Sacred Bodies of the Soul

The Way of the Five Bodies
Robert E. L. Masters, Ph.D. FAACS
(for more information re this subject go to: http://www.robertmasters.org/sekhmet/1.html)

AUFU:
THE "PHYSICAL BODY"
The AUFU, as mentioned, is the "physical body" with its muscles and bones, blood and internal organs, glandular and nervous systems -- the body that anatomists and physiologists describe. Of itself it is a mechanical thing, a machine which for all its awesome potentials is propelled by mechanical functions, instincts, biological drives, sensations, and a limited number of learned responses and behaviors. It is operated by the brain and nervous systems and for it to exist and be alive only minimal brain functions and a brain of very small size would be required. This body is "human" only by virtue of its unnecessarily large and, for it, quite superfluously complex brain- and, of course, its links with the four subtler bodies and soul. The AUFU lacks consciousness in any higher sense of the word and its functioning is meaningful only to the mind of the KA which (without special re-education) misinterprets it as its own behaviors, thoughts and feelings. The AUFU can sense, and it feels pain and pleasure, but its sensing and feeling are so distorted by the KA, which transmutes them into its own images, that their actuality is rarely any major portion of the contents of consciousness. The AUFU is thus falsified by the KA, which in turn is misled into thinking that it freely governs the "voluntary" functions and actions of the AUFU. This situation can be remedied only if by appropriate and strenuous means the KA is taught to differentiate itself from the AUFU and also attains to a sufficiently accurate sensing, internal as well as surface, of the physical body.
All of the subtler bodies, and their minds, have powerful effects upon the AUFU. Their experiences can affect every part of it and those experiences, when very vivid or prolonged, are not distinguished by the brain from the realities of its own world. The brain then brings about changes in parts and functions of the body as if these were responses to the body's own experiences.
The HAIDIT, or Shadow, is the only subtle body-mind which naturally possesses a good contact with and knowledge of the AUFU -- meaning it can positively or negatively affect the physical body with equal facility. The KA once had such contact and capacity, but it has long since been lost. The Shadow can be understood as being roughly what is usually meant by "the unconscious," and appeals can be made to it to alter the AUFU along desired lines. An example of this would be to hypnotize the KA, so establishing contact with the HAIDIT, and then suggest to it that it utilize its special knowledge and relation to the body to, say, dispose of a wart or a tumor, or to increase or decrease blood flow to a particular part. Most effective hypnosis is a dialogue between the hypnotist and the Shadow, aimed at achieving certain changes in the AUFU, the KA, or the HAIDIT itself. The mindless AUFU cannot effectively survive in the contemporary world and must minimally be tended and cared for by the KA or, if the personal KA is too feeble or deranged, by other persons. However, although it is a machine, even the most ordinary of these has unused potentials which are enormous and far in excess of what can be made use of by even the most developed and most knowledgeable person. Since it is essential to the life of the whole person, reason would dictate that h be well cared for and efforts made to use it well. However, the KA and the HAIDIT frequently behave towards it as if the AUFU were their mortal enemy; also as if it were unworthy of being brought into the kind of awareness that would allow its potentials to be much better used.
The AUFU, especially its brain, is the essential foundation upon which rests the structure of the whole person, whatever his or her powers may be. Yet it is always in varying degrees badly fed, poorly exercised, little known, and inadequately used while, at the same time, it is subjected to abuses which, if done to someone else, would constitute torture and deliberate destruction. No human being can be found who dies a natural death in the sense that his body parts wear out uniformly. The man who dies "naturally" is self-destroyed, killing himself by means of (barely) conscious behaviors which are largely products of unconscious processes and nonhuman forces.
The ancient Egyptians, as depicted in their paintings and sculptures, are the only known civilized people displaying an adequate knowledge of and regard for the healthy and well-functioning physical body. The bodies they almost universally depict are graceful and light, well-positioned in gravity, able to make use of directed energies which give access to strength in the absence of excessive muscular development. Obviously, the body image is intact, awareness of body mechanics is present, and mind and body are in harmonious, mutually supportive interaction. Already with the Greeks, and in the ancient Far East, although to a lesser degree, art tells us that some of these elements have been lost or were never present in the first place. With the Egyptians, AUFU and KA are differentiated in awareness, integrated in function. Moreover, with them, the HAIDIT was in a superior, though far from perfected, relation to both AUFU and KA. Add to this the knowledge and awareness of some persons of the higher subtle bodies as well, making interaction with the Neters, and one uncovers basic secrets as to why the Egyptian civilization lasted so long and produced much that even today is unrivalled.
