Ends and Means

In our discussions of the Western path for developing consciousness we have repeatedly mentioned that, on the one hand, this development takes place through conscious activity, and on the other — it requires freedom from goal-setting and result-orientation. At first glance a contradiction appears: the criterion of success for realization is its result, while the criterion of successful development is the freedom of action.

In fact, these two forms of the Magus’s activity do not contradict one another but complement each other, forming the two phases of the alchemical “solve et coagula.”

Indeed, the process of realizing consciousness includes two stages — the creation of footholds for releasing energy and the very use and accumulation.

At the first stage — coagulation — the mind uses the resources it has accumulated to build a foundation, the embodiment of the next rung, a support from which it will then continue its ascent. It is clear that the firmer such a foundation, the more effectively it can be used as a springboard for the next “leap.” Magical realizations serve precisely this purpose; it is for this that the Magus strives to create, to shape reality and to achieve goals.

When the Magus is at this stage, the success of his realizations is critically important: the effective achievement of set goals and obtaining measurable, tangible results. No “gaining experience,” “accumulating knowledge,” etc., are enough at this phase; the result must be clear and obvious. It is also important to understand that if the result is not obtained — it does not matter how much strength and resources were expended, how much effort was applied; it is all a vain waste of energy and bustle.

However, as soon as a realization has been accomplished — it must be used as the impetus for the next step and immediately let go, without clinging, without striving to “finish,” “redo” or “develop” it further, since it very easily turns into fetters and limitations.

In striving for realization, the Magus should marshal all his strength, deploy all available resources to achieve the goal; he must truly regard this accomplishment as the most important and central task. But once the necessary result is obtained — it must be just as readily left behind, transcended, and at that stage the experience of its attainment is sealed. As we remember, in the process the Magus’s Authority is also accumulated.

Then follows the stage of dissolution, when the energy concentrated and condensed in the result of a realization is transformed into an expansion of the mind, experience into awareness, and activity into Power.

But one must not stop even at this stage, since dissolution easily slips into idleness, and likewise leads to energy drain and mental emptiness.

Assimilation of experience gives way to a new realization, and its result, in turn, is again released, creating the cycle of development.

Being in each phase of this cycle, it is important to act in full accordance with its nature, storing and releasing, condensing and rarefying, tensing and releasing forces and energies.

Thus, by gathering two accumulations — Authority and Power, Ability and Awareness — the Magus walks his Way, ultimately reaching a critical point where dualities collapse into the Great Realization, and the individual mind, having attained its fullness, recognizes itself as an aspect of the great pleromic unity.