Renunciation – Traou an Dour

The Buddha’s Father

THE Buddha’s name became famous over all India and Suddhodana, his father, sent word to him saying: “I am growing old and wish to see my son before I die. Others have had the benefit of his doctrine, but not his father nor his relatives.” And the messenger said: “O world-honored Tathagata, thy father looks for thy coming as the lily longs for the rising of the sun.”

The Blessed One consented to the request of his father and set out on his journey to Kapilavatthu. Soon the tidings spread in the native country of the Buddha: “Prince Siddhattha, who wandered forth from home into homelessness to obtain enlightenment, having attained his purpose, is coming back.”

Suddhodana went out with his relatives and ministers to meet the prince. When the king saw Siddhattha, his son, from afar, he was struck with his beauty and dignity, and he rejoiced in his heart, but his mouth found no words to utter. This, indeed, was his son; these were the features of Siddhattha. How near was the great samana to his heart, and yet what a distance lay between them! That noble muni was no longer Siddhattha, his son; he was the Buddha, the Blessed One, the Holy One, Lord of truth, and teacher of mankind. Suddhodana the king, considering the religious dignity of his son, descended from his chariot and after saluting his son said: “It is now seven years since I have seen thee. How I have longed for this moment!”

Then the Sakyamuni took a seat opposite his father, and the king gazed eagerly at his son. He longed to call him by his name, but he dared not. “Siddhattha,” he exclaimed silently in his heart, “Siddhattha, come back to thine aged father and be his son again!” But seeing the determination of his son, he suppressed his sentiments, and, desolation overcame him. Thus the king sat face to face with his son, rejoicing in his sadness and sad in his rejoicing. Well might he be proud of his son, but his pride broke down at the idea that his great son would never be his heir.

“I would offer thee my kingdom,” said, the king, “but if I did, thou wouldst account it but as ashes.”

And the Buddha said: “I know that the king’s heart is full of love and that for his son’s sake he feels deep grief. But let the ties of love that bind him to the son whom he lost embrace with equal kindness all his fellow-beings, and he will receive in his place a greater one than Siddhattha; he will receive the Buddha, the teacher of truth, the preacher of righteousness, and the peace of Nirvana will enter into his heart.”

Suddhodana trembled with joy when he heard the melodious words of his son, the Buddha, and clasping his hands, exclaimed with tears in his eyes: “Wonderful in this change! The overwhelming sorrow has passed away. At first my sorrowing heart was heavy, but now I reap the fruit of thy great renunciation. It was right that, moved by thy mighty sympathy, thou shouldst reject the pleasures of royal power and achieve thy noble purpose in religious devotion. Now that thou hast found the path, thou canst preach the law of immortality to all the world that yearns for deliverance.” The king returned to the palace, while the Buddha remained in the grove before the city.

————-

BUDDHA, THE GOSPEL

By Paul Carus

Chicago, The Open Court Publishing Company,

[1894]

buddhism, Quotations

The Bodhisattva’s Renunciation

IT was night. The prince found no rest on his soft pillow; he arose and went out into the garden. “Alas!” he cried “all the world is full of darkness and ignorance; there is no one who knows how to cure the ills of existence.” And he groaned with pain.

Siddhattha sat down beneath the great jambu-tree and gave himself to thought, pondering on life and death and the evils of decay. Concentrating his mind he became free from confusion. All low desires vanished from his heart and perfect tranquility came over him.

In this state of ecstasy he saw with his mental eye all the misery and sorrow of the world; he saw the pains of pleasure and the inevitable certainty of death that hovers over every being; yet men are not awakened to the truth. And a deep compassion seized his heart.

While the prince was pondering on the problem of evil, he beheld with his mind’s eye under the jambu tree a lofty figure endowed with majesty, calm and dignified. “Whence comest thou, and who mayst thou be asked the prince.

In reply the vision said: “I am a samana. Troubled at the thought of old age, disease, and death I have left my home to seek the path of salvation. All things hasten to decay; only the truth abideth forever. Everything changes, and there is no permanency; yet the words of the Buddhas are immutable. I long for the happiness that does not decay; the treasure that will never perish; the life that knows of no beginning and no end. Therefore, I have destroyed all worldly thought. I have retired into an unfrequented dell to live in solitude; and, begging for food, I devote myself to the one thing needful.

Siddhattha asked: “Can peace be gained in this world of unrest? I am struck with the emptiness of pleasure and have become disgusted with lust. All oppresses me, and existence itself seems intolerable.”

The samana replied: “Where heat is, there is also a possibility of cold; creatures subject to pain possess the faculty of pleasure; the origin of evil indicates that good can be developed. For these things are correlatives. Thus where there is much suffering, there will be much bliss, if thou but open thine eyes to behold it. Just as a man who has fallen into a heap of filth ought to seek the great pond of water covered with lotuses, which is near by: even so seek thou for the great deathless lake of Nirvana to wash off the defilement of wrong. If the lake is not sought, it is not the fault of the lake. Even so when there is a blessed road leading the man held fast by wrong to the salvation of Nirvana, if the road is not walked upon, it is not the fault of the road, but of the person. And when a man who is oppressed with sickness, there being a physician who can heal him, does not avail himself of the physician’s help, that is not the fault of the physician. Even so when a man oppressed by the malady of wrong-doing does not seek the spiritual guide of enlightenment, that is no fault of the evil-destroying guide.“

—

The prince listened to the noble words of his visitor and said: “Thou bringest good tidings, for now I know that my purpose will be accomplished. My father advises me to enjoy life and to undertake worldly duties, such as will bring honor to me and to our house. He tells me that I am too young still, that my pulse beats too full to lead a religious life.”

The venerable figure shook his head and replied: “Thou shouldst know that for seeking a religious life no time can be inopportune.”

A thrill of joy passed through Siddhattha’s heart. “Now is the time to seek religion,” he said; “now is the time to sever all ties that would prevent me from attaining perfect enlightenment; now is the time to wander into homelessness and, leading a mendicant’s life, to find the path of deliverance.”

The celestial messenger heard the resolution of Siddhattha with approval. “Now, indeed he added, is the time to seek religion. Go, Siddhattha, and accomplish thy purpose. For thou art Bodhisatta, the Buddha-elect; thou art destined to enlighten the world. Thou art the Tathagata, the great master, for thou wilt fulfill all righteousness and be Dharmaraja, the king of truth. Thou art Bhagavat, the Blessed One, for thou art called upon to become the savior and redeemer of the world. Fulfill thou the perfection of truth. Though the thunderbolt descend upon thy head, yield thou never to the allurements that beguile men from the path of truth. As the sun at all seasons pursues his own course, nor ever goes on another, even so if thou forsake not the straight path of righteousness, thou shalt become a Buddha. Persevere in thy quest and thou shalt find what thou seekest. Pursue thy aim unswervingly and thou shalt gain the prize. Struggle earnestly and thou shalt conquer. The benediction of all deities, of all saints of all that seek light is upon thee, and heavenly wisdom guides thy steps. Thou shalt be the Buddha, our Master, and our Lord; thou shalt enlighten the world and save mankind from perdition.

Having thus spoken, the vision vanished, and Siddhattha’s heart was filled with peace. He said to himself: “I have awakened to the truth and I am resolved to accomplish my purpose. I will sever all the ties that bind me to the world, and I will go out from my home to seek the way of salvation. The Buddhas are beings whose words cannot fail: there is no departure from truth in their speech. For as the fall of a stone thrown into the air, as the death of a mortal, as the sunrise at dawn, as the lion’s roar when he leaves his lair, as the delivery of a woman with child, as all these things are sure and certain-even so the word of the Buddhas is sure and cannot fail. Verily I shall become a Buddha.”