The AUFU is a machine operated by its brain under the influence of the subtle bodies and their minds, but it is also a machine with a brain that is influenced from within its own and subtle bodies by the nonhuman forces of Cosmos and Chaos. These entities are "in" all of the bodies, although as the bodies become more subtle they tend to be less congenial to Chaos and more congenial to Cosmos. At the levels of AUFU and KA, however, the chaotic entities preponderate unless they have been exorcised or those bodies "seeded" with a greater number of their cosmic antagonists- magico-spiritual operations which are a part of the Work on Oneself at the conscious KHU and SAHU levels. In the HAIDIT, the antagonistic forces are, in most persons, better balanced -- so that it is the arena of the greatest conflict. This is the "middle ground" and on the "higher ground" of KHU and SAHU the balance shifts towards Order.
Because of the potency of the demons in the "gross" AUFU it always sickens and dies much earlier than it might do otherwise. Even conscious Work by the KHU and
the SAHU can only delay for a time this outcome. For the same reason -- demonic dominance -- the KA, which survives the AUFU, rather quickly degenerates.
The Egyptians labored mightily to prevent this degeneration of the KA, but their efforts could at best delay it. Chaos, in the AUFU, works incessantly to achieve its debilitation and death, which Cosmos opposes. So long as humans remain at the level of the mechanical AUFU and sleep-walking KA, just so long will they remain destructive to themselves and to both their "subjective" and "objective" realities. To "awaken" -- a major goal of every magical, spiritual, or magico-spiritual system-is to break through and out of that level of nonawareness at which one's life is determined through the body's misuse by the unconscious. Even awareness and intelligent use of AUFU, KA and HAIDIT would effect the most remarkable positive changes in humankind. The fulfillment of humanity's potential, however, implies an aware participation also by KHU and SAHU bodies integrated with the others

KA
THE "BODY OF EXPERIENCE"
The term KA, or Double, is instructive. It informs us that the body of the KA should as closely as possible duplicate the AUFU, so that the body image does not falsify the physical body for the mind -- a falsification which, through their interactions, results in harm to both. At the same time, the KA must be aware that its body is not the body of the AUFU -- the KA is mind, and its subtle body is a mental body and the only body it will experience. Nonetheless, it is also a Double, so that to the extent it acquires self-knowledge which is accurate, it also accurately knows the physical body. The KA can attain to such self-awareness, and thus a knowledge of the AUFU, only by means of self-exploration. Existing psychophysical methods are available and of great help in such an undertaking.
The KA possesses many capacities it shares with the other subtle bodies, but not with the AUFU. By cultivating these, and by learning, it provides essential tools and information which the other bodies can and will make use of. If, on the other hand, it does not develop itself and learns inadequately, then the "higher" bodies will be crippled in their dealings with the KA's reality and otherwise as well. The KA possesses, most importantly, intellect, imagination, will, and the ability to assimilate and integrate knowledge. As the AUFU is basically affected by food, its environment, and its mechanical use, so the KA is affected by similar factors but has the ability, wanting in the AUFU, to take some charge of its own development. It can also initiate better contact with the HAIDIT, "making conscious the 17 unconscious" or part of it, which actually means integrating itself with the HAIDIT body-mind. This is as equally necessary a task for the KA as is its pursuit of knowledge of itself to gain knowledge of the AUFU. Both efforts, when successful, greatly strengthen the KA and give it a much larger autonomy. More importantly, they are the means to the integration of AUFU, KA and HAIDIT.
The "making conscious of (parts of) the unconscious," and the "exploration of the unconscious," which must be undertaken by the KA, means that the KA must learn to temporarily inhibit almost all of its own mental processes and allow its own field of consciousness to be occupied, as it were, by that of the HAIDIT. The KA must become a detached observer of the HAIDIT's world.
Just as the KA must come to understand that its body is not that of the AUFU, so must this typically egocentric KA understand that its mind is not that of the HAIDIT, another error to which it is prone. Neither must the KA suppose that the Haidit's world and experiences are its world and experiences. Only if the KA thus differentiates and detaches itself can it safely undertake the exploration. Otherwise it may lose its grasp on its own world, and the KA also will give to the beings of the HAIDIT's world a power over it which the detachment and differentiation would prevent. If the KA, however, avoids such mistakes, it can expand and further liberate itself by making use of the memories which it brings back from the HAIDIT and then integrates into its own knowledge and understandings.
