Magick is a fun word for causality.
Alternatively: causality is a boring word for magick.
There just are causes. There are actions that are taken, and those actions have effects.
What we do matters — all actions have consequences, all causes have effects.
Spiritual practice is in large part the study of causality: looking closely at which causes have which effects and how that works.
If U take that seriously, U end up noticing things that are not necessarily in the default narrative about what causality is.
For example, causes are not only physical material things, but also the thoughts that we have, or the feelings that we have, or our intentions, or our muscle tension, or the energy in our body.
All of these things can be causes that have effects.
To me, that takes U into the territory that we might call magick.
U believe that your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, intentions, energy—that all of that has causal impacts. U take that seriously.
A big part of this is manifestation.
A lot of people believe in a very simplistic view of manifestation: I wanted something and I told the universe I wanted it, and then I got it later on.
That actually does happen.
But then other people will try it and notice “hey, it didn’t work.”
That’s because it’s not a simple one-to-one cause-effect relationship.
There are many, many, many causes, and they are all having effects.
If our actions are aligned with other causal chains, then they’re much more likely to happen.
I think about this with the Bodhisattva vows. I think the Bodhisattva vows are a magick spell: an enormous cosmic spell that’s been happening for eons.
If U reach a certain threshold of wisdom and love, the Bodhisattva vow starts to make sense. It’s like a multiverse prisoner’s dilemma.
In my view, any magickal working that weaves the Bodhisattva vows into it is much, much more likely to succeed than one that’s for our own purposes.
If we say truly “this is on behalf of all beings”—then all beings will conspire to help U with that.
That’s how I think about magick: it’s causality, and the study of causality—knowing that thoughts and feelings and beliefs have causal impact—and living accordingly.