The prince returned to the bedroom of his wife to take a last farewell glance at those whom he dearly loved above all the treasures of the earth. He longed to take the infant once more into his arms and kiss him with a parting kiss. But the child lay in the arms of his mother, and the prince could not lift him without awakening both. There Siddhattha stood gazing at his beautiful wife and his beloved son, and his heart grieved. The pain of parting overcame him powerfully. Although his mind was determined, so that nothing, be it good or evil, could shake his resolution, the tears flowed freely from his eyes, and it was beyond his power to check their stream. But the prince tore himself away with a manly heart, suppressing his feelings but not extinguishing his memory.

The Bodhisattva mounted his noble steed Kanthaka, and when he left the palace, Mara stood in the gate and stopped him: “Depart not, O my Lord,” exclaimed Mara. “In seven days from now the wheel of empire will appear, and will make thee sovereign over the four continents and the two thousand adjacent islands. Therefore, stay, my Lord.”

The Bodhisattva replied: “Well do I know that the wheel of empire will appear to me; but it is not sovereignty that I desire. I will become a Buddha and make all the world shout for joy.”

Thus Siddhattha, the prince, renounced power and worldly pleasures, gave up his kingdom, severed all ties, and went into homelessness. He rode out into the silent night, accompanied only by his faithful charioteer Channa. Darkness lay upon the earth, but the stars shone brightly in the heavens.

———

Excerpted from: BUDDHA, THE GOSPEL

By Paul Carus

Chicago, The Open Court Publishing Company,

[1894]

Musings, personal

Looking Back at the Journals 2010-11

It is raining heavily here, too heavily to do any gardening, so I have been looking back.

In 2010 I had three face to face interviews for jobs, one as a HoD for a UK Chemistry Department, one for a CVD diamond manufacturer and the other working on developing satellite based LIDAR instrumentation.

None of them worked out in the long term.

I had the interview for the latter post in the summer and then heard nothing. The whole set up was a bit weird and the interview very short considering the scope.

Towards the end of the year, we were moving house. We had spent the year here in the middle of the Hampton Estate. To the right you can see traces of “Nottingham” from where they had filmed Robin Hood.

—

Just as were getting ready to move we had a big dump of snow. This meant that the removal men did not want to come out. The second day I manged to get to our destination in an old 206 and the removal guys came to fetch us when I told them. {machismo?}They were city boys and the boss had brought his big 4X4 as well as the lorry. He was freaked out by some of the noises in the wood.

We moved house in late November and when we arrived, I had a missed call from Holland. This was months after the interview! Weird.

If you understand how few calls I get, a missed call itself is pretty unusual.

It turns out they were offering me a job with a tax free monthly salary in excess of €8000, tax free petrol, kudos and diplomatic number plates. They also sent me a CD with 350 megabytes of rules and regulations much of which focussed on rules about corruption, not giving contracts to mates or accepting any gifts.

There were a whole bunch of other perks as well. The ex-wife saw dollar signs…

Given that money was tight it seemed remarkable.

I read the rules and accepted the job and started to learn about satellite technology.

We arranged a visit to look at housing. We saw far too many houses / flats. There were a number of warning dreaming symbols that day, light bulbs exploding, doors not opening, police sirens. We wanted to see one house, where some top brass had lived, only to be told, just as we were about to visit it that it was no longer available.

This would have been a way back into the mainstream.

Then I had a dream saying in no uncertain terms that I should get off that road. So, I extricated myself from the contract and various people were livid with me. It was tricky and I wonder if they “told” on me to my former employer.

Then I had dream after dream after dream about messes not of my own making. People had made huge errors, cock ups and mistakes. I had an awful lot of attack dreams and anger projection dreams, dreams of dodgy dealing and manipulation by people known to me.

I started doing 1:1 “A” level tutorials and it seemed that the universe was happy for me to do this.

My take on this is that I renounced the pecuniary temptation offered me. I would have been heavily bound to that job and back on the crazy-horse merry-go-round hamster wheel.

The house we moved to was once a farmworkers cottage and is less isolated. I did not need to be quite so far from human beings anymore…

Then I had all those Triskélion related dreams.

I have a good notion about what they mean. The implications are that many had the entire wrong end of the stick about me and for well over a decade too!!

But people are such experts, they always know best…

ॐ, Esoteric, Esoteric Psychology, Quotations, Rāja yoga, Toltec Teachings

Mayavirupa

The Mayavirupa is literally the illusory form; it is the body of temporary manifestation which the Adept creates on occasion through the power of the will and in which He functions in order to make certain contacts on the physical plane and to engage in certain work for the [human] race. CF 761

Mayavi Rupa. Sanskrit, “Illusive Form.” It is the body of manifestation created by the adept by an act of will for use in the three worlds. It has no material connection with the physical body. It is spiritual and ethereal and passes everywhere without let or hindrance. It is built by the power of the lower mind, of the highest type of astral matter. IHS 221

…The stage wherein–after the fourth initiation–there is direct unbroken relation between the Monad, via the Triad, and the form which the Master is using to do His work among men. This form may be either His temporary personality, arrived at along the normal lines of incarnation, or the specially created form to which Theosophists give the technical but cumbersome word “mayavirupa.” It is the “true mask, hiding the radiant light and the dynamic energy of a revealed Son of God.” RI 50-51

He [the initiate] can work through a physical body (with its subtler sheaths) or not, as he sees fit. He realizes that he, as an individual, no longer needs a physical body or an astral consciousness, and that the mind is only a service instrument. The body in which he now functions is a body of light which has its own type of substance. The Master, however, can build a body through which He can approach His incoming disciples and those who have not taken the higher initiations; He will normally build this body in semblance of the human form, doing so instantaneously and by an act of the will, when required. The majority of the Masters who are definitely working with humanity either preserve the old body in which They took the fifth initiation or else They build the “mayavirupa” or body of maya, of physical substance. This body will appear in the original form in which They took initiation. This I personally did in reference to the first case; i.e., preserving the body in which I took initiation. This the Master K.H. did in creating a body which was made in the form in which He took the fifth initiation. RI 705

The Master Jesus on the Cross could not respond to any saving process (even had He desired to do so) because the soul body–as is always the case at the fourth initiation–was destroyed; there was nothing to respond to the evocative power of an outside person, interested or loving. As an adept and as one in whom monadic consciousness was firmly established, the powers then available to Jesus could not be used in the saving of His physical body. At the same time, it must be remembered that He would have no desire to save it, because He now possessed the power (demonstrated later in the Gospel story) to create a body at will in order to meet His needs. EH 654

Some of the Masters will create what is called in the language of the East the “mayavirupa”–a vehicle of expression which is built of atomic physical and astral substance and of concrete mental substance. This They can create at will, use at will and cause to vanish at will; Their problem is not, therefore, so acute in the matter of appearing and of reappearing as is that of the initiate who cannot thus create to suit his purpose and his service. EX 697

Applicants for initiation and initiates up to the third initiation use both the sutratma and the antahkarana, employing them as a unit. The power of the Triad begins to pour through, thus energizing all human activities upon the physical plane, and vitalizing in ever increasing degree the man’s thought forms. The key to the formation of the Mayavirupa is found in the right comprehension of the process. CF 959-960 [See also: ENA 31]