When the KA has attained to awareness of its body, and by that means to a knowledge of the AUFU, then it diminishes the power of the body to determine the contents and processes of the KA's mind. Similarly, by gaining knowledge of the HAIDIT, the KA diminishes the power of the unconscious to determine the contents and processes of its mind. This is of major importance to the person when the bodies have not yet been integrated. After integration, the more subtle HAIDIT "uses" the KA within the context of that higher unity within which AUFU, KA and HAIDIT have become effectively one.
By all of the subtle bodies imagination is used as a psychosensory system, and when working as it should this system gives a symbolic but functionally accurate and effective rendering of the body and its world. In the case of the three highest subtle bodies, imagination is also creative, and for the KHU and the SAHU imagination gives knowledge of the magico-spiritual realms -- becomes a psychospiritual and psychosensory system. In the KA, however, imagination is psychosensory only, serving to represent to the KA its reality, which more or less coincides with the AUFU's. That aspect of imagination which, in the case of the more subtle bodies is creative, in the KA yields only fantasy, something despised and strongly warned against by esoteric traditions. For the KA, fantasy is at best wasteful and often it is more seriously damaging. Fantasy bodies are created which the KA and the AUFU then may mistake for their own. And the KA is impeded in its other major task, which is that of knowing truly its own mind.
The KA must gain knowledge of its body and, thereby, the AUFU's; and it must differentiate itself from the unconscious. But it must also come to know its own mind, and for this it is necessary to participate in work which does not always offer immediate rewards. It involves self-observation, concentration, strengthening the tools of the mind and controlling its customary aimless meanderings and fantasies. The mind must be provided, and come to demand, its own proper foods and environments. In the ancient Mystery Schools, care was taken that this Work was made as interesting and rewarding as possible. Nonetheless, most candidates fell away here, lacking discipline to continue. But the mind of the KA must be strengthened in its world in order to give some of the necessary powers to the other subtle bodies. The KA of the person who has chosen this Way must approach, within the KA's limits to do so, the ideal of "sound mind in sound body." If it fails, the person can advance no further and, in the words of Gurdjieff, in the end will die like a dog.

HAIDIT:
THE "BODY OF THE UNCONSCIOUS"
The HAIDIT or Shadow can (roughly) be identified with what presently we call "the unconscious," including (some of) the "collective unconscious." It is the body with which the unconscious is experienced and the unconscious is its world. The term Shadow properly suggests that in these realities one is coming closer to the human dimension noumena -- that the HAIDIT's world, or parts of it, is that of the "shadows" cast by more essential realities. This is unlike the world of the AUFU and the KA, which remain closed off from any direct knowledge of essential or higher realities, although they are affected by them.
The HAIDIT of the person on the Way has the primary task of differentiating itself from the "lower" bodies while, at the same time, functionally integrating itself with them. This is always what is meant by integration, and it should never be thought that a "higher" body or consciousness assimilates the others. Obviously, they continue to exist, but the interactions of the bodies and their minds are less conflicting as they become more unified. If the person experiences him or herself as an "expanded consciousness" having access to unconscious processes, then there has been no true integration: simultaneous awareness of the three bodies is the criterion.
Were it not for the opposing nonhuman forces in humanity, a near-total harmony of the authentically integrated bodies could be established. But neither Chaos nor Cosmos can accept a unification leaving one or the other powerless and thus a complete absence of conflict and unwanted interactions between the three bodies is an ideal never realized.
The HAIDIT can "see into" and otherwise "sense into" the body of the AUFU and its Double, as well as sensing them from outside. Its own body is very largely self-created, although its choices about this are far from being free. Thus it can imitate and fabricate for itself a body which grossly resembles the AUFU's and, less authentically still, it is able to create approximations to the AUFU's world-both as it actually is, and as it is known to the KA. The HAIDIT can also create for itself other bodies, taking any form it can imagine. Similarly, it is able to create any world it is able to imagine, and experience that world very fully. It is what the KA calls an "artist," although it "creates" as a natural part of its functioning -- as, say, the AUFU breathes, senses, or excretes. The HAIDIT is hedonistic and, unless the KA's will has been highly developed, the HAIDIT's will is feeble, rendering its consciousness suggestible. The HAIDIT is, however, far from being just irrational and its mental powers potentially far exceed those of the KA.
The HAIDIT can best be reached and worked with by altering the consciousness of the KA so that it no longer is experienced and, seemingly, ceases to function. When the KA is thus "out of the way," then the personal field of consciousness is occupied by the HAIDIT, which can be dialogued with directly, guided and taught. It can then be directed to undertake that Work on itself which needs to be done before the HAIDIT can know itself and its world sufficiently to function as a part of an integrated, larger whole -- that is, a more fully conscious person.
