INTRODUCTION ** This paper does not in the least pretend to constitute a “teaching” on a particular path of spiritual realization compared to the many present in the history of human culture. Instead, the main intention is to research, beyond any particular "philosophy" and/or "psychology" that contribute to defining the cosmos, the world, the history and destiny of man, the fundamental and general canons of an "experiential" way that transforms man himself and elevates him to higher levels of consciousness, awareness and knowledge. The path of investigation derives from a progressive and comparative study of various parascientific and spiritual currents: Parapsychology, Hypnosis, Western religious and esoteric traditions (Alchemy, Western Esotericism, Christian Mysticism and the Anthroposophical current of Maximus Scaliger) and Eastern ( Tai-Chi, Qi Gong, the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and Tibetan Buddhism).

1. Spiritual ways in the modern world
RITUAL WAYS IN THE MODERN WORLD
by Pindaro Mattoli
Index
I
Introduction
II
Esotericism, Exoterism, Religion
III
Tripartition of the human being
I
V History of man in ancient traditions and in modern civilization
V
Comparison between ancient science and modern science
VI
Ways of spiritual development in today's world
VII
Conclusions
[ asterisks indicate the order of importance of the chapter or paragraph]
– I –
INTRODUCTION **
This paper does not in the least pretend to constitute a “teaching” on a particular path of
spiritual realization compared to the many present in the history of human culture. Instead,
the main intention is to research, beyond any particular "philosophy" and/or "psychology"
that contribute to defining the cosmos, the world, the history and destiny of man, the
fundamental and general canons of an "experiential" way that transforms man himself and
elevates him to higher levels of consciousness, awareness and knowledge.
The path of investigation derives from a progressive and comparative study of various
parascientific and spiritual currents: Parapsychology, Hypnosis, Western religious and
esoteric traditions (Alchemy, Western Esotericism, Christian Mysticism and the
Anthroposophical current of Maximus Scaliger) and Eastern ( Tai-Chi, Qi Gong, the
teachings of Ramana Maharshi and Tibetan Buddhism).
Throughout this process, a "scientific" and "lay" attitude has always been maintained, in the
belief that, if the world of the non-material really exists, the various authentic spiritual
traditions that have experienced and described it must necessarily start from a real basis. ,
objective and objectifiable, which should be recognized as the central nucleus in every
religion and spiritual current (the "Primordial Tradition"), beyond the historical and
geographical position and beyond the forms of expression with which each single tradition
has described the own knowledge and religious background.
Spiritual literature has been very successful on the book market in the last fifty years. It is
likely that this is largely due to the reader's need to "escape" from a world that is becoming
increasingly materialistic, immoral, chaotic, degenerate and violent. In this sense, spiritual
literature can play the role of "sedative-antidepressant without harmful side effects".
2
In this wake of consumption needs, bookstores have filled up with texts of all kinds, and the
availability of texts and authors, previously scarce but qualified, has become an immense
market in which it is no longer possible to distinguish the authentic from the fake .

2. Moreover, self-made masters of all kinds have sprung up like mushrooms, who refer
(unauthorized) to historical spiritual traditions or who, even worse, offer their own personal
reworking on the spirit market, all with the intention of making ends meet ( often with
significant economic results).
All this, together with decidedly negative escape routes (narcotic drugs, unleashed
consumerism, etc.), contributes to the work of "social sedation" of the serious existential
crisis of the modern world.
But in some people, who don't limit themselves to pleasantly abandoning themselves to the
consolatory phantasmagoria of the various spiritual or pseudo-spiritual literatures, the desire
to put themselves to the test may arise, to start a path of personal realization, to integrate
the pleasure of erudition with the effort of transforming oneself .
At that point we find ourselves faced with the choice of the most suitable direction of spiritual
realization and, in order to make this choice, the need for a "map", a kind of "consumer
guide" or "survival manual" which clarity on the current immense market of the spirit.
In the following chapters, some logical-philosophical-spiritual categories and some
parameters of judgment useful for making one's own "conscious choice" are indicated.
– II –
ESOTERISM – EXOTERISM – RELIGION ***
Dealing with these three terms will not be much more than formulating some precise
definitions.
Knowing exactly the meaning of these three terms helps establish a shared language,
essential for understanding the following chapters.
ESOTERISM
The term derives from the Greek esoterikos = "internal, inner" and refers to the teachings
that the Greek philosophers (in particular Pythagoras) gave directly in person to their closest
disciples.
The term was then extended to all teachings and instructions of a spiritual nature which are
given in confidential form, within specific priestly castes or secret initiatory groups.
