Occult, Mystical, Supernatural, & Magical powers.
Let us refer to the above as mystical powers thereon or MPs for short.
A labourer, when he ploughs and works his field manually everyday, he will develop some muscular structure over time resultant from his effort towards his work, the body respond by building more muscle to help him.
The primary objective here is not building muscle, but working the field. Should the labourer now take an interest in his muscle and start engaging in bodybuilding after work, what will happen? Obviously, he will collapse.
The primary activity will suffer, and the objective will be foregone.
This analogy clearly demonstrate what awaits the spiritual seekers who attach too much importance to MPs.
We need not necessarily be engaged in spiritual development for us to develop MPs, and this is important to bear in mind.
MPs is when you acquire the aptitude to manipulate certain energies, learn the alchemy of the elements, plants and minerals, psychic abilities, use of sounds and vibrations etc etc. We are not here to debate about their use or effectiveness, but rather the point we are trying to make is that MPs are serious distraction to the Spiritual Seeker. When you engage on this path, the aim should not be towards developing MPs, they are natural manifestation along the path, and each person will develop a specific set of MPs which will suit his/her specific circumstance. Think about it this way, what would a heart surgeon need to develop the qualities of dental surgeon?
On a Spiritual Path, we are trying to find our place. That placement requires specific aptitudes. These aptitudes already started their development even before we became aware of the need for change. Imagine now, if we try to develop other aptitudes which will be of no use to our natural predisposition. Firstly we will tamper with the natural development of MPs innate to us, and secondly we would be engaging into a practice that we are not cut out for. There really is not much to say on this subject. It is really a distraction. But the need to mention it is important because it can cause major setback in one’s spiritual development.
One more thing, we do not need someone else to show us how to use something which is innate to us, the safest and surest tool here is patience, hard work and faith, all things come in good time.
So avoid the distraction and stay on path
