Definition

wiki defines:

Esotericism” sometimes suggests an additional element of initiation, for example the requirement that one be tested before learning the higher truth. Note however that most “esoteric” teachings are widely available, and indeed often actively promoted.

Another possibility is that such knowledge may be kept secret not by the intention of its protectors, but by its very nature-for example, if it is accessible only to those with the proper intellectual background.


Also: knowledge that is difficult to understand or remember.

How can esoteric knowledge be available to the masses?

Why must intellectual elietism divide?

A new paradigm could include uplifting others by utilizing intelligence, not intellectual speculation. There is a difference. Once “ego” is involved, titles, educational degrees, better than attitudes, we separate.
 

Re: Definition

The questions posed are interesting, and I may not have all of the answers, but I think I can contribute a bit of wisdom toward answering some of them.

Most “esoteric” information, particularly pertaining to spirituality, but also blossoming out into how one experiences the world, isn't all that hidden, and for the most part doesn't require a superior intellect.  Many of the precepts are extremely simple, and have been designed to be that way, so that those people who think things need to be brainy and complicated, in order to give them more power, will completely overlook them.

Simple things like knowing the order in which to place creative thoughts for the best possible outcome have been placed in symbolic language, and thus preserved down through the ages, so that those who eventually also discover, or somehow find the “key” to the symbols, will also then possess the manual for the most powerful thing there is on the planet today, properly harnassed, the human brain.

“How can esoteric knowledge b available to the masses?”  They are generally the unwitting harbingers of it, and what better place to hide something, than in plain sight?

“Why must intellectual elietism divide?” For the same reason you would not allow a child to drive a vehicle, or earlier still, provide them with a toy with which they could injure themselves or someone else, because they didn't have the maturity to handle it properly.  And who decides when they have that maturity?  In the case of a child, the parent does that.  In the case of the evolving spiritual being, the overshadowing Soul/Higher Consciousness creates the opportunities for the being to experience the knowledge, and enter into the next phase (Initiation) on the upperward path toward Self-Realization and Union with the Real Self.  When the student is ready, the teacher appears.  The “teacher” isn't always one in physical incarnation, and many who proclaim themselves as such are themselves blind to the true reality of their own Higher Selves.  But that, too, is part of their learning process;  their test to see if they are really ready for the next step.

I don't think it is so much of a separation caused by intellectual speculation, as much as it is by fear-based dogma.  Those who stand behind pulpits and preach a storm of “fire and brimstone” usually chose to rant against one or two of the esoteric areas, where no “saved” person will tread, to keep their flocks harnassed into that dogma.  And, from my own personal experience with this, they can become quite self-righteous and self-serving if you choose to ignore them.  At the same time, though, many of them (the preachers) lack the knowledge to adequately make their arguments hold water, if you question them (provided they don't run and hide, because they know they are doomed to look like fools). 

I think Soul evolution has probably been held back by the larger religious organizations in the world, simply by their manipulation of what is, or shoud be, or should not be, esoteric knowledge.  The intellect is not so much the problem, though; rather it is the deep trance, the unrealized hypnosis, that most individuals live in, because it is comfortable, and they are protected from facing the fears that they've been told await them, should they arouse themselves from their pseudo slumber.

The good news is that eventually everyone wakes up!

Re: Definition

Gem:

I love your train of thought and ideas and explanations! Wise woman you are!

Here is my quandry!

It has less to do with esoteric perhaps and more to do with intellectual divides.

Osho describes the difference between intelligence and intellectualization. We all have intelligence, and there are some who are intellectuals. Intellectuals are those who learn something, regurgitate it and all their wisdom and knowledge comes from the minds of others. They do not critically analyze anything, they choose to spout others knowledge.

College professors can be this way, ask me I know. I work with these people on a daily basis and they are anything BUT intelligent. And I am allowed to say this because they are my “esteemed colleagues”…and they cannot teach and they are not able to learn from anyone but their books and in their own limited doctoral experience…blah!

