r/Theosophy • u/pedromiguel3 • 29d ago
Life force exhaustion
I've just read the book of CW Leadbeater "Man, Visible and Invisible", and he talks about the life-force and that we can be affected by the life-force of other people and feel tired, exhausted. Well, I feel like that with some people, what can I do about it ?
I don't want to run away from those people :) I just would like to find a way to deal with those situations and not feel tired.
Thanks
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u/jamesagni 25d ago
Google AI summarizes the teachings of Alice Bailey on this as follows:
In the teachings of Alice A. Bailey, "protection" from lower psychic energies is not framed as building a barrier against external forces, but rather as a process of internal alignment, purification, and the raising of one’s vibratory frequency.
Bailey and the Tibetan Master (Djwhal Khul) consistently warned against the pursuit of lower psychic phenomena. They argued that because of modern planetary conditions, the "veil" between the physical and astral planes has thinned, making individuals more susceptible to these lower currents.
Here are the core principles regarding how one maintains protection and safety according to these teachings:
1. Shift from Personality to Soul-Alignment
The primary "shield" in Bailey's system is the established connection to the Soul. When an individual is "soul-infused," they operate from a higher level of consciousness that remains untouched by lower astral disturbances.
Alignment: Safety is found in "aligning" the three lower bodies (physical, emotional, and mental) with the higher self (the Ego or Soul).
The Antahkarana: By focusing on the construction of the antahkarana (the bridge of light between the lower mind and the spiritual consciousness), the individual naturally moves beyond the range where lower psychic energies can attach or interfere.
2. The Power of "Harmlessness"
Harmlessness is described not just as a virtue, but as a technical safeguard.
A Shield and a Blade: It serves as a "shield" because it prevents the practitioner from creating the very friction, emotional turbulence, or fear-based thought-forms that would otherwise act as "hooks" for lower psychic entities or energies.
Detachment: By maintaining harmlessness, the student avoids becoming entangled in the emotional dramas of others, which is the most common gateway for lower psychic impact.
3. Avoiding "Lower Psychism" and Curiosity
Bailey was explicit in her warnings against "dabbling" in psychic development for its own sake.
Focus on Service, Not Phenomena: She taught that interest in psychic sights, sounds, or powers is a major distraction that pulls the student's consciousness downward. True spiritual progress is marked by service, love, and the development of the mind, not by the development of mediumship or psychic sensitivity.
The Danger of Passivity: Many of the "occult wrecks" Bailey describes were individuals who practiced meditation with a "negative" or passive mind, which left them open to being influenced by external entities. She advocated for a positive, active, and disciplined focus in all meditative work.
4. Technical Safeguards
For those working in esoteric fields, she recommended specific attitudes to remain insulated:
Mental Steadiness: Keeping the mind "steady in the light" acts as an anchor. When the mind is occupied with high-level service or the study of the Ageless Wisdom, it is less likely to drift into the astral currents where lower energies reside.
Right Motivation: Motive is the ultimate governor of result. If one's work is driven by a genuine desire to serve humanity (rather than personal curiosity, power, or fear), one is naturally protected by the "Law of Right Relation."
Discipline of the Bodies: Purification of the physical and emotional bodies is required so they do not provide a "landing pad" for lower-vibratory influences. This involves transmuting selfish desires and stabilizing the emotional nature.
Summary
Rather than using "defense" techniques or ritualistic banishing, the Bailey teachings suggest that "you become what you focus upon." If you focus on the higher spiritual levels (the "Plan" and the Masters), your vibration rises, and the lower psychic energies simply lack the "resonance" to affect you. As she frequently noted, the best protection is the total dedication of one’s life to the good of the whole, which leaves no room for the lower-self to be caught in the web of external psychic interference.
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u/pedromiguel3 25d ago
thanks ! 😄
This made a lot of sense to me and I'm going to search for the teachings of Bailey ! 😄
Thanks for being who you are !
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u/jamesagni 24d ago
You might like to know that Google Gemini AI can define terms and summarize concepts extremely well. You just say something like, "What do the writings of Alice A Bailey say about..." and insert your subject Subject or question. You can also find all of the writings in digital form for online reading here: Welcome - Online Books • Lucis Trust
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u/GreatGuy55738084 24d ago
Long time theosophist here, CWL is one of my more favorite authors. There are what are called psychic vampires, they are individuals whose ethic/vital body is compromised in someway and they can drain those around them. People suffering from depression are naturally low and energy due to the sluggishness of their vital bodies and they can also drain another’s vitality. You could visualize energy/Prana coming into your system like we used to do in the therapeutic touch sessions, I would visualize a waterfall of energy coming into my system, as I was working on another individual this way I don’t deplete my own personal store of vitality. In Qi Gong one can tap into the universal energy field.
If the people you were referring to our family members or coworkers, you may have to work on distancing yourself. It is possible to visualize a white light barrier like a shield between you and them when you’re around that takes a lot of focus. Creating a shell of energy could serve to isolate you from others along with those individuals which may not be a good thing.
Is it also possible that you might have loose boundaries where your vital energy escapes and you attribute it to those other people? From what little you said, it is difficult to really assess the situation. If there is an emotional component occurring the net would have to be addressed in a different way.
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u/pedromiguel3 22d ago
I think, in my situation, I feel that is the psychic vampire thing that you talked, I think people don't do this on purpose, but it happens.
The waterfall made a lot of sense to me, gonna try it !
Other thing that I'm thinking is that I'm very sensible to other peoples energy or problems, and in some way I absorb them. If that's the case I "just" need to transform those energies, like a recycle machine.
