There is That which watches the arising and passing away of consciousness. When consciousness arises there then arises Thought, of which the first is I. Thus arises duality with Not I. And this is the Fall of Man. And the path again.
There it is folks, the secret of enlightenment in the Western Magical Tradition. When you understand it fully, the sleeper has awakened.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Magick vs. the East
The Western Magical Tradition has been criticized by adherents of Eastern enlightenment traditions such as Buddhism and Zen as not containing a valid initiatory path within the various systems extant today. Moreover, some critics continue, since almost all major religions contain at least one form of initiatory path, the modern earth-based religions such as Wicca that are common in the United States today which by dint of being created out of whole cloth do not contain such a path of development are doomed to not even being able to function adequately in those roles which religion has historically been noted for.
In response, the Western traditions note that the transcendental paths of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and others concentrate on removing those aspects of mortal man that obscure the hidden divinity. As those mortal thoughts are understood and purified, the faithful achieve the moment of Union where there is no will, but God’s will be done. By contrast the tradition of magic seeks to obtain knowledge and understanding of all, so that all may fall within the grasp of the Magician and he becomes One with all, creating and sustaining all and indeed inherent in all while being also separate. When all the starry sky is but a gleam in the eye of the Absolute, the adept has no will in any direction.
Said the Adept of the West to the Adepts of the East, “We both point to the same moon. Why are you staring at my finger?”.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
NonDual Milestone
Saturday, April 3, 2010
On Thursday last I settled into my evening meditation as is my habit in the evening. The focus of this meditation was mindfulness, which is to say being the Silent Witness which observes objects arising in consciousness, observes those objects themselves and observes when those objects leave consciousness. Sometimes the Silent Witness observes those moments that have no perceptible objects in consciousness. As I remained as the Silent Witness, the frequency of objects arising in consciousness slowed down as is my experience, but then something unexpected happened.
As I existed as the Silent Witness, it was noted that there was an increasing sense of pressure in the skull, for all the world like a bubble was forming under the surface of thick oil and was slowly fighting its way to the top. This sensation increased, and the Silent Witness noted a growing feeling of unease and even fear from the ego, accompanied by a violent trembling of the body, concentrated in the arms and the musculature connecting the chest muscles and neck. I intuited this was a physical exhibition of the fear reaction being expressed by the ego. Nevertheless, the Silent Witness continued to observe and the meditation continued.
At length, the feeling of increasing pressure in my head decreased but did not stop, as if the “bubble” had swollen so as to contain less pressure, but the manifestations of body twitches continued. As the meditation concluded, I recognized that I was still embodying the Silent Witness, and I was aware of the ego and the sense of “I” as distinctly separate from the Silent Witness, reduced merely to objects in consciousness themselves. This is not typical at the conclusion of a meditation but hardly unique in my experience; the initial experience of nondual consciousness is typically a single timeless moment lasting in reality perhaps a few seconds or even perhaps a half hour, but it is a temporary peak experience as compared to a stable and consequently permanent stage. Those who wish to move forward from an isolated peak experience to a new stage of development often must spend considerable time and effort to encourage the ego to let go. I took care of some minor chores I had neglected earlier in the evening and eventually went to bed.
I remember distinctly when my body fell asleep. The Silent Witness noted the slowing of the breathing and heartbeat and eventually even noted the beginning of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. However, I was conscious during this entire interval, noting the arising of dreams and random thoughts as objects in consciousness. Eventually I awoke, remaining as the Silent Witness and still accompanied by the twitching of my musculature and the sensation of pressure in my head I went about my day.