Esoteric learning is accessible to all, and you are right….it isn't that difficult, but it is not something everyone wants to learn…some of it however is laden with intellectual-speak and remains mysterious and hints at wanting to leave people out of the circle!

When I hear students tell me their professor wants no questions, no other opinions and is unwilling to ponder something in an open way, I shudder.

We need to change the paradigm in education and that is another thread, but we also need to make knowledge accessible to the masses in a less complex way, without complicating the process with intellectualizing and using pomposity in the dictates of the learning…..

Gem: What I love about your posts is that you make your ideas and insights intersting to read and bring us knowledge in a straighforward and complementary manner.

Simplicity in esoteric thought is what makes student think they must be wrong…as they are told over an over again…things are more complicated by their knowitall professors!

hoe to change this way of thinking???

empowerment!

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Dave:

I wish Masonry was secret, you can find all the information you want about its rituals online now…and in this case, I do not see it as intellectualized elietism as it can be accessed if one has the wherewithal to know where to want to find it.

Re: Definition

“you can find all the information you want about its rituals online now”

Ha-ha!  Thanks for that, I needed it.

But yeah.

Glad you think so.

I would go as far as saying it is not wise for a non-mason to say he or she has access to 'all' of anything.  But it is nice that the conceited effort of those 'behind' these so called 'informative' websites has not been entirely wasted. 

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Knowledge is Power…just look at the Vatican and every one of your religious buildings…all built on Secrets and the wielding of that Power of Knowledge….

There was a prophecy that was given to Pope John Paul which he was supposed to reveal but he didn't…what the heck was that? Why the withhold of information? Elitists afraid that our thinking would change? The elites afraid that the rest of us would become empowered with “their” knowledge?

If we could all just share and pool our knowledge and information, we could be even greater ;-)

Re: Definition

Ariela is correct.  I am a 32 degree Mason and know the secrets.  Thing is, there's nothing “secret” except the ways the information is presented and the communication between members.  The Truths presented are universal, or becoming more and more so.

Perhaps the day will come when such things as secret groups become unnecessary.  Perhaps in times past it was important to safeguard certain knowledge.  Today we need to set it free.

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I like the wording of “Utilizing Intelligence”…Yes! That's what we need to do! Use what we know, instead of hoarding information hoping to have power over others, or feel we know something others don't…that's not right!

The government is way ahead technologically…but it's not utilized! We are kept as ignoramuses….Secret Societies have esoteric knowledge that will probably empower the self…except they keep it to themselves so that they will feel smarter than the rest, Better than the rest, More Chosen than the rest…that's not right either!

If we shared what we knew, we could all grow as a people…everyone would Rise Up and evolution would speed us up into realms unknown…
But that would mean Loss Of Control for many, many people who certainly do not want that!

Knowledge…The Great Equalizer. ;-)

Re: Definition

Great thread, all; and personally interesting to me [more of this later:]

Keith,
I think you hit the nail on the head when you brought the time element into esoteric

teaching.

The personal element for me, re esoteric teaching is that about 35years ago  when

I was awakening to knowing there was much I wanted to know, which was kept

hidden, and not widely available, I searched a lot; got to know about the secret

societies; did not want to go through initiation rites as something seemed to be

missing for me. I learned some, through Theosophical writing, and everything kept

the appetite whetted.

Then suddenly, a few years ago, the internet came into being, and esoteric is no

longer hidden. Everything is out there.

What has changed? Friends and family who were not interested in esoteric

teaching, are still not as enthused or open to them as these begin to be revealed.  I

was offered initiation into healing methods; and suddenly the missing link for me

was found. I needed the heart-connection for knowledge to be given to me. I didn't

want it for intellectual reasons alone.

Now, there are those who would like to learn from me….knowing it is not “my

knowledge” but what is coming through me. I am as them…housewife or student or

whatever…not someone who is unapproachable, or whom they need to impress or be

in awe of.

