Confucius taught that there are two kinds of sage, those who are so by birth and those who are so through their own efforts. The Sage or True Man is the highest stage of the exoteric path, but the first stage of the esoteric path.
| Exoteric Path | Stage | Esoteric Path |
|---|---|---|
| Sage | Stage 3 | Man of Tao |
| Man of Learning | Stage 2 | Man of Talent |
| Man of Letters | Stage 1 | Sage |
Natural Sage
What is of interest to us here, in a time and place where true initiation is difficult if not impossible to attain, is the case of the man born a Sage. Such a one does not need an outer Guru, as he has an “inner Guru”. His realization may be only virtual and not actual, but contact with certain ideas may awaken him to the remembrance of his true identity.
Collective Initiation
In group work, the group acts as the upaguru, that is, a catalyst that can activate the inner Guru. By observing and understanding not only oneself, but also the others in the group, the participant comes to understand how to actualize all his possibilities. If he is unable to see directly some such possibilities in himself, he can nevertheless see them in his fellow initiates; this will help him recognize those qualities in himself.
Exoteric
The method is to recapitulate the stages of initiation. To be a man of letters means to have read broadly and experienced much. Such a man is familiar with literature, history, science, maths, and philosophy. To be a man of learning is to know this material in depth. Thus we would engage in a careful study the metaphysical works of Guenon. This will be the intellectual preparation required to understand what is going on in the inner work.
Esoteric
This learning is done simultaneously with group and independent spiritual work. We are only concerned with the group work. As this is experiential, it really cannot be described publicly. However, the goal is Hermetic initiation, being born again of the Spirit and Water.
Activities
It is hoped that an organized body of knowledge will come out of this work. Perhaps a wiki of topics covered in the exoteric studies. A definite requirement is the creation of symbols and diagrams based on the abstract geometrical descriptions used by Guenon. Longer term, members should go out an engage the world as philosophers, artists, politicians, businessmen, and all other gainful employment.
Obstacles
As Guenon point out, in our age there will be obstacles to any attainment. But bear in mind that we ourselves have chosen these obstacles and hence the means to overcome them. I had hoped to be able to have a weekly group discussion of the metaphysical books. However, those interested are in widely disparate time zones, making any choice of a time inconvenient for some. We will need two separate discussion groups.
References (all by Rene Guenon):
Innate Wisdom & Acquired Wisdom
Guru & Upaguru
True Man and Transcendent Man
You may be interested in Chögyam Trungpa’s ideas of the “blessed” and “direct” tulku. Reginald “Reggie” A. Ray also elucidates some of Trungpa’s ideas in his books. Basically a “blessed tulku” is a bodhisattva with some residual amount of progress which an environment catalyzes in him in his next birth, he then continues his practice. A “direct tulku” is someone who is born enlightened, essentially.
Interesting. How important is it to widen the base or breadth of knowledge? I would assume that a degree of breadth is necessary to balance depth. Breadth without depth would be meaningless, like being a human encyclopedia or a robot. But what about depth without breadth? I suppose it wouldn’t be very useful. And how does height differ from depth? (or does it?)
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´It goes without saying that nobody initiates anyone else, it we understand by ´initiation´ the Mystery of the Second Birth or the Great Sacrament. This Initiation is operative from above and has the value and the duration of eterniry. The Initiator is above, and here below one meets only the fellow pupils; and they recognise each other by the fact that they ´love one another´ (cf. John xiii. 34-35). There are no longer any more ´masters´ because there is only one sole Master, who is the Initiator above. To be sure, there are always masters who teach their doctrines and also initiates who communicate some of the secrets which they possess to others who thus become in their turn the ´initiates´— but all this has nothing to do with the Mystery of the Great Initiation.´
[Tomberg, Valentin “Meditations on the Tarot” p. 5]