Love is the law
-
In Liber Legis it says, "Love is the law, love under will" (I:57). It also says, "Compassion is the vice of kings"(II:21). And to further, "Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well!(I:57)" My question is, how do these concepts mesh? I know, I know, Solvitur ambulando, but I would like to here others' thoughts on this.
Namaste
-
I will direct you to Crowley's 'The Law is For All" for all your answers, but below I will give you my answers.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. But also, love is the law; so what thou Wilt is equal to what thou loves. Do what thou love. But do not mistake love! There is the love of chocolate, and the love of good health. Or as I often tell others, if you can explain why you are doing something because of some other cause ("I'm doing this because this leads to that") you are not doing "this" or "that" but are doing "because." I do it because a) no other doing is lawful and b) I love this doing. Compassion is not love. Compassion is "a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for another." But a Kingly compassion is something else altogether. When one extends one's self and sees his brother as himself, he need not extend compassion but love. A vice may be a thing which grips and holds in place, or it may be an act opposed to virtue. In one definition, "Compassion is the thing which grips Kings." In the other definition, "Compassion is the unvirtuous act of Kings." Or perhaps "The love of Kings" (ergo not the love of those below kingship). I avoid seeming compassionate or one who extends pity. Instead, I offer service and works and opportunities in my love of work.
-
@seekinghga said
"In Liber Legis it says, "Love is the law, love under will" (I:57). It also says, "Compassion is the vice of kings"(II:21)."
It also says (in the voice of Hadit), "these vices are my service."
You might consider how the Book consider vice and what it means by "king."
-
93,
Consider, also, this passage from the 12th Aethyr:
"This wine is such that its virtue radiateth through the cup, and I reel under the intoxication of it. And every thought is destroyed by it. It abideth alone, and its name is Compassion. I understand by "Compassion," the sacrament of suffering, partaken by the true worshippers of the Highest. And it is an ecstasy in which there is no trace of pain. Its passivity (=passion) is like the giving-up of the self to the beloved."
And from Liber Tzaddi:
"My disciples are proud and beautiful; they are strong and swift; they rule their way like mighty conquerors. The weak, the timid, the imperfect, the cowardly, the poor, the tearful—these are mine enemies, and I am come to destroy them. This also is compassion: an end to the sickness of earth. A rooting-out of the weeds: a watering of the flowers."
It appears that there are at least two versions of compassion used in the Holy Books:
- Compassion as describing the draining out of one's blood into the Cup of Babalon/Crossing the Abyss/dissolution of the ego in the Absolute (as in Liber 418 in the first quote)
- Compassion is the rooting out of all things - internal and external - that inhibit the pride, beauty, strength, and swiftness of the Will (as in Liber 90 in the second quote).
93 93/93
-
@seekinghga said
"In Liber Legis it says, "Love is the law, love under will" (I:57). It also says, "Compassion is the vice of kings"(II:21). And to further, "Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well!(I:57)" My question is, how do these concepts mesh? I know, I know, Solvitur ambulando, but I would like to here others' thoughts on this.
Namaste"
I wrote a poem once when I was head over heels in love.
I wasn't in love with a person, it was love of life.When love holds me, and grips my being
Everything changes
Evrything I say
Everything I do
Everything I amEven mundane tasks like sweeping the floor
Or driving the car
Become an extent ion of love
Like a valentines from a secret admirerThose statements mesh because they catch us, and remind us that thou should do what thou loves,
But also
At one should love everything one does. -
June
Then when you went away
I raised my hands up to God's
And here below I lay
So, if you ever fall,
I'll catch you on your way
No one ever cries
The sky is dark today
The Sun will help you if He may -
@seekinghga said
"In Liber Legis it says, "Love is the law, love under will" (I:57). It also says, "Compassion is the vice of kings"(II:21). "
I love that line 'Compassion is the Vice of Kings'......
it's one of my favorites! of course, what makes it meaningful is the meaning of what a 'king' is
"And to further, "Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well!(I:57)" My question is, how do these concepts mesh? I know, I know, Solvitur ambulando, but I would like to here others' thoughts on this.
Namaste"
hint: choose BOTH the serpent and the dove and transcend duality