During Friday I remained as the Silent Witness, performing my various tasks at work while the mirror that reflects all but keeps nothing remaining everpresent. My ego remained a useful tool, as it allowed me to become a person when the occasion demanded it but always the Silent Witness observed the activities my mind and body were performing. I found that certain changes had occurred; I noticed that my conditioned responses seemed muted or even absent, the impulse to eat food mechanically and without thought was absent, and various characteristic mannerisms such as a tendency to handle objects while thinking or even habitual jokes in response to certain social situations seemed absent as well. I noticed I now tended to remain motionless unless something required me to move, contrasting to my normal wont of changing position or otherwise fidgeting periodically. And always the implacable calm, objective, unchanging and unchangeable, existing in the eternal now while observing the world around me and the activities of my body and mind.
This persisted throughout the entire day. Only close to midnight did something happen that shocked me sufficiently to drive the Silent Witness from me.
On Thursday last I settled into my evening meditation as is my habit in the evening. The focus of this meditation was mindfulness, which is to say being the Silent Witness which observes objects arising in consciousness, observes those objects themselves and observes when those objects leave consciousness. Sometimes the Silent Witness observes those moments that have no perceptible objects in consciousness. As I remained as the Silent Witness, the frequency of objects arising in consciousness slowed down as is my experience, but then something unexpected happened.
As I existed as the Silent Witness, it was noted that there was an increasing sense of pressure in the skull, for all the world like a bubble was forming under the surface of thick oil and was slowly fighting its way to the top. This sensation increased, and the Silent Witness noted a growing feeling of unease and even fear from the ego, accompanied by a violent trembling of the body, concentrated in the arms and the musculature connecting the chest muscles and neck. I intuited this was a physical exhibition of the fear reaction being expressed by the ego. Nevertheless, the Silent Witness continued to observe and the meditation continued.
At length, the feeling of increasing pressure in my head decreased but did not stop, as if the “bubble” had swollen so as to contain less pressure, but the manifestations of body twitches continued. As the meditation concluded, I recognized that I was still embodying the Silent Witness, and I was aware of the ego and the sense of “I” as distinctly separate from the Silent Witness, reduced merely to objects in consciousness themselves. This is not typical at the conclusion of a meditation but hardly unique in my experience; the initial experience of nondual consciousness is typically a single timeless moment lasting in reality perhaps a few seconds or even perhaps a half hour, but it is a temporary peak experience as compared to a stable and consequently permanent stage. Those who wish to move forward from an isolated peak experience to a new stage of development often must spend considerable time and effort to encourage the ego to let go. I took care of some minor chores I had neglected earlier in the evening and eventually went to bed.
I remember distinctly when my body fell asleep. The Silent Witness noted the slowing of the breathing and heartbeat and eventually even noted the beginning of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. However, I was conscious during this entire interval, noting the arising of dreams and random thoughts as objects in consciousness. Eventually I awoke, remaining as the Silent Witness and still accompanied by the twitching of my musculature and the sensation of pressure in my head I went about my day.
During Friday I remained as the Silent Witness, performing my various tasks at work while the mirror that reflects all but keeps nothing remaining everpresent. My ego remained a useful tool, as it allowed me to become a person when the occasion demanded it but always the Silent Witness observed the activities my mind and body were performing. I found that certain changes had occurred; I noticed that my conditioned responses seemed muted or even absent, the impulse to eat food mechanically and without thought was absent, and various characteristic mannerisms such as a tendency to handle objects while thinking or even habitual jokes in response to certain social situations seemed absent as well. I noticed I now tended to remain motionless unless something required me to move, contrasting to my normal wont of changing position or otherwise fidgeting periodically. And always the implacable calm, objective, unchanging and unchangeable, existing in the eternal now while observing the world around me and the activities of my body and mind.
This persisted throughout the entire day. Only close to midnight did something happen that shocked me sufficiently to drive the Silent Witness from me.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Reactions to Nisargadatta
"Having realized that I am with, and yet beyond the world, I became free from all desire and fear. I did not reason out that I should be free, I found myself free, unexpectedly, without the least effort. This freedom from desire and fear remained with me since then. Another thing I noticed was that I do not need to make an effort; the deed follows the thought, without delay and friction. I have also found that thoughts become self-fullfilling; things would fall in place smoothly and rightly. The main change was in the mind; it became motionless and silent, responding quickly, but not perpetuating the response. Spontaneity became a way of life, the real became natural and the natural became real. And above all, infinite affection, love, dark and quiet, radiating in all directions, embracing all, making all interesting and beautiful, significant and auspicious."
