Question regarding Self-Love
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93,
Surely the HGA is adored as something experienced entirely separately from what we think of as "the self?"
93 93/93,
EM
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93,
I think he means that adoring the ego would probably have disastrous results, but adoring the HGA, which is wholly separate from the ego, except in the sense that a part of the ego may or may not be a reflection of the HGA, depending on the individual, is an entirely different matter.
But it would probably be best to let him explain himself.
It seems to me that certain practices recommended to Thelemites, such as adoring one's rising star, are quite similar to adoration of one's HGA.
What harm are you afraid of?
Love=Law
- C
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I am not afraid, I was just curious as to the consensus here regarding this matter.
As far as the self, I am not referring to the ego, more along the lines of the "Buddhist Self."
They say you must learn to love one's self before you can love another truly.
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93,
Ah, now I'm catching up a little, although I'm not sure what the "Buddhist Self" is.
I was just considering something vaguely similar to this myself the other day, so if I project onto you something you did not intend just, you know, wipe it off, but...
Aum418, who goes by other names at times, has written some excellent articles on the intersections of Thelemic philosophy and modern psychology. As a result of something he had written, I was reading through Maslow's hierarchy of needs the other day, and thinking about how the best practice for beginning Thelemites might be, rather than Asana, LBRP, or meditation, raising their self-esteem.
According to Maslow, or his followers it's hard to tell from the article I read, in the 1st world where the lower parts of the pyramid are usually easily satisfied, problems with esteem tend to run rampant, and straightening out maladaptive ways of reacting to stressful situations usually inherited from childhood can free the personality to behave in a more adaptive way. In sense, by freeing the personality from the ghosts of the past we, perhaps for the first time in a long time, begin to act authentically like ourselves, and not the self that was conditioned by the ravages of our childhoods.
I'm reminded of Crowley saying that we should die daily. I fear many of us have yet to die once.
So, if you're asking whether or not someone should attempt to adore oneself in order to love him/herself, then I would say "Sure, great, awesome."
A friend of mine who is a minister in the UU church is fond of telling her congregation that instead of fighting with the future, we should just relax, and try to respond to situations in an authentic manner.
Forget crossing the abyss, I'll settle for some authenticity in my life before I die.
Love=Law
- C
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Photogasm, 93,
That Narrow Fellow essentially answered your question, and I don't have much to add. Maslow is always worth study.
I think we all try to fit the HGA into a conceptual box that we can then deal with by worship, meditation, invocation ... whatever. My sense of it is that the HGA sets its own parameters, and all our conceptualizing falls short until It is ready to deal with us. That doesn't mean mystical and magical practices are no use - they're very important to get things moving - but we do need immense patience. "To await thee is the end, not the beginning."
TNF wrote:
"Forget crossing the abyss, I'll settle for some authenticity in my life before I die.
"Absolutely!
93 93/93,
EM