The three aspects of the will, as focused in the Spiritual Triad, are now in full expression; the initiate is animated by Purpose, but faces still greater evolutionary developments; of these I do not need to speak, as they concern divine aspects as yet unknown and unregistered by man. The reason for this complete ignorance is that the vehicles of any man below the third initiation contain too much “impure matter” to record the impact of these divine qualities. Only the “created body” (the mayavirupa) of an initiate of the fourth initiation can begin to register these divine impacts; it is therefore a waste of our time to consider even the possibility of their existence. RI 317

The soul then prepares itself for the coming fourth initiation. This is basically a monadic experience and results–as you know–in the disappearance or destruction of the soul vehicle or causal body, and the establishment, therefore, of a direct relation between the monad on its own plane and the newly created personality, via the antahkarana. EH 518

The causal body is itself eventually done away with when the pupil takes the fourth initiation and can freely create his own body of manifestation. LOM 275

In the mode whereby the liberated disciple can now create a body for physical plane contact and for service in the three worlds–this time not under the Law of Necessity but under the Law of Service, as understood by the initiate. EH 505

The fourth initiation marks the complete realization of this relation by the initiate. It enables him to say: “I and my Father are one.” It is for this reason that the crucifixion, or the Great Renunciation, takes place. Forget not that it is the soul that is crucified. It is Christ Who “dies.” It is not the man; it is not Jesus. The causal body disappears. The man is monadically conscious. The soul-body no longer serves any useful purpose; it is no more needed. Nothing is left but the sutratma, qualified by consciousness–a consciousness which still preserves identity whilst merged in the whole. Another qualification is creativity; thus consciousness can be focussed at will on the physical plane in an outer body or form. This body is will-created by the Master. RI 455

When the antahkarana is built, and the mental unit is superseded by the manasic permanent atom, and the causal body disappears, then the adept knows that the lower mind, the mental body, is also an illusion and is, for him, non-existent. There are then–as far as his individual consciousness is concerned–only three focal points or anchorages (both of these expressions are inadequate to express the full meaning):

1. Humanity, in which he can focus himself at will through the medium of what is called technically the “mayavirupa”–a bodily form which he creates for the fulfillment of monadic purpose. RI 481

—

At the fourth initiation, the initiate is brought into the Presence of that aspect of Himself which is called “His Father in Heaven.” He is brought face to face with his own Monad, that pure spiritual essence on the highest plane but one, which is to his Ego or higher self what that Ego is to the personality or lower self….For the remainder of his appearances in the three worlds he is governed only by will and purpose, self-initiated, and creates his body of manifestation, and thus controls (within karmic limits) his own times and seasons. The karma here referred to is planetary karma, and not personal. IHS 117

This marks the fourth Initiation; after that Initiation, the Adept makes for Himself a body of manifestation, a free creation–there is nothing in Him to call into objectivity a body for use in the three worlds and evolved under the Law of Causes. LOM 11

The intuition (or buddhi) being the unifying principle and thus welding all, at the fourth initiation the lower vehicles go, and the adept stands in his intuitional body, and creates from thence his body of manifestation. LOM 339

Since buddhi is the unifying principle (or the welder of all), at the fifth initiation the adept lets the lower vehicles go, and stands in his buddhic sheath. He creates thence his body of manifestation. IHS 16-17

It must be remembered that a Master has no personality at all. His divine nature is all that He has. The form through which He works (if he is working through and living in a physical vehicle) is a created image, the product of a focussed will and the creative imagination; it is not the product of desire, as in the case of a human being. This is an important distinction and one which warrants careful thinking. The lesser lives (which are governed by the Moon) have been dispersed. They no longer respond to the ancient call of the reincarnating soul, which again and again has gathered to itself the lives which it has touched and colored by its quality in the past. The soul and the causal body no longer exist by the time the fourth initiation is undergone. What is left is the Monad and the thread, the antahkarana which it has spun out of its own life and consciousness down the ages and which it can focus at will upon the physical plane, where it can create a body of pure substance and radiant light for all that the Master may require. This will be a perfect body, utterly adapted to the need, the plan and the purpose of the Master. None of the lesser lives (as we understand the term) form part of it, for they can only be summoned by desire. In the Master there is no desire left, and this is the thought held before the disciple as he begins to master the significance of the fourth Rule. RI 101

If the deva, or solar Angel, is no longer attracted by matter, then there is no identification, and objective life is no longer the law of his existence. He identifies himself then with quality, or energy, and becomes an expression of the divine attributes. Objectivity may then ensue as a voluntary offering to the good of the group or planetary existence, but identification with the separated form is no longer the case. The human vehicle then created is as much a thought form in this case as any other particularized idea, and the greatest act of conscious magic is to be seen. All other magical creations are subsidiary to this. Through manipulation of negative and positive energy, thus bringing them to the point of equilibrium before informing them, the perfected body of the Adept is formed. CF 1013-1014

In the case of all avatars it is the will aspect which is brought into play, and which produces appearance–either the will of the perfected adept, such as the Buddha Himself, or (as in the case of the true Avatar, Who is, and Who has not achieved) the will of the planetary Logos or of the solar Logos, taking form for a specific purpose. It involves a higher display of the creative faculty than that displayed by the Adept in the creation of His body of manifestation, the Mayavirupa. CF 760-761

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buddhism, Quotations

KING BIMBISARA

SIDDHATTHA had cut his waving hair and had exchanged his royal robe for a mean dress of the color of the ground. Having sent home Channa, the charioteer, together with the noble steed Kanthaka, to King Suddhodana to bear him the message that the prince had left the world, the Bodhisattva walked along on the highroad with a beggar’s bowl in his hand.

Yet the majesty of his mind was ill-concealed under the poverty of his appearance. His erect gait betrayed his royal birth and his eyes beamed with a fervid zeal for truth. The beauty of his youth was transfigured by holiness and surrounded his head like a halo. All the people who saw this unusual sight gazed at him in wonder. Those who were in haste arrested their steps and looked back; and there was no one who did not pay him homage.

Having entered the city of Rajagaha, the prince went from house to house silently waiting till the people offered him food. Wherever the Blessed One came, the people gave him what they had; they bowed before him in humility and were filled with gratitude because he condescended to approach their homes. Old and young people were moved and said: “This is a noble muni! His approach is bliss. What a great joy for us!”

And King Bimbisara, noticing the commotion in the city, inquired the cause of it, and when he learned the news sent one of his attendants to observe the stranger. Having heard that the muni must be a Sakya and of noble family, and that he had retired to the bank of a flowing river in the woods to eat the food in his bowl, the king was moved in his heart; he donned his royal robe, placed his golden crown upon his head and went out in the company of aged and wise counselors to meet his mysterious guest.

The king found the muni of the Sakya race seated under a tree. Contemplating the composure of his face and the gentleness of his deportment, Bimbisara greeted him reverently and said: “O samana, thy hands are fit to grasp the reins of an empire and should not hold a beggar’s bowl. I am sorry to see thee wasting thy youth. Believing that thou art of royal descent, I invite thee to join me in the government of my country and share my royal power. Desire for power is becoming to the noble-minded, and wealth should not be despised. To grow rich and lose religion is not true gain. But he who possesses all three, power, wealth, and religion, enjoying them in discretion and with wisdom, him I call a great master.”

The great Sakyamuni lifted his eyes and replied: “Thou art known, O king, to be liberal and religious, and thy words are prudent. A kind man who makes good use of wealth is rightly said to possess a great treasure; but the miser who hoards up his riches will have no profit. Charity is rich in returns; charity is the greatest wealth, for though it scatters, it brings no repentance.

