Or, The Science of Sucking Energy and the Art of Pretending You're Not Doing It
I have some rare time in my work schedule to sit in a cafe and rap this morning, so I'm going to rap about something that doesn't get discussed here much, and almost never got discussed in Maharishi's teachings -- occultism. I see occultism as the study of subtle energies, the exchange of those energies among sentient beings, and how they can be manipulated by those who know how. Thus it is very *much* a subject based in duality; energy can only be exchanged between entities that are separate, or consider themselves separate. Occultism would be a view of existence irrelevant if your 24/7 perception of the world was Unity. But since I don't think anyone on this forum actually lives in Unity 24/7. it might be of interest to some. Since this rap is delivered to people who for the most part studied with Maharishi, as a tribute to him I have subtitled it above "The Science of Sucking Energy and the Art of Pretending You're Not Doing It." :-) The Basics Occult energy is not the same thing as shakti. Apples and oranges. You've seen many on this forum who have had experience with both point out the difference. Real shakti is IMO devoid of intent or intention. If it seems to "flow," that is because you're perceiving something that has always already been present and you're just noticing and, out of habit, assuming that it was "beamed" at you or "aimed" at you. Occult energy flows because someone *wants* it to flow. There is very definitely an *intent* behind it. Even if that intent is benevolent, the energy is to some extent colored by the presence of intent. Them's the basics. The Nature Of Attention Attention is a drug. Seeking attention is an addiction. The techniques *for* seeking and attracting attention are occult in nature. Those who seek attention "feed" off of it to some extent. Them's the basics of trolling for attention. Many, if not most, of the people who in my opinion troll for attention on a regular basis don't know that they are doing it. For them it is an unconscious or subconscious process. They just know that *the more people they can get to focus on them and thus give them their attention, the better and more energetic they feel*. Those who have not yet figured out how to generate those feelings of betterness and heightened energy themselves, from within, often take the spiritual "low road" and get them by trolling for attention, and sucking it from others. I once had occasion to chat with an actress once nominated for an Academy Award. In person she was *not* all that beautiful or attractive, but sitting with her I could not help but notice that *every* eye in the room was watching her, and not necessarily male, and not necessarily because they recognized her. I called her on this and she laughed and said, "Oh that...that's my 'magnet' thing. I do it whenever I'm out in public." When I tried to delve into it further, she admitted that she had no idea *how* she could do this, only that she could, and that *she got off on it*. She described it as a bigger rush than sex. That's the WHY of trolling for attention. Those who do it on a regular basis -- as different as they might be from each other physically or in other ways -- all have a similar "energy signature" that anyone who has been around the occult block can recognize. We tend to call such people "attention vampires." The Case In Point A certain individual who for a short time two years ago chatted with us here on FFL had such an "energy signature," as far as I could tell. It was so noticeable that I was curious enough to Google her ID and found that FFL was only one of the many sites on which she was trolling for attention. The others were dating or romance sites, on which I could still read (at the time) many of her conver- sations there. They did *not* seem to be oriented towards finding love or finding sex; they were clearly more about finding attention. She reacted more positively the more that people focused on her and praised her, and reacted badly when they did not. Her experience on FFL fell into the latter category. She was unable to "make a lot of friends" here or capture much attention, so she bailed. Cut to present day. This person has now set themselves up as a spiritual teacher of sorts, marketing her business via the Internet. And, as far as I can tell, she's still in the business of trolling for attention. She seems to *collect* attention. On Facebook she has almost 3,000 "friends," keeps herself in their attention constantly by sending them pretty Newagey graphics, and brags about the number of friends she has when she's on other forums. Call me crazy, but given my studies in the past, I think what we have here is an occultist in it for the attention. I may be wrong about this, but this post gives you a few reasons WHY I feel this way. I don't particularly dislike this woman, any more than I disliked the actress or dislike many of the other attention vampires I run into. In fact, I'm being kind to this particular attention vampire in this post by never mentioning her name. Thus it won't show up on the "hit list" when someone Googles her. The Bottom Line But maybe it should. Because in the study of occultism there is a "bottom line" to trolling for attention. It flows *from* one person *to* another, and along with it flows one's life energy. In occult studies, there is a tried and true method for telling the difference between occult flash and real shakti. If when you are with the person you think is "radiating shakti" physically or talking with them over the phone or the Internet you feel a "hit" of energy , that could be IMO either real shakti or occult energy. If you find the energy hit "flashy" or very noticeable, it is almost certaintly occult energy. If that "energy hit" fades when you are *not* with the person, or when you're not thinking about them (and thus focusing your attention on them), and doesn't seem to persist when you are not with them or focus- ing on the, it's occult energy. You are being had by an attention vampire. All of this is JUST MY OPINION. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm rapping about it only because I felt like it, not to try to sell anything or "convert" anyone to my point of view. It's not the only view of personal interactions and the energy flows exchanged between people, but it's one view of them. I present it only for your amusement or edification or scorn. Whatever floats your boat. Over and out...