Left Hand Path Leaders

[primalx]

Is it just me or do many of the more well known left hand path occultists, authors, and teachers seem angry, bitter, unwell or disturbed? I mean look what ended up happening to Crowley leading up to his death. Hardly inspiring. On the other hand when I look at some of the gurus and sages from the Indian subcontinent eg. Yogananda, Anandamayi Ma, Ramana Maharshi etc (just a few examples) I see a divine radiance and deep peace literally emanating from their photos.

As the saying goes "And you will know them by their fruit".

This isn't an attack on the LHP. I've thoroughly explored it and continue to be drawn towards dark illumination, it's just that I have serious doubts about its ability to lead one towards self-realisation, liberation from suffering, deep and lasting inner peace etc.

 

[Morell]

Popularity doesn't speak about quality of your occult arts. It speaks about how you are able to herd people into your fan-club.

Crowley was toxic person. These popular toxic people, toxic people seem to have it easy to get popular. But toxicity and LHP are not the same thing. LHP leaders is bullshit on itself. LHP is about authenticity, being yourself, your own god in meaning that you pay attention to your own evolution... or in other words you deal with your own shit so when you teach, you teach others to deal with their own shit and be responsible for themselves, even if only in their own face. That cannot really make you popular. It makes people who follow themselves and not others, so how can one lead independent people who do not follow?

 

[Keldan]

Yes, you can end up seeing bitter, disturbed fruits, but often the fruit is from the person, not the path.

Great practitioners aren’t angry, bitter, unwell, and disturbed. They’re very happy about their life because magick brought them there. Their magick has actually improved their life, not degraded it.

Anyone here who has done my publicly shared work on this forum can see results within a week, and people who are very sensitive can sense the energy and trace what was set in motion. If I packaged some of my rituals into a book, yes, it would sell like hot cakes because the workings manifest fast and verifiable for many people. But that doesn’t inspire me.

Also, anyone can write a book. With AI it’s even easier now. Writing books proves you can organize ideas and market them, it doesn’t prove mastery. A lot of occult books exist because the author has an ego and wants to broadcast that they “know more” and share their “know more” knowledge. Other occult authors write books because it’s a practical necessity for them to survive as a source of income. Either way, the ability to produce a book doesn’t automatically mean the author is a great practitioner.

Not to mention the practice magnifies what’s already in the psyche. If someone is resentful, obsessive, or unstable, more attention can make that worse unless they do any work about it.

The “by their fruits” test only works if you’re measuring the right fruit, and the condition of the person over time. Not “are they famous,” but are they happier and more functional over years of practice? If their output is paranoia, and deterioration, that’s not proof of depth, it’s a warning sign.

 

[Thee Nightfool]

I don't mean to be "that guy" but Crowley wasn't LHP at all. In fact, he was anti LHP, or by his terminology: the Black Brothers(s).

 

[diana_i_gusarova]

Stephen Flowers, for example, refers to himself as a follower of the Left Hand Path, but he is not "angry, bitter, unwell or disturbed."

 

[HoldAll]

Lords of the Left-Hand Path by Stephen E. Flowers includes a very thorough discussion of the RHP/LHP dichotomy and investigates many occult figures like Crowley, LaVey, Gurdjieff, Spare and others as to their affiliation according to the author's own criteria. Definitely recommended, you might be in for some surprises!

 

[Ohana]

I agree with these previous sentiments and want to add my own. I feel as if for starters you are making an entire culture of the Indian subcontinent into a monolith of RHP with those guru examples.

When one, the LHP and RHP dichotomy is kind of a more western occultism so the Gurus mentioned might not even self identify with LHP and RHP labels.

Next as a counterexample to the Gurus mentioned here's someone who might have identified more with the LHP in the indian subcontinent. This being Periyar here's his wiki article

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.

He got into some controversies for directly opposing the dieties in Hinduism namely Rama and hhis festival. This (kind of) LHP leader (though I do not agree with all his views specifically those on Jewish peopIe) he did try to go for caste equality in India and does not seem to have any mental illnesses.

Finally, I don't like the immediate dismal of someone if they are mentally unwell/disturbed. People are complicated and most mental illness is caused by traumas people endure. I don't think most people get up in the morning and say today I want to be traumatized so its a not a choice and it can happen to anyone.

 

[primalx]

Stephen Flowers, for example, refers to himself as a follower of the Left Hand Path, but he is not "angry, bitter, unwell or disturbed."

Ok I'll give you your 'flowers' there.

Post automatically merged: Today at 12:32 PM

Ok thanks for your replies everyone. Just to further clarify based on the responses I would say that 'LHP Practitioners (at least those in the public eye) don't look happy. They look angsty, angry, and in desperate need of some more sunshine.

 

[Vysas]

Is it just me or do many of the more well known left hand path occultists, authors, and teachers seem angry, bitter, unwell or disturbed? I mean look what ended up happening to Crowley leading up to his death. Hardly inspiring. On the other hand when I look at some of the gurus and sages from the Indian subcontinent eg. Yogananda, Anandamayi Ma, Ramana Maharshi etc (just a few examples) I see a divine radiance and deep peace literally emanating from their photos.

As the saying goes "And you will know them by their fruit".

This isn't an attack on the LHP. I've thoroughly explored it and continue to be drawn towards dark illumination, it's just that I have serious doubts about its ability to lead one towards self-realisation, liberation from suffering, deep and lasting inner peace etc.

They didn't succeed; that is all.