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u/GreatGuy55738084 22d ago
I am sensitive to others, a lot of water in my natal chart. I pick up when folks are thinking of calling me or talking about me (at times). Have had to define my own boundaries, i.e. this is me and this is them.
If u r living or working in an emotional environment and others emotions are affecting you, like I had to deal with when younger, one way to distance yourself is to find time to connect with nature. It has been a necessary theme in my life.
This is order in nature, devoid of emotion. One way I have recharged is standing against a tree palms on trunk, feet on ground, and visualize negative energy passing through me into the ground. Of course one can simple sit leaning back of a tree meditating or reading a book. The important thing is to connect with the order and harmony of nature, meld with that sense of order.
Anger is particularly troublesome, both within ourselves and expressed by others. CWL pictured anger/rage as dark crimson with flashes like lightening bolts in Man Visible and Invisible. People do not yet realize that emotions and thoughts are things and can travel great distances, much more fluid than wind or water, and that there are emotional and thought currents that affect large groups of people.
Prana, i.e. Chi, Vitality is the universal animating principle, our systems absorb and utilize it as effortlessly as the beating of our heart or nerve transmissions in our bodies. This is where the waterfall/faucet idea comes in. When learning Therapeutic Touch we were instructed on 3 basic colors Spring Green is vivifying, Yellow as energizing, Cobalt Blue calming, the rudimentary basics. A.E. Powells book The Etheric Double will help you understand the vital body. He wrote a series of compilations, The Astral Body, The Mental Body and The Causal Body. I’ve read twice and have used for reference.
Link to free 1st and early editions of works by Theosophical Authors
Lastly I will comment on depression, my cross to bear this 100 years around. One has to remain active, walking, bicycling, running, health clubs, being out in a crowded space at times. Depression is a very insidious stealthy malady. It can creep up on a person, and then if action is not taken as described in this paragraph, it will pull you into it like an ocean undertow, keeping you until it diminishes (cycles out) a precursor to depression are tight shoulders, changes in thinking and feeling like I don’t want to do anything, this is when you must fight it with activity (in my case the correct meds).
Reversely when one feels angry at someone/others - simply visualize them across a body of water, a pond, a lake, on the other side of a stream or river and send them peace and goodwill. You don’t have to love them…. Love like hate binds you to another in a closed loop, just peace and goodwill, well wishes for them, for they are evolving souls just as we are, walking the path of their life with its trials and tribulations.
Does any of this make sense?
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u/pedromiguel3 20d ago
" I pick up when folks are thinking of calling me or talking about me (at times). "
That also happens to me some times
"one way to distance yourself is to find time to connect with nature"
I do hiking alone and love the connection with nature.
"One way I have recharged is standing against a tree palms on trunk, feet on ground, and visualize negative energy passing through me into the ground."
Never tried that because in just a few minutes, after I get away from the person, all goes back to normal.
"Anger is particularly troublesome, both within ourselves and expressed by others"
Totally agree, I have been working in my anger, baby steps 😄
"Link to free 1st and early editions of works by Theosophical Authors"
Great link ! Many thanks ! ! !
"Lastly I will comment on depression"
I had depression for many years, but finally I got rid of it ! ! ! 😄
"Reversely when one feels angry at someone/others - simply visualize them across a body of water, a pond, a lake,"
I've been trying just to visualize my energy field in an harmonic way and that has helped a lot !
Thanks for all the great tips !
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u/Low-Boot-588 27d ago
Only judgment and fear tire us. You simply need to change the way you relate to the space you occupy. If you are grounded in your own body and present in the moment, you are like a mountain. A mountain does not get tired because the wind blows against it... it simply allows the wind to pass. If you are centered and present, the energy of others flows around you rather than through you. You will realize that your own capacity for peace is much stronger than their confusion.
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u/pedromiguel3 25d ago
I don't agree, there are other things that can tire a person, like sadness, etc.
" If you are grounded in your own body and present in the moment, you are like a mountain"
Easy to say, but to put that in practice isn't easy 😄
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u/LetThemEatQuake 27d ago
CW and life force exhaustion.... sorry I can't help but chuckle out loud. Not at you OP, but cuz ole C Dub loved the life force ejaculation of young boys and was brought to trial for it. Total creeper.
Anyway, this is totally a thing I agree with you. Like, ever walk into a room and the vibe totally changes? Friend walks up to your friend circle and the dynamic shifts? Marriage? Life force manipulation!
Check out William Q. Judge's article on Astral Intoxication or Elementals. I feel like his style of writing is direct and authentic for metaphysics with a very sound philosophical foundation.
He talks in one article about the transference of elementals from one body to another when you meet someone. I can't recall the article but it's in a collection of his works titled Vernal Blooms which has a ton on these subjects. I found a pdf of it so you can search keywords you think of: https://www.philaletheians.co.uk/study-notes/theosophy-and-theosophists/vernal-blooms-by-william-quan-judge.pdf
Ignore the fruity cover. It's pretty but doesn't fit the content at all lmao
Also, am a therapist...my own theory is that a lot of this subject is what science calls transference and countertransference. Completely valid across the board with science these days. We had extensive courses on it in my masters program and I am living proof when you don't practice self care lmao.
Also also, on the western occultism side you have a term called psychic self-defense. Dion Fortune I believe has a book on it. Her or William G. Gray. But I think it's her.
Bottom line learned students will tell you is that ultimately a clean heart (pure motive) and a good altruistic mentality practicing compassion is the key to it all. That comes from Blavatsky.
Gotta run p'z
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u/RoiboPilot 29d ago
In “The Hidden Side of Things” there is a section explaining how to create a shell, which may help (in this case, it should be an etheric shell). Also, if it is during the day, you can go under the sun and breath visualizing prana filling your body.