Power in the Pocket
Acquisition of Power — the expansion of awareness — is the meaning and substance of the world’s process.
At the same time, even when the vessel is ready to receive Power and open to receiving it, this does not necessarily imply the development of the being, because it is important not only to let Power into consciousness, but also to hold it there.
Specifically, the mind must not only take a step forward; it must also settle into the new position.
Very often one encounters a situation where the mind, having made the leap, cannot remain in the new state and falls back into darkness. Then a brief illumination is followed by a period of loss of Power.
And that loss comes in two kinds.
The first situation is when the Power was “undeserved.” Namely, a vessel not fully prepared takes in the Light but very quickly ejects it, because no harmonious correspondence arises between the Light and the vessel. This occurs fairly often among Magus-“practitioners” and anyone concerned only with the “technical” side of development — yoga reduced to physical exercise, Eastern fighting arts, and the like. When actions do not match the level of awareness, an “imitation” of development appears. That is, the being behaves and acts as if it has reached a certain level of development, while in fact its mind is at a much lower level. In such a case an energetic restructuring takes place, which can be compared to a “deformation” of the vessel, which is artificially forced into a new shape causing it to receive the Light. But this new shape, not corresponding to the vessel’s inner essence, true condition and level of development, is strained and unstable, and seeks to return to its own stable state. And as soon as that return even begins, the correspondence between vessel and Light vanishes, and the Light leaves the vessel.
Often beings who have thus “lured” Power become dependent on it, turning into energy addicts and losing the thread of their development, pursuing ever new doses of Light which, although they do not remain long in the mind, are brief enough to give the desired sensations of might and freedom.
The other kind of Power’s “departure” occurs when falls into darkness are a necessary and natural stage of development. That is, although the Light and the vessel naturally corresponded — that is, the Power was accepted “legitimately” — the course of the vessel’s development itself leads to its restructuring; again, the loss of complementarity between the mind and the Power, and thus to weakening.
However, in this case the Light’s departure is not “complete”; it leaves an imprint — reshimo, which the Tradition calls Authority.
In other words, the mind remembers the ways it acquired Power, knows how to accumulate it, and the degree of that knowledge corresponds to the level of its magical Authority.
Note that Authority is not simply an “ability”; it is precisely an energetic characteristic of the mind, a distinguishing quality of that vessel, visible to anyone able to observe energy currents.
It is precisely the presence or absence of a certain degree of Authority that shows how “legitimate” the acquisition of Power was — that is, how well the level of the mind’s development harmonized with the Light accepted by that mind.
And a Magus who feels a lack of Power or its draining must ask himself: does he still have Authority? If so, his development has been moving in the right direction and must continue, despite obstacles and losses. If Authority does not appear, then the acquisition of Power was simulated, and it is necessary to restructure one’s development path so that the Light may be accepted harmoniously.
A simple criterion of a magus’s degree of Authority is his ability to clearly perceive and describe the course of his development, — to map his Way. Since Authority is the reshimo of Power, it is always like tracks on a road, visible and traceable as a path. Accordingly, the clearer the Magus understands what he has done and why on his Way, the higher his magical Authority.
In my opinion, in the first case, an important factor is Personal History. As if Personal History returns the Vessel to its original state. For instance, someone receives Initiation properly, and initially experiences a kind of surge. But then some time passes, and they return to their previous state. That is, Personal History drives them back into previous frames. That’s why Latin American writers attach such great importance to erasing Personal History.
It seems to me that Personal History can also be resolved. Erasing Personal History is, rather, not the elimination of this resolve since it won’t go away anywhere. Rather, it’s about removing one’s connection to this resolve.
Honestly, for Western magicians, Indian spy games have never been characteristic. A Western magician does not strive for anonymity; he, on the contrary, seeks self-identity. Therefore, pretending to be nobody and nowhere is not an option for him. A Western magician does not ‘erase’ ‘personal history’; he, as much as possible, breaks off the ties that hold him back, pays debts, without losing the continuity of his development flow. So the idea of ‘breaking ties’ with old imprints is certainly closer to the Western way, but with a very important caveat – this break should also include the complete realization of activated flows from the past, since simply breaking the link with such a flow means losing control over it. Accordingly, it exposes oneself (or one’s subsequent incarnations) or someone else to its strike. In other words, you can only ‘erase’ those parts of the ‘personal history’ that have already lost their relevance…
Yes, in general, when I referred to erasing personal history, I didn’t mean ‘pretending to be nobody and from nowhere.’ Rather, it implied something that challenges the authority. If authority is the resolve of the Force, then there is a certain opposite resolve. For instance, if a person embarks on the magical path, at the same time their resolve as a victim exists. That overall identity they used to be in the past. And that resolve strives to bring them back to their previous state.
