helpfuldemon

Where the Adept of the lower grades has Will that projects outwardly, The 7=4 Adept has their Will and imagination turned inward onto themselves. This is a physical action that was initiated by the Gods. The Will is dissected and split into hundreds of wires of force and attacks the Adept, forcing them to correspond with dozens of thoughts and voices, each trying to convince the Adept of their understanding. The Adept tries to comprehend their new situation, and what the voices are telling them, but for every step, they fall three steps behind. They try to defend themselves with the truth and Wisdom that they brought into the Abyss, and that information is used against them. The Adept must reorganize all that they understand, and check and cross examine them for validity. They are forced to rebuild their soul over and over endlessly and even when they succeed, the demons do not stop. The Adept has to find satisfaction in their comprehension of the Universe and finally submit, stop the work, and place themselves squarely in the center of their mind, and sit waiting for the demons to stop their torture. This may take years to accomplish. In the end, they remain in silence, having no Will of their own. They can no longer use their minds to think or imagine. They are static in silence with no desires. They have a full comprehension of the Universe, so far as they could drink that information from the Cup of Babylon, and they find that there is little left to do, because they are exhausted.

I don't know if I inadvertently aid in the suffering or enlightenment of others or not. I used to think so, but after years of contemplation on mystical and magickal ideas, I've concluded that thoughts like this only lead to delusion and madness, since they cannot be proven. I know that physically, I do nothing to alleviate suffering, other than post my thoughts online and the occasional good deed.

No one can say for sure. The only way to test it is to die. Since those that die don't seem to come back to tell us that there is life after death, one should assume there isn't.

The underlying reality of existence is that everything dies.

I relate to a lot of these definitions of what enlightenment is. I can't say I enjoy this state. Mostly it is sitting in the quiet stillness for me. I no longer possess or am possessed by thoughts, unless I actively force myself to examine something. My mind is quite still. I also see the world for what it is, but I have a problem. I mourn for our world and its suffering. I see things as being prone to failing. I have forgotten the joys of youth, and I can't seem to find the hope that people are happy. I don't actively feel compassion or love, it is more of an intellectual recognition of life. I am trying to find the Will to decide that life is balanced, to accept these things, and to accept that people get what they deserve. I feel that this state of mind would be selfish of me, so I resist it.

Reality does change. Technology changes it, and so do the strong, war faring types. A strong religious or political leader can also affect the opinions of others. Heck, look at America in the past 100 years. What used to be acceptable is now frowned upon, and what used to be unacceptable is now embraced.

Hi. I think you're right about Buddhism, but I also think the same for true Christianity.

The final magickal act of the Adept Exempt is to overcome their addiction to sorrow, for this is a path of suffering, and sorrow gives the comfort of validating what they see and have experienced. But sorrow is not the state that is enlightened, for life is not just sorrow, and the point of entering the Abyss was for Wisdom to lead us to a better world, and a world of sorrow is not better. This is not to say that the Adept fails to see suffering any longer, but it should not block out the Adepts ability to see joy, and to know love.

Because enlightened thought varies through the Ages, and the magician see's this, the law is Do What Thou Wilt. Remember that mysticism is about God's point of view, and from the view of the Gods, there is no difference between one person and their actions and another's, for surely, we get what we give. The magician will come to Wisdom because they have put in the effort to learn knowledge, and so they will know what is to be done, for them, and for their perspective.

Magick initiation into the portal grade draws the distinction between seeing the light of Wisdom, and having the knowledge to come to it and understand it based on experience. It is one thing to hear what they mystics know, another to know it yourself. Is it necessary? I don't know. I don't know if one needs to learn for ones self, or if understanding what another says is the same. As far as Will evolving the Earth, like I said, strong Will might influence the spiritual world, but the enlightenment that I speak of is beyond Will; it is knowing without willing, and is therefor not a force any longer. It is also true that certain forms of enlightenment are transitory based on the Age. What was considered "to know" a couple hundred years ago is not the same as today, or a thousand years ago. The enlightenment that I speak of knows this, and sees all the different perspectives of understanding that have come, gone, and are yet to be. This is not Christian mysticism, or any particular religion; it is all of these. Does that satisfy the need for Truth? In some ways, yes, in others, no. Remember that they key element of magical enlightenment is Chaos, and that means many truths.

There is so much in Magick and mysticism that cannot be proven. We think that we know what is what but the truth is, that it might just be the natural course of events that someone reacts to our impulses, or something happens for no real reason. It's nice to think we have mystical insight, but really, it is something of a delusion to believe that it is anything other than making the right choice to acquire the right response. How many times has your magick failed? That would be a better measure of its ability. They say "God is love" but how do we know? How do we know that God loves us? Look around at the world and history and tell me that God, being infinite and powerful and able to make anything a reality, loves us! "Oh", you could say; "God wants us to grow and learn on our own", and that might be true, but at what time will this God take action in our favor? Surely throughout history this has happened, right? Why wouldn't God take action? Is it love to allow war, death, disease, accidents? Perhaps God just set us in motion and allows us to self govern without taking action, is that a loving God? Who says God has to love us? But, what good is a God that takes no action? How can God love all the billions of people in the history of the world? How can you say you have a personal relationship with this God? Just one more delusion of the mystic.

