84,000 Hermetics Doors

 
One book I think many spiritual people could benefit from these days is Thich Nhat Hanh's Living Buddha, Living Christ. Thich Nhat Hanh is obviously not a Catholic, but I quote this book several times in a book I am writing on the subject of the Rosary and magical training, since he has some interesting ideas on the Holy Spirit. 

I remember the first time I read Living Buddha, Living Christ, several passages made a deep impression on me. One of those was the following passage.

The Buddha is also described as a door, a teacher who shows us the way in this life. In Buddhism such a special door is deeply appreciated because that door allows us to enter the realm of mindfulness, loving-kindness, peace, and joy. But it is said that there are 84,000 Dharma doors, doors of teaching. If you are lucky enough to find a door, it would not be very Buddhist to say that yours is the only door. In fact, we have to open even more doors for future generations. We should not be afraid of more Dharma doors - if anything, we should be afraid that no more will be opened. It would be a pity for our children and their children if we were satisfied with only the 84,000 doors already available. Each of us, by our practice and our loving-kindness, is capable of opening new Dharma doors. 

The first time I read this passage, I immediately thought of a statement William Mistele sometimes makes regarding IIH, which is that each of the 360 ruling genii of the Earth-zone could teach the work of IIH in their own unique way. For me, this means that there are at least 360 valid approaches to the work of IIH. But are there 84,000 valid approaches?

To borrow some terminology from Buddhism, we can call a valid approach to IIH a "Hermetics door" that opens to successful completion of the ten steps. If we take a look at the body of Bardon-related literature as it currently stands, how many Hermetics doors can we find in it? Certainly not 84,000. Right now there aren't many Hermetics doors that have been opened, but this doesn't mean that over time we cannot eventually open more doors.

Every now and then, I come across advanced students of Bardon's system saying that the first few steps of IIH should be simple and easy, and that no one should ever be stuck on them for years. This may or may not be true in theory, but even if it is, we have to realize that what is true in theory is not always true in reality. The fact is, there are many Bardonists who have been stuck on Step 1 for many years. This is not something we can just brush over or ignore. We have to ask ourselves why this is the case, and I'm sure each advanced Bardonist will have their own explanation. 

For me, I think one could accurately say that anyone who is stuck on Step 1 has not yet found the right Hermetics door that they need to walk through. If there were 84,000 Hermetics doors that could be found in Bardon-related literature, then it would not be so difficult to find a Hermetics door that works for you. But the number of Hermetics doors that have been opened so far is not even close to 84,000. In fact, it is not even close to 360. 

In October of 2020, I started Falcon Books Publishing's Christian Hermetics project. One of the purposes of this project is to open a new Hermetics door that works especially well for Christian Bardonists. Although many Christian Bardonists are already walking through this door with great success, Hindu Bardonists may not be able to walk through this door. Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist Bardonists may also not be able to walk through this door. But even if this is the case, no one should ever be opposed to the opening of a new Hermetics door. If new Hermetics doors aren't periodically opened, how will we ensure that future generations of Bardonists have 84,000 Hermetics doors to choose from? 

Opening this Christian Hermetics door has not been easy for me. Those who aren't subscribed to my email list have likely only seen the few Christian Hermetics articles that have been published on the Falcon Books website, but those who are subscribed to my email list know that over the past year I have sent out email after email discussing various aspects of this subject. Despite the fact that my current goal is to continue the work of opening this Hermetics door for the Bardon community, I am not afraid that other people will open other Hermetics doors. In fact, I am afraid that no one will open other Hermetics doors. 

Recently, I was involved in a discussion on what connection Bardon's training has with religion. The individual I had this discussion with asserted that Bardon's training system is not religious. I fully agree with this. However, although his training system is not religious, certain Hermetics doors that open to successful completion of this system can be religious. You can have Christian Hermetics doors, Hindu Hermetics doors, Buddhist Hermetics doors, Jewish Hermetics doors, Islamic Hermetics doors, Wiccan Hermetics doors, and many other types of Hermetics doors. Bardon's system is often described as "universal," and it is. But not every Hermetics door has to be universal. Whenever a new Hermetics door is opened, we should celebrate this, regardless of whether or not the door is universal.

If you are following a Hindu approach to IIH and it is working for you, then I encourage you to open the Hindu Hermetics door that you are using for others. You can do this by starting your own "Hindu Hermetics" project if you are interested in doing so, and if you want any help or support from me, I will gladly give it to you. Similarly, if there are any Buddhist, Muslim, or Jewish Bardonists who are using Buddhist, Muslim, or Jewish Hermetics doors, I encourage you to open these doors up for everyone as well. I have already walked through a Christian Hermetics door, so I have no need for other Hermetics doors. But I will happily celebrate alongside other Buddhist, Muslim, and Jewish Bardonists when such doors are opened. 