“I have severed all ties because I seek deliverance. How is it possible for me to return to the world? He who seeks religious truth, which is the highest treasure of all, must leave behind all that can concern him or draw away his attention, and must be bent upon that one goal alone. He must free his soul from covetousness and lust, and also from the desire for power.

“Indulge in lust but a little, and lust like a child will grow. Wield worldly power and you will be burdened with cares. Better than sovereignty over the earth, better than living in heaven, better than lordship over all the worlds, is the fruit of holiness. The Bodhisattva has recognized the illusory nature of wealth and will not take poison as food. Will a fish that has been baited still covet the hook, or an escaped bird love the net? Would a rabbit rescued from the serpent’s mouth go back to be devoured? Would a man who has burnt his hand with a torch take up the torch after he had dropped it to the earth? Would a blind man who has recovered his sight desire to spoil his eyes again?

“The sick man suffering from fever seeks for a cooling medicine. Shall we advise him to drink that which will increase the fever? Shall we quench a fire by heaping fuel upon it?

“I pray thee, pity me not. Rather pity those who are burdened with the cares of royalty and the worry of great riches. They enjoy them in fear and trembling, for they are constantly threatened with a loss of those boons on whose possession their hearts are set, and when they die they cannot take along either their gold or the kingly diadem.

“My heart hankers after no vulgar profit, so I have put away my royal inheritance and prefer to be free from the burdens of life. Therefore, try not to entangle me in new relationships and duties, nor hinder me from completing the work I have begun. I regret to leave thee. But I will go to the sages who can teach me religion and so find the path on which we can escape evil.

“May thy country enjoy peace and prosperity, and may wisdom be shed upon thy rule like the brightness of the noon-day sun. May thy royal power be strong and may righteousness be the scepter in thine hand.”

The king, clasping his hands with reverence, bowed down before Sakyamuni and said: “Mayest thou obtain that which thou seekest, and when thou hast obtained it, come back, I pray thee, and receive me as thy disciple.” The Bodhisattva parted from the king in friendship and goodwill, and purposed in his heart to grant his request.

—-

Excerpted from:

BUDDHA, THE GOSPEL

By Paul Carus

Chicago, The Open Court Publishing Company,

[1894]

At Sacred texts

I Ching, Quotations

Birthday I Ching Consultation 28-08-22

Please comment on what I may do in my 59^th year…

49. Ko / Revolution (Molting)

above TUI THE JOYOUS, LAKE

below LI THE CLINGING, FIRE

The Chinese character for this hexagram means in its original sense an animal’s pelt, which is changed in the course of the year by molting. From this word is carried over to apply to the “moltings” in political life, the great revolutions connected with changes of governments. The two trigrams making up the hexagram are the same two that appear in K’uei, OPPOSITION 38, that is, the two younger daughters, Li and Tui. But while there the elder of the two daughters is above, and what results is essentially only an opposition of tendencies, here the younger daughter is above. The influences are in actual conflict, and the forces combat each other like fire and water (lake), each trying to destroy the other. Hence the idea of revolution.

THE JUDGMENT

REVOLUTION. On your own day

You are believed.

Supreme success,

Furthering through perseverance.

Remorse disappears.

Political revolutions are extremely grave matters. They should be undertaken only under stress of direst necessity, when there is no other way out. Not everyone is called to this task, but only the man who has the confidence of the people, and even he only when the time is ripe. He must then proceed in the right way, so that he gladdens the people and, by enlightening them, prevents excesses. Furthermore, he must be quite free of selfish aims and must really relieve the need of the people. Only then does he have nothing to regret. Times change, and with them their demands. Thus the seasons change in the course of the year. In the world cycle also there are spring and autumn in the life of peoples and nations, and these call for social transformations.

THE IMAGE

Fire in the lake: the image of REVOLUTION.

Thus the superior man

Sets the calendar in order

And makes the seasons clear.

Fire below and the lake above combat and destroy each other. So too in the course of the year a combat takes place between the forces of light and the forces of darkness, eventuating in the revolution of the seasons, and man is able to adjust himself in advance to the demands of the different times.

THE LINES

Nine at the beginning means:

Wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow.

Changes ought to be undertaken only when there is nothing else to be done. Therefore at first the utmost restraint is necessary. One must becomes firm in one’s mind, control oneself-yellow is the color of the means, and the cow is the symbol of docility-and refrain from doing anything for the time being, because any premature offensive will bring evil results.

Six in the second place means:

When one’s own day comes, one may create revolution.

Starting brings good fortune. No blame.

When we have tried in every other way to bring about reforms, but without success, revolution becomes necessary. But such a thorough going upheaval must be carefully prepared. There must be available a man who has the requisite abilities and who possesses public confidence. To such a man we may well turn. This brings good fortune and is not a mistake. The first thing to be considered is our inner attitude toward the new condition that will inevitably come. We have to go out to meet it, as it were. Only in this way can it be prepared for.

—–

49) Ko / La Révolution (la Mue)

En haut Touei : Le Joyeux, le Lac.

En bas Li : Ce qui s’attache, le Feu.

Le sens primitif du caractère désignant l’hexagramme est celui d’une peau de bête qui se transforme en muant au cours de l’année. A partir de là le terme est appliqué aux mues qui se produisent dans la vie de l’Etat, aux grandes révolutions liées à un changement de régime. Les deux signes dont l’union forme l’hexagramme sont, comme dans K’ouei « L’opposition » (n° 38), les deux plus jeunes filles, Li et Touei. Mais, tandis que dans K’ouei la plus âgée des deux se tient en haut et qu’il n’en résulte pour l’essentiel qu’une opposition de tendances, ici c’est la plus jeune qui occupe la place supérieure et les effets s’affrontent mutuellement; les forces se combattent comme le feu et l’eau (le lac), chacune cherchant à détruire l’autre. D’où l’idée de révolution.

Le Jugement

LA RÉVOLUTION.

En ton jour tu rencontres foi.

Sublime succès favorisant par la persévérance.

Le remords se dissipe.

Les révolutions politiques sont chose excessivement grave. On ne doit les engager qu’en cas d’extrême nécessité quand il ne reste plus d’autre issue. Tout le monde n’est pas appelé à une telle action, mais seulement celui qui a la confiance du peuple, et il ne l’entreprendra que si les temps sont mûrs. Il faut dans une telle affaire procéder de la façon correcte de manière à réjouir le peuple et à éviter les excès en l’éclairant. On doit en outre demeurer exempt de toute visée égoïste et venir réellement en aide aux besoins du peuple. Alors seulement on n’a pas à se repentir. Les temps changent et avec eux les exigences. Ainsi changent les saisons au cours de l’année. Il y a aussi dans l’année de l’univers un printemps et un automne des peuples et des nations qui exigent des transformations sociales.

L’image

Dans le lac est le feu :

Image de la RÉVOLUTION.

Ainsi l’homme noble règle le calendrier et clarifie les temps.

Le feu au-dessous et le lac au-dessus se combattent et se détruisent mutuellement. Ainsi, le cours de l’année donne également lieu au combat de la force lumineuse et de la force obscure qui se déroule dans les changements des saisons. L’homme se rend maître des transformations de la nature quand il reconnaît leur régularité et divise le cours du temps en conséquence. C’est ainsi que l’ordre et la clarté sont introduits dans l’apparence chaotique de la succession temporelle et que l’on peut s’adapter, même par avance aux exigences des différentes époques

Neuf au commencement signifie :

On est enveloppé dans la peau d’une vache jaune.

