Who was Franz Bardon's Teacher? This Post Doesn't Say, but Read it Anyway
Earlier this afternoon, I was scrolling through some old conversations on a Bardon forum and came across a massive argument about who Bardon's teacher was. Now, while debates and discussions can be productive, arguments are always a waste of time. Since the conversation I came across was characterized by name-calling and the exchanging of insults, it was not a productive debate, but an argument. While all arguments are silly, this one was especially silly because... why does it even matter who Bardon's teacher was? It doesn't. However, there are other things that do matter; not because we are Bardonists, but because we are human beings. To those who get into arguments on Bardon forums about who Bardon's teacher was, there is something I want you to know.
On October 10, 2012, a fifteen-year-old Canadian high school student named Amanda Todd committed suicide, hanging herself in her home in Port Coquitlam, Canada. The story behind her suicide is... messed up, to say the least. The gist of it is that a Dutch pedophile named Aydin Coban obtained a picture of Todd's exposed breasts and sent the picture to many of Todd's classmates. This lead to a lot of bullying. Eventually, the bullying became bad enough that Todd switched schools. When Cobin learned of this, he sent the picture to many of Todd's new classmates, who proceeded to bully her as well. Eventually, Todd committed suicide. Before killing herself, Todd created a YouTube video in which she shared her story via a series of index cards. The image below is a screenshot from that video.
So what does this have to do with arguments about who Bardon's teacher was? Well, let's consider the fact that no one is immortal, and the amount of time each individual has to do some good in the world before they die is limited. Do you think Todd is the only person who will ever be in the depths of despair, have nobody, and need someone? Of course not! In fact, at this moment, there might be people who go to your school, work for your company, or live in your neighborhood who are in that same position. Wouldn't helping them be a better use of your precious time than arguing about who Bardon's teacher was?
Even if you don't know a specific person who has nobody and needs someone, there are still things you can do to help those in the same situation Todd was in. All of the bullying that Todd suffered through was the product of the cruelty culture our society currently upholds. Anything done to weaken this cruelty culture will greatly diminish all of its faces, including the face that is bullying.
Here are five things you can do to help weaken the cruelty culture in which we live.
1. Read Brené Brown's book Daring Greatly and encourage others to read it too. As I mentioned in a previous post, this book is about wholesome strategies for managing shame. According to psychiatrist Donald Nathanson, there are four primary unwholesome strategies most people use to manage shame: withdrawal, avoidance, attack self, and attack other. Often, when people bully others, it is because they are trying to manage some form of repressed shame using the attack other strategy. If people would learn wholesome strategies for managing shame, they would use those strategies instead, which would reduce the amount of bullying in the world.
2. Be a compassionate role model for others. Obviously, there are many ways to do this. You can volunteer at the local soup kitchen, use social media to send encouraging messages to others, share your umbrella with someone who needs one... the list is endless. Modeling compassion really is the best way to teach it.
3. Through sincere prayer, ask God to inspire society to abandon the cruelty culture it upholds and to establish a new culture centered on compassion. Many people erroneously believe that prayer is an activity for those who walk a religious rather than magical path. This is not true. Prayer is a powerful form of magic, and therefore a highly appropriate activity for aspiring magicians to engage in.
4. Teach children about the value of compassion. Children are the future. If things are to be different in the future, it is especially important that they of all people remain committed to expressing compassion.
5. Donate money to organizations dedicated to eradicating cruelty or promoting compassion. A quick Google search will bring up several lists of such organizations.
The important thing to keep in mind is this. If some random person on the internet disagrees with you about who Bardon's teacher was, that is not a problem. People committing suicide because they have nobody and need someone is a problem. With these five things, hopefully you can play your part in solving this problem.
Oh, and there's one last thing I want to say before I finish writing. Do not think that all of this talk about compassion is irrelevant to magical training. When I first began training in the Bardon system, an adept I was corresponding with at the time told me "If you want to have any hope of working through this system, you must become friends with Saturn. Those who are friends with Saturn will succeed in their attempt to become initiates through this system. Those who are not friends with Saturn will fail, and their lives will become much worse because of the karmic effects of their failed attempt." Someday, I will write long essay (perhaps even a book) on what it means to become friends with Saturn. It doesn't mean dressing up in a black robe and wearing a lead ring, and it doesn't mean doing Saturn-themed rituals where you vibrate the divine and angelic names corresponding to Saturn. What it means to become friends with Saturn cannot be explained concisely. However, the following passage from one of Bill's essays on Saturn offers an extremely useful hint.
I am the nightmare whose spell you cannot resist. I am the dark mistress dwelling within a cosmic abyss. Desolation, isolation, sorrow, and emptiness - these are magnificent jewels adorning the necklace around my neck. It is I who offered you a soul mate as beautiful as the stars in the sky and it is I who then took her away from you - that you might know that love and beauty of this magnitude are wonders hidden in my treasure chest. It is I who taught you to see that all the wisdom and knowledge men crave and worship is of no value at all unless it grants you the power to create love where none exists.
This is what Bill heard on one of the occasions when he entered the Sphere of Saturn using Bardon's mental wandering technique. The voice that spoke these words did not belong to a spirit residing in this sphere. It belonged to the Sphere of Saturn itself. It is no secret that magicians seek wisdom and knowledge, yet according to Saturn, no wisdom and knowledge is of any value unless it grants you the power to create love where none exists. Once you have learned how to create love where none exists, you have taken a massive step toward becoming friends with Saturn.
