Some Thoughts on the Aristocratic and Initiatic Ideal

It is common to speak of tantra these days and how it embraces life in all its aspects. What is often ignored is how this played out among the ruling families in the lands of Tibet for example, and how it shaped them, and in return, they shaped it. The role of the Arya or “noble” (the root of the word ‘Aryan’ and ‘Iran’) as mentioned repeatedly in Vajrayana practices is often ignored as well for its sense of inner nobility and what that means both in the realms of Duality (Samsara) and as a direct experience of Eternity (Nirvana).

The following quote is a partial expression of the Aristocratic, or Aryan Ideal as understood in Western esotericism, and as such, is fitting reading in relation to the roles of Jupiter (Chesed), Mars (Geburah) and Sol (Tiphareth) in initiatic practices in particular. It is a summary of the expression of Western theurgy and has direct parallels to the emphasis on the secret meaning of Bodhicitta in Vajrayana and Dzogchen – or the purification of sexual essences and genetic transmission of power – that is the tulku. Hence, just as a “noble is born and not made” so is a “god born” given the right conditions. It is up to us to create and maintain those conditions, not simple for ourselves, but for the benefit of all beings.

In the section that follows we see a notion, or rather an elaboration on the meaning of what Jean Dubuis meant when he would state, “My wisdom is not your wisdom, and your wisdom is not my wisdom.” This simple phrase is so easy to misunderstand and take as meaning that everything is relative and therefore holds the same value, instead of its true meaning: everything is relative to one’s capacity to understand, and therefore, a simple truth can be very dangerous if misunderstood. There are different teachings and practices for different stages of our life, and for different people depending on their capacity and life situation.

A prefect example of this would be the often quoted Francois Rabelais, “Do what thou wilt” which is often taken as a license for excess, whereas Rabelais believed, as we see below, that well born men will instinctively behave with honor.

From Introduction to Magic – Realization of the Absolute Individual (Vol. 3)

“The aristocratic way of being is typified by a superiority that is virile, free, and personalized. It corresponds to the demand – which had typical expressions in the classical world – that what is lived internally as spirituality should manifest outwardly in an equilibrium of body, soul, and will: in a tradition of honor, high bearing, and severity in attitude, even in details of dress; in a general style of thinking, feeling, and reacting. Even though from the outside it may seem like mere formality and stereotypical rules (into which nobility may often have fallen), that style can be traced to its original value as the instrument of an inner discipline: to what we may call a ritual value.

On the inward side, the traditional aristocratic type possesses a special ‘ascesis,’ a sense of superiority to the mere appetite for life; a predominance of ethos over pathos; an inner simplicity and disdain for the crude immediacy of urges, emotions, and sensations. Therein lies the secret of a serenity that is not indifference but regal superiority, the capacity of an alert and keen mind no less than of firm and decisive action, typical of the noble type. The absence of the impulses that drive men to the banquet of life as though they were starving; the self-possession that is not a preoccupation but a simplification, as of an ever-present second nature; the composure and conscious equilibrium that is both ‘style’ and ‘rule’ – all this, while forming part of the ideal aristocrat or gentleman, is also found in the description of figures like the Greek sage, the Buddhist ascetic, or the Perfect Man of the Far East. Inner superiority, rather than simple force, gives rise naturally to the dignity, capacity, and rights of true leaders, who can arouse in others a spontaneous recognition and a pride in following and serving them.

What distinguishes the aristocratic quality from that of an ascetic in the common Christian sense is the fact that its effective superiority, as described, does not imply renunciation nor despise appearances, but takes concrete form in a worldly expression, making it the principle of a regular process of refinement and selection. Nobility includes aspects of good taste, tact, generosity, and regality, which were traditionally due to its superiority to immediate interests and the crude demands of naturalistic life, rather than to possessing greater material wealth. And if from the moralistic point of view it was sometimes accused of corruption, it should be understood thus: one should not confuse the privilege of someone who can permit himself certain things only because he also has the power to abstain from them, with the licentiousness of one who is a slave to vice and excess; for if there were ever two contraries, it is these.

Another point needs emphasizing. If the aristocrat becomes master of himself; if he is prepared to count life and happiness as something less than honor, faith, and tradition; if he is capable of forbearance and active sacrifice – this comes from a direct intuition of the blood, which makes him realize that all this is good, that to will all this is good and makes one superior and noble. To feel these specific values spontaneously is the very sign of nobility. Not to feel them but to need supports and external justifications defines the common man. Thus, the aristocratic code is sufficient unto itself, base on an innate style and on a different nature from that of the majority of humans.

Naturally, we must recognize the role that heredity also plays here. Just as there is a physical and biological heredity, there is also a psychic and spiritual one, which in traditional societies justified the principle of exclusion and caste that seems so intolerable to the demagogy and individualism of our day. Just as an animal does not become domesticated at a stroke, thus the aristocratic tradition one won its effectiveness and objective value through the slow and steady acquisition, conservation, and preservation of subtle dispositions on the base of an influence from above, passed down from one generation to another.” – Aristocracy and the Initiatic Ideal, as found in Introduction to Magic by Julius Evola and the UR Group, Translated by Joscelyn Godwin (Inner Traditions, 2021), p. 48-50.

For more information on the Initiatic Ideals and applying them to daily living see our courses:

The Four Aims – Jupiter in Daily Life
https://institute-for-hermetic-studies.teachable.com/courses/925309

Sanctus – Spirituality in Daily Life and the Secret Fire
https://institute-for-hermetic-studies.teachable.com/courses/911579

Inner Alchemy and Magic – Physical and Psychic Rejuvenation

https://institute-for-hermetic-studies.teachable.com/courses/910527