On ne doit entreprendre des changements que lorsqu’il n’y a plus d’autre possibilité. C’est pourquoi la plus extrême réserve est d’abord nécessaire. On doit se rendre intérieurement ferme, se modérer – le jaune est la couleur du milieu, la vache est le symbole de la docilité et ne rien entreprendre tout d’abord, car toute offensive prématurée a des conséquences fâcheuses.

Six à la deuxième place signifie :

En ton jour tu peux causer une révolution.

Le départ apporte la fortune. Pas de blâme.

Quand on a tout tenté sans succès pour réaliser des réformes, la nécessité d’une révolution se fait sentir. Cependant une telle révolution radicale doit être bien préparée. Il faut qu’il y ait là un homme possédant les capacités voulues et la confiance du peuple. On pourra se tourner vers un tel homme. Cela apporte la fortune et ne constitue pas une faute. Ce qui importe avant tout est l’attitude intérieure envers l’ordre nouveau qui va s’établir. On doit pour ainsi dire aller au-devant de lui. Ce n’est qu’ainsi qu’il sera préparé.

——–

Changing to

28. Ta Kuo / Preponderance of the Great

above TUI THE JOYOUS, LAKE

below SUN THE GENTLE, WIND, WOOD

This hexagram consists of four strong lines inside and two weak lines outside. When the strong are outside and the weak inside, all is well and there is nothing out of balance, nothing extraordinary in the situation. Here, however, the opposite is the case. The hexagram represents a beam that is thick and heavy in the middle but too weak at the ends. This is a condition that cannot last; it must be changed, must pass, or misfortune will result.

THE JUDGMENT

PREPONDERANCE OF THE GREAT.

The ridgepole sags to the breaking point.

It furthers one to have somewhere to go.

Success.

The weight of the great is excessive. The load is too heavy for the strength of the supports. The ridgepole on which the whole roof rests, sags to the breaking point, because its supporting ends are too weak for the load they bear. It is an exceptional time and situation; therefore extraordinary measures are demanded. It is necessary to find a way of transition as quickly as possible, and to take action. This promises success. For although the strong element is in excess, it is in the middle, that is, at the center of gravity, so that a revolution is not to be feared. Nothing is to be achieved by forcible measures. The problem must be solved by gently penetration to the meaning of the situation (as is suggested by the attribute of the inner trigram, Sun); then the change-over to other conditions will be successful. It demands real superiority; therefore the time when the great preponderates is a momentous time.

THE IMAGE

The lake rises above the trees:

The image of PREPONDERANCE OF THE GREAT.

Thus the superior man, when he stands alone,

Is unconcerned,

And if he has to renounce the world,

He is undaunted.

Extraordinary times when the great preponderates are like flood times when the lake rises over the treetops. But such conditions are temporary. The two trigrams indicate the attitude proper to such exceptional times: the symbol of the trigram Sun is the tree, which stands firm even though it stands alone, and the attribute of Tui is joyousness, which remains undaunted even if it must renounce the world.

—-

28) Ta Kouo / la Prépondérance du Grand

En haut Touei : Le Joyeux, le Lac

En bas Souen : Le Doux, le Vent, le Bois

L’hexagramme est formé de quatre traits forts à l’intérieur et de deux traits faibles à l’extérieur. Quand les traits forts sont à l’extérieur et les traits faibles à l’intérieur, tout va bien, il n’y a pas d’excédent de poids, la situation ne comporte rien d’extraordinaire. Mais ici c’est l’inverse qui se produit. L’hexagramme représente une poutre épaisse et lourde au milieu, mais mince à ses extrémités. Cet état n’est pas durable. Il doit passer, se transformer, sinon le malheur menace.

Le Jugement

LA PRÉPONDÉRANCE DU GRAND.

La poutre faîtière ploie.

Il est avantageux d’avoir où aller.

Succès.

Le poids de ce qui est grand est excessif. La charge est trop lourde pour les forces qui doivent la supporter. La poutre faîtière, sur laquelle repose le toit tout entier, ploie parce que ses extrémités porteuses sont trop faibles pour la charge. L’heure et le lieu sont exceptionnels et réclament en conséquence des mesures extraordinaires si l’on veut triompher. Aussi il est nécessaire d’agir pour trouver au plus vite une voie de transition. Il y a là une promesse de succès, car, bien que le fort soit en excédent, il occupe le milieu, c’est-à-dire le centre de gravité, si bien que n’y a pas à craindre de révolution. Les mesures de violence ne mènent en vérité à rien. Il faut défaire les nœuds en pénétrant doucement le sens de la situation – ce qu’évoque la signification du trigramme inférieur Souen; alors le passage à d’autres conditions réussira. Cela exige une réelle supériorité : c’est pourquoi le temps où ce qui est grand prédomine est une époque importante.

L’image

Le lac s’élève au-dessus des arbres :

Image de la PRÉPONDÉRANCE DU GRAND.

Ainsi l’homme noble n’est pas inquiet quand il est seul et il n’est pas découragé quand il doit renoncer au monde.

Les temps exceptionnels où ce qui est grand prédomine ressemblent à une inondation où le lac s’élève au-dessus des arbres. Mais de telles situations sont passagères. Chacun des trigrammes indique la conduite à tenir dans ces moments : l’image de Souen est l’arbre qui tient bon même s’il est isolé, et l’attribut de Touei est la sérénité joyeuse qui ne se décourage jamais, même si elle doit renoncer au monde.

—

Foxtrot Foxtrot Sierra

ॐ, buddhism, Cause & Effect, Dreams, Quotations

Siddhartha Entering the Womb

“Queen Māyā of Shakya (Sanskrit: मायादेवी, Pali: Māyādevī) was the birth mother of Gautama Buddha, the sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. She was sister of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, the first Buddhist nun ordained by the Buddha.

In Buddhist tradition, Maya died soon after the birth of Buddha, generally said to be seven days afterwards, and came to life again in a Hindu-Buddhist heaven, a pattern that is said to be followed in the births of all Buddhas. Thus Maya did not raise her son who was instead raised by his maternal aunt Mahapajapati Gotami. Maya would, however, on occasion descend from Heaven to give advice to her son.

Māyā (माया) means “illusion” in Sanskrit. Māyā is also called Mahāmāyā (महामाया, “Great Māyā”) and Māyādevī (मायादेवी, “Queen Māyā”). In Chinese, she is known as Móyé-fūrén (摩耶夫人, “Lady Māyā”), in Tibetan she is known as Gyutrulma and in Japanese she is known as Maya-bunin (摩耶夫人). Also, in Sinhalese she is known as මහාමායා දේවී (Mahāmāyā Dēvi).”

Esoteric, Esoteric Psychology, Quotations, Rāja yoga

Initiation IV – The Great Renunciation or Crucifixion

This initiation of renunciation (called “The Crucifixion” by Christian believers) is so familiar to the majority of people that I am hard put to it to say that which will arrest your attention, and thus offset a familiarity which necessarily lessens the importance of the theme in your consciousness. The idea of crucifixion is associated in your minds with death and torture, whereas neither concept underlies the true meaning. Let us consider some of the significances connected with this fourth initiation.

