The Left and Right Hand Paths with James Tunney (4K Reboot)

Summary

Barrister, poet and mystic James Tunney joins Jeffrey Mishlove to unpack the esoteric distinction between the 'right-hand path' of submission and tradition and the 'left-hand path' of antinomian, ego-centered self-deification. Tunney argues that the left-hand path's extreme leads to black magic, elitist contempt for 'the herd,' and ultimately transhumanism, while the right-hand path risks rigid repression. He makes the case for a zigzagging middle path, drawing on figures from Mary Shelley and Coleridge to Gurdjieff, Krishnamurti and Bruce Lee, and insists that malevolent spiritual entities are real.

Key takeaways

• 1Tunney traces the Western use of 'left-hand path' to Helena Blavatsky, who borrowed it from Indian Tantric tradition
• 2The Aghori of India and Nepal are cited as a classic left-hand path sect that embraces impurity, drinks from human skulls and communes with spirits on charnel grounds
• 3Tunney claims Bolsheviks and Nazis share left-hand path traits of elite control, invoking Nietzsche's 'beyond good and evil'
• 4He argues that many contemporary left-hand path currents (Prometheanism, Luciferianism, Satanism) ultimately lead to transhumanism
• 5Psychiatrist Richard Gallagher's book 'Demonic Foes' describes exorcisms, including a possessed Satanist priestess who allegedly levitated
• 6Tunney speculates that the enteric nervous system (the 'gut brain') may be linked to the archetype of the devil, citing ergotism and the Salem Witch Trials
• 7Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' is framed as a mystical warning against the Promethean milieu of Shelley and Byron
• 8Bruce Lee's fighting philosophy is said to derive from Jiddu Krishnamurti's teachings

Glossary terms

Source

Transcript excerpt

The right-hand path generally refers to the Abrahamic religions, or in India, the yogic tradition, the idea of union, the idea of adherence to a path, less focus on the ego. Perhaps the idea of submission is there, and it's seen, therefore, to be quite conservative. Now, it's often described by the left-hand path people as collectivist, but I think that's an inaccurate description. And in fact, a lot of people who are on the left-hand path are quite in favour of managing collectivism. So we can't make distinctions that are too simple. There are certain, in both sides, there are positive and negative sides. So on the right-hand path, the problem that can arise, the greatest criticism, is that it becomes too ossified, too crystallized, and too repressive. Keep watching to learn more. The new Thinking Allowed magazine, Issue 10, on UFOs and UAP, is now ready for free download. And you can also order beautiful printed copies. Go to newthinkingallowed.org. New Thinking Allowed is presented by the California Institute for Human Science, a fully accredited university offering distant learning graduate degrees that focus on mind, body, and spirit. The topics that we cover here, we are particularly excited to announce new degrees emphasizing parapsychology and the paranormal. Visit their website at cihs.edu. Book 4 in the new Thinking Allowed dialogue series is, Charles T. Tartt, Seventy Years of Exploring, Consciousness and Parapsychology. Now available on Amazon. Thinking Allowed. Conversations on the Leading Edge of Knowledge and Discovery, with psychologist Jeffrey Mishlove. Hello and welcome. I'm Jeffrey Mishlove. Today, we'll be exploring the right-hand and the left-hand paths of spirituality, magic, and mysticism. ...

Excerpt from New Thinking Allowed, Aug 24, 2026. Rights remain with the original creators. Hear the full episode at the source.