Part I — United States of America (1976-1999)

Spiritual power, occult power and will-power¹

Spiritual power says to the seeker, “Eternity is at your disposal.” Occult power says to the seeker, “Here, here and now.” Will-power says to spiritual power and occult power, “We are friends. Both of you are perfectly right; therefore, I wish to help you, serve you, manifest you and fulfil you in your own way.”

Spiritual power is the sea. Occult power is the river. Will-power is the current of the river and the tranquillity of the sea.

Spiritual power is self-awareness. Occult power is self-confidence. Will-power is self-experience.

Slowly, steadily and unerringly the spiritual power within us grows until eventually it reaches the destination. Occult power speedily, dynamically and amazingly reaches its destination. Occult power has the speed of a deer. It runs very fast and reaches its goal quickly, but that goal is not the Ultimate Goal. Will-power has faithfulness and devotedness. It is devoted to occult power and, at the same time, it is devoted to spiritual power. With its devotedness and faithfulness, will-power reaches its destination. We can safely say that will-power acts like a faithful dog.

The seeker who is far advanced in the spiritual life tells us that he uses his spiritual power in order to climb up high, higher, highest. The seeker who is far advanced in the spiritual life tells us that he uses his occult power in order to run fast, faster, fastest. The seeker who has tremendous will-power, who is inundated with will-power, energises the seeker who has spiritual power and the seeker who has occult power. The role of the seeker who is inundated with will-power is to help the seeker who has spiritual power and the seeker who has occult power.

Spiritual power almost whisperingly tells us that right is might. If you have the divine right, inside that right you must feel the divine power. If you have the right, then use your power. Occult power bravely tells us that might is right. If you have the capacity, that is your right. Occultism is simple. But the seeker with tremendous will-power will tell us that the cry of Mother Earth is the might of Mother Earth and the Smile of Father Heaven is the right of Father Heaven. We need only one might and that is the inner cry of Mother Earth. We need only one right and that is the Smile of Father Heaven.

How do we acquire spiritual power? We acquire spiritual power by self-giving, constant self-giving. How do we acquire occult power? We acquire occult power by self-examining. How do we acquire will-power? We acquire will-power by self-affirming. In self-giving, what do we give? We give what we have and what we are. What we have is love of God and what we are is concern for mankind. In self-examining, what do we examine? We examine sincerely our capacity and our incapacity. We examine our incapacity in order to transform it into capacity and we examine our capacity in order to make it absolutely perfect. In self-affirming, what do we affirm? We affirm ourselves. But we have to know that this self-affirmation is not like the self-affirmation of Julius Caesar, who declared, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Our self-affirmation will be: “I came, I loved and I became.” This is our divine self-affirmation: “I came into the world, I loved all human beings and I established my inseparable oneness with all human beings.”

If we properly use spiritual power, then we can live here on earth in Immortality’s Reality. If we properly use occult power, then the Universal Reality is always at our disposal. Nothing will be able to hide from an occultist’s vision. Anything in the creation will be within an occultist’s reach sooner than at once.

If we misuse spiritual power, we shall be extremely, extremely poor in the spiritual life. Sometimes it has happened that advanced seekers, after misusing spiritual power, have become poorer in aspiration than they were right at the beginning of their spiritual journey. Similarly, if an occultist misuses his occult power, then he becomes totally blind in the spiritual life. This blindness is not physical blindness; it is a much more serious blindness. It is a loss of his inner vision. This seeker will not be able to see the truth any more. And something worse: when occult power is misused, the power that is misused eventually comes and attacks the occultist. In the case of spiritual power, he who misuses it sometimes escapes the attack of the misused spiritual forces; but when occult power is misused, the person who has misused it will eventually be attacked and punished by the forces that were once upon a time his own and at his beck and call.

With will-power, what can we do? With will-power we can identify ourselves with God’s Creation; we can identify ourselves with God’s Reality. Will-power is conscious identification with the reality that exists or with the reality that is going to blossom. Each individual here has a certain amount of will-power. But will-power can also be cultivated. As we develop our muscles, even so, we can develop our will-power. But while developing will-power, we have to know whether we are going to use this will-power purely to build in ourselves the temple of truth, the temple of light, the temple of peace, the temple of delight. If this is our goal, then will-power will always be ready to help us, mould us and shape us into perfect Perfection. Otherwise, will-power can also be a true obstacle in our spiritual path.

Spiritual power tells us in unmistakable terms, “I am, I eternally am.” Occult power tells us unmistakably, “I can, I immediately can.” Will-power unmistakably tells us, “I enjoy, I divinely enjoy, I supremely enjoy. I enjoy, not in a human way, but in a divine way, in a supreme way.”