Absence of Doubt

Many of the past discussions have been devoted to the importance of doubt in the life of the Magus. At the same time, there are things in which doubt, on the contrary, disappears as Power increases.

In all matters of describing the world, the pattern of interactions with it, and the aims and tasks of the macrocosm, doubt is crucial. The more Power grows within the Magus, the more unstable the world around him becomes, while at the same time his inner foundations grow firmer.

Depending on the nature of a proposition, one may speak of doubt about its truthfulness or doubt about its effectiveness (the correctness of its appraisal). For the Magus’s Way both kinds of doubt are important. He understands clearly that description is arbitrary and that evaluation is always subjective. This subjectivity disappears in only one case — when subject and object are identical. It is precisely the lack of certainty about the correctness of the chosen Way that becomes one of the chief life problems, one that consumes much strength and energy in its resolution.

As the Magus’s Power grows, he finds himself alone with an ever-changing, fluid, shimmering world of realized potentials. In this world one cannot rely on anything except oneself. Therefore it becomes necessary to give solidity to that only point of support. If there is no doubt, there is no certainty either, since doubt and certainty are opposite poles. Hence The Magus is confident in himself precisely to the degree that he doubts his surroundings. After all, the only thing a person can be certain of is the existence of his own mind.

And the further the Magus proceeds, the more unshakeable his will becomes and the clearer his Way. A whole category of propositions arises whose acceptability it is unreasonable to doubt at all. These propositions concern key points of the Way, without which the Way loses its identity, and therefore the Magus ceases to be himself, since personality and Way at a certain stage become inseparable.

A proposition is accepted as beyond doubt in at least two cases. First, if discarding that proposition means abandoning the cohesive system of propositions of which it is a key element. Second, a proposition should be accepted as beyond doubt if, within the corresponding system, it has become the standard by which its other elements are evaluated. In any case, this concerns the fact that certain elements of the Way are critically important, and therefore inviolable so long as that Way remains relevant. Other elements, conversely, are arranged around these supports, centered on them, and are repeatedly restructured in the process of seeking the most effective composition.

At the same time it is important to understand that the Magus does not set a ban on doubting these elements, does not dogmatize them; he simply understands with clarity that by departing from any of these elements he will lose his Way, and therefore lose himself — he will drown, dissolve in that raging ocean which surrounds him. It is also important to note that this applies only to a Magus who has already reached a certain level of Power, since for one at the beginning of the Way it is precisely important to find these very anchoring strands of his Way, to discover the texture of his uniqueness and to lean on the self that arises as a result. The way to this lies through testing the elements of the Way with one’s heart, doubting them, choosing those that are fitting, one’s own, and discarding the alien.

Moreover, the Magus’s lack of doubt does not mean a complete absence of doubt as such. The Magus is convinced only of those elements of the Way that are reinforced by his experience, but if experiential data accumulate that speak against even the most key elements of the Way, the Magus subjects everything to doubt again, casts aside and reconsiders, and if necessary — destroys the whole system in order to be reborn upon its ruins.

Such is the chief aim of one seeking the Way — to strive for demarcation and clarity. Every thing, every phenomenon must be examined, passed through one’s heart, and distinguish the elements suitable and unsuitable for that heart. In the end doubts — and, paradoxically — must be arranged, and in a justified order, into unquestioned, significant principles of the Way. All knowledge is subject to verification by doubt, including those items whose truth has long been firmly agreed upon; but when verification succeeds, the element becomes one’s own, firm and necessary.

Thus, the Magus doubts everything, except his Way, or rather, except what on the Way makes the Magus himself. This is a very high attainment, and it signifies that the Way has been found, the Magus has entered the Flow of Power, the current that leads him toward ever greater self-identity, self-knowledge, and self-realization.