The Search for Individuality

We have said more than once that the development of the Magus’ mind occurs through the neutralization of two primary dualities – the duality being/mind and the duality unity/differentiation.

At the same time, the first duality is resolved by cultivating awareness within oneself – that is, by reflecting the mind in being and seeking and affirming their mutual correspondence. The neutralization of the second duality takes place in the search for and affirmation of individuality as a unique perspective on the One reality.

The mind, by its very nature, strives toward these resolutions, since they form its foundation and shape its tendencies and aspirations.

At the same time, while feeling these urges, the mind often fails to discern their true nature and falls into delusions and destructive influences.

Instead of becoming aware of being, of being present in it, the mind often slips into a senseless cycle of activity and merely accumulates empty experience. Instead of expressing its individuality, the mind frequently asserts separateness and conflicts with other manifestations of the same One.

Because the very urges toward awareness and individuality are so elementary, it is impossible to lose or silence them completely; therefore, having become lost in the waves of illusion, the mind still attempts to find some realization of them, but, being unwilling to apply sufficient effort, for that reason it falls into destructive traps.

All actions, all emphasis on “achievements,” the whole cult of “success” — these are distorted fruits of the drive for self-realization – that is, for the conscious existence of the individual mind.

At the same time, the desire to “be different from everyone,” the desire to “be understood” — these are all expressions of the impulse toward the individualization of mind. It is very important for the mind to feel that its existence is validated, it has meaning as an individual, unique manifestation. People try to find their uniqueness in creativity, in displaying their distinctiveness, often in provocation and even in eccentricity.

The Way begins when the mind understands that it does not have to act as it was taught, when it begins to seek its own modes of action. And if at the initial stage of development the mind is narrowly focused on actions, then, having passed a certain stage of the Way, it can conversely fall into a one-sided overvaluation of the mind. Likewise, if at the initial level the mind has a strong drive to “be like everyone,” “not to stand out,” then, after advancing several steps, it will conversely begin to overreach to “stand out,” to “express itself” (this urge may manifest in actions or in inner self-feeling, but its essence remains the same). Both extremes, of course, are unproductive; both dualities must be integrated, not merely swung between poles.

At the same time, just as the best available human expressions of resolving the being/mind duality is the concept of the Way as a set of interconnected, ordered, and conscious actions, the most perfect and absolute integration of the unity/individual duality is love as the striving for “union without mixing.” And just as the Way without love is cold and incomplete, love without the Way is undirected; both are therefore incomplete and fragile.

The Magus fulfills his striving for awareness by structuring his activity around the concept of Power, avoiding both inertia and frantic cycles of action.

The Magus fulfills his striving for individuality by manifesting his love.

Acting consciously, the Magus finds the qualities of being within mind, and the manifestations of mind within being, thereby forming the unity of his soul. Being in a state of love, the Magus moves beyond separateness without losing himself in the One; he finds himself in the other, and the other in himself, bridging the duality of the manifestation of the Absolute.

Instead of trying to “be different,” instead of acquiring “unusual” guises and performing “unlike” actions, the Magus understands that the root of his individuality lies in the very manner of his awareness, in his unique way of viewing the world. Thus he sees that his being is validated not by what or how he acts, not by how he looks or what he thinks, but by the degree to which he is aware of his unique ways of knowing the world, his unique ways of mediating being and mind, his unique ways of reflecting others in himself and himself in others.

Only by finding this uniqueness, only by rooting himself in that felt individuality of the mind’s ground, does the Magus rid himself of the tormenting urge to “be unlike others,” so conspicuous in the early stages of the Way.