important.

If it is used properly then it can

lead to extraordinary experiences, higher
awareness and knowledge. If used wrongly,
for personal gain or for purposes of revenge,
then the practitioner will suffer.
Most people are either very sceptical about
magic, or they regard it as supernatural. But
actually it is no more than an extension of
one's natural faculties beyond the range that
most people c o m p r e h e n d and experience.
Magical power is real . . . as real as anything
else that exists. But it is beyond the normal
experience. T h e power of magic stems from
the dictum of the Vishvasara Tantra which says:
What is here is elsewhere;
What is not here is nowhere.
It stems from the dictum of Hermes Trismegistus of ancient Egypt, who said: "What is
below is an image of that which is above; And
that which is above is an image of that which is
below for the purposes of magic or miracle."
All tantric and yogic practices are a form of
magic invocation, for they are trying to tune
you in with something else, whether it is inner
peace, knowledge or whatever. A n d the
greatest form of magic is nirvana, samadhi,
kaivalya or whatever you want to call the state
of enlightenment.
Christ was a magician, for he performed
miracles. Buddha was a magician, Mohammed
was a magician, Moses was a magician, together
with an innumerable number of yogis and
saints t h r o u g h o u t the ages. A g u r u is a
magician, let there be no doubt about this.
And so on. Magic merely covers the aspects of
existence which are beyond normal low states
of awareness. It is magic brought about by
spiritual practices that will take you to indescribable states of consciousness, knowledge
and bliss.
Magic is the process of spiritual alchemy,
for it fuses the individual consciousness with
the supreme consciousness. It transmutes the
mortal into the immortal. Man finds his real
nature. It is by looking inside that one discovers
the secrets of the universe and the supreme
secret. This is magic.
The guru
We don't want to go into the details of the
guru-disciple relationship here; all we want to
406

do is to point out the role of the guru in

tantra'. It is the guru who pushes and inspires
his disciples to higher levels of awareness. In
the higher stages of tantra, he is indispensable.
He is the very essence around which everything else revolves. He is the sun from which
all the planets in the form of disciples draw
their energy and aspiration.
When tantra was widely practised in India
(and other parts of the world) it seems certain
that each tantric community had a spiritual
centre, a focal point, a p i v o t . . . a guru. Without
a guru, tantra in the higher stages cannot be
practised. This does not mean that you cannot
practise tantric techniques without a guru, for
it is possible in the early stages. This is the
reason why we are starting to introduce you to
tantra; if you needed a g u m to practise then
there would be no point in publishing details.
But at a certain stage one needs a gum. T h e r e
comes a point in a person's life when he is
ready to surrender himself to a g u m . And
when you are ready, when you reach a certain
level of awareness, then your g u m will find
you. You will not find him, he will find you.
T h e n he will initiate you into the higher stages
of tantra. You will not meet your gum, whoever
he is, until you are ready, until you have
reached a certain point. Perhaps you will not
even be looking for a gum, perhaps not even
know the meaning of the word gum, but at a
certain stage your g u m will appear. That is the
starting point of higher tantra; even if you
have not practised tantra before.
Until you are ready, until you meet your
gum, then you must practise yoga and tantra
and wait for the g u m to appear and lead you
up the ascending stairway to higher awareness.
T h e guru, the right guru for you, is so
important. Many people listen to other people
in order to know the path, but often the
instructor is at the same level of awareness as
the student and u n d e r these circumstances,
little or nothing is gained. It is a case of the
blind leading the blind or as it is so succinctly
put in the Bible: "If the blind lead the blind,
both shall fall into the ditch." (Matthew 15:14)
It is only a person who is at a higher state of
awareness who can successfully guide the
disciple along the narrow path, often described
as the razor's edge. A guru is a g u m because
he is at a higher level of awareness and as such
can clearly see the disciple's pitfalls and blocks.