A General Look at Alchemy Part 2
Physical Alchemy
Transmutation of one substance into another such as base metals into gold, water into wine, etc., is the physical aspect of alchemy. It is often referred to as the “Greater Circulation.” Much charlatanry and quackery became involved with this aspect and many people were cheated by rascals who claimed that they had in their possession the Philosopher’s Stone that could effect a transmutation of base metals into gold. Human greed knows no bounds; the poor wishes to be wealthy, the rich aims to be wealthier, and with all their efforts, whether successful or not, sorrow and suffering is the karmic result.
Aspirants of the Ancient Wisdom are taught that the world of form is transient and that one’s happiness should not be based upon something that is illusory. Illusions do not last and they are not eternal. They bind man to a false sense of human limitation. They enslave man to matter by seducing him to indulge in things that hampers the development of the soul. Truth and the Real are that which is eternal and they are to be found in the “kingdom of God” within us. Unfortunately, most Christians overlook this one of the most important injunctions of the Nazarene Master. The ancient precepts advises us further that the less earthly desires one has, the richer one truly becomes.
The “Lesser Circulation” of the herbal family is also included in this category of Physical Alchemy. The main object of this work is the search for a universal panacea that would cure the ills and sufferings of humanity. This is quite a noble desire should the lucrative aspect and profit motive be absent; it would exemplify the Bodhisattva ideal.
In contemporary times, there are many of those who have claimed to have accomplished a successful transmutation in their laboratories, even teaching the secrets of the art to their ardent followers.
Biological Alchemy
When alchemists realized that they were advancing in age and were no closer to the goal of physical transmutation, they sought a way to stall the process of old age, to regenerate the body, and even to acquire a degree of physical immortality and biological immunity to diseases that humankind is so prone.
With such an object in view, they commenced their search for an “Elixir of Life” that would prolong their physical existence. At the very onset, the search took them to the field of herbalism, for many plants were believed to possess the traditional virtues of the fabled “Fountain of Youth.” The Hindu mystics attribute such qualities to the “Soma” creeper. The Chinese Taoists declare that a certain mushroom that they call “lung chih” has the virtue of regenerating the physical body. The Egyptian god Thoth is also said to have described a life-giving mushroom which conferred immortality.
At a later period, however, the discovery was made that the real Elixir lied within man himself, and it had to be manufactured via psycho-biological means. Briefly, this is the work to be undertaken at the biological level.
Psychological Alchemy
Psychological, or “Mental Alchemy,” is the science of the development of the Mind. Of the four lower bodies, the mental sheath is the only one unstructured, as yet, into an organized body–that is, in most people. In the course of evolution, the mental body will be constituted and coordinated so as to allow the Ego, and the waking consciousness, to function fully in the mental realm. The “Secret Doctrine” of H.P.Blavatsky tells us that in the Fifth Round the mental body is expected to be fully developed. Mental Alchemy accelerates the evolution of the Mind. It permits its practitioner to acquire in the Fourth Round what Nature intends humankind to attain in the next with her somewhat languid process. Mental development entails the development and the refinement of the following abilities, qualities, and faculties:
1) A universal attitude and perspective
2) Imagination
3) Concentration
4) The ability to reason inductively, deductively, syllogistically, analytically, analogically, etc.
5) Mental quietude
6) Abstract thinking
7) Divine thinking
Mental receptivity
9) Visualization
10) Discrimination (Viveka)
11) Detachment (Vairagya)
12) Meditation
13) Mental creation Etc.
Before quick progress can be made in developing the above faculties, the mind LG VX9800 has to be purged of all the phobias, neurosis, and psychosis that are infecting it; even the guilts, resentments, and sinful feelings torturing one’s consciousness. The aspirant is advised to forgive–forgive self and forgive others. The steps of conviction, contrition, confession, consecration, and communion should be adhered to when one desires spiritual unfoldment.
One of the other steps to be taken is the unification of the male and female aspects of the psyche. Psychoanalysis, however, has only touched the outer fringes of the mind with its inner probings.
Mental Alchemy, like the previous categories, is not considered the ultimate goal of Alchemy. They are but stepping stones leading to Transcendental Alchemy. More on Mental Alchemy and the general laws governing transmutation may be read in the Kybalion written by anonymous initiate-writers.
Transcendental Alchemy
All things in their Петропавловск-Камчатский natural unregenerated state are considered dead by alchemists. Man in his natural state is in a state of death. Master Jesus voiced this precept when he declared, “let the dead bury the dead.” Transcendental Alchemy raises Man from the “State of Nature, to a State of Grace.” The process reunites the sadhaka, the disciple, to the Atma, and later to the Monad in full awareness. This is the “unio mystica” sought fervently by mystics of all Ages. When Man unites with the totality of Life, he factually unites himself with God, for Life and God are synonymous.
Unity with “Tao,” Lao Tse’s mystic term for the Absolute, results in the realization of one’s true Identity and Reality. The individual who is united with the Absolute is a Jivanmukta, a freed being–freed from ignorance, maya, and mortality; human consciousness expands and embraces Cosmic Consciousness in this unified state. Figuratively, the Drop returns to the Ocean, and
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