So how do we know that these laws are even real, let alone in any way analogous to science? Let me answer that for you. We don't. It's more New Agey mumbo jumbo.
I hesitate to respond to your post because you have long made it clear you have an inability to respect varying points of view and approaches to reality - which in itself means you are precluded from knowledge. One must have a 'religious attitude' of soul - a sense of the sacred - a respect for all endeavor and human striving - to be able to access the subtler realms as a conscious researcher. Responding to your post and I have to accept that you may possibly begin your usual hectoring and playground name-calling. Tiresome. However......
Be aware that an inability to treat the world with reverence - and to have a tolerance for all thought - however varying and initially incomprehensible - precludes you from the first entry to the spiritual worlds beyond the physical. [It is a hard one - because we live in a cynical world - victims of our own inordinate critical faculty - unaware that it is interest and attention that brings forth knowledge - even with the physical scientists - who must 'love' what they study in order to extract it's secrets.] Such an attitude of soul - criticism - condemns you to the outer courtyard with the unwitting. I have not done this to you by my pronouncement - no one can banish you - you banish yourself. The instrument of perception into the spiritual worlds is the human being itself - not a telescope or a microscope. Just as a more refined physical instrument garners more information of the physical universe - so does a more refined human instrument garner you entre to the very realms you persist in claiming do not exist though for millennia these realms have been reported.
The science of this is the fully conscious entry into the ethereal realms, with the ability to identify what one sees and oft-times manipulate said realms. Nikola Tesla is an example of such explorations on the more physical end of the spectrum. But such a science is far more subtle and is the source of the phrase - that I know unsettles you or you disdain - that is stated: 'You must die before your death.'
What does that occult injunction signify? We understand that every human being experiences the spiritual realms once they die their physical death. That is a given. At that juncture, one is required to proceed into the spiritual worlds, regardless of what one wants, desires, or believes. The injunction 'die before your death', however, is indicating that if one would be a true occultist - a 'knower', one treading the path of knowledge - a spiritual scientist - one must begin the process of crossing in full consciousness into the spiritual realms while still inhabiting a physical body. To do this means that one's after-death experiences will be vastly more intelligent and comprehensive - with an ability to stay 'conscious' far into the devachanic realms. The laws are real because anyone who explores the subtler realms reports pretty much the same information. In fact, there are extant 'manuals' that give a good heads-up on what to expect at various points in esoteric development.
To say that conscious occult development is dangerous is an understatement - it is littered with pitfalls - and even the greatest fall from the heights (evidence: human history - and the litany of horror stories most are willing to relate). But is is also our destiny. The temptation of pride and the use of said knowledge for personal gain in the earthly realm are ever present dangers. There are more warnings to turn back on this path than there are encouragements to enter. Live a good life - love, raise a family, do good works, abide with tolerance and compassion among one's fellows - but seek not entry to this realm of knowledge (the Occult Path). Yet if the clarion call is heard - if nothing will satisfy but taking this step, then the way opens. [The word 'occult' has suffered a battering over time - it means 'hidden' and refers to 'hidden knowledge' - not in the sense that I am 'hiding all my physics books from you' - but hidden in the sense that entre to that world of knowledge is dependent solely upon the refinement of the human instrument. No one can bar you from that realm when you are ready.]
One law to always keep in mind: you will not be able to 'see' anything you do not have an affinity with. That is why 'purification' of the lower bodies is the first step towards objective 'seeing'. If you have the misfortune to begin 'seeing' astrally before any purification has occurred, you will be 'seeing' that which you have an identity with, and what you 'see' may be nightmares. It may also be confused and jumbled. One must have inner command before one can actively - in full consciousness - tread the subtler realms.
The above said - it must be stated that inner command can be developed, access achieved and choices made for what has been called - colloquially - the Left-Hand Path. More death-dealing has been done to the soul and spirit of humankind by this choice than any other fact. More wars have been spawned by human error in this way than by spiritual oversight - but human beings accessing from the 'left' will meet with what they resemble, and be therefore 'used'.
Not everyone chooses the Occult or Knowledge Path. For some the Path of Devotion, or other paths, are the ways through the labyrinth of earthly existence. For all of us on the earth, however, the Path of Love is our destiny - but in free will. Short or long the end is certain. What is currently taking place in our time is a shift in humanity's 'interest'. We are shifting from a materially-based interest to a more spiritually based interest - and as at all turning points, what we are leaving becomes accentuated and there is a time of turmoil as humanity adjusts to the new 'interest'. Where we place our interest will determine what we pursue and what we find, what we value and what we build.
The physical universe is a dead-end. The physical universe is quite literally dead - and it's 'worship' is a sure road to existential despair, and an initially hard experience in the spiritual worlds. The physical universe is the furthest expansion of spiritual realms. The source of the physical universe is the spiritual worlds - which are not 'up' and 'out' - but interpenetrate all worlds. You will know this - understand this - when you start to tread the path of the spiritual scientist. Whatever we see in the physical universe is the result of a creation in spiritual worlds. Both Plato and Aristotle were right.
But you must start the path before more words are spoken - for words can mislead and misdirect. Experience must be the ultimate guide. You are your own authority - albeit you must step gingerly and carefully, testing one self in the small ways, so that when the big ways come, you can step confidently onto the path in earnest, knowing - not believing.
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The answers require a 'new way of thinking.'
Will do - but being prolix is half the fun.
