*I sometimes point out that in the first few chapters of Initiation into Hermetics that Bardon suggests that the student develop the mental emptiness of mind of a Zen master, the capacity to visualize scenes and comprehend character and action of a Steven Spielberg, the chi or ki of a Tai Chi Chuan or Aikido master, and the psychological understanding of someone with several Ph.D's in psychology. This is asking a lot but I think it fits in with the universality of the system he has laid out.
*Bardon quite clearly emphasizes that the magician train to heighten his abilities as a human being and that he also learn to move among spirits as one of them and as an equal, who is also active within the sphere of history.*Furthermore, there is no human tradition that limits or defines your authority in the Bardon system. Your university is Divine Providence. The one requirement for admission is that you confront the darkness within yourself and that you learn to develop your five senses so you can perceive and be active on the inner planes.
*Each individual has to determine how much time and effort to give to the practice of a spiritual or magical system. If you give too much time to the spiritual, you then fail to develop your own personal interests and discover your place in history and your role in the society where you live. The net result is that you end up becoming like or a part of someone else's ideals and spiritual goals rather than those which express who you are. You serve a purpose or organization but it is not the one you could have discovered and which underlies your reason for incarnating.
And if you give too little to your training and practices, you limit the creativity and influence you could have in the world by being motivated from a higher level and gaining access to insights only possible to those who see the world through divine eyes.
Again, I think our age is a great place for discovering what works best for you as an individual and you as an individual get to make your own decision and delight in pursuing your own path of life.*Good magic involves a coordinated use of akasha, the mental plane, astral plane, and physical plane. There is the insight, intention, vision, and purpose of akasha. There is the supervision, oversight, accounting, and appraisal of methods and means of the mental plane. There is the energy, inspiration, motivation, and emotional involvement of the astral plane. And finally there is the hard work, building, and producing enduring results on the physical plane.
*Early on I point out that for myself the study of magic should only be undertaken if an individual has the highest commitments. This means an individual is focused within akasha from the beginning. I would also suggest that an individual first master his everyday life before developing his senses to perceive in the invisible world.
Everyday life is magic. It is the cauldron where our spirit is tested.
If you have problems with work, relationships, emotions, mental clarity, physical health, work on these first. Dealing with these problems is the requisite training required for developing a magical will. And if you develop a magical will and succeed in using it to solve some great problem, akasha will still require you to succeed in everyday life in order to make further progress.
*Spend some time doing what is the opposite of all your talent, attention, and work. Develop the areas in which you are weakest. And then combine these opposites and your creativity will unfold. Magical equilibrium is not cheap. It comes with a great price. It requires you to give your full, undivided attention to the things you are weakest at.
*The Elemental Equilibrium is a dynamic state of active and constant awareness of self. Nothing within the self transpires without full conscious awareness. Each thought is evaluated as it occurs. Each emotion is evaluated as it occurs. And the only change that occurs in reaction to thoughts, emotions or events, occurs with one's full conscious awareness. In other words, the balanced individual is not thrown about willy-nilly by events or intruding thoughts.
This is why it is called "equilibrium". It is the solid foundation. The ground of self upon which the initiate stands and meets life. Just like in Tai Chi, if you stand in balance, then you can shift with external pressures without being toppled over or moved against your will.
The Elemental Equilibrium is not so much a discipline as it is a choice. I choose to remain grounded in myself.
In order to remain grounded I have to continuously express my truest nature as clearly as possible. In order to know my own true nature, I must remain continuously aware of self. And this does not limit me since Self is limitless.
*
We can substitute meditation, autosuggestion, belief, prayer, introspection, noble deeds, asceticism, wisdom, knowledge, love, silence, and humility in place of IIH. You can read this and know why some people just seem to advance quickly on the Steps of IIH. They have already been in training for most of their life. They still have to work upon the different steps but it seems to come easily to them. Other studies do bring benefits to all magic which is again, why tolerance should be practiced. No one needs to feel because it works for him or her that not everyone else can get to the same place. It is why the path is termed as individual.
*And all that intelligence, experience, all that sharp and skillful mind and memory gets turned to the dark side. The man’s will is controlled by something no more than an infant’s blind craving to be satisfied, a baby’s scream that echoes with the cry of raptors and monsters long forgotten. If it were Shakespeare you could say it’s a tragedy. He was a noble individual with a character flaw that determined his fate. He was greedy. But not really. I think a desire within him took over his mind and his reason, a desire he did not know, did not recognize, and did not understand.
A magician cannot afford to be so naïve and innocent when it comes to using his power. The power is divine and it is for a divine purpose. Throw in a little ego, a little desire for self-aggrandizement, a little need for recognition and respect, and self-delusion comes with it. Power is best used when it serves the purposes of love, the greater harmony and beneficence of Divine Providence. All other uses enable power to turn upon and destroy the one who is using it.