EXOTERISM – EXOTERISM
The term derives from the Greek exoterikos = "external, visible to all, common, popular" and
refers to all teachings, books, treatises, etc. that are disclosed to all without limitations.
RELIGION
The term derives from the Latin re-ligare = "to unite together" and refers to the bond that
unites men in the civil community under the same spiritual cult and under the same laws.
Religion is the soul of a people and is made up of esoteric teachings that are confidentially
transmitted within the priestly caste, of exoteric teachings transmitted to the people and of
moral and civil norms, often established by the priestly caste itself, which regulate the whole
community.
Within a civilization, the various functions mentioned above can be covered by a single class
(Theocratic Civilization = Power managed by priests) or divided according to competences to
different social classes: priests, rulers, administrators, jurists, etc.
3
– III –
TRIPARTITION OF THE HUMAN BEING ** *

3. While in modern Western culture the human being is generally divided into Body and Mind,
ancient and modern esoteric cultures insert a third element between the two, "subtle", "vital"
, "energetic" in close connection with them.
We can therefore speak of "Tripartition of the Human Being".
The three components would therefore be: Physical Body - Subtle Body - Mind/Spirit.
The Physical Body is material and normally perceived by everyone.
The Subtle Body is infra-physical (contained in the Physical Body) and imperceptible to
most, and has a very complex conformation.
Mind/Spirit is meta-physical (beyond and above the Physical and Subtle Body), transcends
the bodies set forth above, and can be viewed as the individual's ordinary mind (the Self) or
as the meta-spiritual mind. - individual (the Self) which puts man in direct contact with the
Cosmos and with the Supersensible Principle, the Metaphysical level.
It is extremely important to constantly take into account these three levels and functions.
PHYSICAL BODY *
There is no need to describe the physical body, which is perfectly perceptible, and which has
been exhaustively studied by modern medical science.
SUBTLE BODY ***
The Subtle Body is a normal constituent of Man. But even all of Nature, beyond its physical
appearance, is made up of and interwoven with subtle energies.
Traditions state that subtle energy is imperceptible to normal man, but is perceived by
individuals who have this innate ability or who have developed it by following specific
sapiential teachings.
STRUCTURE OF THE SUBTLE BODY ***
By making a synthesis of the characteristics of the Subtle Body, extracted from the traits
common to the traditions that have most developed this notion (Hinduism, Buddhism,
Taoism, etc), the subtle body coincides more or less with the shape of the body physical and
can extend more or less outside it depending on the development it has reached.
Inside the subtle body there are real "subtle organs", energy centers (called in the Hindu
tradition "chakra", a term now adopted also by current Western language). The main chakras
are seven and are positioned respectively: at the top of the head, on the forehead between
the eyebrows, at the throat, at the heart, at the navel, at the root of the genitals, at the base
of the column.
The chakras are connected to each other by three main "energy channels": one is straight,
corresponds roughly to the spine and passes through all the chakras. The other two have a
serpentine and complementary pattern, and run along the sides of the central canal. Inside
the channels flow "winds" and "drops" of energy.
The total scheme of the subtle body is in fact much more articulated, also including dozens
of other secondary chakras and thousands of both superficial and deep energy channels,
which form a dynamic system and relate the subtle body with the physical body and with the
mind .
The physical organs are in connection with the subtle structures, for example the relationship
between the respiratory acts and the circulation of the subtle energy (prana) in the two
lateral channels is of fundamental importance.
Some structures of the subtle body (the central channel and the seven energy centers along
the spine) are normally underdeveloped and underused.
4
FUNCTIONS AND DYSFUNCTIONS OF THE SUBTLE BODY ***

4. The state of psychophysical health of the individual depends on the more or less correct and
harmonious circulation of vital energy in the channels of the Subtle Body.
In the ancient medical tradition, especially in the East, there is a precise energetic semiotic
[science of symptoms] to indicate the relationship between dysfunctions of the subtle body
and pathological symptoms at a psychophysical level. This highly articulated semiotics
allows a precise diagnosis of energy imbalance which then leads to the prescription of
adequate therapy, which can consist, for example, in particular visualizations or in the
repetition of "mantras" (words that move subtle energy).
Another very significant example is the complex semiotics of Acupuncture, with the
examination of the dysfunctions of the energy meridians which run on the surface of the
body and the relative therapy through the insertion of needles or manipulation on the energy
points.
GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENSION OF THE SUBTLE BODY CULTURE *
As already mentioned above, the notion of vital energy and the subtle body is more or less
represented in all ancient religious, sapiential and esoteric traditions, in every point of the
globe, including the West: for example Shamanism, the "Religion of the Earth", presents, in
the knowledge of the energies of Nature, very similar characteristics from Northern Europe,
to Siberia, Tibet, North and South America. We find hints, even if not very explicit, to the vital
energies even in Christianity, in whose iconography the Saints are represented wrapped up
in luminous bodies and crowned by a golden luminous halo.
The Sephirothic tree of the Jewish Kabala is a micro and macrocosmic representation and in
the first sense has notable affinities with the Indian scheme of the chakras and paravertebral
canals.
A curiosity that directly concerns doctors: the caduceus which carries the Greek god Mercury
in its hand, which later became a symbol of the medical profession, is structured with a rod
surrounded by two snakes coiled around it and at the apex of which two wings are placed:
the shape of the caduceus exactly follows the shape of the central and lateral channels of
the subtle body of the Indian tradition and the wings symbolically signify the development of
the chakra at the top of the head and the opening of the conscience towards the
Supersensible.
HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF THE SLIM BODY CULTURE *
If so far we have spoken of ancient traditions, we must not forget that all the peoples who
have not completely undergone the heavy modern western civilization, still keep more or
less intact the notion and the culture of the slim body.
In the West, however, the culture of subtle energy has always been decidedly censored and
demonized by Christian civilization, especially Catholic and Protestant, and more recently
also rejected by the prevailing secular, enlightened and materialistic culture.
Despite this, this notion has arrived, more or less underground or surfacing and more or less
spurious, over the last few centuries up to the present day, through the Natural Magic of
pagan rites that survived in rural areas far from urban aggregations, through the secret
cultures of initiatory groups such as the Templars, the Fedeli d'Amore, the Hermetists, the
Alchemists and the medieval Kabbalists, the Rosicrucian and operational Masonic currents,
Occultism. Even in the 19th century, the concept of Vital Energy was still, in spite of
everything, one of the theoretical principles circulating, even even in circles of the official
science of the time. Even more recently the concept and study of subtle energy have come

5. down to us, with Theosophy and Anthroposophy, the Bioenergetics of Wilhelm Reich and
Alexander Lowen, and, at a lower level,
HIGHER FUNCTIONS OF THE SUBTLE BODY ***
If, normally, the good balance of the energies circulating in the subtle body produces a state
of good psychophysical health, the same energies have been used by ancient and modern
esoteric wisdom, through particular and specific practices, to reach transcendent states of
perception and knowledge and to obtain paranormal faculties.
As already mentioned above, a concept of fundamental importance is reaffirmed, highlighted
by the most authoritative scholars and lovers of esoteric traditions: while vital energy and the
subtle body are "infra-physical" entities and cannot by themselves be considered
5
"spiritual", "metaphysical", their use, by those who are able to do so, can be limited to the
"infraphysical" level, with tangible results in the natural field (healings, rain dance, natural
magic, etc.) or extended to the "metaphysical" level, for the attainment of higher states of
knowledge (mystical ecstasy, Samadhi, Nirvana, Mahamudra, etc).
The individual development of the paranormal faculties at an exclusively infraphysical level
allows the practitioner to act positively on his own Subtle Body and on his own state of
health and that of others, but also on the subtle energy of Nature, evidence of which are all
the present and similar all over the globe.
Energy practices with a metaphysical focus generally tend to channel the subtle energy that
flows in the two side channels of the column into the central channel, which is normally not
activated, and to revitalize the various energy centers (chakras) located along this channel.
The means to achieve this are practices of meditation, visualization, mantra repetition,
breathing control, control of the energy of the sexual act, etc., practices mostly developed in
the East.
But even in the West, in Christianity itself, at least where the ancient science of operative
and transformative prayer has been preserved, the goal of the practitioner is to have one's
conscience at heart level reached through constantly repeated prayers like an Indian mantra.
(the "Prayer of the Heart" of Orthodox Christian literature, the "cathedral of my heart" of St.
Catherine of Siena, etc), enlivening the relative energy center. The halo that is often depicted
around the head of the Saints "technically" represents the complete development of the
energy center on the top of the head, an index of communication with the metaphysical
plane.
MIND / SPIRIT ***
The Mind is above and beyond the Physical Body and the Subtle Body and can be
considered under the aspect of the Individual Mind and the Spiritual Mind.
The Individual Mind, the IO, is the mind that everyone knows, the thoughts, purely
intellectual or influenced by emotions and instincts.
