not the real; the symbol is never the fact. As is observed throughout the world, the symbol is worshipped and not the truth. So isn't it a phoney assertion to say that the result of these drugs is near the truth? No dynamic golden pill is ever going to solve our human problems. They can be solved only by bringing about a radical revolution in the mind and the heart of man. This demands hard, constant work, seeing and listening, and thus being highly sensitive. The highest form of sensitivity is the highest intelligence, and no drug ever invented by man will give this intelligence. ―Krishnamurti, The Only Revolution, Europe, Collected Works (Volume 13) Humanity is in an unprecedented era of change. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens from every walk of life are forced to confront the terrible reality of their existence and the constitution of their moral caliber. Through the reduction and constraints of their regular commitments, individuals are compelled, under threat of possible infection, to examine the quality, foundations, and substance of their life. One's unconscious assumptions of "how things should be" in times of crisis belie a deeper, consummate reality and concern: whether or not a life of ignorance and fascination with the desiderata of life's banality is better than questioning the genuine causes and origins of affliction. Contrary to the biased logic of mass hysteria, people from every religious or secular tradition, under quarantine, are given a wonderful opportunity to evaluate and elevate their particular level of being. Throughout many spiritual traditions, retreat has been practiced to establish, deepen, and maintain the greatest meditative disciplines and the actualization of divine experience. Disciples of every religion would take time in seclusion, ignoring the influence of mundane obligations, anxieties, stress, and worries, to focus on the more important matter of awakening and developing the soul. Free from worldly conditions, engagements, and pursuits, meditators introspect within the depths of their own consciousness in order to contemplate the source of sorrow and discover its remedy: profound comprehension and elimination of psychological defects, including the driver of all social hierarchies, institutions, and economies: fear. Negative emotions have infected the entire globe as COVID-19 rapidly spreads. Fear, despair, and pessimism, rather than infect the body, are true diseases that infect the heart and mind. Anger, terror, and morbidity are far more contagious and dangerous than any virus, since negative emotions incapacitate the ability to reason, analyze, and solve problems, obscuring the discovery of relevant, practical solutions. Fear pushes countries to war, since they mistakenly believe that security and comfort comes through invasions, colonialism, and violence. This is why Samael Aun Weor, the founder of the modern Gnostic Tradition, stated: Everyone is being dragged down by negative emotions, and this is very grave. There is nothing more harmful for profound internal development than negative emotions... Everyone is being shaken up by negative emotions and nothing could be more contagious than these emotions... This is why the most venerated spiritual traditions have always emphasized and practiced meditation retreats: to confront in oneself the possibilities and motives of conflict, egotism, and misery. By separating from the world, meditators learn to perceive the psychological causes that engender painful circumstances and therefore remove them with intelligence and understanding.  Spiritual RetreatWhile every religion has a contemplative tradition, Sufism offers valuable wisdom and particular insights regarding the parameters of meditation retreat. Traditionally, Sufi masters would diagnose the needs of their disciples and determine whether they would benefit from entering retreat, due to the level of rigor, skill, and quality of internal work expected from them. This strict and conservative stipulation is a marked characteristic of the Piscean influence, since a codified adherence to a physical master was needed at the time, not only to determine the inner remedies for a student's deficiencies in temperament and character, but to qualify the spiritual worth of the candidate for the most elevated mystical knowledge. Since the 1960's, our world has operated under the Aquarian influence, an Era defined by the dissemination and free exchange of mystical knowledge that was once forbidden and inaccessible to the public, but reserved for an elite through a secretive oral tradition between master and disciple. The secret teachings of all ages are now available, for the first time, to the public, because humanity no longer has time to abandon the world and study under the tutelage of a master for many decades. This is due to the impending cataclysms and calamities that mark the end and beginning of new cosmic ages. In the Piscean Era, the master was found in a physical institution. In the Aquarian Era, the master is found within the internal worlds: the mysterious Tree of Life accessible only to practical meditators and internal experience. Piscean knowledge demands obedience. Aquarian wisdom embodies independence. What is old clings to life, and what is new cries for the death of the antiquated. Due to quarantine, individuals are free to enter into spiritual retreat for the sake of their spirituality and the edification of their hearts without outward restrictions, impositions, or Piscean dogma. The Principles of RetreatMeditation retreat is a means of internal purification of conditioned states of mind and has been recommended, practiced, and upheld by the prophets of all great religious traditions: Khalwah, retreat, belongs to the purified, while uzlah, withdrawal from the world, marks the people of union. The seeker needs to withdraw from his own kind in the beginning stages. Then, in the last stages, he needs to retreat in order to confirm himself in intimacy with God. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism Khalwah, meditation retreat, can be practiced in the solitude of one's own home. At the end of this article you will find recommendations for how to initiate and maintain a tentative meditation retreat schedule alongside different activities you can select from in accordance with your needs. Withdrawal from the world is not only a form of self-reflection for masters of meditation, but a psychological state of detachment from mundane afflictions. Meditation becomes a means by which to achieve intimacy with divinity through mystical experiences and awakened consciousness during meditation and the normal hours of sleep. Intentions for RetreatContrary to popular belief, meditators do not enter retreat to avoid the negativities of the world, but to protect humanity from their own negative, egotistical psychological states. If the servant chooses to withdraw, his intention must be to separate himself from people so that they will be safe from his evil—he must not be looking to protect himself from their evil. For the first of these attitudes come from thinking little of one’s own ego, while the second comes from making oneself out to be better than other people. A person who thinks little of himself is humble, while a person who sees himself as better than anybody else is arrogant. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism These are essential principles to consider. Given the realities of quarantine, students have the wonderful opportunity to work on their own defects so that, once external circumstances change, the disciple is psychologically prepared to face whatever hardships, extremities, or novelties emerge in relation to the global pandemic. Rules of RetreatOne of the rules of withdrawal is that whoever goes into seclusion must acquire the knowledge that makes his commitment to unity (tawhid) firm, so that satan (the "me, myself, and I," the animal ego) cannot seduce him through the (conditioned or negative) imagination (fantasy or delusional perceptions). Then he should acquire enough knowledge of the divine law (ethical conduct) that he is able to fulfill his religious duties so that his undertaking maybe built on definite and sure foundations. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism Retreats are based upon one's commitment to unity, which, as a prominent theological point within Islam, has nuanced implications within the esoteric interpretations of Sufism. Divinity is a perfect unity, a defined quality of Being, yet due to our own multiplicity of defects, vices, and errors―the pluralistic ego which traps the full potentiality of our consciousness―we are fractured beings lacking integration. To know the unity of divinity, the perfected states of the Being, requires that we integrate the consciousness through fulfilling divine law: the ethical discipline of internal meditation. The consciousness, heart, or soul can serve as a mirror to reflect divine realities, yet it must be polished daily through the ethical conduct of self-observation, self-remembrance, meditation, runes, sacred rites of rejuvenation, mantras, prayers, alchemy, and through many other esoteric exercises within the Gnostic Tradition of Samael Aun Weor. Through fulfilling the laws of requisites of religion, the consciousness that was trapped within the ego can be liberated and integrated, producing illumination or enlightenment. There is an organ in the body that, if it is righteous, ensures that the whole system will be righteous; and if it is corrupt, the whole body will become corrupt. This organ is the heart. There is a polish for everything that takes away rust; and the polish for the heart is dhikr, the remembrance of Allah. ―Prophet Muhammad, Hadith  Learn more about the principles of retreat:A Recommended Schedule for Spiritual RetreatThe following is a meditation retreat schedule you can follow and adapt in accordance with your needs:
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