"The person, the "I am this body, this mind, this chain of memories, this bundle of desires and fears" disappears, but something you may call identity remains. It enables me to become a person when required. "
The above selections from the thought of Nisargadatta, a man of profound insight. Although not deliberately discussed in the above selection, his thoughts caused me to reflect on one aspect of the concept of nonduality. Nonduality literally means "not two", and the initial assumption is that nonduality therefore means "one" or "unity". This has been reinforced by similar slogans like "we are all one" and so forth, but this is only correct in a limited fashion.
When something is in unity, or one, that specifically means that there is no distinction between a portion and another portion. Two lumps of clay molded into a single lump would be an excellent example of this. However, the concept of unity itself is based on the assumption of at least the possibility of non-unity as a reference. Consider a mason jar full of air but tightly sealed. The air in the jar is certainly part of the total atmosphere of the earth, but is separate. When the seal is broken, it once more returns to being an undifferentiated part of the total atmosphere despite it's previous specific reference to being the air contained in my mason jar.
This is the sum of our existence. The underlying matrix of reality I call Awareness, and is undifferentiated, infinite, extending without quality in all directions. When we are conceived we are part of that undifferentiated Awareness, but temporarily possess the phenomenal quality of physical existence and the birth of individuality and thought. When the body wears our, we return to the sea of Awareness. Was that sea of Awareness changed by our temporary incarnation? Absolutely not! How can something without qualities change in qualities? Awareness as described above can only be described specifically (in limited fashion) in the negative.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Earth Spider - Doing Nothing
Earth Spider, what are you doing? Is it hard? Why are you doing it?
Earth Spider is doing Nothing, and Nothing is the easiest thing in the world to do. How hard must you work to do Nothing? Only the work required to see what you are doing now instead of doing Nothing. When you realize that there is Nothing to do, and Nobody to do it, you will be ready to truly begin the work of doing Nothing.
Earth Spider is doing Nothing, and Nothing is the easiest thing in the world to do. How hard must you work to do Nothing? Only the work required to see what you are doing now instead of doing Nothing. When you realize that there is Nothing to do, and Nobody to do it, you will be ready to truly begin the work of doing Nothing.
Friday, December 25, 2009
That Personality Which Limits And Oppresses His True Self
The Grade of Master of the Temple is described in Liber 418 and other sources, and clearly identifies that the essential attainment of the grade is “the perfect annihilation of that personality which limits and oppresses his true self”.
This phrase has been imperfectly understood since it was first written, and with further commentary within and without the Tradition by those without direct Understanding consequently has caused more confusion on the subject of the Master of the Temple than any other literature in the Western Magickal corpus. Read literally, the quote above would assert that in order for the Adept to attain and grade of Master of the Temple, they must psychically lobotomize their own personality. Such a creature might be imagined to be a marionette, mindlessly moving in response to universal laws it is no longer cognizant of. The personality is an object in consciousness, employing the faculties of memory and reason to interpret the perceived present or future through the lens of past experience. The personality is comprised of a host of individual components both conscious and unconscious which in aggregate is by association assumed to be “me”. In this context, annihilation does not connote destruction or defeat, but rather to render void by disidentification. The Master still has a personality, still experiences anger, sadness, fear and other emotions as objects in consciousness. However, by recognizing that they are merely objects in consciousness and consequently have no ultimate existence he disidentifies with them and consequently is no longer bound by them. With the removal of those limitations caused by identification with the personality, the true self can act. The personality remains, and can be employed as a useful tool, but is no longer recognized as the seat of identity.