The Spiritual Mind, the SELF, is the mind that experiences non-individual levels of
consciousness and "meta-physical" states of knowledge (= beyond the physical plane), and
is reached and realized through specific practices, which are present in all authentic esoteric
traditions, ancient and modern.
As mentioned above, metaphysical realization can be achieved through practices that use
the Subtle Body and/or practices that address the pure discipline of the Mind.
Here a more extensive meaning of the term "esoteric" can be taken into consideration which,
beyond the simply etymological meaning of "notion that is transmitted to a few and is not

6. disclosed" for simple confidentiality, could instead also and above all express a "level of
knowledge that implies a successful ontological transformation of the subject" and, as such,
incommunicable to the layman and shareable only among subjects who have reached the
same level of achievement.
6
– IV –
HISTORY OF MAN
IN ANCIENT TRADITIONS AND MODERN CIVILIZATION ***
There is a basic difference between the modern mentality and the ancient one, beyond the
assumption of the perceptible existence by some individuals of a subtle energetic state and
the possibility of reaching transcendent states of consciousness: the conception of the
History of Man.
In this regard, a Linear Evolutionary scheme of the history of Man and civilization has
established itself in the modern world in recent centuries.
All the various sciences have adapted to this scheme. Modern man sees in his remote past
a biological derivation from primates and/or anthropoid races, from an almost animal, wild,
knowledgeless civilization. The current level of knowledge would have been painstakingly
and gradually achieved by adding knowledge upon knowledge, on a logical-rational level,
with continuous qualitative and quantitative growth. In this cultural context, it remains really
difficult for modern man to conceive the existence of civilizations that have had qualitatively
different levels of knowledge in the past and above all, at least in certain sectors, superior to
their own.
Instead, all ancient civilizations have always conceived the history of humanity according to
an Involutionary Circular scheme.
This is the well-known by historians and anthropologists "Myth of the Four Ages" according
to which, starting from a primordial era of perfection, during which man was divine and full of
all knowledge, man himself would have descended , from level to level, up to the present era
of spiritual impoverishment and flattening only on the material plane. At the completion of the
fourth age a general crisis would occur which would herald not so much a slow ascent as a
new total manifestation of the Divinity on earth and a complete reversal of the spiritual and
social canons of human society.
This conception is present, like the concept of subtle energy, in all ancient mythologies: the
biblical stories relating to the myth of the "fall from the Garden of Eden"; the evangelical
passages on the Apocalypse; classical Greek culture regarding the Golden, Silver, Bronze
and Iron Ages; the Indian myth of the four Yugas, of which the last, the Kali Yuga, is
considered as the "dark age"; the Indian myth of the bison that progressively loses its four
legs until it falls; the northern European myth of the happy age of the world of origins, which
fell into progressive corruption up to Ragnarokkr, the "twilight of the gods", the corruption of
priestly and royal dignity and the spread among men of hatred and immoderate lust.
SCIENCE, POWER, DECADENCE **
Beyond the disputes that the comparison between the validity of the two historical
approaches mentioned above could arouse, one could still simply agree on the fact that a
perceptual-wisdom complex that historically informs and shapes the cycle of a civilization
can be born, grow, reach a peak, decay and die together with the civilization itself.

7. Some progressive levels can be hypothesized: level of "origin", level of "tradition", level of
"superstition", level of "decadence".
ORIGIN level
The knowledge of a civilization starts from the perceptive abilities of the men who found it.
The perceived reality, elaborated by the mind, leads to knowledge and science. Science
leads to practical application on man and Nature (technology). Science must be transmitted
alive and if possible further cultivated, from generation to generation.
Level of TRADITION
If a traumatic historical event (for example an invasion or a war or a social catastrophe or a
natural cataclysm) decapitates a given civilization of its sapiential elite, the survivors may not
be able to revive the creative vein of their civilization, but they could also, for a relatively long
period, benefit from baggage
7
of static knowledge and the residual technology of their civilization, provided that it is
transmitted without changing anything from the knowledge handed down from previous
generations. Living science would be replaced by a rigid but still effective tradition, together
with the memory of a better past.
SUPERSTITION level
In a subsequent phase, the attempt to elaborate the knowledge and the practical
applications of the Tradition, badly perpetrated by individuals of a lower intellectual level than
the original intellectual elite, could activate doubt, the prevalence of opinion on the now
impossible practical verification, the philosophical and theological disputes, the birth of
orthodoxy and heresy, the imposition of a fideistic culture by an elite that no longer knows
and can no longer demonstrate what it advocates. This is generally the beginning of the loss
of the advantages of past knowledge which turns into "superstition" (in the etymological
sense), understood as the larval survival of disconnected and distorted notions of the original
science, the existence of a confused and fragmentary memory which lose from generation to
generation.
