Prospects of the Magus
The necessity of being fully present in the current moment, “here and now”, is the most essential skill of any being striving for effective realization.
Indeed, the Magus is always focused on the present battle; he does not fight for the “future” — he fights in the present.
Nevertheless, as is always the case, both extremes are destructive — both the notion that “there is still time” to do something, become better, achieve something, etc., and the feeling that “everything is already present”, perfection is already present within.
Both these words — “still” and “already” — draw the mind away from the present reality into the realm of potential, and thus lead to a loss of awareness and power.
On the one hand, the sense of “still” leads to complacency, allowing one to “postpone” development to “later”, which in reality means stagnation and decline.
On the other hand, the thought that “already” has happened leads to a pretense of enlightenment, to pride and sloth hidden behind a facade of “spirituality” — and, once again, to degeneration.
Such a distraction is rooted in a distorted understanding of time and eternity. As mentioned, the Myth we are considering calls time precisely a vector for actualizing potentials; the “past” is a less realized state than the “present”, and the “future” is further realization. Since the whole process is not aimed at change, time, in the absolute sense, does not exist, and the Great Spirit remains the same always, everywhere and in everything; it does not change and nothing happens to it — this is eternity. However, since the task of the world-process is precisely the actualization of potentials — the Great Spirit’s self-knowledge through integrating qualities of its properties, time is just as real and necessary as manifestation itself.
Accordingly, the essence of time is setting goals to realize certain potentials — and achieving those goals.
At the same time, on the one hand, one must understand that in the absolute sense all goals are already achieved, but, on the other hand, in terms of manifestation there is always more to strive for.
The Magus is always grounded in the past — this rootedness corresponds to his authority; at the same time he is directed toward the future — in this lies his potential; but he acts in the present — and in this lies his power.
Violations of each element of these three aspects are dangerous.
The Magus who has forgotten his past loses the support of his experience; the Magus who cannot see his prospects has no basis for development; and the Magus who has lost his present loses his sense of present reality altogether.
It is very important for the Magus to understand where he comes from, where he is now, and where his path leads.
However, this understanding must above all be oriented toward an assessment of his own state: when reflecting on the past, the Magus focuses less on deeds as who he was; in the present the Magus must try to answer clearly the question who he is; and in attempting to foresee the future — he must understand who he can become.
This means that the Magus must assess precisely the direction of his development, evaluating which potentials have already been actualized, which still need realization, and which are yet to be realized. And the choice of strategy and tactics of the Way should follow this order of realization. The Way is built precisely by taking into account and analyzing the character of the realization of one’s qualities, and each time a choice is made the Magus must understand what prospects this choice opens up for him both tactically and strategically.
Unfortunately, very often people choose what is tactically convenient but deprives the Way of prospects. The loss of the future for the Magus is the closing of gates through which he could have passed toward effective realization — a loss of chances for more effective development.
The Magus should not grieve over the past — but he extracts lessons from it as thoroughly as possible, trying not to miss anything; the Magus does not indulge in wishful projection, yet he strives to see his prospects and the consequences of current choices clearly; and in all this the Magus is deeply present in the moment, striving to draw from it, on the one hand, the maximum experience, and on the other — to expand his future prospects. And it is equally wrong to leave something unfinished, insufficiently experienced now, or insufficiently analyzed in the past, as it is to have it vaguely outlined in the future. But it is just as wrong to get stuck in “chewing over” the past or in dreams of “future happiness.”
Only by finding for himself this subtle edge can one make the most effective use of the resources of the current life, and realize oneself as fully as possible. And even more.
Latin American writers speak of the importance of ‘erasing personal history.’ However, one must be cautious here. After all, it is truly important for the Mage to remember where they come from, and being rooted in the past corresponds to authority. But there are, on the other hand, such a thing as negative experience – and this negative experience can essentially be a weight tied to their legs. For memory of all the foolishness committed pulls down and greatly lowers self-esteem.
Erasing personal history is indeed important. But it does not erase memory; rather, it brings back forgotten memories. Consciousness, and, therefore, Power in the process of erasure is freed from the traps of negative experiences. Authority is thereby strengthened. All memories remain.
Often, transformed negative experiences become a starting point and source of the initial impulse of Power for subsequent realizations. Therefore, all personal history must be erased. Of course, carelessness in this case will lead to a loss of Power. Hence, the erasure of personal history must be accompanied by the practice of reviewing.