Of course, and the simplest way to stop the action of this imprint is to take a step forward, thus losing connection with it and stopping being that vessel whose resolve was a victim. I was not arguing with you; I just wanted to draw your attention to the fact that ‘erasing personal history’ is usually merely a play at Zorro, not a genuine change in one’s consciousness. How often I heard: ‘I have no personal history’ from people who were mired in a victim state up to their ears… Usually, ‘erasing personal history’ means simply pouting and pretending it didn’t exist, that you invented yourself through the power of your word in the状态 of Ipsisima on the Benben hill. And such ‘erasure’ only increases narcissism, spiced with unhealthy romanticism. To repay debts and break connections is only possible by ‘acknowledging the presence’ of those debts and connections, not by turning a blind eye to them. To accept oneself, to self-identify with oneself means to transform from a mere collection of actions, a system of causes and effects into a self-valuable system. Therefore, for example, I can say: ‘I have a personal history.’ But I do not feel its limiting action on myself; it holds only didactic significance, illustrating specific stages of a person’s transformation into a magician.
Dear Enmerkar! You have absolutely conveyed the essence of the practice of Respectable Don Juan – “erasing personal history” means to accept “it” and thus rid oneself of those limitations it concealed in its dark corners, from samskara – as they say in the East.
Fools are those who burn their passports and photographs, do not leave written evidence of themselves and sever friendly connections … unfortunately, in our “dark age of ignorance” this does take place.
I am sure that if you were to meet Don Juan today, he would undoubtedly recognize you as “a person who leaves no traces in the snow” (this is another indigenous definition for a magician who has reconsidered his personal history, accepted it and thus “erased” it)
Yes, if a person has embarked on the magical path, then a victim’s resolve exists, and that resolve strives to return them to their former state, before the Second Abyss, when the knowledge, experience, and achievements of a magician paradoxically lead them away from the Force. This abyss lies in the opposition of Power and Powerlessness of the magician.
Yes, it is indeed a widespread misconception when erasure implies playing Zorro, which does not lead to wholeness but rather away from it. Because a person thinks they have severed all ties, while in reality, it is otherwise, and they do not see it, but the surrounding world sees everything. Essentially, this person has displaced. A more competent opinion regarding LI states that LI is a view of oneself, a description of oneself formed during a chain of events and actions. As a result, a certain cliché is obtained – how the world remembers you. Let’s imagine a certain Vasily Petrovich, a businessman. His subordinates know him as a greedy exploiter who demands more work for less pay. For his wife Masha, he is a husband who provides her with everything necessary. So she clings to him with hands and feet. For his daughter Natasha, he is a loving father who gifts her expensive toys. For his neighbor Kolya, he is a childhood friend, known since kindergarten. For his mistress Dasha, he is a good lover, but a weak-willed man who cannot break away from his family and leave her. For competitors, he is a dangerous foe who might, if necessary, hire killer Tolya. And so on. All of this collectively forms the personal history of Vasily. And all the Power Vasily invests into maintaining it. And he cannot do anything that is outside this description.
And here – it seems, truly fell on two ends. After all, if a person starts playing Zorro, thinking of themselves as nobody and from nowhere, like Stefan the Small, who posed as Emperor Peter Fyodorovich, about whom it is still unknown who he was and where he came from, then they lose self-identity, renouncing their actions. Thus, they renounce Power. So if a person pronounced a Magical Oath, and then broke it, justifying themselves by erasing LI, they will lose Power, losing the support for their actions. But on the other hand, at a certain period, the previous description of oneself becomes a brake and an obstacle. Then, of course, erasure becomes relevant. But here it makes more sense to talk, rather than erasure, about expansion. Not removal, but change of perspective. Going beyond previous limitations. In this case – it is the same as early Rembrandt, and late still remains Rembrandt.
There is an opinion that money and sex are what keeps one most in existing situations. Here, again, not everything is so simple. It seems to me that what keeps one in relationships is not the sexual act itself. Here, it’s like in the parable of two Tibetan monks, when the old monk carried a girl across a stream, while the young monk was puzzled by his actions – after all, monks cannot touch women. The old man said, “I left the girl at the stream, but you are still holding her in your heart.” If we go further, one has many contacts but leaves them all at the door of the brothel. The other, being a “bearded virgin,” nevertheless holds in his heart a whole legion of female classmates, colleagues – all those with whom something could have happened, but didn’t. Let’s say, rather, bonding occurs not as a result of the sexual act but when an untimely (or seemingly untimely) breakup occurs. It is quite easy to determine if there is a bond. If, upon meeting a former partner, a calm, even conversation occurs, perhaps even sitting at a café table for an hour or two, there is no bond. But if the meeting with a former partner triggers an emotional response, often requiring the donning of certain masks, certain protectives against one’s emotions, then there is a bond.