The Magister Templi is pre-eminently the Master of Mysticism, that is, His Understanding is entirely free from internal contradiction or external obscurity; His word is to comprehend the existing Universe in accordance with His own Mind. He is the Master of the Law of Sorrow (Dukkha).
The use of the word mysticism has been criticized by those whom have interpreted it to mean direct subjective knowledge of the Christian or other expressions of God, or have mistakenly understood it to mean that it is possible to intuit the nature of ultimate reality. Rather, what is being discussed is the supra-rational understanding that the real center of experience is not the mind, but the Self, being the awareness in which everything happens. Self is the common factor of all experience, that central “I am” without predicates that until now was enveloped by the mind, only occasionally breaking free in rare glimpses of intuition or insight. This spark of “I am”, being conscious of consciousness has no attributes and cannot be described. It is being only self, and being my self is all there is. It is nondual; everything that exists is my self, as there is nothing that is different from me. Without time and causation, what happens can only happen now, spontaneously. Being nondual is the state of love as compared to the desire for love, for All is in Self. The Self is the source of all reality, the sphere in which the world is manifested. The Law of Sorrow (Dukkha) can be translated many ways, but in this context primarily refers to the realization that all phenomena are objects in consciousness and therefore transitory and without true reality.
This phrase has been imperfectly understood since it was first written, and with further commentary within and without the Tradition by those without direct Understanding consequently has caused more confusion on the subject of the Master of the Temple than any other literature in the Western Magickal corpus. Read literally, the quote above would assert that in order for the Adept to attain and grade of Master of the Temple, they must psychically lobotomize their own personality. Such a creature might be imagined to be a marionette, mindlessly moving in response to universal laws it is no longer cognizant of. The personality is an object in consciousness, employing the faculties of memory and reason to interpret the perceived present or future through the lens of past experience. The personality is comprised of a host of individual components both conscious and unconscious which in aggregate is by association assumed to be “me”. In this context, annihilation does not connote destruction or defeat, but rather to render void by disidentification. The Master still has a personality, still experiences anger, sadness, fear and other emotions as objects in consciousness. However, by recognizing that they are merely objects in consciousness and consequently have no ultimate existence he disidentifies with them and consequently is no longer bound by them. With the removal of those limitations caused by identification with the personality, the true self can act. The personality remains, and can be employed as a useful tool, but is no longer recognized as the seat of identity.
The Magister Templi is pre-eminently the Master of Mysticism, that is, His Understanding is entirely free from internal contradiction or external obscurity; His word is to comprehend the existing Universe in accordance with His own Mind. He is the Master of the Law of Sorrow (Dukkha).
The use of the word mysticism has been criticized by those whom have interpreted it to mean direct subjective knowledge of the Christian or other expressions of God, or have mistakenly understood it to mean that it is possible to intuit the nature of ultimate reality. Rather, what is being discussed is the supra-rational understanding that the real center of experience is not the mind, but the Self, being the awareness in which everything happens. Self is the common factor of all experience, that central “I am” without predicates that until now was enveloped by the mind, only occasionally breaking free in rare glimpses of intuition or insight. This spark of “I am”, being conscious of consciousness has no attributes and cannot be described. It is being only self, and being my self is all there is. It is nondual; everything that exists is my self, as there is nothing that is different from me. Without time and causation, what happens can only happen now, spontaneously. Being nondual is the state of love as compared to the desire for love, for All is in Self. The Self is the source of all reality, the sphere in which the world is manifested. The Law of Sorrow (Dukkha) can be translated many ways, but in this context primarily refers to the realization that all phenomena are objects in consciousness and therefore transitory and without true reality.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Mysticism and Adepthood
"The aim of the Adept is union with the Absolute; this is the
summit of True Mysticism, and yet, for the Adept, this height of
attainment has a distinct interpretation. Rather than his own
identity dissolving within the Absolute State of Being, merging and
unifying like the droplet within the ocean, the Adept realises
himself as Absolute: a Perfected Unique Being, and thus as an
Active Principle of New Creation. Taking Himself to be the Hand
of Fate, the struggle of the Adept is that of Lucifer: a War against
That which resists or denies his Will to become the Sole and
Unique One, a Singularity of Unique Power, the Polestar of his
own Universe: QUTUB."
