Life and Thelema
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@Jim Eshelman said
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FWIW you can read some of my meditations on the verses (from the mid-1990s) here:
aumha.org/arcane/ccxx.htm
"These are priceless, thank you Jim!
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I have two question I have been looking for an answer for in the law which i havent got yet .
What creates one's reality.
We have to work towards finding our true will (our purpose in life) if we keep on looking for more and more experiences when do we know we have found it ? And is there anything like over experimentation ?
@Jim Eshelman said
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FWIW you can read some of my meditations on the verses (from the mid-1990s) here:
aumha.org/arcane/ccxx.htm
"Your work is really appreciated and I hope it will assist me .And are there any good sources of information besides (Not Books)
The Message of the Master Therion explains the essence of the new Law in a very simple manner.(lib.oto-usa.org/libri/liber0002.html)
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Liber Tzaddi vel Hamus Hermeticus: An account of Initiation, and an indication as to those who are suitable for the same.(lib.oto-usa.org/libri/liber0090.html)
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De Lege Libellum: A further explanation of the Book of the Law, with special reference to the Powers and Privileges conferred by its acceptance.(lib.oto-usa.org/libri/liber0150.html) -
"What creates one's reality."
Well, I'd argue that the hard stuff (matter) stands on its own.
After that, I can only assume you're asking about the "reality" between you and the hard stuff and other people, which equates to one's personal organization of meaning.
You'll have to tell me if I'm following your train of thought or not.
If that's the case, I'd say expectation creates one's reality, mostly, whether consciously intended or as a result of unexamined patterns.
Are we on the same channel yet?
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@dknight93 said
"What creates one's reality."
It is determined by how you are constituted - that is, by your nature.
As a metaphor, consider pure white light shining through a variety of translucent-to-transparent ojects. How it comes out the other side is affected by the composition of each. If this is projected on a white card (or other neutral projection surface), it paints a different picture for each.
But crystals etc. can have external impurities - dirt on the outside, for example. This alters the results of the above effects, producing a reflection of reality that doesn't match our actual natures (e.g., with shadow-figure mirages added). As we shake loose the accumulated impurities (things foreign to our actual psychological or spiritual or essential substance), reality about us reflects a progressively purer picture of who and what we are.
Another way to say the above is that one's reality is created by one's beliefs. (This explanation, though, raises the question... what is it that determines one's beliefs? I think what I've written above answers this secondary question.)
"We have to work towards finding our true will (our purpose in life) if we keep on looking for more and more experiences when do we know we have found it ? And is there anything like over experimentation ?"
People have different varieties of experiences in this. One characteristic is that you have an absolute certainty that strikes beyond all reason (you couldn't have "thought it out" so clearly) yet is affirmed by every intuition. This certainty has none of the inauthenticities that creep into thought, emotion, body condition, voice, etc. when we are BS'ing ourselves. It persists across the rest of one's life.
"The Message of the Master Therion explains the essence of the new Law in a very simple manner."
Etc. Have you seen the collection titled The Ethics of Thelema that we have available for free at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thelema.org/publications">www.thelema.org/publications</a><!-- w -->
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@Aegis said
"you're asking about the "reality" between you and the hard stuff and other people, which equates to one's personal organization of meaning. "
Yes ,you could say that.
@Jim Eshelman said
" As we shake loose the accumulated impurities (things foreign to our actual psychological or spiritual or essential substance), reality about us reflects a progressively purer picture of who and what we are."
Since we are an accumilation of our experiences and everything we know is a sum of our experience ,information we looked for and what has been told to us.So Im guessing the impurity is what has been told to us right ?
Another thought that arose in my mind while reading your reply is Why find a purpose if your reality is temporary ?
Another thing is do any of my thoughts remind you of any passages in the book of the law and if they do then could you tell me so i could refer to them
Thanks
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@dknight93 said
"Since we are an accumilation of our experiences and everything we know is a sum of our experience ,information we looked for and what has been told to us.So Im guessing the impurity is what has been told to us right ?"
Much of the time. And, more broadly, how we've been shaped. But (as part of that, or as something a little different) it is also how we have reacted to circumstances and, especially, when silent decisions we've made along the way.
"A thought that arose in my mind while reading your reply is Why find a purpose if your reality is temporary ?"