Level of DECADENCE
In this context, and with the decay of the spiritual and civil level of the population, the
residual fragments of the original wisdom of a civilization could even be used, boasting skills
and pseudo-scientific or pseudo-sapiential notions, by classes corrupt priests and devoid of
any real wisdom, to maintain their power over the population, or even by real charlatans, for
purposes of purely personal interest.
This condition of decline, more or less protracted over time, heralds the possible total
disappearance of a given civilization. In this context, however, the so-called "wild"
populations should be considered in some cases, rather than a still primitive humanity
awaiting logical-rational civilization, the last remnants of civilizations that flourished in the
past.
IMPORTANCE OF THE CONCEPT OF “INVOLUTIONARY” HISTORY ***
Beyond the anthropological and historical notion, the theory of cyclical and involutionary
history is an idea-force that can have a very precious function both for enhancing ancient
civilizations, treated with undue sufficiency by modernity, and above all to observe the
modern world from a completely different point of view, to highlight its defects and serious
shortcomings that cannot be ascertained by those who judge from "inside the system".
– V –
COMPARISON BETWEEN ANCIENT SCIENCE AND MODERN SCIENCE *

8. After having described the subtle body and the complex of subtle energies above, as they
are exposed in the literature of ancient and modern esoteric traditions, one can ask what
value similar energetic and metaphysical theoretical systems currently have, beyond the
considerable historical and anthropological interest , in terms of reality, scientific knowledge
and technical application.
The distance between the rational logic of modern science and the nebulosity of ancient
science, often exposed in a cryptic, symbolic or poetic key, is clear. It should also be noted
that, beyond the synthetic and uniform description of the subtle body mentioned above, there
are in fact notable differences between the various cultures of the various geographical
areas in this field. On the other hand, the notions of vital energy and subtle body are present,
as mentioned above, in all regions of the world and in all ages. If, on the one hand, an
inattentive, superficial and reductionist vision could hypothesize that this fact could depend
on a monocentric symbolic vision subsequently spread everywhere, it is also remarkable
how remarkable affinities of views exist at the level of completely distant populations, such
as the remote African tribe of the Kung of the Kalahari desert and the Australian aboriginal
populations, until two centuries ago completely geographically isolated from the rest of the
world. It is also remarkable, however, how affinities almost touch identity, if
8
we consider the hermetic alchemical symbologies and the relative practical Chinese, Indian,
Arab and western medieval techniques of realization.
However, beyond the anthropological and cultural observational investigation, the main fact
that in principle creates an unbridgeable gap between ancient and modern science is the
notion of the real presence and of the possible direct perception and use of subtle energies
and the possibility to experience higher states of consciousness by individuals who have the
faculty.
With regard to this "incommunicability" between ancient science and modern science, it is
however possible to formulate a working hypothesis that could partially justify it.
In relation to the process described above of the various levels of development and decline
of civilizations, it is probable that the two scientific-cognitive systems in the first place start
from different perceptual presuppositions of reality, and that in the second place they are
currently placed at a level of historical development -anthropological respectively different
despite the contemporaneity.
As regards the first assumption (different perceptive abilities), as explained above it is
possible that ancient man had the possibility of having perceptions both on the material
plane through the five senses, and on the energetic/subtle and spiritual/metaphysical plane
with perceptions considered normal at the time, but extraneous to modern man who would
have lost this capacity during the general involutionary cycle. On the basis of their perceptive
possibilities, ancient and modern civilizations would have developed their respective
sciences: physics to a limited extent, but mainly infraphysics and metaphysics for ancient
man; exclusively physical, but extremely developed, for modern man.
The second assumption (different level of historical-anthropological development) would
further justify the lack of communication between the ancient world and the modern world
considering that at the present moment, despite the geographical explorations and the
colonization by modern man of the whole globe which took place in last centuries have put
traditional ancient culture face to face with modern culture, we are witnessing the
coexistence, without prospects of real profound communication, between ancient
civilizations in decline which still present a complex of residual knowledge of infra- and
super-sensitive origin, and the modern Western civilization which has already completely lost

9. infra- and supra-sensible perceptions for some time and which in the meantime has
reconstructed a science which, albeit on the qualitatively limited level of matter,is presenting
a dizzying and surprising development.
The current coexistence of civilizations with different perceptive capacities and different
levels of historical development, rather than favoring a fruitful fusion, instead rapidly
accelerates the process of degeneration of ancient cultures, swept away by the materialistic
and consumerist lifestyle imported by the "colonizers".