I reckon there was no love in Amanda Todd's life. I also reckon there is no love in the lives of all the other people in society who currently have nobody but need someone. The way you learn how to create love where none exists is by doing it, and the opportunities to do it are there.
On October 10, 2012, a fifteen-year-old Canadian high school student named Amanda Todd committed suicide, hanging herself in her home in Port Coquitlam, Canada. The story behind her suicide is... messed up, to say the least. The gist of it is that a Dutch pedophile named Aydin Coban obtained a picture of Todd's exposed breasts and sent the picture to many of Todd's classmates. This lead to a lot of bullying. Eventually, the bullying became bad enough that Todd switched schools. When Cobin learned of this, he sent the picture to many of Todd's new classmates, who proceeded to bully her as well. Eventually, Todd committed suicide. Before killing herself, Todd created a YouTube video in which she shared her story via a series of index cards. The image below is a screenshot from that video.
So what does this have to do with arguments about who Bardon's teacher was? Well, let's consider the fact that no one is immortal, and the amount of time each individual has to do some good in the world before they die is limited. Do you think Todd is the only person who will ever be in the depths of despair, have nobody, and need someone? Of course not! In fact, at this moment, there might be people who go to your school, work for your company, or live in your neighborhood who are in that same position. Wouldn't helping them be a better use of your precious time than arguing about who Bardon's teacher was?
Even if you don't know a specific person who has nobody and needs someone, there are still things you can do to help those in the same situation Todd was in. All of the bullying that Todd suffered through was the product of the cruelty culture our society currently upholds. Anything done to weaken this cruelty culture will greatly diminish all of its faces, including the face that is bullying.
Here are five things you can do to help weaken the cruelty culture in which we live.
1. Read Brené Brown's book Daring Greatly and encourage others to read it too. As I mentioned in a previous post, this book is about wholesome strategies for managing shame. According to psychiatrist Donald Nathanson, there are four primary unwholesome strategies most people use to manage shame: withdrawal, avoidance, attack self, and attack other. Often, when people bully others, it is because they are trying to manage some form of repressed shame using the attack other strategy. If people would learn wholesome strategies for managing shame, they would use those strategies instead, which would reduce the amount of bullying in the world.
2. Be a compassionate role model for others. Obviously, there are many ways to do this. You can volunteer at the local soup kitchen, use social media to send encouraging messages to others, share your umbrella with someone who needs one... the list is endless. Modeling compassion really is the best way to teach it.
3. Through sincere prayer, ask God to inspire society to abandon the cruelty culture it upholds and to establish a new culture centered on compassion. Many people erroneously believe that prayer is an activity for those who walk a religious rather than magical path. This is not true. Prayer is a powerful form of magic, and therefore a highly appropriate activity for aspiring magicians to engage in.
4. Teach children about the value of compassion. Children are the future. If things are to be different in the future, it is especially important that they of all people remain committed to expressing compassion.
5. Donate money to organizations dedicated to eradicating cruelty or promoting compassion. A quick Google search will bring up several lists of such organizations.
The important thing to keep in mind is this. If some random person on the internet disagrees with you about who Bardon's teacher was, that is not a problem. People committing suicide because they have nobody and need someone is a problem. With these five things, hopefully you can play your part in solving this problem.
Oh, and there's one last thing I want to say before I finish writing. Do not think that all of this talk about compassion is irrelevant to magical training. When I first began training in the Bardon system, an adept I was corresponding with at the time told me "If you want to have any hope of working through this system, you must become friends with Saturn. Those who are friends with Saturn will succeed in their attempt to become initiates through this system. Those who are not friends with Saturn will fail, and their lives will become much worse because of the karmic effects of their failed attempt." Someday, I will write long essay (perhaps even a book) on what it means to become friends with Saturn. It doesn't mean dressing up in a black robe and wearing a lead ring, and it doesn't mean doing Saturn-themed rituals where you vibrate the divine and angelic names corresponding to Saturn. What it means to become friends with Saturn cannot be explained concisely. However, the following passage from one of Bill's essays on Saturn offers an extremely useful hint.
I am the nightmare whose spell you cannot resist. I am the dark mistress dwelling within a cosmic abyss. Desolation, isolation, sorrow, and emptiness - these are magnificent jewels adorning the necklace around my neck. It is I who offered you a soul mate as beautiful as the stars in the sky and it is I who then took her away from you - that you might know that love and beauty of this magnitude are wonders hidden in my treasure chest. It is I who taught you to see that all the wisdom and knowledge men crave and worship is of no value at all unless it grants you the power to create love where none exists.
This is what Bill heard on one of the occasions when he entered the Sphere of Saturn using Bardon's mental wandering technique. The voice that spoke these words did not belong to a spirit residing in this sphere. It belonged to the Sphere of Saturn itself. It is no secret that magicians seek wisdom and knowledge, yet according to Saturn, no wisdom and knowledge is of any value unless it grants you the power to create love where none exists. Once you have learned how to create love where none exists, you have taken a massive step toward becoming friends with Saturn.
I reckon there was no love in Amanda Todd's life. I also reckon there is no love in the lives of all the other people in society who currently have nobody but need someone. The way you learn how to create love where none exists is by doing it, and the opportunities to do it are there.
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