You aren't temporary.
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".So Im guessing the impurity is what has been told to us right ?"
In my understanding, yes. "Ingrained" may be a better word, since there's a lot that gets ingrained in us (trust/mistrust, for example) before we even get to words and speech.
"Another thought that arose in my mind while reading your reply is Why find a purpose if your reality is temporary ?"
To me, it seems a very long and messy temporary. And "find a purpose" sounds like looking for something foreign to yourself, when really it's more like not being able to find any fulfillment anywhere else than that which is most fundamentally yourself. If that makes sense...
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@Aegis said
"Is True Will a more permanent thing than a human lifespan?"
There are different levels - one needs to define one's terms occasionally. But yes, think of it as the orbital coefficients of the star at the center of your being.
See Liber Thisharb for clear perspectives on this.
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@Jim Eshelman said
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@dknight93 said
"Since we are an accumilation of our experiences and everything we know is a sum of our experience ,information we looked for and what has been told to us.So Im guessing the impurity is what has been told to us right ?"Much of the time. And, more broadly, how we've been shaped. But (as part of that, or as something a little different) it is also how we have reacted to circumstances and, especially, when silent decisions we've made along the way.
"This is your personal philosophy or taken from some document of Thelema ?
So what you are really saying is we are the way we are even if we increase or decrease our experiences ?
@Jim Eshelman said
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There are different levels - one needs to define one's terms occasionally. But yes, think of it as the orbital coefficients of the star at the center of your being.See Liber Thisharb for clear perspectives on this."
Which are the parts of The Thelemic Holy Books ,The Book of the Law and other relevant documents for thelemites where we can gain a better perspective on finding our true will and ourselves.
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@dknight93 said
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@Jim Eshelman said
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@dknight93 said
"Since we are an accumilation of our experiences and everything we know is a sum of our experience ,information we looked for and what has been told to us.So Im guessing the impurity is what has been told to us right ?"Much of the time. And, more broadly, how we've been shaped. But (as part of that, or as something a little different) it is also how we have reacted to circumstances and, especially, when silent decisions we've made along the way.
"This is your personal philosophy or taken from some document of Thelema ?"
Your question presumes there is a significant difference between the two
I think the answer that will serve you best is to say that it's the sum of my observation (filtered through a third of a century of immersion in Thelema), and you should exhaustively and patiently read Crowley's commentaries on Liber L. to get any differences. I think you will find that we use different language but say much the same thing. (I have the benefit of half a century of progress in the field of psychology having occurred since he died.)"So what you are really saying is we are the way we are even if we increase or decrease our experiences ?"
There is a distinctive "way we are" that is intrinsic - the essence of who we are as an immortal being (as one particular Hadit). Experience draws us out of ourselves into sharper focus OR (in the short run of, say, a few lifetimes) hides and occludes who we are. Movement through life is not about becoming something different than we are, but about using experiences to sharpen the focus of who we inherently are.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"There are different levels - one needs to define one's terms occasionally. But yes, think of it as the orbital coefficients of the star at the center of your being.See Liber Thisharb for clear perspectives on this."
Which are the parts of The Thelemic Holy Books ,The Book of the Law and other relevant documents for thelemites where we can gain a better perspective on finding our true will and ourselves."
I don't think there's anything at all about this in the Holy Books (going from memory). The essential idea is presented in them - technology, though, is developed outside of the Class A documents.
Surprisingly, Crowley wrote very little on that topic per se, with probably the most written in Liber Aleph and in the shorter Liber Thisharb I mentioned above. Most of the fruits of this particular task emerge in the course of other work. The entire First Order of Temple of Thelema is aimed at this one task.
The best collection of short pieces known to me, which touch on the principles, are gathered in the Ethics of Thelema document to which I pointed you earlier.
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The insight provided by you has been insightful and appreciated and has made my work much easier .
I have been reading Hessle, Erwin - The Method of Love - An essay examining the Thelemic concept of Love.I was wondering if you had some more documents to further my understanding on love in the Thelemic world.
I havent been able to find specific Sex Rituals by Crowley so I have been reading Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig which has given me access to Sigil Sex Magick .I dont know how good this is for Thelemic Sex Magick Study.