The sign of the Cross – associated in the Western world with this initiation and with the Christian faith – is in reality a cosmic symbol, long antedating the Christian era. It is one of the major signs to be found in the consciousness of Those advanced Beings Who, from the distant sun, Sirius, the seat of the true Great White Lodge, watch over the destinies of our solar system, but Who pay particular attention (why They do so is not yet revealed) to our relatively little and apparently unimportant planet, the Earth.

The word “crucifixion” comes from two Latin words signifying to “fix on a cross” (I have asked A.A.B. to look this word up in the dictionary so that you can have a sense of surety). The cross referred to in reference to this particular initiation is the Cardinal Cross of the heavens. It is to this cross that the disciple shifts at the fourth initiation, from the Fixed Cross of the heavens. This fixed cross is the one on which he has been crucified from the moment he found himself upon the Path of Probation and passed from thence on to the Path of Discipleship. On that Path – having transcended the world of phenomena and established an unbroken contact with the Monad, via the antahkarana – he renounces the Mutable Cross of existence in the three worlds (the world of appearances), and after a period of time he transfers from that cross on to the Fixed Cross, which is set up in the world of meaning where he has steadily learnt to dwell. This covers the period of the first three initiations. Now, being liberated through renunciation, he needs no longer to undergo the tests, trials, and difficulties which crucifixion on the Fixed Cross inevitably entails; he can now take his place upon the Cardinal Cross, with all its cosmic implications and opportunities which are then conferred. This – as far as the individual is concerned – is necessarily symbolic and figurative in its teaching. As far as the Heavenly Man is concerned, however, the application is not symbolic. It is far more factual. From the angle of the supreme Masters on Sirius, our planetary Logos, Sanat Kumara, is still on the Fixed Cross; He mounted the Mutable Cross in the first solar system; the Fixed Cross still holds Him in this solar system “fixed in His place”; in the next solar system, He will transfer Himself to the Cardinal Cross, and from “thence return to that High Place from whence He came.” You can see, therefore, why I emphasize the fact that these three crosses are simply symbols of experience in relation to the individual disciple. Let us consider this a little more closely:

The Mutable Cross governs the three worlds and the astral plane in particular. On this cross the average man is “crucified” until he achieves the needed experience and consciously reorients himself to another phase of unfoldment.
The Fixed Cross governs the five worlds of human development and conditions the experiences of all disciples. Through the discipline and the experiences thus gained whilst on this cross, the disciple passes from one renunciation to another until complete freedom and liberation has been achieved.
The Cardinal Cross governs the Master as He passes through the remaining five initiations; the fourth initiation is, curiously enough, governed by neither the Fixed Cross nor the Cardinal Cross. The disciple is descending from the Fixed Cross and seeking to mount the Cardinal Cross, and it is this transition period and experience which practically govern Him. It might therefore be noted that there are three initiations which test the disciple as to knowledge and experience: the first, the second and the third; then there comes an initiation of transition, followed by five initiations which the Master undergoes upon the Cardinal Cross.

It should be remembered that the distinctive nature of the man upon the Mutable Cross is that of self-consciousness; that the disciple upon the Fixed Cross is rapidly becoming group conscious when the experiences undergone have been rightly assimilated; and that the Master on the Cardinal Cross is distinguished by a universal consciousness which passes finally into cosmic consciousness – a state of being unknown to you, even in the wildest flights of your imagination. The first hint of the growth of cosmic consciousness comes when the disciple passes through the sixth Initiation of Decision. He determines then (by means of His enlightened will and not His mind) which of the seven Paths He will decide to follow. From that time on, the consciousness of the greater Life which enfolds our planetary Logos, as He enfolds humanity within His consciousness, increasingly controls the attitude, the awareness and the activities of the Master.

You can see, therefore, how this initiation of crucifixion (which the Christian world has appropriated for itself) is far vaster in its implications than students suspect. Yet this appropriation was intentional under the divine Plan of the Hierarchy, for always some great Teacher – by His life and teaching – will call attention to some particular initiation. The Buddha, for instance, in His Four Noble Truths, stated in reality the platform upon which the initiate of the third initiation takes his stand. He desires nothing of a personal nature; he is liberated from the three worlds. The Christ pictured for us and emphasized the fourth initiation with its tremendous transition from the Fixed Cross to the Mount of Ascension, symbol of transition, through initiation.

This crucifixion initiation has a major instructive feature. This is preserved for us in the name which is frequently given to this fourth initiation: the Great Renunciation. One tremendous experience is vouchsafed to the initiate at this time; he realizes (because he sees and knows) that the antahkarana has been successfully completed and that there is a direct line of energy from the Spiritual Triad, via the antahkarana, to his mind and brain. This brings to the forefront of his consciousness the sudden and appalling recognition that the soul itself, the egoic body on its own level, and that which for ages has been the supposed source of his existence and his guide and mentor, is no longer needed; his relation, as a soul-infused personality, is now directly with the Monad. He feels bereft and is apt to cry out – as did the Master Jesus – “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” But he makes the needed renunciation, and the causal body, the soul body, is relinquished and disappears. This is the culminating renunciation and the climaxing gesture of ages of small renunciations; renunciation marks the career of all aspirants and disciples – renunciation, consciously faced, understood and consciously made.

I have hinted earlier to you that this fourth or Renunciation Initiation is closely linked with the sixth initiation and with the ninth. The sixth initiation is only possible when the initiate has definitely made the needed renunciations; the reward is that he is then permitted to make a perfectly free choice and thus demonstrate his essential and gained freedom. The ninth initiation (that of the Refusal) has in it no element of renunciation. It is not a refusal to hold, for the initiate is at the point where he asks and holds nothing for the separated self. At that final planetary initiation the Master is brought face to face with what might be called cosmic evil, with that reservoir of evil which cyclically overflows the world, and also with the massed group of masters of the Black Lodge. He refuses recognition. This I will deal with later when we take up that particular initiation.

In connection with this Initiation of Renunciation there are some most interesting correspondences which throw a bright, illuminating light upon its significance. They are known to you in some measure, because I have dealt with the significance of the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict, and the fourth kingdom, the human, in my earlier writings; it might, however, serve some useful purpose if I bring some of them together and show how this Initiation of Renunciation is of supreme importance to humanity and to the individual initiate who is, of course, a member of the fourth kingdom. First of all, this great act of renunciation marks the moment when the disciple has nothing in him which relates him to the three worlds of human evolution. His contact with those worlds in the future will be purely voluntary and for purposes of service. I prefer the word “renunciation” to the word “crucifixion” because the last word simply emphasizes the suffering undergone by the initiate as he renounces all that is of a material nature and becomes a permanent and (if I may use such a term) a non-fluctuating and unchanging member of the fifth kingdom in nature, the kingdom of God, called by us the Hierarchy. Forget not that the three worlds of ordinary evolution constitute the dense physical subplanes of the cosmic physical plane.

Crucifixion embodies the concept of extreme physical suffering of a protracted nature, its last “three hours” according to the Bible story, typifying the three planes of our evolution. On all three planes, the disciple renounces; on all three planes he is, therefore, crucified. It connotes the ending of a life and – from the cosmic angle – of the personality life of the soul through many incarnations. If it is a statement of fact that the time sense is the response of the brain to a succession of states of consciousness or of events, and if it is equally true that (to the soul) there is no such factor in consciousness as time but only the Eternal Now is known, then the three worlds of incarnated being constitute one unit of experience in the life of the soul – an experience which ends at the crucifixion, because the soul in incarnation definitely, consciously and by the use of the enduring will, renounces all, and turns his back upon the material world, finally and for ever. He has mastered all the uses of the three worlds of experiment, experience and expression (to use three terms with which I have familiarized you in my other books), and now stands liberated.