On the Way, the HAIDIT's guide or teacher supervises a prolonged, "expanding" and "deepening," exploration of the unconscious in which the HAIDIT, however, unlike the KA in its exploration, is an active participant, only seldom taking just a spectator role. The HAIDIT is taught to "manipulate time," so that in its world weeks, months and even years of exploration and other work can be accomplished during what are only minutes in the clock-measured world of the KA. Even so, the unconscious is so vast, and there is so much work to be done, that the effort usually takes years of KA time to complete.
The HAIDIT, as explorer, maps the terrain, experiences and classifies the "flora and fauna," and otherwise expands its knowledge of its world -- a world not only vast, but incredibly diverse -- learning to function in many different ways and in many different situations. It is gradually exposed to experiences which, at the start, would have been unendurable for it, and which usually it manages to avoid when left unguided. Since extreme pleasures are available in its world, the HAIDIT is led to experience these to a degree and in ways which it rarely would have been able to discover for itself since, typically, the HAIDIT is too "lazy" to venture into the deeps and extremities of the Shadow world. It is satisfied with the blander pleasures near the surface and center of its world, and thus also avoids the graver dangers. The pleasures it is given are rewards for its efforts and compensate for fear and pain it also must experience. The guide must maintain the hedonistic HAIDIT's motivation by seeing to it that the pleasures outweigh the negative experiences. Eventually, the HAIDIT must confront what previously would have led to panic, madness, even death.
Some of this exploration coincides with the KA's development of its mind. It must be done before the KA's will has been strengthened to the point that the HAIDIT is affected and rendered insufficiently suggestible. A delicate balance needs to be maintained, so that the HAIDIT develops its own will, and learns to use its other mental powers, unimpeded by changes in the KA. When the HAIDIT's will and other little-used potentials are strong enough, then the work with the KA can be completed. The HAIDIT will then, if the work was done correctly, voluntarily or willingly cooperate in further exploration and self-development.
In addition to exploring parts of the unconscious -- by no means all, but enough to allow Work at the "higher" level of the KHU -- and in addition to developing its will and learning to make use of other mental faculties, the HAIDIT is taught to use its powers to function constructively in its interactions with the AUFU and the KA. It especially is taught how not to introduce conflicts and confusion into the conscious mind, and how not to generate negative effects in the physical body. The HAIDIT also learns how to join in cooperative problem-solving with the KA, thus making the KA "more creative" and "more intelligent," and it learns to bring about healing and other beneficial changes in both KA and AUFU. The ability of the unconscious to intervene in these ways in the workings of the conscious mind, and to alter the body for good or ill, is well established. It does so continuously and is far more decisive in shaping the life of the ordinary person than the conscious mind, apart from it, ever is. But when "the unconscious has been made (partly) conscious," and the integration with the lower bodies is achieved, then there is easier and still more potent interaction which becomes possible. Now, however, it can be chosen and intelligently used.
Finally the HAIDIT, in its world, lives out a "myth" or a "work of art" imposed on it from both within and without, which begins to unfold during a person's childhood and continues until his death. Sometimes the myth appears to change but this is an illusion. Only when there is integration with KHU, SAHU, or both, can the person truly alter his myth, which it may or may not be desirable to do. This myth is the "meaning" of a person's life and if made known to him prematurely can destroy his illusion of autonomy and lead to hopelessness. The teacher will typically know what the myth is long before the student knows it and must decide when to disclose it to the student. It must be disclosed at some point along the Way, but only when the student is ready and is going to be able to change it if need be.
One part of the Work at the level of the KHU is to either choose a new myth or choose to continue with the "given" one. Then, in either case, there is some real, not illusory, freedom and the work aims towards a fuller realization of the myth and its constructive -- or destructive-potentials. The personal myth has a "guiding archetype" and, if the myth is to be altered, the archetype must be confronted in the HAIDIT and often its symbolic form must be destroyed. If the Shadow attempts this battle without having access to the powers of the KHU it will almost inevitably fail and the person will sustain severe, if not fatal, injury. However, if the archetype is constructive, so that the myth is also constructive, it can serve the person as an ally and teacher in the HAIDIT and be safely and usefully worked with, as some psychological, occult and other approaches to human healing and development do or try to do. However, that the archetype is "constructive," does not mean that the myth is worthy of the person -- it still may need to be changed to allow his or her larger potentials to be realized.
