Transcendences of the Mind
Throughout history it has been well known that the human mind, besides its «ordinary» state, can function on other levels.
Mystics of every culture have sought these «elevated» states of mind, and attained them through various practices, contemplations, and psychophysical exercises, and sometimes by resorting to «external» stimulants such as psychotropic plants.
It is often claimed that such transcendence of the ordinary mind is the goal of religion, magic and other spiritual paths, and that human development consists precisely in their attainment.
The traditional view is considerably more restrained.
From the standpoint of the Western myth, the psychocosm accessible to a person Psychocosm, limited by the Horizons of the mind, can be described by a universal schema suitable for mapping any integral object – the Tree of the Sefirot.
Viewed in this way, the psychic universe has a number of cross-sections and levels, and the «everyday», «diurnal» mind of the average person usually functions at the level of Malchut– the level necessary and sufficient for the physical survival of the individual. Other, «higher» sections of the Psychocosm are normally inaccessible to awareness, although they are part of the same partzuf – in this case, «islands» of awareness.
Artists and poets, riding the wave of their inspiration, often function at the level of Yesod – the realm of ideas and images hovering above the «lands» of Malchut.
Religious «laypeople» who perceive the «beauty» and «glory» of the «work of God» are at the level of Hod, while practitioners who derive satisfaction from accumulating experience periodically function at the level of Netzach.
The feeling so beloved by adepts of the «new spirituality» and extolled by them as the «greatest achievement» — a sense of absolute unity and cosmic harmony — most often arises when the mind ascends to the level of Tiferet, whereas the majestic prophetic vision of the «struggle of Good and Evil» appears at the level of Geburah.
The state of Universal Compassion, of Holiness — described as the goal in Christianity and in some schools of Mahayana Buddhism — arises when the connection between Malchut and Chesed is established; worship of the Womb of the Great Mother and a renewed vision of transcendental unity are achieved with insight into Binah, and the vision that «God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him» corresponds to the ascent into Chokmah.
Finally, the highest and silent ecstatic presence, the supreme samadhi, is of course attained when the light of Keter descends into Malchut.
However, all these transcendences do not necessarily constitute a genuine ‘attainment’. The fact that the mind’s focus shifts within its sphere from level to level is certainly an important condition and sometimes evidence of its real development, but in itself it neither leads to an elevation of the evolutionary status of mind nor, still less, to its liberation.
So long as these transcendences rest upon the person, the sense remains that it is «I have attained», the pleasure of attainment is identical with its value. Such «spiritual hedonism», in essence, differs in no way from material pursuit for pleasures, although it occurs on other levels.
For the Magus it is important to remember that however exalted a state of mind may be, so long as it is confined within its horizons, even if those horizons appear impossibly vast, this is not liberation.
The Magus strives for complete liberation, including liberation from the need for «subtle pleasures» and «spiritual delights». Therefore, even when attaining the Supreme Ecstasy of Keter, the Magus knows that this is still not the end of the Way; he remains bound to conditioned existence, a «prisoner of the Matrix».
…a person reads words without understanding what they mean, since the meaning of words changes depending on the experience of those who use them….
Thus, even upon reaching the Highest Ecstasy of Keter, the magician knows that this is still not the end of the Path; they are still a hostage of conditioned existence, a “prisoner of the Matrix.”
I agree, it’s not the end, but the influence of the matrix significantly weakens since a person is capable of going a long time practically without nourishment (1 cracker every three days).
Certainly, awareness is not yet enlightenment; for enlightenment, final initiation through death is necessary, however, the unveiling of Keter helps to taste the bread of eternal life.
Is there consciousness at the level of Daath? And if so, how is it characterized?
Enmerkar, you have an article on Facebook about how one does not know love without experiencing hatred, and one cannot know light without knowing darkness.
It’s not a big secret how love turns into hatred, but do you personally know many cases of the reverse? According to your theory, to know the true essence of something, it is necessary to understand its opposite. If one cannot turn one into the other, then one must learn about hatred from one being and love from another. This means that if you choose someone as an object and decide to experience hatred with them, you automatically exclude the possibility of discovering what love is with them. Or, after experiencing love, you decide to stop loving and to understand hatred instead.
Hatred is rejection, non-acceptance, rupture, negativity… It does not transform into the opposite. No matter what you do afterward, hatred has its foundations. Hatred is an extreme measure of defense, a barrier against contact in an aggressive manner. To make someone who loves you begin to hate you, there need to be reasons.
Imagine if this were a true love that does not cease, that endures everything and forgives everything—what would have to happen for it to turn into hatred? These are two different types of energy, as you might express it: one expels the other. That’s it.
By conducting such an experiment with your chosen object, you mark them as an object for love.
