From owner-fiatlvx@cmns.think.com Fri Dec 22 05:54:46 1995 Received: from nova.unix.portal.com (nova.unix.portal.com [156.151.1.101]) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.11/8.6.5) with ESMTP id FAA21828 for ; Fri, 22 Dec 1995 05:54:45 -0800 Received: from Cmns.Think.COM.Think.COM (Cmns.Think.COM [131.239.2.100]) by nova.unix.portal.com (8.6.11/8.6.5) with SMTP id FAA12968 for ; Fri, 22 Dec 1995 05:54:45 -0800 Received: by Cmns.Think.COM.Think.COM (4.1/Ultrix2.4-C) id AA07627; Fri, 22 Dec 95 09:12:08 EST From: nagasiva Message-Id: <199512221338.FAA21218@jobe.shell.portal.com> Subject: Exo/Esoteric Paths, Purification, Sufi Magick (Was Re: How Do...?) To: fiatlvx@cmns.think.com (Christian Magick Elist) Date: Fri, 22 Dec 1995 05:38:08 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: from "Hannah M.G. Shapero" at Dec 21, 95 01:29:14 am Orientation: House of Kaos, St. Joseph, Kali Fornika, US -- Kali Yuga X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 9520 Sender: owner-fiatlvx@cmns.think.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: fiatlvx@cmns.think.com Status: RO kaliyuga 49951222 ["lovely to see you again my friend" -- Moody Blues] |From: "Hannah M.G. Shapero" |Date: Thu, 21 Dec 1995 01:29:14 -0500 (EST) [re: criteria for a Will united to God's Will] |...if the Wills are united, the best criterion is the level of ethical |and moral life that results. I agree completely, and often reflections from family and spiritual advisors (priests, ministers, etc.) can be very helpful in ascertaining our level of morality. This is a very important part of ordinary Christian instruction. However, that said, I've always wondered why the Will of the God of the Old Testament might not include some objectionable things, since He does some very harsh stuff within that book (killing lots of people who oppose Him, being jealous about other gods, things like that). There are many religious whose deities share the entire range of human emotions. Why wouldn't the Christian incorporate all of these, rather than just the ones which are taught are most virtuous (even in moderation or within controlled circumstances)? Are there different standards ascribed to different manners of people? I'm thinking now of Padmasambhava of the Indians (Tibetan Buddhists), who exemplifies something within religion which I find fascinating, though I'm unsure if it exists within Christianity or its associates: the Amorality of God. Perhaps y'all can assist me in understanding whether it is contained within traditional Christianity. I gather that this one explanation for the irritability and bluster of Yahweh: God is beyond the categories of human morality. So I wonder why His Will might not incorporate this same amorality. The idea is that while we, as sheep, are given a path of repentance and meek worship as a general guide for the virtuous life, there are some, perhaps mages, perhaps prophets, maybe both, who manifest the Will of the Divine directly within the world through His Grace and perhaps in reward for self-purification. Channeling this Will of God may well include engaging behaviors and events that extend beyond the strictures of conventional morality. Padmasambhava is depicted by an Evans-Wentz translation (within the book _The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation_) as surpassing ordinary standards of behavior and even trespassing taboo and what would likely within Christian and Buddhist teachings alike characterized as 'evil'. He takes up residence within a graveyard, lives on the flesh of corpses, uses the skins for clothing and the bones for furniture, and occasionally kills people who visit there (this is explained at some points as the working of karma through the exalted frame of the saint and condoned as unusually acceptable by religious authorities, even while the Tibetans banish him from their society in response! -- perhaps in part to protect themselves). My objective isn't to point out the value of these behaviors but only to note that in many cultures the activities of the gods and saints are sometimes *way* beyond what is prescribed by these gods/saints as 'virtuous behavior', and if this is the case, is the mysterious 'Will' of such an enigmatic deity always going to include the 'nice things'? Jesus' path certainly didn't (His story of martyrdom is said by some to be the Rosetta Stone of spiritual development, allowing us to translate the bare fabric of our lives into the raiment of God through the application of the principles and instruction His life made available to His Church). My little reading in the magic of Muslims (and minimum discussion among some sufis) indicates that the mages of that tradition are said to be graced with special power, sometimes the charge of magical beings called 'djinn' (plural; the singular (djinni) was translated to English as 'genie' of dreaming fame, and this may have very important connections to the 'Holy Guardian Angel' or Genius of Hermetic teachings). These are in some measure outside the bounds of normal moral codes. You see, I wonder if the measure of saints and mages may be along different standards, and if, while you are certainly correct in regards the ordinary and recommended Christian path of virtue, there may not be a fork in the road when a Christian decides to take up the practice of magick. Christ is said to have been a mage. He is not portrayed as meekly accepting all the religious strictures of his times (depending on what one presumes these to be -- of the Essenes, for example), but establishing a new covenant through His Act of Martyrdom. His choice is said by some to have been the Sword or the Cross (cf. 