The myth lived by the HAIDIT in its world determines the life of the KA in its broad outlines and also in many of its details. It can be deduced by observing the KA and directly observed by making conscious the HAIDIT and learning how it functions in its world -- its behaviors and experiences. But, again, in most cases the myth should remain concealed from the person until he is ready to experience the KHU and its world: until then, it is unalterable.
The person is ready for the KHU -- level Work when his awareness differentiates -- simultaneously and with functional integration -- the physical body, the conscious mind and the unconscious -- now itself sufficiently in consciousness.

KHU:
THE "MAGICAL BODY"
Those bodies -- KHU and SAHU -- which are involved in true magico-religious Work can be thought of as the "higher unconscious," collective and personal. The "House of Life" of the ancient Egyptians, and other Mystery Schools, aimed at making these bodies conscious and integrating them with the "lower" bodies. The KHU was made conscious, and its powers developed, by means we now think of as "magical." The SAHU was made conscious, and its powers developed, by what we now think of as religious or spiritual practices. (Actually it is a question of emphasis since for both KHU and SAHU the work combines magical and spiritual elements.) When these higher bodies are made conscious, a person lives at once in two different realities: he or she acts in the mundane world of everyday life, and also interacts with the Neters, participating thereby in their supramundane world.
The world of the KHU is essentially a School and a Temple. One who has developed to this level of consciousness will, hereafter, have a Neter --"God" or "Goddess" -- as his or her primary Teacher. If a human teacher has brought the person this far, that teacher may still assist in the Work but assumes a secondary role. The Teacher may also be assisted by other Neters -- subordinates in the Way being taught. By means of his or her opened psychospiritual senses, accessible when the KHU is made conscious, the pupil is able to participate fully in the realities created for him or her by the Teacher. The quality of his or her work will determine whether the KHU remains conscious. It is quite possible to "fail" in the School -- then the higher consciousness is lost and the KHU world remains in the mind only as a wondrous memory.
True ritual and ceremonial magic, involving elaborate and potent symbol systems; HEKAU (Words of Power); consciousness-altering sounds, gestures, postures and Sacred Movements; means of activating centers and energy systems of the subtle bodies; subtle body diagnosis and healing; methods of attack and defense; metamorphosis and transformation of the bodies; psychospiritual alchemy; philosophy and theology of Cosmos and Chaos; and ways of interacting with the Neters -- these are aimed at developing the KHU and enabling it to use its capacities.
The magician is taught and learns to function, first of all, exclusively in the KHU world and the KHU body. Later, however, the "whole person" (SAHU, at this level of the Work, excepted) participates -- so that, for example, the Sacred Movements, gestures and postures are executed by the four bodies simultaneously. This furthers integration of the bodies and also makes the work more effective in the worlds of the less subtle bodies. The postures, movements, and some other procedures are also used to help lower level students advance to the higher states of consciousness. In Yoga, for example, consciousness is directed to centers (chakras) found only in the KHU and SAHU bodies, in the hope that this will activate the subtle centers -- a procedure which bears little fruit. The Yoga postures (asanas) are more efficacious and lay a foundation for higher development. But Yoga, for all its merits, unfortunately survives only in fragments, too much is missing, and the psychophyscial methods of the Way are a more complete approach to mind-body integration and awareness. Moreover, most Yoga teaching professes a bias against siddhis -- precisely those powers which the KHU must acquire and develop to realize itself and to do its appropriate Work, including preparation for integrating KHU and SAHU. Like other present-day spiritual disciplines, Yoga is focused on attaining to those states of consciousness available at the SAHU level -- Samadhi, Nirvana and others -- and at best only realizes approximations to these since the level of the KHU is inadequately worked with. These disciplines also have forgotten that the siddhis, subject to abuse in the mundane realities, are essential tools for the most important Work --interaction with the Neters and participation in The War in Heaven. Similarly, such "states" as Nirvana, Samadhi, Cosmic Consciousness, Enlightenment, are but means by which the SAHU is strengthened to do its greater Work.
The KHU's "magic" and the SAHU's "spiritual practices" are simply psychological, psychophysical and psychospiritual methods applicable at "levels of consciousness" which ordinary psychologies and other modern approaches fail to deal with and typically believe not to exist. Just as many people do not believe in the incredible wealth of the unconscious, until they experience it in trance or drug states so there is a disbelief in the still more remote and higher reaches of the unconscious until, by appropriate means, these too can be experienced. The disbelief is merely a product of ignorance based upon lack of first-hand experience. The Work with the KHU makes plain its reality and further enlarges and expands one's awareness of what is. Until this is done, the person is cut off and alienated from his own Higher Self and potentials and, whatever his other attainments, is for practical purposes "spiritually dead."