Typically I agree with you, though I think if your Will is focused and strong enough, it can have an affect on the spiritual world, but really, to think about such things lends itself well to madness.

While Will might be a force that can affect the Universe, enlightened Will as I describe is no-Will. The enlightened magician see's the choices and makes them, but it is not because they are willful, it is because they know. To enlighten the entire world might calm the storms in the Universe though, so maybe there is something to what you ask.

No

The scope of the Magus' perspective is as vast as Chaos itself, and depends upon how large a quantity was drank from the Cup of Babylon. The enlightened magician realizes that Everything Is, and that there is no longer Chaos, but Order; everything has a motive or origin. There is peace here, a peace that accepts what is, for God is All That Is.

It is important to refine ones Will, so that the magician is able to see the direction of understanding the Universe. However, Will is blindness, and is not enlightenment. The willful will be motivated to see through their particular lens, and when the magician undergoes the portal grade, the Will is annihilated. The portal grade is the Abyss, and to enter it, one must contemplate Chaos. The magician enters the Abyss with their Will and intent, and enters Chaos, and is destroyed. They are forced to examine all that they brought into the Abyss; all the wisdom and knowledge and thoughts, hopes, and ideals, and have to retool the structure of their soul. In the end what is left is not a Willful creature, but a wise person that can see the scope of existence. Doorways to perception and modes of action have been opened, and there is no longer one Will to propel the magician, for they see the myriad of choices on how to act, and react. They are more cautioned now, and less spirited. They are not as certain as they were, but there is certainty to be had, it is simply not a singular understanding any longer.

It would appear that enlightenment is a selfish pursuit; that it doesn't bring about the wisdom to give advice to those whose actions cause disturbance. I realized years ago that "everything is", and in combination with the rule of liberty, I accept that things just are, and that people will do what they will. I stopped correcting people years ago. I'm not into drawing myself into that sort of thing anymore. People don't want wisdom unless they are looking for it. I'd like to think that love is the key to wisdom: that doing things with loving intent leads to correct action. People don't want to be corrected on this though.

I had a dream last night. In it, people were being taken away, up, to the Heavens. There were two sides; Satan's and Christ's. To go with Christ, you needed to bow down to their Gods, to go with Satan, you needed to appreciate the power of death and freedom. I wound up going with Satan, and he said the difference between his side and Christ's side was that we were equals while on that side they weren't. I wound up in a throng of people that were left and I spoke to them and said "I am here to bring this world to enlightenment, but I don't think I can". That is when I woke up. I took this as a sort of message. Then I spent the morning thinking about what enlightenment is and if I knew. The thing is, I don't think I am anyone to lead people to happiness, and that is what people want. I think desire causes us to act in ways that go against good, but I don't think it is suffering, and I think we need it, to promote our seeking and achieving. So I'm not a Buddhist. I agree that we are free to do what we will, and I think the peace that I get from that is that people are free and they will do good things and bad things, and I don't feel it is my place to put restrictions upon their actions, though I do think that I should outline what Good and Evil is, which I have done, but it doesn't fill up a book, and who can lead people without some form of literature? I think the Christian faith does a pretty good job of defining Good, and there are thousands of Christian books already. If you strip away the Magick from Crowley, he does a good job of promoting finding your path. I find his Magick confusing and I don't think it is necessary, though it does lend itself to a creative experience. I think that is the key to why we exist: to experience. But as I am incapable of using my imagination or higher critical thinking skills, I am not one to enhance that aspect of life for people. In the end, I only know peace now. It is boring. I don't think it is what is desired, except in moments when we are overwhelmed, or grieving. I am at peace knowing that people are people, and on this road of life we do things to learn what is right, and what can get us what we desire. I have advice on what is right, but I am clueless on how to get what we desire. According to my definition, I am not "Good". I am not Evil, but I don't go out of my way to do Good deeds, and, like most of us, I am fallible to anger and selfishness. So I don't think this dream was meant to see fruition. I don't think I am meant to bring enlightenment to the world. Perhaps only in a dream world.

My advice is don't make it a mystical process. Mysticism leads to blind spots in thinking, can make you delusional and neurotic. Simply look for things you are interested in and go about the business of learning and practicing them, it's really that simple.

A book, a way of being, directions for a new age... this wasn't just some small thing. First of all, God doesn't speak to just anyone, much less recite a whole text! I'd like to think if a spirit gave a person a whole work with guidance for mankind, that they would take it seriously!

I've often wondered if he didn't just conjure up a muse and say it was channeled. If he didn't think it had any significance, the likelihood that it was directly given to him is low.

Thank you for explaining. The phrase "Do What Thou Wilt" is a little misleading. If taken separate from Crowley's system, the Book of the Law reads another way completely. Given that he claimed to have received it, one might speculate that he interpreted it wrong.

Though Nungali doesn't like to admit it, Crowley's system is a modified version of Satanism, which promotes doing one's Will at all costs. Nungali doesn't seem to see that this is a Law that can create demons as easily as angels. In fact, one of Crowley's sayings is "The slaves shall serve". His system is liberty for the strong, and let those that are concerned be slaves.

That fits. I think we feel joy and then realize love, and then happiness. I think we feel sorrow and then get angry.

I've concluded that life is joy and sorrow, and the other emotions come from these two. I don't feel the joy side much.