In this way a real "cultural genocide" is perpetrated on a planetary scale and the culture of
the subtle body and the ways of metaphysical knowledge risk being a patrimony definitively
lost by modern civilization in the short term.
Thus the prediction of the ancients regarding the Dark Ages will be completely fulfilled.
– VI –
PATHS OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE CURRENT WORLD ***
ETHICS – SOURCES OF TEACHING – METHODS
ETHICS ***
First of all, it is necessary to take into consideration the attitude with which the "seeker of the
Spirit" is about to walk the path of Knowledge.
Given that in general one approaches esoteric disciplines to escape from the squalor of
everyday life or even simply out of curiosity, however, when one is really preparing to
practice, to implement the technical indications to transform oneself, changes to one's to be.
But before this happens it is necessary to assume the right ethical attitude. An ethical
attitude is an indispensable prerequisite for bringing the Work to a successful conclusion.
The great danger is "ego hypertrophy". The moment one begins to be interested in esoteric
doctrines, the ego, generally frustrated by an unsatisfactory and anodyne individual and
social
life
, takes its revenge and begins to swell. The seeker of the Spirit soon feels superior to others.
If then some power really awakens (or we delude ourselves that it has awakened), the
researcher immediately feels the need to teach, assumes attitudes like a "teacher" and,
given that the most common commodity among men is ingenuity, the alleged "master" often
finds many "faithful" and ends up believing himself to be a "great master". In this society
made up of appearances we are used to considering the value of a person as much as he
attracts approval.
Massimo Scaligero, an almost unknown true master often said: "One step on Knowledge
and three steps on Morality!". The maxim of ancient esoteric researchers was: “Dare and be
silent”!
In fact, the Ego has its own physiological normality and its own pathological abnormality.
Physiologically, the Ego serves to keep the human being, physical and mental, in the context
of individual and social activities, in harmony with himself, with the surrounding world and
with others.
Pathologically the Ego can exaggerate its physiological functions and expand selfishly by
excessively increasing itself and damaging the environment and others: it is the image and
drama of our false civilization.
Obtaining some power without having purified one's ego and intentions means following the
path of black magicians, those who exploit paranormal powers to their own advantage and
above all to the detriment of others. It is implicit and consequential that these characters can
follow a "magic", "energetic", "infraphysical" path, but they will always be denied access to
the spiritual, metaphysical path, because they are "non-egoic".

10. COMPASSION - EMPATHY - NON-DUALITY
Access to the spiritual, metaphysical path is conditioned by the progressive abandonment
and overcoming of the Ego, without obviously completely neglecting one's body and one's
health (the physiological Ego).
We can hypothesize three levels on this ethical path:
- "Compassion" (I suffer with...) is the sharing of suffering, the recognition that all human
beings are subject to suffering and from this sentiment arises the tendency to help others,
similar to us and our sufferings.
- "Empathy" (in suffering...) is the understanding of the suffering of others and the ability to
act positively on suffering. It is more an intellectual than a sentimental skill and is very useful
to therapists.
Compassion and Empathy correspond to the relative Bodhichitta of Tibetan Buddhism.
- "Non-Duality" is the total abandonment of the ego and the total fusion of the consciousness
of the seeker of Spirit with all other beings, with Nature and the Cosmos. Non-Duality is the
highest expression of Compassion and Empathy. Non-Duality is not a normally human
quality, but is the product of the most advanced spiritual practices. At the level of Non-Duality
we find characters such as Mahatma Gandhi, Ramana Maharishi, the Dalai Lama, Mother
Teresa of Calcutta, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, etc., characters who, in the East and in the
West, have testified and tangibly testify to the possibility of one state of Being superior to the
human one and of the relative positive influence on the course of the history of Humanity.
Non-Duality corresponds to the absolute Bodhicitta and Emptiness of Tibetan Buddhism.
Thus, for those who intend to walk the paths of the Spirit, it is essential to cultivate one's own
personal ethics with Compassion and Empathy from the first steps. Later, if the spiritual
practices have been effective, the sensation of opening one's conscience will progressively
arise, the overcoming of the difference between I and non-I.
At that point helping others paradoxically will no longer even be "altruism", being the others
himself and himself the others.
10
SOURCES OF LEARNING ***
For what has been said above, anyone wishing to try some way of accomplishment cannot
rely on the first comer, nor badly attempt a "do-it-yourself" way. Those who set out on such
"comfortable" paths generally do not achieve anything and play around for a life without
results or spiritual merits.