The person who has integrated physical body, conscious mind and the (HAIDIT) unconscious, already has advanced far enough to be greatly differentiated from less developed human beings. His or her life will almost certainly be rich and productive and he or she will live in close enough proximity to the higher realities that there will need be no fear of actual spiritual death or that life will lose its meaning. This is not true, sad to say, of the majority of humankind.
When there has been no effective Work at all -- no integration of body and mind, no exploration of the unconscious -- then the "person" sleepwalks through life and is "human" only in form and potential. In practical fact he or she is humanoid only, a mechanical unit having just the appearance of a "human." If one looked into his or her unrealized potentials, then one would see that the world of the KHU is silent and unmoving, as if lifeless. The KHU body lies inert and sleeping as it dreams the essence of the myth that is the "meaning of life" for that person. The Temple and its School stand empty except for this body and what appear to be statues representing certain Gods and other beings. This is the latent and waiting world and body of the person who is cognitively cut off from the higher realities and "spiritual" Forces. The KHU body and world can come intensely and vibrantly -- numinously and awe-fully-alive, but only if "brought to life" by Work. Otherwise the Neters, who might have been the Teachers, remain only statuesque representations; the Temple and the School remain forever silent as a tomb. If all Work on the less subtle bodies is neglected, and if they should be sufficiently misused, then the person does spiritually die and the KHU no longer even dreams the essence of the myth. With that, the meaning of life is lost altogether and there is an inner void far more terrible even than the living of an inane and destructive myth. More, that same life may have to be lived over and over. This is what Gurdjieff, many of whose teachings had their roots in those of ancient Egypt, meant when he said that the person who fails to do the Work on Oneself will perish like a dog.

SAHU:
THE "SPIRITUAL BODY"
The SAHU'S world exists in closest proximity to the world of the Neters -- more exactly, to the realms of the Evolutionary Order, or "Spirit," and of the Divine Metaeidolons, representations of the Gods and UrGods of Cosmos. The "black" magician, by means of his magic, reverses this positioning of bodies and worlds, so that his own SAHU world is in proximity to the realms of Disordered Matter and the Demonic Metaeidolons, representations of the Evil Gods of Chaos. Thus there can occur the most complete interactions between the SAHU magician-priests or -priestesses and the respective Forces which they serve.
In The Way of the Five Bodies the Neters interacted with directly at KHU -- and SAHU -- level are the Goddess Sekhmet and The Eight (Gods and Goddesses) associated with Sekhmet, as well as the demigods, demons and other entities. The antagonist is Set, UrGod of Chaos, and Set's associated Powers and Principalities. Some of these Forces contend in each of the human dimensions and they are always present in body and mind, personality and essence, of every individual. Only at the higher levels of awareness and Work can they be known to some extent for what they are, can be differentiated from one's own psychophysical and psychospiritual self, and be allied with or opposed.
The Neters, through their representations, reveal themselves only gradually, first to the KHU and then to the SAHU body and its imaginal senses and consciousness. The human must be sufficiently prepared for such contact with the self-declared Other, strengthened and otherwise made ready by progressive Work cumulatively affecting every part and aspect of his or her being. There can be brief, approximate experiences of the higher realities in the absence of such preparation. Many people are given "intimations" and, for them, powerful experiences of the Forces with which KHU and SAHU do their Work -- examples of "incursions," "paranormal phenomena" sufficient to call into question the "consensual reality," and the "Grace" of religious experience -- these are "reminders" of a Something Beyond the ordinary world, and "lures" which beckon and sometimes impel towards cognition of that at which they hint or which they flashingly disclose. But the undeveloped person could never endure the continuous occurrence and numinous qualities of such manifestations as a part of the Work of the KHU and the SAHU -- the intensity and range of energies, feelings, overpowering Otherness, preternatural beauty and grisly horror -- in the uncanny and awful dread -- allure of the love -- wrath and other aspects of the Presence of the Neters.
The KHU, when its Work is sufficiently advanced, receives an initiation and performs operations to make the SAHU conscious. The SAHU's Work differentiates it from the KHU and the other bodies and it becomes functionally integrated with them. Then the "highest" Work can be accomplished in each of the five human dimensions -- the realms of the Five Bodies. Not that the Work is ever completed, or the human potentials ever made fully accessible, but there is an approximation to the ideal which exceeds what could be accomplished by means of any lesser effort. Not just decades but centuries of Work by the integrated Five Bodies would be needed to completely actualize and master the richness of a human being's potentials.