In general, some personal experience shows that if there were relationships over time that had no future (like starting a family, etc.), then such relationships do not create bonds (since they are not perceived as unfulfilled. What has no future cannot be unfulfilled, and in that present, they got everything they wanted). Perhaps, a sense of unfulfilled experience (in any dealings) arises when one has some kind of vision for the future, with which they tied their own future. And when thoughts arise like: “What if it had been thus, it would now be so.” In short, perhaps the feeling of unfulfillment often arises when in certain past matters one sees a missed opportunity.
And returning to the previous point, I wouldn’t agree with those Latin American writers who suggest starting the review with sexual partners. Because here not everything is that simple. And often unfulfilled sex creates a stronger bond than fulfilled relationships. In this issue, it’s necessary to approach from a somewhat different angle.
Not from the side of specific sexual contacts as such, but from the side of relationships that left a certain imprint. For instance, relationships due to which one feels themselves in the role of either plaintiff or defendant, etc.
From what, in general, the toad presses on.
I cannot admit that Latin American magicians did not notice that ties form in consciousness when consciousnesses connect, not just physical bodies. K.K. describes a method applied specifically to him. The shadow side of consciousness does not open up abruptly. It requires first to roam ‘around and about’ the presumed ‘problematic’ zone from the ‘light’ side. From there, threads will undoubtedly reach deeper, as memory is a unified array with an infinite number of connections. And it is more convenient to move in this space along clearer channels of specific physiological sensations rather than through thinking channels, which, as we know, are usually clogged with all sorts of debris. The sexual sphere of consciousness (whether ‘lived through’ or ‘not lived through’ relationships) is rich in strong, deeply rooted experiences. Therefore, from a methodological standpoint, it is quite justified to start the review with the ‘lived through’ sexual partners. It is practically guaranteed that serious attachments leading to inhibiting ‘imprints’ will be found in this area.
To be fair, I will remind you that Don H. insisted on a COMPLETE review (‘erasure’) of personal history. Simultaneously, from the perspective of the Western tradition, he never lost the continuity of his developmental flow, always finding in it didactic examples ‘illustrating certain stages of a person’s transformation into a mage.’
I agree with Fr_K.B.V and Enmerkar on other points. A good article, an interesting perspective, and meaningful content in the discussion.
Gentlemen, I would not like to argue about words, as everything said above is probably true for everyone to the extent that it has been understood by them. At the same time, I dare to assert that one must not ‘erase’ one’s Personal history, but rather UNDERSTAND it. By seeing and realizing the sequential chain of events that make up one’s Personal history, one can feel that each previous event in life inevitably contained the cause and condition of subsequent events. It is both possible and necessary, without emotions, to admit to oneself the motives of one’s actions, taking into account the experience and acquired skills in combating parasites by the time of the review. This acts as a compass, as an Ariadne thread, allowing one to self-identify at any stage of life and perceive the Vector of One’s Path.
‘Ties’ to partners or potential partners are a lack of merging at a fundamental level. Everything that was once alienated inevitably strives for reunion. We magnetize through partners those aspects of ourselves without which we are not whole. If there is a sense of unfulfilled experience, then the merging, which has ripened in potential, has not occurred (even if prolonged close relations took place), and there was only a superficial contact in the realm of personal interaction. And this unactualized potentiality torments. A sense of social unfulfillment may be present, but the essence is much deeper, not in personal connections. When a fundamental merging occurs, the partner no longer exists separately from you (although they continue to Be and be individualized), hence, the question of personal ties (the mutual attraction of fragments) no longer stands. Internal blocks, held by consciousness and thereby condensed in the physical body, block the currents of power. Therefore, there exist numerous practices aimed at releasing the Pain that blocks consciousness and natural life currents of power. The natural ‘practice’ is the act of union. Physical union in a dense material body is deeper than in a subtle body. Partners help to release each other’s pain, thereby cleansing wide layers of consciousness. Ascent practices attempt to ‘outsmart’ the phenomenon of Pain, to rise above it, to not be dependent on it. Yet our manifested material world is dense, and manifestation in the dense world is linked with the continent of consciousness. Thus, asceticism may strengthen the Spirit, but to manifest, one must descend into matter with its pain.