Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs, that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest. The term derives from the Greek, a compound of : “within”, thus “pertaining to the more inward”, mystic. Its antonym is “exoteric”.
The term can also refer to the academic study of esoteric religious movements and philosophies, or more generally of alternative or marginalized religious movements or philosophies whose proponents distinguish their beliefs, practices, and experiences from mainstream institutionalized traditions.
Examples of esoteric religious movements and philosophies include Alchemy, Astrology, Anthroposophy, early Christian mysticism Magic, Mesmerism, Rosicrucianism, Swedenborgianism, Spiritualism, the Alawites, the Christian Theosophy of Jacob Böhme and his followers, and the Theosophical currents associated with Helena Blavatsky and her followers. There are competing views regarding the common traits uniting these currents, not all of which involve “inwardness”, mystery, occultism or secrecy as a crucial trait.
You must do your part. Anything that is worth having is worth working for. Things which are given away, free, are usually so given because they are not worth charging for! You must open your mind; you must be willing to absorb new knowledge. You must “imagine” that knowledge is flowing into you. Remember, “As a man thinketh, so is he. You are not entering into an examination where parrot-like repetition of certain phrases is all that is required. You are instead, storing up knowledge which can set you free from the bonds of the flesh and enable you see what manner of thing this human body is, and determine the purpose of Life on Earth.
The body here on Earth is something like a vehicle operating by remote control. The driver is the overself. You may have seen a child’s toy car which is connected to the child by a long flexible cable. The child can press a button and make the car go forward, or make it stop or go back, and by turning a wheel on this flexible cable, the car can be steered. The human body may be likened very very roughly to that, for the Overself which cannot come down to the Earth to gain experiences sends down this body which is US on Earth. Everything that we do or think or hear travels upwards to be stored in the memory of the Overself.
Very highly intelligent men who get “inspirations” often obtain a message directly – consciously- from the Overself by way of the Silver Cord. Leonardo da Vinci was one of those who was most constantly in touch with his Overself, and so he is rated as a genius in almost everything that he did. Great artists or great musicians are those in touch with their Overself on perhaps one or two particular “lines,” and so they come back and compose “by inspiration” music or paintings which have been more or less dictated to them by the Greater Powers which controls us.
This Silver Cord connects us to our Overself in much the same way as the umbilical cord connects a baby to its mother. The umbilical cord is very intricate device, a very complex affair indeed, but it is a piece of string compared to the complexity of the Silver Cord. This Cord is a mass of molecules rotating over an extremely wide range of frequencies, but it is an intangible thing so far as the human body on Earth is concerned. The molecules are too widely dispersed for the average human sight to see it. Many animals can see it because animals see on a different range of frequencies than humans. Dogs, as you know can be called by a “silent” dog whistle, silent because a human cannot hear it but a dog easily can. In the same way, animals can see the Silver Cord and the aura because both these vibrate on a frequency which is just within the receptivity of an animal’s sight. With practice, it is quite easily possible for a human to extend the band of receptivity of their sight in much the same way as a weak man, by practice and by exercise, can lift a weight which normally would be far far beyond his physical abilities.
Everything we do is known to the Overself. People strive to become spiritual if they are on “the right path.” Basically, in striving for spirituality, they strive to increase their own rate of vibration on Earth, and by way of the Silver Cord to increase the rate of vibration of the Overself. The Overself sends down a part of itself into a human body in order that lessons may be learned and experiences gained.
Everyone knows of a person who is “a low sort of fellow.” Some of our metaphysical knowledge leaks over into common usage in much the same way as we say a person is in a “black mood,” or a “blue mood.” It is all a matter of vibration, all a matter of what the body transmits by way of the Silver Cord to the Overself, and what the Overself sends back again by way of the Silver Cord to the body.