The SAHU continues much of the Work begun by the KHU and adds to this other Work which the KHU could not have done. This "Spiritual Body" is, above all, an adept of self-regulated "movement" along the continuum of consciousness, becoming eventually able to experience states of consciousness which otherwise can only be given by the Neters. Foremost among these is what some schools call Kundalini, an "energy system" which, in the Egyptian metapsychology, is identified with the Goddess Sekhmet. By "raising Kundalini" -- which only the SAHU can do, although lower bodies counterfeit the experience -- the brain of the physical body is altered and much more of it comes into use, increasing the powers of all the bodies. Then the SAHU, if proper Work is done, can acquire SEKHEM (Power or Might). SEKHEM is the most formidable of the human potentials and allows its conscious possessor to function both in the human dimension and in the interaction with Neters in ways that would, if they were known, appear "superhuman" to non-initiates.
The SAHU body, when not deliberately altered, is transparent and luminous, so that its symbolic centers and energy systems can be clearly seen. Like its world, it is of the subtlest substance to be found in the dimensions of the human and thus the Soul (BA) is in the SAHU body. This extreme subtlety allows the SAHU to be dissolved into, and to merge with, the substance of its world. This is the authentic "mystical experience" -- again there are counterfeits and approximations -- which some religious and spiritual disciplines misinterpret as a merging with the Divine Substance, God, or Ground of Being. It is not that, but it is a powerful and sometimes tranformative experience. After "dissolution" the body may reorganize in a way that is superior to its previous organization, affecting not only just the SAHU but one or more of the other bodies also. The authentic "mystical experience" is of itself beneficial and is one aspect of the psychospiritual alchemy practiced by KHU and SAHU to the end that the radical transformation of the person is achieved -- higher integration and greater subtlety in each of the "lower" bodies. The SAHU also self-directedly "moves" into other states of consciousness and realms of experience described in the literatures of various world religions. These include what we know as Samadhi, Nirvana, Satori, and many others which also strengthen the SAHU and further both its Work "in the world" and with the Neters. Such experiences, when not misunderstood -- not regarded, for example, as ends in themselves -- give a larger perspective on reality, help to break down limiting belief systems, further the psychospiritual alchemical process, and yield other benefits. The efforts required to attain to these experiences do, however, expose the SAHU, and the whole person, to suffering and dangers -- at least some of which are unavoidable. The so-called "Dark Night of the Soul" and various other experiences of Dread, Despair, Confusion, and sicknesses of body and mind (in one or more of the bodies, although in fact not in the Soul) are examples. Yet these too, assuming they are overcome, will strengthen the person to "Stand at One 'Time' in Five Worlds."
The SAHU can perceive, although not enter into, the nonhuman realms of Evolutionary Order and the Disordered Particles, and those of the Divine and Demonic Metaeidolons. KHU and even HAIDIT are sometimes given "visions" of these, but the SAHU can choose to perceive them with all its senses and, interacting upon its allegiance, strengthens its love for Cosmos or Chaos, and its abhorrence of the Antagonist, by means of its perceptions of them. We speak of the SAHU as doing these things when it has not as yet achieved integration with the other four bodies. Subsequent to integration, it is the person who acts, although he or she does so still in one or another of the human dimensions -- in this case, the SAHU world. Despite the extravagant claims made by some religions, the human being never goes beyond the human dimensions and could not survive contact even with the appearances or representations of the Neters in their far more subtle worlds. To speak of direct and immediate knowledge of God or of the Divine is a gross absurdity and born at best of ignorance and self-delusion.
After the differentiation/integration of the Five Bodies has been finally achieved, the priest-magician or magician-priest continues learning and other Work, advancing through the Hierarchy to whatever levels of initiation he will ultimately reach. He may Work mainly "in the world," possibly as a Teacher, or in some mundane position where his magico-spiritual powers can exert useful influence -- business, politics, communications, whatever -- or he may Work almost entirely with the Neters, doing the so-called "Inner Work." In any case, unless he or she be otherwise instructed, the magician-priest or -priestess will Work secretly. Those close to the person may have some inkling of what she or he does, but it will not be a "public" Work. An occasional Teacher or, far more rarely, a designated Exemplar will be the sole exceptions. If human beings were not "sleeping," they would recognize at once the person well-advanced in the Work. That they do not is a helpful safeguard which, however, it is the Work's purpose to remove.