Gla, if you believe that hatred cannot turn into love, then you are a very cruel person))) Unable to forgive and unable to understand that each person is given to us for the sake of experience. Such understanding grows into a deep sense of gratitude.
Speaking of true love, I hope you are not referring to codependent relationships, where one partner endures everything, forgives, and plays the noble victim in the name of “love”?
In my humble opinion, which does not pertain to you, every person is unique and should know how to protect their boundaries even in love. For love is not slavery, but liberation.
I understand that this is a sacred, or rather painful topic for you. But here, the focus is more on the subtle principles of emotions, their duality, rather than your screaming emotional baggage that you throw down from your tower. Why are you so obsessed with this topic?
Because it is senseless and holds the greatest significance. At the same time it is deceitful and absolutely honest, something entirely unreal and untrue, yet at the same time, I can’t name anything more sincere and real. Maybe I just don’t know.
It’s not just about people. Animals and plants love too. Step into a forest that loves you and you’ll feel at home. Communicate with a cat that loves you, and you truly understand it.
You could probably do without it.
I’m also glad that you respond to comments.
All people are different. I just can’t understand why I need to know disgust, anger, fury, why to deliberately engage in betrayal, why all these enlightenments and growths in principle? To see something that others do not see? Milita, go outside, take the metro, get on a minibus and you’ll immediately understand that you already feel and see what others do not.
You know how human sorrow, sadness, anger, and envy look, do you want to feel it more? You surely know that if (all human sorrow) touches you even for a few seconds, what you’ll want most is for it to stop.
I think all our energy should be directed towards other things a little more.
“I’m obsessed”)) maybe I’m trying to explain this obsession to others. But apparently, it’s just a mental disorder, at least that’s what most think. And you, unfortunately or fortunately, belong to this majority as well. And you will live longer 🙂
By the way, the role of the victim is a protective reaction 🙂 just like the role of the winner. You cannot be a winner absolutely everywhere and in everything. In principle, just like a victim, by taking on this role, protects itself from the world, survives, and it’s no longer a loser; it survived – it won))
Gla, does Enmerkar really make you go towards betrayal? I also read this post – it didn’t evoke any cries of the soul, nor denial or a desire to obediently betray and hate in me. Just information.
Have you not considered that your emotions, your thoughts about what you’ve read – are only yours? That you are diligently attributing them to others, while in reality you are only seeing yourself? For example, my phrase “why are you so obsessed with this topic?” – do you think it’s directed personally at you? Enmerkar once wrote, “we do not notice what does not concern us…” It’s amusing, in a dialogue involving two people, but each one speaks about themselves. Including me, when I talk about you.
The game continues. An unequal, distorted game. At one time, it was not even hidden that people were “hunting for power” in the comments. Let’s recall those old articles about hunting and responses in the face of power. Everyone here played their games, and you, Gla, are also in the game. Although, you probably don’t realize the true purpose of your presence here. But it exists. I hope you are not aiming to complain about external and internal problems?
It may seem that I am rude and making conclusions about people without knowing them. This is true, because I have allowed myself to form erroneous opinions, and what a person accepts or does not accept about themselves is not my concern. I have allowed myself to react aggressively, which has not been liked at all by the overly idealized perception, which is strange, since aggressive individuals have been here before me. Each person sets their own internal rules and their own pedestal “in the name of what.”
I remembered about the game thanks to your last paragraph. Initially, and still, I didn’t quite understand what you meant personally by this. But in terms of feeling, the words “… You can’t be a winner absolutely everywhere and in everything…” are not entirely your words. Within the confines of the site, they sound like an echo – either my own words returning to me, or uttered repeatedly not by me and not to me, but repeated from game to game, like a scratched record. There is a certain place called “you’re not the first, nor the last” – the place of the imagined winner. No matter how hard you try, no matter how much you push yourself, the imagined will remain imagined; disaster cannot be avoided regardless. It is not my place. I have my own outside of winners and losers. To do what I must.
Opposites do not occupy the same space. They are connected by a common axis and manifest like a pendulum. The more a person pulls in one direction away from the center, the greater the force that pulls them in the other direction. But that doesn’t mean that love without repulsion isn’t possible; it just requires not pulling all the time in one direction, but rather changing the entire axis, the support. If everything is harmonious, as a result, a person will not be able to feel hatred toward anyone at all because it does not exist within. True love is always universal, but it is as mythical as enlightenment; you simply don’t encounter it easily in life.
A person in a post-traditional consumer society is incapable of both love and hate; they exist in a realm of “average temperatures,” neither cold nor hot—just a kind of soot. If we remove the moral component of love and hate, to which they certainly cannot be reduced, we are simply dealing with the “boiling point” of energy brought to its limit in the human sense. In this regard, both love and hate are related as high-energy manifestations.