Each initiate who makes this renunciation and undergoes the consequent crucifixion is in a position to say with the first of our humanity to do so, “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.” So spoke the Christ. The initiate is lifted up by his renunciation – which he makes through the “blood of the heart” – out of the world of material phenomena, because he has freed himself from any desire for them, from any interest in them and from any hold they may ever have had over him. He is completely detached. It is interesting to note that the Master Jesus underwent the renunciation initiation whilst at the same time the Christ was raised up at the seventh or Resurrection Initiation. So the two stories of these two great Disciples are parallel – One so obediently serving the Greater, and the Christ submitting His will to that of His Father in Heaven.

This initiation is therefore, in a unique sense, a culminating experience and a point of entrance into a new life for which all the past has been a preparation. After the ninth initiation, the Refusal Initiation, there comes a cosmic repetition of the Renunciation experience, this time devoid of the crucifixion aspect; the initiate at that great moment renounces or refuses contact with the cosmic physical plane on all its seven levels of awareness, unless he has chosen (at the sixth Initiation of Decision) the Path of World Service.

During the experience of the initiatory process in its first three phases, the initiate rejects control of the energies which are seated in the three centers below the diaphragm; he renounces their use for personality or selfish reasons. The center at the base of the spine has received and distributed the energy of self-will (the will of the lower self) and is emptied and stands ready for the dynamic reception of the higher will which – using the spinal channel as the pathway or the symbol of the antahkarana – will pour into it from the highest head center. The sacral center which has received and distributed the energy which has fed the physical appetites to a far greater extent than is at present realized, is also under control – a control which is related to normal and proper direction from the throat center and to the preservation of life on the physical plane, if the initiate chooses to incarnate for service ends. The solar plexus center, which has received and distributed the energy of the astral plane, the energy of desire and of emotion, is likewise cleansed and purified; its energy is transmuted to such an extent that it can pass under the complete control of the heart center, which henceforth and until the seventh Initiation of the Resurrection is “that whereby the initiate performs his hierarchical obligations.” Therefore, at the Great Renunciation, the three lower centers reach a point of utter purification or speaking symbolically – of utter emptiness. No energy of their own (related to the selfish aeonial past) is left; they are simply pure receptacles for the energies of the three higher centers. The three lower centers are related to the three worlds of personality evolution; the three higher centers are related to hierarchical work and living and are under the control of the initiate – a control which becomes increasingly perfect until the seventh Initiation of Resurrection. At that momentous resurrection, they become no longer of service; the Master needs no energy centers, and His consciousness is transcended and transformed into a type of awareness of which those who have not experienced these initiations know nothing. If He chooses to take a physical vehicle (as many will when the Christ reappears and the Hierarchy is externalized on Earth), the Master will “function from the above to the below” and not (as is the case today with all disciples, though naturally not with the Masters) on “the below towards the above.” I am here quoting ancient phrases to be found in the archives of the Hierarchy. They will therefore need no centers on the etheric levels of our planetary physical plane.

At this fourth initiation the initiate begins to function entirely and always upon the fourth plane, the buddhic levels of the cosmic physical plane – our intuitional plane. This is the case whether you count from below upwards or from above downwards. You have here again an indication of the central position of this initiation and of its importance. It is preceded by three initiations and succeeded by three initiations, leading up to that of the seventh or final planetary initiation, because the remaining two initiations are fundamentally not related in any way to our planetary Life. It is because of this permanent transition of the initiate’s “living focus” – lifted out of the three worlds on to the buddhic plane – that the concept of resurrection has crept into the Christian teaching so that the Crucifixion Initiation is portrayed as preceding the Resurrection Initiation; this is in reality not the case, except in a lesser degree and as symbol of future experience.

In the same way, the concept of sacrifice has permeated all the teaching anent the Crucifixion or the Renunciation Initiation, both in the East and in the West. This is a sacrifice idea associated with the concept of pain, agony, suffering, patience, prolongation and death. Yet the true root of the word remains the same and gives the true significance: “Sacer,” to make holy; that is what in truth happens to the initiate; he is “made holy”; he is “set apart” for spiritual development and service. He is separated off from that which is natural, material, transmitted and handicapping, trammeling and destructive, and from that which lessens right activity for that which is new. He learns to define the Wholeness which is his divine right and prerogative.

The beauty of the interpretation of this initiation and the reward to those who attempt to penetrate to its true meaning and significance are untold; it requires, however, the teaching of the East and of the West to arrive at the true understanding of the experience. The concept of a clean break with the old life in the three worlds of experience which has characterized the work of the soul for so long is obvious. It is death in its truest and most useful form; every death, as it takes place today and on the physical plane, is therefore symbolic in nature, pointing to the time when the soul finally “dies” to all that is material and physical, just as the human being dies to all contact in the three worlds before resuming incarnated living.

On the buddhic or intuitional plane (the fourth level of the cosmic physical plane) the mind nature – even that of the higher mind or the level of abstract thought – loses its control over the initiate and is henceforth only useful in service. The intuition, the pure reason, complete knowledge illumined by the loving purpose of the divine Mind – to mention some of the names of this fourth level of awareness or of spiritual sensitivity – takes its place and the initiate lives henceforth in the light of correct or straight knowledge, expressing itself as wisdom in all affairs – hence the titles of Master of the Wisdom or Lord of Compassion given to Those Who have taken the fourth and the fifth initiations; these follow very closely upon each other. From the buddhic level of awareness, the Master works; on it, He lives His life, undertakes His service and furthers the Plan in the three worlds and for the four kingdoms in nature. Let this not be forgotten. Also, let it be remembered that this achievement of focus and this attained freedom are not the result of a symbolic ceremony, but are the result of lives of suffering, of minor renunciations and of conscious experience. This conscious experience, leading to the fourth initiation, is a definitely planned undertaking, arrived at as true vision is gradually conferred, the divine Plan is sensed and receives cooperation, and intelligent aspiration takes the place of vague longings and sporadic efforts “to be good,” as it is normally expressed by aspirants.

It will be clear to you, therefore, why this fourth initiation is ruled or governed by the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict. The harmonizing of the lower centers with the higher, the harmonizing or establishing of right relations between the three worlds of human evolution and the buddhic plane, the rapport gradually being brought about by each succeeding initiation, between humanity and the Hierarchy, plus the service of establishing right human relations among men – these are some of the results which you even now grasp theoretically; these you will also grasp practically and substantially one day in your own experience. It is with this ray energy that the initiate works as he makes the Great Renunciation and is transferred thereby to the Cardinal Cross of the Heavens. This is the energy which enables him to live in the Eternal Now and to renounce the bindings of time. Through the entire experience he fights against that which is material; under the law of our planet (and, if you only knew, under the law of our solar system) nothing is achieved except by struggle and conflict – struggle and conflict associated on our planet with pain and suffering but which, after this fourth initiation, is devoid of suffering. A hint as to the purpose for which our little planet exists and its unique position in the scheme of things can here be noted.

As I mentioned earlier, the initiate now works from “above downwards.” This is only a symbolic mode of speech. Like his great Master, the Christ, when he seeks to serve humanity he “descends into hell” which is the hell of materialism and of physical plane life, and there labors for the furtherance of the Plan. We read in the Christian teaching that “Christ descended into hell and taught the spirits which are in prison” for three days. This means that He worked with humanity in the three worlds (for time and the process of events are regarded by philosophers as synonymous in meaning) for a brief period of time, but was called (on account of His unique task of embodying for the first time in world history the love principle of divinity) to be the Head of the Hierarchy.