There was a time..and there is now; when all information is available in the Akashic

records. We do not have the capability to access them. Perhaps our higher self, closer to the oneness we come from, can access it.  There may not be a Being up there who is ensuring that we do not access it. The natural order of things sees to it. However massive the sun, as Charles Dickens wrote - even a little cloud can hide it from us.

The knowledge became esoteric not to hide it - but so that it stays unsullied and passed through generations till human beings were ready to wake up. That is probably why it was given to religions - because they had the structure to keep such information. Now religion is giving way to spirituality, and the esoteric is getting out. And still, there will be a select few who have access to it. Till one day, we are all back to where we started…where we knew everything.

Not sure how this resonates, but do let me know how it does.

Re: Definition

…esoteric …hidden…

         …things are becomeing more and more open and tranparent …this is the way it should be …so increases in anything would be likenened to a glass ceiling…we being our own gate keepers…when we are *ready* we hold the key…advancment becomes self-motivated…

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Again, I see so much in agreement here.  The time has come to open the door and let all knowledge spring forth freely.  As Meenakshi states, the Internet has done just that.  Now that it's already out … just someone attempt to put it back.  There will be hell to pay if this were tried.

Great posts.  Great thread. 

Re: Definition

Too much agreement sometimes is not good, sometimes it is good

So I will throw a wrench in all this agreement.

The reason why knowledge has been and still is hidden from the masses is based on this aphorism of Jesus that we all know:

“Cast not peoples at the feet of swine”

Humanity has already corrupted, perverted, distorted all the sacred knowledge given too him.

You good people wont do that, I won't do that, but there are people who have done that

Why do you people think these “swine” won't do the same?

Though on one level, they say:

The secret protects itself

That is the level of monological knowledge, where only those who have done the work on themselves will attain the inward beauty.

“The kingdom of god is within you”

“He who knows himself knows his lord”

But of course since I wrote a book revealing ALL the most important secrets of any importance, I may sound like a hypocrite.

But no

I am the revealer

Re: Definition

Revealer, you do bring up a valid point … to paraphrase … Would we give an automobile and the keys to a five-year-old?

The answer is no … except under the most extreme of circumstances.  Withholding the use of an automobile to a five-year-old is an act of love and protection.  They would not have the knowledge, experience nor physical stature to operate it safely.

So to withhold esoteric knowledge as a form of love and protection of the people involved may be appropriate.  Which, of course, has little or nothing to do with the knowledge.

Thank you for pointing this out.  Very good.

Okay … How does this change anything?

Re: Definition

Revealer, you do bring up a valid point … to paraphrase … Would we give an automobile and the keys to a five-year-old?

The answer is no … except under the most extreme of circumstances.  Withholding the use of an automobile to a five-year-old is an act of love and protection.  They would not have the knowledge, experience nor physical stature to operate it safely.

So to withhold esoteric knowledge as a form of love and protection of the people involved may be appropriate.  Which, of course, has little or nothing to do with the knowledge.

Thank you for pointing this out.  Very good.

Okay … How does this change anything?

Re: Definition

Here ar two examples of esoteric knowledge by two of our well known metaphysicians, who have hidden esoteric knowledge in well known aphorisms, the general public don't know, but now we will know.

Jesus said: I and the father are one

To interpret that on an esoteric level one does this:

What does he really mean by the father esoterically?

He is referring to the “father” as the “science of return to god” not tliterally the diety god.

Which is an esoteric science, father being father Adam, and our liege lord in heaven.

To be one with that science is required in mysticism because for one to develop spiritually one has to almost become the law of god, or dharma.

The lower level exoteric interpretation is that he means literally being one with god, in reality impossibility. But as a [moral -we are all one teaching] that is an acceptable exoteric interpretation.

Another one is this

Muhammad said:

Seek knowledge though it be in China

On an exoteric level this means one should go anywhere to get knowledge

But on an initiatory level [esoteric] China in Arabic mystical numerology [Abjad] means concentration.

So Muhammad is saying to the esoterics of initiation

Seek knowledge through meditative sciences

Re: Definition

How can esoteric knowledge be available to the masses?

