Materialism is the view that the universe is a lifeless machine composed of particles of matter governed by physics. This belief excludes consciousness and non-physical phenomena, which are then labeled as pseudo-science. This materialist view began falling apart in the early 20th century with Planck’s discovery of the quantum of action, and with the work of Heisenberg, Bohr, and others. Physicist Henry Stapp argued that the quantum conception of matter, where physical reality is mid-way between classical matter and mind, provides a coherent framework for the causal power of the mind, a process you can find described thousands of years ago in the East.
In the Taoist Neidan practice, the body is made a cauldron to transform the spirit within. Jing, essence, is transmuted into Qi, vital energy, which is then transmuted into Shen, spirit. This energy can then be transmuted into the neidan, inner elixir, and nourish the spirit. Or it can be made into leifa, thunder magic, which is projected outward to affect the weather, or to exorcise and heal people.
The qigong tradition has developed a modern version of neidan called, waiqi, where a practitioner directs cultivated energy from their own body toward another person.
In the Yoga tradition, the Taoist jing and qi are known as ojas and tejas. Swami Sivananda wrote that this energy is purified and transformed into a higher divine energy through meditation, breathing and gratitude. The third chapter of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras advises that mastery of yoga leads to various supranormal powers, such as being able to comprehend the language of all living beings, and realizing any desire, and warns that these powers should be viewed as side-effects, and not the goal.
Both Vedantic and Buddhist traditions claim that experienced reality is shaped by the mind’s habitual states, clarity or turbulence. Hermeticism and Buddhism both say your inner state colors and shapes what happens to you.
In the 1800s, a movement was born, doctors were healing with intention, and anyone could learn to manifest great change by focusing their thoughts on peace and gratitude. For the past hundred-and-fifty-years, thousands of people have documented their personal testimony and describe the same experience — After a sustained time of changing one’s mental state, a genuine shift is felt, new opportunities appear, and good fortune occurs.
After decades of researching synchronicity with Carl Jung, Marie-Louise von Franz described a mirroring dynamic that can be observed at the moment of synchronicity. She claimed that during a synchronicity, an objective physical event takes the form of an external manifestation of an inner mental transformation.
Random Number Generators have shown that focused human thought can effect physical systems. Transcendental Meditation’s experiments have shown that group meditation can cause a drop in crime, suicides, and auto accidents. And prayer studies have shown that thoughts can influence plant growth, wound healing in mice, and improve the health of heart patients.
The Kybalion, published anonymously in 1908, by “Three Initiates,” claims to summarize the core belief system of the Hermetic teachings, traced to Hermes in ancient Egypt, and foundational to most Western Occult traditions.
The first principle is, The All is Mind; the Universe is Mental. And is followed by, As above, so below. What we call “physical reality” is a reflection of the mind. Which means that you color physical reality with the thought frequencies you attune to, and you are watching today what you’ve colored in the past.
In the Hermetic and Kabbalistic schools, within the Rosicrucian and Masonic orders, and throughout the Tantric lineages, teachings of this principal was restricted to select initiates, with the explanation being that unprepared minds could dangerously misuse this power.
