DISCOURSES Volume II - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

THE PLACE OF OCCULTISM IN SPIRITUAL LIFE: 1 89bliss or peace to the person who experiences them. The bliss andpeace which are attendant upon real occult experiences are afairly reliable criterion by which to distinguish them as genuine.Hallucinations are like the nightmare of wakeful consciousness.Even when occult experience can be clearly differentiatedfrom illusion, it is deficient in power and efficacy and subject topoignant doubt. This happens when the person who has had theBeneficiary of occulthelp must developself-confidenceexperience discusses the matter with otherswho, because of their incapacity tounderstand such things, throw out contrarythoughts and shake his conviction. For thisreason, in ancient times, the Master usually required a disciple tomaintain strict secrecy about his occult experiences. Even a deepexperience is likely to become weak through the contradiction andscepticism of others, unless the aspirant has learned to follow hisown inner experience irrespective of what others might think orsay. If the aspirant is to make quick progress and to profit mostthrough occult help, he must develop immense and unshakableconfidence in himself and the Master. He must not look to othersfor guidance, because those who will understand his problems orhis experiences are very few. The aspirant must, indeed, beprepared to face the possibility of not being thoroughly understoodby all his friends or relations, for they might be in thedark about the grounds for his ideology and course of action.If at the time of its occurrence an occult experiencehas served the purpose ofEffect of doubt onpotency of occultexperiencegiving new momentum tospiritual endeavour, it often does not matterif the aspirant considers it in retrospectiveanalysis and thought as being