THE MASTER - THE INITIATIVE LINEAGE - THE TEACHER
Those who truly seek to transform themselves must seek a true Master.
The true Master is the one who has completely realized the state of consciousness he
teaches and who has received the teachings that made him realize it from a Master who in
turn was completely realized (Initiatory Lineage), and so, back in time , up to the Enlightened
progenitor of the Lineage.
Furthermore, the true Master is the one who is able to transmit the spiritual influence
(Initiatory Transmission) which puts the practitioner in contact with the incorporeal Spiritual
Community of the Master himself (Initiatory Chain). The Initiatory Transmission makes the
realization techniques that the practitioner receives as teaching spiritually effective. The
realization techniques learned outside an authentic Initiatory Chain are ineffective at best
and misleading and spiritually harmful at worst.

11. The true Master has fully realized Compassion, Empathy and the state of Non-Duality in
himself: his behavior is devoid of any self-interest and solicitous towards all beings.
The Teacher is a good practitioner, he is on the way to realization and has been enabled and
authorized by his Master to transmit the spiritual influence of his own Initiatory Chain and to
teach some well-defined practical techniques of spiritual development.
METHODS ***
OPERATIVE DRY WAY – MYSTICAL WET WAY
In preparing to identify which practice to choose to follow one's spiritual path, it is first of all
necessary to take into account two main categories, the Operative Dry Way and the Mystical
Wet Way. The two ways are suitable for two different human types, the more rational type
and the more sentimental type. Knowing yourself, your character and your abilities also
means being able to choose the right direction to take.
In the Via Secca Operativa the technical methods of realization are more emphasized, with
the aim of perfecting oneself until reaching total identification with the metaphysical level.
Some non-theistic religions such as Buddhism (erroneously considered as an "atheist"
religion), certain forms of Hindu doctrines (Pranayama Yoga), Alchemy, Taoism, etc. belong
to this Via Secca. The Via Secca has a danger: in the work of transformation, the objective of
transforming oneself into the Supreme Being can lead to hypertrophying the Ego, up to the
obscure inversion of the whole process.
In the Mystical Humid Way the practitioner sees perfection, the Supreme Being, as "other
than himself", as a personal Divinity to humbly address. The final act is possibly interpreted
as an extreme approach and a "fusion" with the Divinity. The advantage of the Humid Way is
that the Ego is mortified right from the beginning of the way in front of the divine perfection
that dominates the practitioner, but the ontological distance between the faithful praying
person and the Divinity can be an obstacle to the ascent and the final fusion, for the difficulty
of overcoming the idea of ​
​
duality between man and Divinity, a conception on which the entire
process of spiritual development was based.
The theistic Middle Eastern religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and some currents of
Hindu doctrines (Bhakti Yoga) belong to the Via Umida.
The two ways express two psychological attitudes and two methods which in any case lead
to the same result, and moreover they are not irreconcilable, they are not opposites and they
are not entirely different. In fact, however the Via Secca cannot fail to contemplate a certain
devotion, if only towards the Master-instructor who embodies and represents
the
final objective; and the Via Umida cannot consist solely of Faith, Love and mystical transport
towards the Divinity, but must also contemplate precise techniques of realization (e.g. the
Prayer of the Heart of Orthodox Christianity, also called "Christian Yoga").
Furthermore, in the individual path, intermediate paths or periods of practices that are
gradually more operational or more devotional are not excluded. In fact everyone has "his"
way and what has been said above only serves to give simplified schematic parameters of
reference.
SUPERCONSCIENCE - CONSCIOUSNESS - SUBCONSCIOUSNESS By
Superconsciousness we
mean the metaphysical consciousness that develops through the ways of realization set out
above.
By Consciousness we mean the ordinary consciousness of the common man.

12. As far as Subconsciousness is concerned, beyond the term and its meaning which belong to
Psychology and Psychoanalysis, we are referring here to "pseudo-spiritual" practices which
make use of the induction of states of attenuated consciousness or unconsciousness total.
In the vast market of the Spirit, highly developed since the second half of the 19th century
and even more in recent decades, many doctrines appear that refer to Mediumship,
Spiritism, etc. It is absolutely important to take into account the fact that such practices are
absolutely negative and that, even when they appear to be bearers of "spiritual" messages,
in fact they induce in the participants a breach in their psychological and subtle defenses,
with a weakening of the personality, and in the medium also the possibility of invasion by
dark entities and demonic possession. On the same level is the use of drugs by improvised
practitioners, with the excuse of experiencing higher states of consciousness.