The same concept of working in the three worlds of physical plane existence (in the cosmic sense) is embodied for us in the phrase found in the New Testament that “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” This is the veil which, symbolically speaking, divides or shuts off humanity from participation in the kingdom of God. This was rent by the Christ – an unique service which He rendered both to humanity and to the spiritual Hierarchy; He made it easier for a much quicker communication to be set up between those two great centers, of divine life.

I would ask you to ponder this Initiation of Renunciation, remembering ever in your daily life that this process of renunciation, entailing the crucifixion of the lower self, is only made possible by the practice of detachment every day. The word “detachment” is only the Eastern term for our word “renunciation.” That is the practical use of such information which I have here given to you. I would ask you also (curious as it may seem) to get used to crucifixion, if you care to use that word; to permit yourself to get accustomed to suffering with detachment, knowing that the soul suffers not at all, and that there is no pain or agony for the Master Who has attained liberation. The Masters have each and all renounced that which is material; They have been lifted out of the three worlds by Their Own effort; They have detached Themselves from all hindrances; They have left hell behind and the term “spirits that are in prison” no longer applies to Them. This They have done for no selfish purpose. In the early days of the Probationary Path, selfish aspiration is foremost in the consciousness of the aspirant; however, as he treads the path, and likewise the Path of Discipleship, he leaves all such motives behind (a minor renunciation) and his one aim, in seeking liberation and freedom from the three worlds, is to aid and help humanity. This dedication to service is the mark of the Hierarchy.

You can see, therefore, how the Buddha prepared the way for the Initiation of Renunciation or of Crucifixion by His teaching and His emphasis upon detachment. Think on these things and study the great continuity of effort and cooperation which distinguishes the Members of the spiritual Hierarchy. My prayer and wish is that your goal may be clear to your vision and that the “strength of your heart” may be adequate to the undertaking.

——–

Excerpted from “The Rays and The Initiations” by Alice Bailey & Djwhal Kuhl

ॐ, buddhism, Karma, Musings, personal, Questions, Rāja yoga

Self-Sabotage or Renunciation?

I’ll preface this with the caveat that it is very easy to kid oneself.

In Western society it is not uncommon for people to seek to self-advance. Get a better paying job, a more ridiculously expensive house, a posh car, a white picket fence “ideal” for show marriage, some power, perhaps a bit of social kudos, nice holidays, maybe some plastic surgery, fillers and some hair die. That way one can play advancement or keeping up with the Joneses top trumps over the dinner table.

“We went to St Barts…”

“Well, we had our own waterfront cabin in the Maldives.”

People like league tables and ranking.

At the moment the protagonist in l’étranger is being judged because he enrolled his mother in a care home and did not cry at her funeral. Society has a plethora of shoulds and oughts. {MS Word is even objecting to shoulds and oughts!!}

People use vocabulary like my battle against cancer and winning…

What is it that seeks this self-advancement thingy?

Is it the Soul?

Is it the socially conditioned, as yet not integrated personality?

Does self-advancement have any meaning whatsoever to the nearly eternal reincarnating Soul?

For a while, a long time ago, I worked at a competitive institution where getting a chair, a professorship, was one of the goals for many.

If you look back to the Bodhisattva’s Renunciation and see what Siddhartha did how would modern society judge him?

The Bodhisattva’s Renunciation

What a fool to give up his chance to be sovereign and rule in luxury! What a nasty piece of work to walk out on a beautiful wife and young son. And then to wander hardly eating, quasi naked in forest. Idiot!!

Surely this is an act of self-sabotage. Yes, it is! The individuating separative self, the I, the ego, may have wanted a life of luxury but something deeper and more profound was stirring in Siddhartha. It said no! Your purpose is to demonstrate and anchor on the physical plane the act of enlightenment. The self of Siddhartha was sabotaged, repelled and renounced, and his Soul led him on his journey. So, it was both an act of self-sabotage and one of renunciation.

People are very suspicious of anyone who renounces the type of thing that they are ambitious for.

I did, for a while, direct some transferrable skills courses for science Ph.D. students. Whilst I was still an academic, I never had any problems. But once I had resigned there was a kind of elephant in the room. I had walked away from the very thing that a number of them were aiming for. It was not verbalised, but I could sense it. I was no longer credible to them. I was a stranger and heretic even.

One course turned on me and that was the end of that.

When I first read about Siddhartha’s renunciation it struck a chord with me. I walked out of a marriage, a now £1 million house and a young baby. I “gave” my shares in spin-out company I had co-founded back. I left a New Age group which I had poured my heart and Soul into, and I walked away from a quasi-secure job at a top university and all the power by association which that conferred. I sold my flat in London. For a while we lived at Squirrel Lodge, isolated in the middle of a wood. There are other examples of renunciation. I became powerless.

I did not from a socially conditioned view need to do any of these things. Many would deem these acts unwise, silly even.

Until you renounce you do not understand how strongly you are bound. It never occurs how great the power over you is. When you have renounced you are a little bit freer. There are consequences a simple example stems from the lack of power by association. I wrote to an academic in India asking about a non-linear material. He never got back to me. I’ll wager if I had done so from the email address at my old uni. he would have responded by return.

Sometimes people have moments of clarity. I remember one pertaining to the New Age group, I was allegedly a leader of. When I wanted to do things bare, lacking in ostentation and simple, people told me to decorate my house, smarten up my appearance. I knew in that instant that they were heading in a different direction to me. They still wanted socially conditioned stuff and I was trying to rid myself of this.

The socially conditioned fear of missing out is the bedrock of modern slavery. Is slavery a harsh word or does it emphasise the degree of social compliance many are subscribed to? If self-advancement leads to the consumption of ever more matter, leading deeper into hedonistic materialism, is it really a good thing?

Here there is another form of self-sabotage. All those self-advancing people are sabotaging the very planet upon which we currently live.

And people think I am crazy…

buddhism, Quotations

The Bodhisattva’s Renunciation

Excerpted from:

BUDDHA, THE GOSPEL

By Paul Carus

Chicago, The Open Court Publishing Company,

[1894]

At Sacred Texts: https://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/btg/index.htm

The samana replied: “Where heat is, there is also a possibility of cold; creatures subject to pain possess the faculty of pleasure; the origin of evil indicates that good can be developed. For these things are correlatives. Thus where there is much suffering, there will be much bliss, if thou but open thine eyes to behold it. Just as a man who has fallen into a heap of filth ought to seek the great pond of water covered with lotuses, which is near by: even so seek thou for the great deathless lake of Nirvana to wash off the defilement of wrong. If the lake is not sought, it is not the fault of the lake. Even so when there is a blessed road leading the man held fast by wrong to the salvation of Nirvana, if the road is not walked upon, it is not the fault of the road, but of the person. And when a man who is oppressed with sickness, there being a physician who can heal him, does not avail himself of the physician’s help, that is not the fault of the physician. Even so when a man oppressed by the malady of wrong-doing does not seek the spiritual guide of enlightenment, that is no fault of the evil-destroying guide.”

The venerable figure shook his head and replied: “Thou shouldst know that for seeking a religious life no time can be inopportune.”

The Bodhisattva replied: “Well do I know that the wheel of empire will appear to me; but it is not sovereignty that I desire. I will become a Buddha and make all the world shout for joy.”