OCCULT

On December 15th (1927), at Shahane’s house, Rustom read out an article from the newspaper to Baba about a live snake being created from a piece of metal. This elicited the following candid explanation from the Master: 

This is due to occult powers, but remember that it has nothing to do with ghosts. Ghosts and occult or black magic are quite different. Spirit (mind and energy) itself, as in ghosts, is a power, originally the power of cause, but occult powers are powers that are caged and covered.
 
A tantrik seeks occult powers. By acquiring such powers, the tantrik’s spirit contracts very bad sanskaras, worse than the sanskaras of the worst sins, and reaps the fruit accordingly. So I advise you all not to fall prey to such madness. This has no connection with the spiritual path to God – the planes. On the contrary, the treader of such a path is far, far away from the spiritual path because he accumulates the worst possible kind of sanskaras, which prove an obstacle to his progress on the path. (1)

The least said about occult powers the better. This type of tantrik spirit, in comparison to ghosts of suicides, is even more terrible, and neither receives nor gives benefit from his efforts. He gains occult powers through various studies or by very undesirable practices – like eating excrement, drinking blood and other such obscene acts.

This type of tantrik practice takes a very long time, and the person concerned acquires only the power of making his body large or small. He can make his body smaller than an ant’s and then assume his human bodily form again. But he changes into another form for some material gain or objective.  

He can enter another’s body by making his body small, but his own gross bodily sanskaras are with him in his tiny form.

Ghosts are not like tantrik spirits. Ghosts are people who have committed suicide and have no body. They enter another body and then make the body of whomsoever they enter do as they wish. But he who has gained occult powers does not do so; he only makes his body big or small and thus his bodily sanskaras are always with him. In this action, there is also the danger that through some accident, he may be trampled on by some person while in his little body. In short, after long and hard study such tantriks (magicians, sorcerers) do not benefit in any way but, on the contrary, risk contracting some of the worst possible sanskaras. So there is no use in playing such a worthless game of magic – sorcery!

(1) Tantriks are persons who temporarily acquire minor occult powers through certain exercises or practices. In modern terms, the Sanskrit word translates to mean a person who is a sorcerer or magician, either black or white. Tantrik exercises are based on scriptures called tantras which were legendary passed down by Shiva, the greatest of yogis. Such practices were always disapproved by Meher Baba for the modern seeker.

 

Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 3, pp. 993 – 994.