'The Last Temptation of Christ'), and the Sword is taken by some mages as the pre-eminent magical weapon. This may move us some distance from the traditional teachings that Jesus was a special individual (the only Child of the Divine, one aspect of the Trinity) rather than an exemplar and Magus as portrayed by Crowley and others). Consider the possibility that Jesus was the Head of a Magical Order, and that each of the disciples depicted within the Gospels was an Initiate of this Order (some say of Melchizedek, some say of the Essenes or an offshoot, and there are more weird variations). Sufi mages undertake severe precautions to preserve the sanctity of their magical acts, prayer being a very important part of the preparation for workings (at least according to Idries Shah, and he is somewhat contro- versial), and the study under a Sheikh (spiritual advisor/guide) is strongly recommended if not absolutely required within sufi orders. However, there *are* stories of lone sufis whose works remain unscrutible and at times seem horrific to the casual observer. Nasrud'din and Khezr (the Green Man -- a divine madman and Sheikh) are at times depicted as doing apparently immoral things with justification by the Will and Knowledge benefacted by a connection with the Divine, even going so far as to instruct such mages as Mosheh (Moses) in the Way of Divine Power. In relation to this, it is said by some that while Christ's instruction with regard to acquiescence to the Will of God led to his exaltation, some view the paths set into relief as equally important of study. Specifically, the paths of his disciples are sometimes taken as very important instructions on their own, and some perhaps more dangerous speculation exists that the next most difficult after the path of Jesus was that of Judas, his Betrayer, since his was not only also contributing to the Great Plan and Payment, but also included actions which are, within most cultures, considered heinous or worthy of retribution (the deliverance of the divine personage to the mechanism of persecution). |Can magick be done in a spirit of love, empathy, kindness, and peace? |I would certainly hope so. I would too, and yet I wonder what sort of precautions are necessary for the theurge, as compared to the thaumaturge. That is, while we may well find ways to incorporate these foci in our practice, I'm unsure this will matter unless we have properly prepared ourselves through the various mechanisms of purification suggested to priests and prophets for centuries. Shah provides a breakdown of the stages of sufism, in which the practice of magick is incorporated. I append this as a seed for discussion and further conjecture regarding the necessary and prescribed context within which magick may be fruitfully studied by those devoted whole-heartedly to God and Christ. === discussion ends, appendation by Shah begins === "Diagrammatic Representation of The Sufi Path (Tariqa-sufiyya) Stage O: Salik (Seeker). Generic name for Sufi in the Sufi Path. Stage 1: Muridi (Discipleship). Accepted by master as suitable candidate for the Sufi Path. Stage 2: Tariqat (Potentiality). The first real stage of Sufism. Dedicated to one-ness with the spriit of the Sheikh or Murshid (spiritual leader). During this period the Seeker follows his Sheikh in all things, blindly adopting certain recitations and spiritual exercises. Period of rededication to the theme of 'Be *in* the world, but not *of* the world'. Occult phenomena associated with this degree: Sihr (Lawful or 'white' magic; performed by permission of the Sheikh). Stage 3: Arif (Knowledge). Attainment of spiritual and occult powers. Seeker achieving unity with the spirit of Pir (founder of the Order). Spiritual power projected into Seeker's mind by his Sheikh (leader). Stage of Safarullah: the Journey to knowledge. Occult phenomena associated with this degree: Mu'awanat (Supernatural Thaumaturgy). E.g.: flying, annhilation of space. Stage 4: Fana. Annihilation. The Summit. Truth is reached and Fana achieved in strict solitude and concentrated meditation. Seeker achieving spiritual one-ness with the Spirit of the Prophet. Known as the Safarli-Allah: the travel away from neglectfulness. Occult phenomena associated with this degree: Karamat (Wonders). E.g.: walking on water, prediction of the future. Stage 5: Baqa. Degree of Wali (Saintship). State of Masaviut-Tarafain, or 'Equiposed between the Two Forces'. Known as the Safar - Billah: Sufi returns to the ways of man to guide them. Occult phenomena associated with this degree: Mujiza (Miracles). Performed only by prophets. _Oriental Magic_, Idries Shah, p. 72. ____________________________________________________ Thank you for your time. tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com nagasiva