Any practice that attenuates or abolishes conscience is to be considered absolutely
negative, contraindicated and counterproductive.
METHODS SUITABLE FOR MODERN MAN
Only a brief mention can be made of these methods. In general, the most attractive methods
to the neophyte are the most phantasmagorical (more suited to "escape from everyday life")
and also the least suitable, especially those that use subtle energy first and foremost.
The best thing is to start an in-depth study of the chosen spiritual current, practice the Ethics
of Compassion and Empathy, and above all calm the mind through Meditation.
The modern man's mind, accustomed to a life made up of agitation, haste, anxiety, worries
and the rapidity of our means of communication, is not able to fix attention for long on an
object, physical or mental, nor to have the necessary calm to be able to really proceed on
the spiritual path.
The Way of the Mind, together with that of Ethics, are the indispensable conditions for the
Way. The Way of the Mind can also be, by itself, exhaustive and entirely sufficient to
complete the Way.
The Energetic Pathways are not essential, but they undoubtedly accelerate, if qualified and
well practiced, the process of spiritual evolution. However they cannot be covered without
cultivating ethics and meditation at the same time.
THE WAY OF THE MIND
On the Way of the Mind it is possible and useful to compare some contemporary spiritual
currents, two of Eastern derivation (Tibetan Buddhist Meditation and teachings of the Indian
Master Ramana Maharshi) and a modern Western one (Anthroposophy, in particular the
thought of Maximus Scaliger).
The technique of development of the Mind in the three doctrines is surprisingly similar, even
identical, and this fact enhances it more by virtue of its objectivity and extensive sharing by
absolutely authoritative spiritual disciplines distant in time and space.
The way of the Mind consists of a basic exercise (Meditation or Concentration) which is very
simple, but also very difficult.
Over time, the stages that are pursued are two: Mental Calm (in Indian Buddhism
"Shamata", in Tibetan Buddhism "Shiné", in the Anthroposophy of Massimo Scaligero
passage
12
from "Thought Thought" to "Thinking Thought") and subsequently Deep Vision (in Indian
Buddhism "Vipassana", in Tibetan Buddhism "Lakton", in Anthroposophy "Living Thought",
"Logos").

13. Mental Calm. It's about mindfully observing your own thoughts. It seems trivial, but whoever
begins to practice in this sense will realize that he is not absolutely master of "his" mind of
him, that his thoughts wander uncontrolled, generally on the basis of analogical associations.
Even when one concentrates on self-imposed themes (study, reasoning, etc.), concentration
is often difficult and not spontaneous. As soon as you relax, the thought jumps around like a
monkey.
There are basically two exercises to calm the mind: the first is to try to keep the thought fixed
on a theme (eg one's own breathing) and bring it back to that theme every time it escapes;
the second is to let thought think what it wants, observing it without intervening to stop it, or
letting oneself be involved in the flow of analogies.
Deep vision. By diligently cultivating Mental Calm, thoughts become progressively less
whirling and more tranquil.
By persisting in the practice, one can begin to perceive a "void" of content between one
thought and another, while the conscience remains perfectly awake and lucid. That
emptiness is the beginning of the non-dual Deep Vision, which relates us to reality in an
intuitive and penetrating way, it is a sign of the passage from the Ego to the Self, of the
achievement of the Tibetan "Rigpa", of the development of Scaligerian "Living Thought ”.
THE PATH OF SUBTLE ENERGY
Only after having started practicing the Ethics of Compassion and Empathy and calming the
mind with Meditation, one can eventually access higher teachings, in which the use of Subtle
Energy is used to accelerate the evolution towards Non-Dual Mind and Enlightenment.
These teachings are present in the Tibetan Tantric Tradition, in the Indian Doctrines of
Pranayama, in the Eastern and Western Alchemical teachings and in other initiatory currents
of excellent value.
– VII –
CONCLUSION **
It is not impossible in the present time, despite living in the Dark Age of the spiritual history
of Man, to access teachings that can really lead the seeker of the Spirit to follow the path of
Knowledge and Inner Transformation.
On the contrary, the Masters' compassion towards a suffering humanity abandoned to itself
has led them to reveal in recent times powerful teachings that in the past were reserved for
very restricted groups: the serious the disease, the stronger the drug. But the drug must be
identified correctly, the dose must be the right one and the treatment must be managed by a
real therapist.
The researcher is initially guided only by his intuition and the responsibility of identifying the
path valid for his level, the right spiritual current and the right Master weighs entirely on him.
However, all this is supported by the certainty that the Masters subtly guide and do not
abandon those who sincerely ask for the Light.