The Grades of Initiation

[helpfuldemon]

You don't need a temple to traverse the Grades of the Golden Dawn, all you need is to follow their advice on how to transcend the mundane of human existence through to enlightenment.

 

The Neophyte is free to browse the store, taking on what ideas and tasks they see fit to try.  Eventually knowledge comes to them, and they start to develop ideas of philosophy that lead them to more ideas of what life is, and what they can get out of life.  This is the formation of the Will.

 

Ideas such as what is life?  Who am I?  Is there a God?  Who is God?  What does this God do, and what does this God want?  What do I do?  What do I want?  Eventually the Will is refined to a point, the neophyte becomes a magician, developing a personal system of magick based on knowledge and experience.  This Will is limited, however, to the neophytes scope, and can only take the candidate so far in power.  The Will is under constant refinement until it reaches its limits.  That is when the candidate declares their Will to the Universe, and undergoes further transformation.  This is the portal grade, and should the candidate have access to the keys, and be chosen, they will enter the Abyss to refine their Will and knowledge.  This takes a lifetime of dedication and sincerity, and can be very disabling.  There are spirits in the Abyss, and certain knowledge will come to the candidate while other information distracts from purpose.  There is magick here, and the candidate will witness impossible things, and have visions that will inform them on their way to enlightenment.

 

The candidate will refine their Will and knowledge, probably undertake moral perfection, and learn about the Universe and God until their knowledge is perfected, and they attain understanding.  

 

Wisdom is advice based on knowledge, and the candidate will consider the Wisdom they have gathered, and compare it thoroughly to what they understand.  They will compare the revelations of the Abyss with their own comprehension of life and spirits, and eventually conclude on their understanding, and find peace in knowing that they understand.  From there, they can develop their own wisdom, and share it with others.

 

[helpfuldemon]

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.  

[helpfuldemon]

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.

[Lairg]

47 minutes ago, helpfuldemon said:

a peace that accepts what is, for God is All That Is

 

I had rather hoped that the higher will had some function in the cosmos.

 

For example, is it useful to intend that Earth humanity becomes enlightened?  

[helpfuldemon]

3 hours ago, Lairg said:

 

I had rather hoped that the higher will had some function in the cosmos.

 

For example, is it useful to intend that Earth humanity becomes enlightened?  

No

[centertime]

4 hours ago, helpfuldemon said:

No

Hello! Why not?

[helpfuldemon]

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.

[thelerner]

Maybe it's my low level, but I feel if you want to help others, help them, but sending warm feelings and wishes out into the universe imo (or level) doesn't do much.  Though might improve one's own mood. 

[helpfuldemon]

59 minutes ago, thelerner said:

Maybe it's my low level, but I feel if you want to help others, help them, but sending warm feelings and wishes out into the universe imo (or level) doesn't do much.  Though might improve one's own mood. 

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.

[Lairg]

It is said that our god is currently a god of love - having been a god of intelligence before the solar systemic pralaya.

 

And after the next pralaya our god will aspire to be a god of will.

 

It may be that practising right relationships is our best contribution to this phase of the solar system 

[helpfuldemon]

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.

Edited August 31, 2022 by helpfuldemon

[helpfuldemon]

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.  

[Lairg]

5 hours ago, helpfuldemon said:

enlightened thought varies through the Ages

 

I doubt that - unless Reality changes too.

 

Perhaps the flow that generates enlightenment is from a higher plane.     Thus there is in-lightenment as inflow of light generates a new functionality in the human mind - the first of a series of upgrades to mental function

 

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by Lairg

[helpfuldemon]

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.

[helpfuldemon]

21 hours ago, Lairg said:

 

I doubt that - unless Reality changes too.

 

Perhaps the flow that generates enlightenment is from a higher plane.     Thus there is in-lightenment as inflow of light generates a new functionality in the human mind - the first of a series of upgrades to mental function

 

 

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.

[Lairg]

1 hour ago, helpfuldemon said:

What used to be acceptable is now frowned upon, and what used to be unacceptable is now embraced.

 

I think that might be morality rather than the underlying Reality of Existence

 

On which plane does Reality exist?

[helpfuldemon]

The underlying reality of existence is that everything dies.

[Lairg]

2 hours ago, helpfuldemon said:

The underlying reality of existence is that everything dies.

 

Things die. 

 

Does awareness die also?  How will you test the proposition?

 

 

[helpfuldemon]

6 hours ago, Lairg said:

 

Things die. 

 

Does awareness die also?  How will you test the proposition?

 

 

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.

[Lairg]

>No one can say for sure. 

 

How to test that belief?

 

> Since those that die don't seem to come back to tell us

 

Various humans claim to remember a previous life, quoting name, date and street address.  Where those details turn out to be historically valid, in about 30% of those cases, the known physical damage of the previous incarnation appears as a corresponding birth mark in the current day human. 

 

> there is life after death

 

There are many cases of humans that were clinically dead (no brain waves, no heart beat) and then resuscitated that explain their experiences about going into the post-death state and then turning back - or being sent back.

 

For myself, I was very clear it was not my turn to be born.  I was not pleased.

 

>one should assume there isn't.

 

I was taught by engineers:  Assume means "make an ass of u and me"

 

On the other hand, it may be better for non-engineers to believe whatever makes them happy

 

For myself I recall dying over northern France in 1941.  The scenery is very familiar to me from the air but not at all on the ground when I drove through that area.

 

Edited September 2, 2022 by Lairg

[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.  

Edited September 2, 2022 by helpfuldemon

[Indiken]

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Edited February 6, 2023 by Indiken

[Lairg]

The problem for engineers is that their bridges, aircraft etc are supposed to work for many decades.  They find that assuming is not as good as testing.   Testing results in fewer deaths.

 

[Indiken]

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Edited February 6, 2023 by Indiken

[Nungali]

On 02/09/2022 at 9:44 AM, helpfuldemon said:

The underlying reality of existence is that everything dies.

 

Naaah ...because not everything  that exists is alive .  Something has to be alive before it can die .

 

Not to be too bitchy at ya HD  but such obvious faulty logic will / is   going to get you into deep  mental poo poo if you apply t to other areas of your 'figgurin out '  .

 

Like ;  going around depressed becasue you 'realised'    'everything dies'   .... when it doesn't .