The search for a real School and a KHU -- or SAHU -- level Teacher is made much more difficult by the fact that those advanced in the Work do it quietly and almost always secretly. Further, there are always many false claimants to the Knowledge of the Work, and others who are so self-deluded that they actually suppose themselves to have the Knowledge. For every Gurdjieff -- the only publicly known, authentic Teacher of this century -- there are thousands of the others, and millions to believe them until their "teachings" are proved empty.
There are a few guidelines that can aid in recognizing real Teachers. Such a man or woman can be known, for example, by the conscious manner in which he or she lives out the profound and powerful "myth" or "work of art" chosen. (The criteria just mentioned would exclude such powerful but somnambulistic magicians as Adolf Hitler and Aleister Crowley.) The integration of the four (or five) bodies will invest the Teacher with recognizable Presence and Force. Even if one is only slightly self-observant, it can be recognized that one's consciousness alters when in contact with a Teacher. One is affected in a way that is obviously "different," one may "go into trance," or "awaken," or experience other "altered states," and the Teacher will not, as others do, speak to the KA of a person, but rather to HAIDIT -- not to the conscious mind, but rather to the unconscious. And the Teacher can also speak directly to the AUFU, to its brain and nervous systems, or to the physical body as a whole, thus producing important beneficial (or destructive) changes in it. This is Teaching; it gives pain as well as pleasure, forcing into consciousness various contents which had been repressed or otherwise excluded. It exposes limits to freedom and to growth, and it stirs a hunger for the "something more."
One can give some of these powers to false teachers, but at a cost to oneself that self-observation can detect. The authentic Teacher may "accept" or "take" power from others, but he or she, at the appropriate time, returns much more than was given and/or taken. One who meets such criteria may be a Teacher, but those who are "searching" should pursue the matter further. One must also find a way to determine whether it is Cosmos or Chaos that he serves, and choose according to one's predilection. Above all, however, do not expect "perfection," but heed that Scripture which says "it is nowhere to be found." The highly developed human being will be found to have large faults accompanying great virtues. This is inevitable in one who has become "larger than life." Nor should one expect "perfection" even from "the Gods," which would mean being foolish enough to "judge" such Beings as the Neters by human standards.
The Egyptian metapsychology, set forth in The Way of the Five Bodies, brings the aspirant to levels -- I'm sending Marianne's Global Meditation for Peace. It feels pretty appropriate right now. Especially if you don't have a favorite prayer for peace to say with us during the next seven days as we continue to hold a space for peace. (Remember our meditation/prayer is held at 6 - 6:05 pm EST) (clip) Here's Marianne's beautiful prayer. Dear God, I enter now the Silence wherein Your power lies. Prepare my mind to contain Your glory, the Love our world so sorely needs. May Your mercy shine forth upon us all, particularly on those who suffer. May those whose hearts are filled with hate, towards us or anyone else, now miraculously be filled with Love. Pour down the Light to fill their hearts, pour down forgiveness to wash us clean. May the innocence in all of us now be made clear for all to see. Open my heart, dear God, that I might be a channel for Your peace. Forgive us all our trespasses. We atone for our errors. We pray for forgiveness. In the name of God, may violence leave all hearts. In the Silence which follows, please do these things. Use me, Lord, and grant us peace. Amen. those of KHU and SAHU -- where the Teaching is done not by humans but by the Neters, and primarily by the Goddess Sekhmet. As the Egyptians recognized, no human Teacher, however remarkable, can carry the Work into the Higher Realities where it can only be effective when done in interaction with Beings whose grasp extends beyond the human. There are other ways of making KHU or SAHU, although not both, partly conscious and which thereby give power, sometimes formidable power. But the magical, occult or spiritual Path which stops short of effecting working with a Higher Force is inadequate. The person remains but a pawn in The War in Heaven and cannot effectively work for humanity's necessary transformation. He will lack essential protection and guidance and will commit many foolish and dangerous mistakes. For these reasons the metapsychology speaks, with both compassion and harshness, of magical or spiritual disciplines done without the guidance of the Neters as "Paths of Fools."

CONCLUSION
The knowledgeable reader will be aware that what has been given in these pages sets forth with a most unusual completeness essentials of Work in a Mystery School. There are also many important details concerning magico-spiritual practices -- applications -- for those who can fill in between the lines. And enough has been said to allow a few persons, those of sufficient maturity, knowledge and daring, to begin the Work even without School or Teacher. Thus some of those might reach that condition where "When the pupil is ready, the Teacher will appear."