A natural inclination.

I personally think it's because esoteric forms of religion tend to be (generally) more lax on otherwise strict laws in any given religion.

And they offer interesting, sometimes edgy, worldviews for people to commit to and "expand their minds".

secret club

not mainstream.

>>1284819
this

>>1284762
Every major religion has an esoteric component to it, otherwise it's garbage. Islam without Sufism is a dangerous joke. Christianity without theosis is a superficial joke (Orthodox still features theosis heavily, Catholics only through their monastic orders, Protestants and the rest not at all because they're superficial faggots who will never truly know God). The Eastern, Indic religions have large esoteric traditions, for they basically figured it out first. While the West has tried and failed countless times to understand the universe and the self and God, the East has not. Why? Because the West keeps going outward, using imperfect senses like the senses we possess to understand that which is ineffable and transcendent. That's why they fail. The East saw how unreliable the senses are, and so they turned inward to try to understand life. and through such inward practices, they experienced the unity with all, and with God.

A Sufi said that religion is the outer dimension, and spirituality is the inner one. Religion without spirituality is dead and superficial, while spirituality without religion has the potential to lead one astray. You need both.

>>1286927
This is true. I am an Orthodox Christian.

>>1286927
are you saying protestantism doesn´t have an esoteric branch? do you even Boehme or Rosenkreuz?

>>1284762
Way cooler.

>>1284762
Because it werks. Visit /x/ some time.

>>1284762
Fear. The fear reaction of intellectual cowards is to amass data.

>>1284762
Because the truth is the truth and the truth is knowable regardless of the tradition you were born into.

>>1286956
The Rosy Cross is at the core of Western esoteric tradition but I wouldn't necessarily describe it as "protestant".

>>1286956
Boehme never gets read, and Rosenkreuz has little to do with Protestantism, so yeah, fuck you. 99.9% of Protestants living today are mundane superficial cucks that would say that any sort of mysticism and esotericism is Satan trying to deceive them, so yeah, Protestantism has an esotericism that no longer exists, and if it does, it is slight and insignificant.

If you don't follow esoteric branch you might as well be an atheist as you would lack proper understanding of divine.