Sometimes, those who walk the magical path see themselves as above religion. But, I have interacted with many Bardonists who follow a religion and find fulfillment in doing so. There is nothing wrong with this, and there is no need to judge such Bardonists. In Living Buddha, Living Christ, Thich Nhat Hanh says that abandoning your religion is like a tree uprooting itself. A tree which uproots itself cuts itself off from its source of strength and nourishment. You may need that strength and nourishment in order to avoid fainting from exhaustion while walking the magical path. I've met many aspiring magicians in the past who have wondered if they need to leave their religion behind in order to walk the magical path. If you go on any large occult Facebook group or subreddit, you're bound to periodically see people asking questions like "Is it ok to be a Christian and a magician?" or "Can I remain a practicing Jew if I start practicing magic?" The answer is yes. If you are a Christian, this doesn't mean you can't successfully complete IIH. It just means the right Hermetics door for you is probably a Christian Hermetics door. That's fine, because Christian Hermetics doors exist. I am opening one right now. In the future, other Christian Bardonists will open other Christian Hermetics doors, and in time I am sure we will see Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic Hermetics doors being opened as well. Please do not protest when someone opens a new Hermetics door. Even if it is not the right door for you, it may be the right door for others. Someday, someone will open the right door for you, or you may find it on your own and open it for others. Again, I am not afraid of this happening. I am afraid that it won't happen. 

I'll say one more thing before bringing this post to an end. These days, you often see the phrase "Bardon tradition" appear in Bardon-related writings. I myself occasionally use this phrase. But if we are going to be part of a tradition, why not make it a rich tradition rather than a vanilla one? The more Hermetics doors that are opened, the richer this tradition will be. And the less stereotypical a Hermetics door is, the more it will enrich this tradition when it is opened. Don't be afraid to be different or do different things. If no one has opened a Christian Hermetics door before, then don't hesitate to open one up if you are able to. If no one has opened a Shinto Hermetics door before, then don't hesitate to open one up if you are able to. Some people may give you weird looks, since you're being a weirdo (nothing wrong with that), but you're doing a good thing. You're ensuring that the Bardonists of the future won't have as difficult of a time finding the right Hermetics door.

Comments

  1. Good perspective. A few years ago when I discovered Bardon's writings, I was faced with a dilemma because the concept of magic is not accepted by my religion. I was torn between my interest in the Hermetic way and the prohibition to approach this theme until one day in a dream, I saw Master Bardon handing me three books, all with the same title. In the morning, while meditating on the dream, I realized that the book exists in reality in a single volume and was written by a Sufi sage by the name of Ibn Arabi (the book is titled ringstones of wisdom). I went to the bookstore to buy the book and to my surprise, the book was now in three volumes that I bought. In one of the volumes, in footnotes, it is written that Hermes trismegistre is the same character described in the Koranic stories under the name of the Prophet Idriss. Only then did my dilemma to accept the Hermetic teaching cease.

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    1. That's a fascinating story! Thank you for sharing. I'm glad you were able to resolve your dilemma and find a way to benefit from both Bardon's exercises as well as your faith.

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  2. How do I subscribe to the email list

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    1. If you are on Facebook, you can send a message to my page containing your email address. If not, let me know and I can think of another way for you to get your email address to me so I can add you.

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    2. I'm interested in signing your mailing list too but I have no Facebook. The google adress you see as my user name isn't actively used. How can I share my mail adress with you?

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    3. Would you be able to send an email to info@falconbookspublishing.com? This will let me know your email address so I can add you.

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  3. Hey Virgil. I wanted to ask you a question regarding something which isnt discussed much on Bardon’s book. My question is related to “retaining of the seed” or “semen retention”. The theory part of IIH doesnt speak about this, only in the part of ascetism maybe something can be hinted but nothing really concrete is mentioned other than being balanced in all aspects of one”s life. Rawn mentions this on his commentary but not much of it is talked about. I am a beginner student of bardon texts and was wondering if you had an opinion about this.

    Thank you so much, and thanks for this inspiring blog.

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    1. I have been practicing semen retention for some weeks and I personally didn't feel much of a change, in the beginning I felt more energized but after some weeks I went back to "normal" and I feel that restraining from this leads to an impossibility of having proper relationships and restraining from something natural which can lead to imbalances in one's life

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    2. I think the most important asset for those engaged in magical training is a pure heart. If you have a pure heart, you will be free of lustfulness. If you are free of lustfulness, then you won't feel compelled to engage in sexual activity, but you will still be able to engage in sexual activity if a relationship requires it. If you have a pure heart, then even if you have to engage in sexual activity because your partner wants to, then you'll still have the benefits that come from a pure heart. You might not have the benefits of semen retention (whatever those might be), but it's not a big deal because the biggest and most important benefits are those that come from having a pure heart. To obtain a pure heart, it greatly helps to continually repeat the arrow prayer "Lord purify my heart" throughout the day whenever you can, such as when waiting for the bus or riding the elevator. This is easy to do. Semen retention, on the other hand, could be difficult depending on how you go about it, and whatever benefits it might have depend on how you go about it. My advice is to do the thing that is easy yet brings definite and big benefits rather than the hard thing that has questionable benefits.

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