Theos-Talk Archives (November 1997 Message tt00350)

At 05:35 PM 11/20/1997 +1100, you wrote:
>Brenda in thoughtful mood quotes:
>> Harmonious vibrations cause the Ego to look out and as it recognizes
>> pleasure the latent power is poured out - during which time the Ego
>> formulates its own being. It sees itself in the concrete.
>
>This is why the path of the ascetic is a bum steer. Pleasure draws us out
>and into the world. While as students of the middle path we eschew the
>hedonistic "Do what Thou Wilt" teaching.

In my upcoming talk, I'm going to mention the pleasure-thing only in
regards to the first stage of karma - tamasic. The result of this stage is
what leads man to attempt the next stage or rajasic learning, and then the
next stage is sattvas, but this isn't the end either. There are two or
three more stages in karmas unfolding of the ego, because karma is balance
and balance has to be achieved with the other intelligent lives in the
cosmos at one point, too. While the above stage teaches law and stability
in the ego, we certainly need to be freed from the constant pleasure by our
senses producing a feeling of "I-ness" in the body itself rather than the
"I-ness" existing in the ego alone. Then learning can be lifted from point
to point and the myriad of forms can be experienced rather than by the
one-sided limitation of the tamasic stage. Lastly, since an immersion of
"I-ness" in matter has to be followed by a subsequent removal of the
"I-ness" and an indrawing of the mistaken sense of self, rajasic stage is
characterized by pain. Even though, it certainly is an step forward for the
ego. Last step, the sattvas, is a selective harmony where desire controls
which experiences are chosen, and strong desires can even submit the body
to pain as long as the results produce an "inner knowing" of self, an
indrawing and outputting of ego qualities, acquired through contact with
forms. The other stages aren't necessary to explain now. I think it is
relevant, like you say, to look at the 1st stage though and not forget that
we have gone through that process and that used intelligently, what we
learned from it - which is natural law and stability - is worth refreshing
in our minds from time to time.

>For the rest of it you have demonstrated an investigation through study and
>living. But somewhere along the line somebody must have arrived at these
>thoughts through pratical occultism, or otherwise it was pure speculation.

The book has a chapter called THE SPIRITUAL BASIS OF OCCULTISM. Powers,
other than as I wrote, are not discussed except in relation to the way that
other lives, Rishis, Angels, Ascended Masters have free access to areas in
our lives that we have always strictly believed to be solely our own.
Powers may come from relinquishing our Ego's hold and control on our lower
forms in the sense that we don't feel obligated to uphold their continued
existence. My "human" existence can be centered much higher if it is
freed from the lower.

>Besides the founding members did have a fascination with "phenomena" of one
>kind or another. They wished to make the spiritual physically manifest, as
>in ectoplasm and Felt's magic shows. It was a symptom of the times
>materialism. They wanted to prove certain spiritual facts through
>'materialisations'.

All the best,

Brenda