Speaking of personal history, it seems to me that it refers to erasing not the experiences we gain throughout life but the weight of our ‘Actions’ by which certain people define us; that is, when someone says that they are this or that… the goal of erasing personal history is to reach a state where no one can truly say who you really are… A warrior must be fluid…
The only question is whether you can truly say ‘who you are,’ so that your ‘erasure of personal history’ does not turn into the erasure of your uniqueness, your characteristic and essential traits. Fluidity is a very complex and ambiguous quality. On the one hand, it provides the ability to ‘flow’ around obstacles, but on the other – it dissolves individuality, deprives of vectorization. Like any quality taken by itself, the aspiration for disidentification does not lead to effectiveness. It should only touch the ‘shell,’ erasing the superficial, while at the same time promoting the crystallization of the internal foundation of individuality. Unfortunately, many followers of K.K. thoughtlessly applying principles taken out of context turn into not ‘fluid warriors’, but into amorphous jelly, lacking an internal foundation and incapable of active productive actions. While erasing ‘personality,’ one must strive not to lose connection with Individuality.
If something was given… then it means for something. Erase? Purpose? Personality – a complex component, individuality – a part… it may or may not exist.
In the described system, individuality is considered the “dry residue” of personality. Thus, your personality in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood represents rather different identities. Personality changes not only with age but also with life circumstances. However, individuality—an innate quality from birth (or perhaps even earlier)—remains unchanged.
One could say that personality is like clothing for individuality. Therefore, the question of erasing personal history can be framed as follows: it doesn’t matter what clothes you were wearing; what matters is who you truly are.
An example comes to mind: the memories of the controversial personalities of Yesenin or Vysotsky have faded from people’s minds, while what remains is what their individuality gave us—poems, songs, and their influence on others.
“Iris, please try to continue after ‘individuality can be – can not be’ … found, discovered, understood, manifested, expressed. As I understand it, the goal of the Path is precisely to find it – your individuality, to reclaim the right to be oneself, and to realize one’s potential – Search, Struggle, and Realization.”
Iris, the question is this: who gives you your identity? And for what purpose do they give it? And who gives you your individuality? Can there be a lack of individuality?
…When do we feel the need to erase something? When something gets dirty. Isn’t that so? I erased a pencil mark from the sheet of paper… now the sheet is clean, which means I can write something on it again…
You are right, my friend Theo. After all, individuality is what remains; it is a resident of this world, while personality will fade into a reflected world or disintegrate into elements, depending on personal strength.
Can there be a lack of individuality? Look around… do you see it? I rarely do. This is Grayness. What is grayness? It is everyday life. A magician begins to truly live when they climb out of the sandbox, look at the world soberly, and start doing something for the world. Can doing something for the world be considered a change in oneself? – Yes. But I do not entirely agree with the opinion that it is enough to swim in the changes provided to you by someone stronger and drift along the current while supposedly changing significantly and altering others in the process. NO, that is not enough! If you have decided to embark on the path of Magic and chose to change, you must act for yourself. First and foremost, you need to cultivate in yourself the desire to move forward. There is a common misconception that a Teacher comes when the student is ready. Nonsense. This statement is too vague. A Teacher comes when the student has developed a persistent desire for change, which is to say, Discipline.
And for changing oneself, everything matters. It depends on the chosen Tradition, School, Order… And everything is important: astral vision, experience interacting with energies, and seeing energies. But for this, one needs to learn. Strong Magicians, guardians, Hunters, Prophets, Magicians of Change, and others have always been and will always be needed. Yet the majority prefer just to post beautiful pictures with “wise” quotes on social media. It’s sad.
And you’re right, Numen. Around us—it’s all gray… But if you look closely and attentively at the gray for a long time, then in each of them… you can see… a spark… small, barely noticeable… even if before that you saw… the round shapes of chess pawns instead of faces. Usually, sparks don’t have high chances… but they exist…
…As for wisdom on the Internet, its concentration has been off the charts lately… probably everyone around should have become wise by now… but no, it turns out the opposite, wisdom is somehow disappearing from reality. Coincidentally into virtual reality?
A little not quite right, my friend Theo. The grayness is not in people; it’s in their actions. What do people dedicate their lives to? What are the main goals they pursue? And what kind of freedom can we talk about here?
As for the “wisdom” of the network, people who collect the thoughts of others lose the ability to think for themselves. Ask such a person something, and they will respond with some quote. Like I do, for example 🙂 :
Parchments do not quench thirst.
The key to wisdom is not on the pages of books.
Whoever yearns for the secrets of life with every thought
Finds their spring within their own soul.
Goethe. Faust
Very important article. Thank you.
Hello! Sorry for meddling with my advice. But since most of us are gathered here for the liberation of ourselves, our loved ones, and all who have not yet crossed over (I believe in this), I recommend not to scatter words of gratitude too much; a Master does not need such abundance, but you can harm yourself.