Thelema and Compassion
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Personally, I don't think the book makes a whole lot of practical sense until you do wake up all those voices in your unconscious mind.
Then it's all opinion and opinion and opinion and opinion fighting within yourself.
Then "Do what thou wilt" becomes much less of a catchy platitude and more of a survival guide for sanity. And, well really, the whole book for that matter.
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The closest thing to Thelemic Compassion that I have seen is in the writings of the Chogyam Trungpa. In his book, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, he describes something called, Ruthless Compassion. He is very careful to differentiate it from conventional notions of compassion, what he refers to as "grandmother's love". But he also states that it is a dangerous practice for reasons that may shed light on why it is the "vice of kings".
@Chogyam Trungpa said
"To the conventional way of thinking, compassion simply means being kind and warm. This sort of compassion is described in the scriptures as "grandmother's love." You would expect the practitioner of this type of compassion to be extremely kind and gentle; he would not harm a flea. If you need another mask, another blanket to warm yourself, he will provide it. But true compassion is ruthless, from ego's point of view, because it does not consider ego's drive to maintain itself. It is "crazy wisdom". It is totally wise, but it is crazy as well, because it does not relate to ego's literal and simple minded attempts to secure it's own comfort.
The logical voice of ego advises us to be kind to other people, to be good boys and girls and lead innocent little lives. We work at our regular jobs and rent a cosy room or apartment for ourselves; we would like to continue in this way, but suddenly something happens which tears us out of our secure little nest. Either we become extremely depressed or something outrageously painful occurs. We begin to wonder why heaven has been so unkind. "Why should God punish me? I have been a good person, I have never hurt a soul." But there is something more to life than that.
What are we trying to secure? Why are we so concerned to protect ourselves? The sudden energy of ruthless compassion severs us from comforts and securities. If we were never to experience this kind of shock, we would not be able to grow. We have to be jarred out of our regular, repetitive and comfortable life styles. The point of meditation is not merely to be an honest or good person in the conventional sense, trying only to maintain our security. We must begin to become compassionate and wise in the fundamental sense, open and relating to the world as it is.
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Q: This ruthless compassion sounds cruel.A: The conventional approach to love is like that of a father who is extremely naive and would like to help his children satisfy all their desires. He might give them everything: money, drink, weapons, food, anything to make them happy. However, there might be another kind of father who would not merely make his children happy, but who would work for their fundamental health.
Q: Why would a truly compassionate person have any concern with giving anything?
A: It is not exactly giving but opening, relating to other people. It is a matter of acknowledging the existence of other people as they are, rather than relating to people in terms of a fixed and preconceived idea of comfort or discomfort.
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Q: Isn't there a considerable danger of self-deception involved with the idea of ruthless compassion? A person might think he is being ruthlessly compassionate, when in fact he is only releasing aggressions?A: Definitely, yes. It is because it is such a dangerous idea that I have waited until now to present it...
... At the stage of which I am speaking, if a student is to actually practice ruthless compassion, he must have already gone through a tremendous amount of work: meditation, study, cutting through, discovering self-deception and sense of humour, and so on. After a person has experienced this process, made this long and difficult journey, then the next discovery is that of compassion and prajna. Until a person has studied and meditated a great deal; it would be extremely dangerous for him to try to practice ruthless compassion."
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And so all that makes me think this:
My vice of True Compassion will always be criticized by the other colors of the spectrum as the wrong kind of compassion. Well, ...duh. That's what you think of my spectrum of Compassion?
Right. Duh.
But where it is my color, it is also my True Will.
And so, you know. Shut the fuck up. I get it. I'm doin' this.
You question that? Okay. Duh.
Compassion is the vice of kings.
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@Sardonyx said
"My vice of True Compassion will always be criticized by the other colors of the spectrum as the wrong kind of compassion. Well, ...duh. That's what you think of my spectrum of Compassion?"
In the context of the Trungpa quote above I fail to see what you mean by a spectrum of compassion. Trungpa merely states that conventional notions of compassion are rooted in the ego, it's need for security, and an aversion to pain. Compassion of this sort is like a band aid applied to an infected wound that hasn't been cleaned out. The only thing that matters is that the pain and distress goes away, even if the infection still remains.
The ruthless compassion that he speaks of seems to me to be about doing what is necessary, even if that should cause more distress or pain. In my opinion this view seems to be consistent with the tone of AL II:22, and doesn't require the 'challenging aspects' of that particular verse to be downplayed, ignored, or vetoed.
@Sardonyx said
"And so, you know. Shut the {****} up."
Charming...
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Yes, compassion, in the Buddhist sense, surely means "giving to a being what it most needs" (what you nicely term necessity), and this is the sense in which I always have understood the word to apply in CCXX. AC was in his strong Buddhist phase when he received CCXX, and that is surely the sense in which the word is used in the Book.
I find it fascinating that some people feel better calling it "ruthless," that there is something more inherently Thelemic about it with that adjective. I find that strange in a philosophy founded on love. The equivalent would be insisting that only "tough love" is inherently Thelemic, whereas love per se, without need of the adjective, is at the very core of Thelema.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"I find it fascinating that some people feel better calling it "ruthless," that there is something more inherently Thelemic about it with that adjective."