I doubt this would happen at all.
First of all, we have been brainwash with the false truth for so long (Religion is one).
Second, the mass has a great fear to the “Unknown” (causes by the media)
And third is, the Power still want to be in control of the mass (Illuminati if you know).

Until the system break down, the masses will never be free for these information.

Re: Definition

How can esoteric knowledge be available to the masses?

It is already available to all, even in front (and behind) of everyone's noses. The Kabballahists speak of the white page between the black letters of ink in the Torah (literally: “read between the lines”, the familiar old cliche), and Jesus spoke in parables, and those are just the Judaeo-Christian examples, and within every “Organized” Religion, the esoteric is there, underlying the exoteric. It requires a shift in thinking, a paradigm shift, and a willingness to be open to infinite possibilities, to admit that one does not know everything, that even what we think we know may be based on an assumption, “world view”. or paradigm. Many people are not willing to ask the questions because they fear that they might get an answer. It is safer in the box where everything is clearly defined and confined. It isn't really a problem or question of availability but: Are you willing to have a mind that is opened to the infinitude of posibilities, or, as Dr. Wayne Dyer puts it, “A mind that is open to everything and attatched to nothing”, and what will you do with that information? Are you prepared to jump down the rabbit hole? Are you prepared to blow out of the box, and are you afraid of what might be on the other side of the known? Are you willing to be confounded?

We can encourage others to ask GREAT questions, but the willingness is strictly up to them.

But then, What the Bleep Do I Know? (-;

Lovely discussion!

PS. Carl G. Jung said, “One of the main functions of formalized religion is to protect people against a direct experience of God.”
 -as I went to search for this quote on the internet,  http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/jungleg.html   came up in the search. Here's an example of folks who are threatened by someone who has asked GREAT questions and sought the answers from outside the box. Gotta love those “Ha! Made you think” folks like Jung, Jesus, Buddha, Einstein, Gandhi….the list goes on, and on. Unfortunately, the folks at psychoheresy retreated to their box.

Namaste!
-Loraine

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There you go, the System hide that Esoteric stuff so well that I don't even know it is already available until you show me Loraine, LOL!!! I guess as long as I don't know it, the masses wouldn't know it. Let's publish this in ABC News shall we. I watch the news every night.

You do have a very good point, people love to be in a box. It make them feel secure.

Much love to you Loraine.

Re: Definition

Tuan-

It is not so much that they are hiding it, but most of us were taught at home, in church, and in school to believe in the paradigm- the only reality is what is visible or tangible, and that there are questions you just don't ask, and there are topics that are “dangerous” to explore- you might even go to Hell for it, so we were told. Had there not been folks that questioned the paradigm, we would still be told that the Earth was flat, that the planets and sun revolve around the Earth, and that our solar system is the only one. We now take for granted that the Earth is round, the planets revolve around the sun, and that we are only one solar system among an infinitude, but at one time, these notions bucked against the world paradigm, and were considered “heretical”, and many of these great thinkers feared for their lives for questioning the “known reality”.

Fortunately, once we become adults and leave Mom and Dad's house, we can explore those things- we just don't tell them we do, or discuss quantum physics, esoteric knowledge, the elusiveness of reality, etc., with them and we hide the books when they come over, and we don't tell them we have a blog on Zaadz- ha!  (-;

Namaste!
-Loraine  

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“The Kabballahists speak of the white page between the black letters of ink in the Torah (literally: “read between the lines”, the familiar old cliche)” Quiche, this is so amazing! I was thinking of this as I drove this morning - when we write, is it really the space between words that is enlightening? Specially when we're writing black on white!
Where can I read more about this?

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Meenakshi-
Sorry it took me awhile to respond. I had to dredge up books and notebooks. It has been awhile since I've studied this stuff.

