The astrum argentum self study program
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@Jim Eshelman said
"So, like the soror just said... Bend over, grab your ankles, and invite the HGA to get on with it."
lol........total surrender. Sad that we have to be so rough with ourselves, but it seems only a forceful crisis negates our rational mind. Yet - I only know this on a much lower octave - what a Joyous horror that Union must be.
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(Paraphrased from memory, but close.)
Ann Davies (M.'.G.'.H.'. Soror Resurgam) was once asked, "If ours is a way of joy, why is there so much suffering all the time?"
Ann thought for a minute, and then replied: "I can only think of two things that bring one closer to God: curiosity and suffering. And I just don't think people are curious enough."
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I think some preliminary work would be helpful in dispelling the belief that surrender implies suffering.
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@AEternitas1 said
"I think some preliminary work would be helpful in dispelling the belief that surrender implies suffering."
I was thinking more along the lines of surrender = curiosity.
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Thinking about this it sounds like surrender and curiosity can be seen as different sides of the coin depending on your perspective. The less you "hold on" to yourself and give in to the curiosity of the beyond the less it seems like surrender with suffereing, possibily.
In Magick Without Tears and discussing the quote in the BOTL - "For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect." I read this below and found it interesting.
@MWT Letter 17 said
"In these few words is included the whole method without all the bombastic piety of the servile doctrine of mysticism about the surrender of the Will. Nor is this idea of surrender actually correct; the will must be identified with the Divine Will, so-called. One wants to become like a mighty flowing river, which is not consciously aiming at the sea, and is certainly not yielding to any external influence. It is acting in conformity with the law of its own nature, with the Tao. One can describe it, if necessary, as "passive love"; but it is love (in effect) raised to its highest potential. We come back to the same thing: when passion is purged of any "lust of result" it is irresistible; it has become "Law." I can never understand why it is that mystics fail to see that their smarmy doctrine of surrender actually insists upon the duality which they have set out to abolish!"
Of course here he is speaking about Will, but I can see how it can be attached to ego and what one views as the self.
So instead of viewing it as surrender, we can view it as embracing the Divine with all of its mysteries, for love's sake. Then mystically the shadow of suffering can be abolished and reveal that it was only God tickling you...lol.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"So, like the soror just said... Bend over, grab your ankles, and invite the HGA to get on with it."
Nicely put, Jim. Lol. I couldn't help, but laugh at that.
I've always had this view that those higher elements(Adept, Master, etc) have always existed within you. In a way, we have just forgotten them. The world is not maya, but is just as real as the rest of the scale. The illusion is that the world is all there is to our existence. We just have to rediscover those parts of ourselves with the tools(rules of the game we set ourselves) available to us.
The HGA, as I understand it, is a part of us. It is always with us, and always has been. It is a personal god of sorts, throwing away the gods of old, and being something of yourself and your own "vision." I seem to remember somewhere, in one of Crowley's writings, that the HGA overthrows all the ideas of the old slave gods, removing their fetters.
I recall also, I believe from Peter Carroll's Liber Null, that nothing of worth is gained without adversity and challenge. Suffering and surrender. Perhaps surrender is curiosity. The recognition that there is something there, and the search for it, to understand it or accept it. Suffering I've always seen as the dis-ease in one's universe. Perhaps not walking the "correct" path, being outside of one's True Will. Suffering, though, can lead one to discover the cause, thus curiosity.....
Just a couple thoughts. I'm a little distracted, so bear with me. Lol
93et93
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@Kingsolomon said
"You can get stuff from ordoaa.org all the way up to the holy guardian angel degree. "
Even though most of this stuff is online, I found that reading Mr. Eshelman's The Mystical and Magical System of the A .'. A .'. gave me a deeper understanding of what the system is all about. It is an valuable resource that I would recommend to anyone who is considering taking up this great work.
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Will there be a new edition of the book?
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@Alien696 said
"Will there be a new edition of the book?"
The book is presently in print and available. No replacement edition is presently contemplated.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"The book is presently in print and available. No replacement edition is presently contemplated."
I got mine from Amazon. Here's the link > amzn.to/lTIpyx
The book is hardcover and well constructed.
The content is incredible. Jim does a great job of providing the backgrounded need to understand what it is all about and lays the system out grade by grade.
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You can also get this and our other publications (including a bunch of free stuff) here: www.thelema.org/publication
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Thanks for the help, checking things out.