I can see your point, Jim, but the catchy name didn't swing it for me. The main selling point was that Trungpa defined his terms. He makes it very clear that he is not talking about compassion as ordinarily understood by most people. Once those core definitions are in place, and the reasons behind them, things make much more sense.
One area where I think the ruthless prefix might work for some people is in counteracting the view that compassion is in some ways linked with sentimentalism. Coming from that angle makes it kind of hard to square it with the tone of AL II:22. I struggled with that one myself for a while.
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@Her said
"One area where I think the ruthless prefix might work for some people is in counteracting the view that compassion is in some ways linked with sentimentalism."
I see your point (and I especially like your point about definition). I think it better, though, to make sure people know what the word really means.
To me, the comparison like calling an automobile a "mobile automobile." Just because some cars currently don't run, and others will never run again, doesn't mean we need to call most cars "mobile." Or, even though there are "vegetarian burgers," we really don't want to start referring to the default as "meat hamburgers" (except, perhaps, in highly specialized and narrow situations like a vegans' convention).
My only active dislike of the adjective is that it would soon lose connection to its original usage (as I suspect you feel "compassion" has), and then it would give the impression that you were talking about "some special kind of compassion, not the ordinary kind." But you aren't. You're talking about what it has always meant in Buddhism.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"I think it better, though, to make sure people know what the word really means.
"I couldn't agree more.
But I think there are always going to be difficulties when common, everyday words with well established 'popular' meanings are used in a different context for another purpose. I mean how many times have you had to patiently explain what "Will" and "Love" mean within the context of Thelema?
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You'll have to put up with the dramatic monologues.
"Ruthless Compassion" - Check. Got it.
But that's not the vice of a king. That's no vice here. So, the "compassion" of the verse must be referring to that weaker sort.
See, in my view, the book is written to be taken more than one way.
Regarding the bit about trying to limit oneself to doing one's Will before one even knows what that is... I think that's absolutely valid. The questions of the book are meant to be lived.
I was trying to make the point that there will always be criticism, but our vices are ultimately in Hadit's service. The king has a story to live and learn from. We live a little, and go back to the text, live a little, and go back to the text. And you find yourself living a conversation with it, questioning and receiving answers in daily experience. That too is the living out of one's Will.
I'm supposed to learn from what I cannot help but give. There's a whole love story going on there.
Babalon.
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I think it's a "vice" not because it's one kind of compassion or another etc., but for a more exacting reason: Compassion is one of those spaces where one "makes a difference between" one thing or another. Anything like that is flawed eventually.
But the Book acknowledges that of all vices, this is the distinctive one of adepts ("kings"). OTOH it is not given as characteristic of Masters, for whom "making no difference" etc. is a defining trait.
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@Sardonyx said
"Hmh. With that understanding, even "ruthless compassion" would be a vice."
Oh, absolutely.
None of this makes sense as a Thelemic ethic until you add in 2:52, where Hadit says, "veil not your vices in virtuous words: these vices are my service; ye do well, & I will reward you here and hereafter."
I think there has been some attempt here to veil the vice of compassion in "virtuous words" - words that people think are "more Thelemic," etc. What serves Hadit are our unapologetic vices.
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Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble
When you're Hadit in every way
I can't wait to look in the mirror
'Cause I get better lookin' each dayTo know me is to love me
I must be a hell of a man
Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble
But I'm doin' the best that I can -
@Jim Eshelman said
"I think it's a "vice" not because it's one kind of compassion or another etc., but for a more exacting reason: Compassion is one of those spaces where one "makes a difference between" one thing or another. Anything like that is flawed eventually."
I'm trying to reconcile this view, including your comment about Adepts and Masters, with the following quote by Chogyam Trungpa:
@Chogyam Trungpa said
"When we talk about compassion, we talk in terms of being kind. But compassion is not so much being kind; it is being creative to wake a person up."
There may be no connection, but I was still intrigued by the idea that attempting to "wake a person up" could possibly be in some way flawed.
Speculation alert! Could this mean that an Adept's attempts at trying to awaken another person are, in a certain sense, futile. While the Master sees the futility in the exercise, knowing that you can't wake someone up unless they want to be woken up in the first place?
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I wonder a lot about the motivation of masters to continue the work of enlightening humanity. If it's all perfect as it is, then why work to enlighten? Whether kind or ruthless, it seems like compassion.
Call it "creativity," it still has a goal to create change, doesn't it? Or what?
If I look past Binah to Chokmah, it just seems to say, well, call it evil if you want, some things exist that are just naturally aggressive/projective like that, regardless of result. They just... do. They enlighten.
"Creative" in that sense? Maybe?
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@Her said
"
@Chogyam Trungpa said
"When we talk about compassion, we talk in terms of being kind. But compassion is not so much being kind; it is being creative to wake a person up."There may be no connection, but I was still intrigued by the idea that attempting to "wake a person up" could possibly be in some way flawed. "
Though I don't think it's a "big sin," it does rest on a judgment that there is something wrong with the person being asleep.
"Speculation alert! Could this mean that an Adept's attempts at trying to awaken another person are, in a certain sense, futile. While the Master sees the futility in the exercise, knowing that you can't wake someone up unless they want to be woken up in the first place?"
This is a main reason that both initiation and healing are only offered in response to someone actively seeking it, requesting it. - PS, it doesn't take a Master to see the last point, any Neophyte should be well equipped on this matter.