Chumbley, Andrew. QUTUB
Early along the path of spiritual knowledge, one is given the thought that ones' body, emotions, memories and even thoughts are not really themselves. For those who explore this remarkable yet simple notion, eventually one comes to understand that they are themselves a monad of pure consciousness, beyond the body, beyond even the mind. The contemplative realizes that he merely uses the body and mind; when he tells his finger to scratch his head it does so, when he directs his thoughts they obediently shift from a given set of thought to another, and when he experiences fear he can choose to not allow free reign. For all their wonders, the body and mind are distinct from his inner identity, his inner being. This understanding is called self-realization.
Yet self-realization is not the end of it. By further introspection—unless one gets stuck—one comes to understand that his own consciousness, his own spiritual existence, is not ultimate. Even in his own essential identity, he himself is not the be-all and end-all of everything. There are other living beings too, and they’re not just projections of himself. And there’s a material cosmos out there, hard and tangible and unlikely to be something he has merely imagined up. And even if he thinks that in reality such distinctions at last no longer exist, that in truth there is only absolute oneness, and that all else is but an illusion, a dream, he still has to ask himself, “Where does this illusion come from?”
In this way his thoughts bring him to realize that there is an Absolute Truth, a source of all energies, all realities, and he sees himself to be a part of that Absolute. By considering his own identity as a conscious individual—a conscious person—he realizes the individual personal nature of that Absolute. Finally, he recognizes himself not as a component, not as one possible expression of the Absolute but rather as the ultimate manifestation of the Absolute.
summit of True Mysticism, and yet, for the Adept, this height of
attainment has a distinct interpretation. Rather than his own
identity dissolving within the Absolute State of Being, merging and
unifying like the droplet within the ocean, the Adept realises
himself as Absolute: a Perfected Unique Being, and thus as an
Active Principle of New Creation. Taking Himself to be the Hand
of Fate, the struggle of the Adept is that of Lucifer: a War against
That which resists or denies his Will to become the Sole and
Unique One, a Singularity of Unique Power, the Polestar of his
own Universe: QUTUB."
Chumbley, Andrew. QUTUB
Early along the path of spiritual knowledge, one is given the thought that ones' body, emotions, memories and even thoughts are not really themselves. For those who explore this remarkable yet simple notion, eventually one comes to understand that they are themselves a monad of pure consciousness, beyond the body, beyond even the mind. The contemplative realizes that he merely uses the body and mind; when he tells his finger to scratch his head it does so, when he directs his thoughts they obediently shift from a given set of thought to another, and when he experiences fear he can choose to not allow free reign. For all their wonders, the body and mind are distinct from his inner identity, his inner being. This understanding is called self-realization.
Yet self-realization is not the end of it. By further introspection—unless one gets stuck—one comes to understand that his own consciousness, his own spiritual existence, is not ultimate. Even in his own essential identity, he himself is not the be-all and end-all of everything. There are other living beings too, and they’re not just projections of himself. And there’s a material cosmos out there, hard and tangible and unlikely to be something he has merely imagined up. And even if he thinks that in reality such distinctions at last no longer exist, that in truth there is only absolute oneness, and that all else is but an illusion, a dream, he still has to ask himself, “Where does this illusion come from?”
In this way his thoughts bring him to realize that there is an Absolute Truth, a source of all energies, all realities, and he sees himself to be a part of that Absolute. By considering his own identity as a conscious individual—a conscious person—he realizes the individual personal nature of that Absolute. Finally, he recognizes himself not as a component, not as one possible expression of the Absolute but rather as the ultimate manifestation of the Absolute.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)