Here's some more info on the subject of the esoteric/exoteric text of the Torah:
 

Said Rabbi Isaac: “The Torah was manifested in a black fire which was superimposed upon a white fire, signifying that by means of the Torah the 'Right Hand' clasped the 'Left Hand' that the two might be fused, as it is written: from his right hand a fiery law to them. (Deut. 33:2). (Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 84a)

Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (called RaMBaN or Nachmanides) said about the above mentioned:
“We have an authentic tradition whereby the whole of the Torah consists of the set of the names of God; or a single great name of God. Thus the words which we read  could also be distributed in a completely different way. The Torah “black fire on white fire” signifies, in fact, that the text was written without any breaks between letters, an uninterupted sequence from first to last. A text consisting of a single word or name, a sequence of letters which contains no legible word having any meaning in the language of men.” (Gershom Scholem, On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism)

 

The last portion of the Torah includes one of its more esoteric phrases -“eish da'at, the fiery law.” (Deuteronomy 33:2) The Midrash concludes that this phrase is a description of the Torah. In its words: “eish shahor al gabei eish lavan.” The Torah is written “black fire on white fire.” (Midrash Tanhuma, Genesis 1) What exactly does this mean?

On the simplest level, black fire refers to the letters of Torah, the actual words, which are written in the scroll. The white refers to the spaces between the letters. Together the black letters and white spaces between them constitute the “whole” of the Torah.

On another level, the black fire represents the p'shat, the literal meaning of the text. The rabbis point to the importance of p'shat when stating “the text cannot be taken out of its literal meaning.” The white fire, however, represents ideas that goes beyond the p'shat. It refers to ideas that we bring into the text when we interact with it. This is called d'rash-interpretations, applications, and teachings that flow from the Torah. The d'rash are the messages we read between the lines.

Rabbi Avi Weiss , Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, Bronx, NY

http://www.hir.org/a_weekly_gallery/8.16.02-weekly.html

Moreover, the Hebrew letters themselves have a numeric value (the study of which is called Gematria), as well as a pictographical symbology. there is also the belief that the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet have literally a life of their own, and are the composition of everything created. There is so much to this, too much to susinctly define in a message, but there are numerous books and websites out there. A good book to start with on Kabbalah is: 

Mysteries of the Kabbalah, Marc-Alain Ouaknin, trans. from the French by Josephine Bacon, Abbeville Press, New York.

As for websites, the link below is a meta-link site on all things esoteric categorized (best I've ever seen), and has a section specifically for Kabbalah:

http://www.psyche.com/ 

And what you implied is true as well. Language itself, the words that we write, read and speak, the individual characters, have a life of their own (in any language).  The words that we take for granted have their own “history” and have evolved over time, and in most cases are now “out of context” from their original meaning and context. For ex. the root meaning of “two” connotes badness. The Greek prefix dys- (as in dyspepsia), Latin dis- (as in dishonorable), both derived from ”duo'. The cognate bis- French word: bevue (blunder- literally “two-sight”). Dubious, doubt (to doubt means to be “double-minded). “Two-timers” “two-faced”. Two as opposed to ONE which is unity. Two is dis-unity. There are many examples of this. Fascinating, mind-blowing stuff.

Namaste!
Loraine

Re: Definition

es·o·ter·ic       /ˌɛs əˈtɛr ɪk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[es-uh-ter-ik] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

-adjective

Esoteric means inner.

The real essential meaning of esoterica according to metaphysics is not this dictionary definition above.

It has levels of meaning just like anything else

The highest level meaning of esoterica is merely the knowledge [experience] transformation of the inner of an individual.

This experience can't be given to another by someone else.

The lowest forms of esoterica- exoteric/ esoteric can be given to anyone, as a theory, idea, information etc…

So essentially high level esoterica is not just having exotic secret knowledge- that is the lowest level of it, the highest level means:  the inner experience of the truth, which is totally inward to the individual something they cant share with another.

That's the greatest secret

The secret protects itself through this process

As a child I experienced AS ABOVE SO BELOW many times
It is mostly indescribable by words or anything!

I CANT GIVE THAT EXPERIENCE TO ANYONE

This is ultimate esoteric knowledge

I can describe it somewhat but that description has  meaning to anyone else only dependant on the other person having experienced somthing similiar.