@Takamba said
"What yoga are you talking about?"
I did specify a particular type of yoga: kundalini yoga. Any type of yoga would do, though, as long as it gives me the results that I want. All methods are good as long as they bring forth fruits.
@Takamba said
"Crowley, for instance, teaches Raja Yoga in his section of Liber ABA, Magick, Book Four, entitled "Mysticism.""
I'll be sure to check it out. Thanks for the reference, Takamba.
@Alrah said
"If you love yourself, does it also automatically follow that you hold yourself in high regard?"
I assume that it's natural to hold things that you love in high regard. “We call ‘good’ that which we like, ‘evil’ that which we don't.” We love that which we want, and we hold that which we want in high regard. It makes perfect sense to me.
@Alrah said
"If you love your neighbour does it follow that you hold them in high regard too?"
…Nevertheless, it's different with animate things than inanimate ones. One acknowledges that other living beings have feelings, too; non-living ones don't. When you love something, you want the thing for yourself; when you love someone, you want the thing for hir. That's when the idea of altruism comes in. For instance, you saw a homeless person—a blind one, to make it worse—and you're unlikely to hold hir in high regard, but hir pitiful position is likely to trigger compassion in you, and that's an expression of love..
@Alrah said
"In what manner do you find selfishness to be good?"
I'll try now to compare the selfish person with the selfless one.
The selfless person has zero self-esteem. The selfless person loves not hirself. Not loving oneself, one cannot love anything, for the self is everything. The selfless person cannot even let another person love hir because of foolishly thinking to hirself, “I am unworthy of being loved”—not a healthy way to look on life. A real relationship cannot exist within such limits and is bind to lead nowhere. The person is left to hate oneself alone, not knowing what one wants, indeterminately shaking from east to west.
Now the selfish person is an entirely different chapter in the book. The person has a stronger ability to contribute to oneself as well as to others. Whereas the selfless one creeps in the dark with unfounded fear and guilt, the selfish one bravely walks in with an open heart and a broad mind. Unlike the former, the later is firm, stable, confident in hirself, knows hir desires and can decide for hirself. Whilst selfishness results in self-love, there is no guarantee that the selfish one will choose to love others but, unlike the selfless one, at least has the ability to.
@Alrah said
"It's very difficult for anyone to not believe in the ego. It appears to be so evidently 'there', doesn't it? Except when you're asleep of course..."
I did not express myself specifically and lucidly enough when saying, “a firm believer in the ego”. All I meant to say was that Crowley believed that we ought to be selfish, nothing more. The rest depends on your definition of the phrase.
I too welcome you, Abuldiz. You sound like an enthusiastic person, and I like it. It caught my attention that you're interested in the field of psychology, for I myself see it as my potential career of choice.
"I insist that in private life men should not admit their passions to be an end, indulging them and so degrading themselves to the level of the other animals, or suppressing them and creating neuroses. I insist that every thought, word and deed should be consciously devoted to the service of the Great Work. ‘Whatsoever ye do, whether ye eat or drink, do all to the glory of God’."
— The Confessions of Aleister Crowley
According to Crowley, everything is sinful unless it's done with the goal of the Magnum Opus, the Great Work. Technically, Thelema is a Right-Hand Path religion, so its followers are expacted to seek more than plain gratification of the flesh. If earthly lust is all that drives you, you'll probably feel more comfortable with such religions as LaVeyan Satanism.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
I've read some reports by people who claim to get mystical experiences from yoga practices, especially kundalini yoga. I tried finding instructions to some of these practices online, but most of them offer nothing but general health benefits, not mystical experiences, and I'm getting a bit sick of it. Besides, not a single online source offers a complete daily schedule for those who are interested in the spiritual practice of yoga.
Is there anyone here who can offer a solution? Can someone at least verify the effectivity of yoga in the pursuit of the mystic? If you believe in its effectively, can you suggest me—and, possibly, others who read this—a practical routine of its practice?
Love is the law, love under will.
I am in disagreement with the position that you shared in this topic. I'm wondering if it represents your personal opinion, or you had read it somewhere and decided to discuss it here. I believe in the old saying: “If thou wilt to love thy neighbour, thou must love thyself.” The same rule also applies to honour. I can't see how anybody can love or honour another being without first loving and honouring oneself. I see Thelema as a selfish religion—selfish in the good way. Aleister Crowley too was a firm believer in the ego, and I wholly agree with his position on the subject.
Crowley talks about his position on «amour de soi» in Chapter XLVI of Magick without Tears: Selfishness.
hermetic.com/crowley/magick-without-tears/mwt_46.html
I also really like the way Osho puts it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LfUvi1bof8
@Alrah said
"93,
Hi Mort. Welcome to the forum. 
93 93/93"
Thank you, Alrah, for welcoming me. I was busy last two days, so I didn't make any appearances in the forum, but I'm hoping to look around the place today.
Dear Temple of Thelema,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Greetings! You can call me by the diminutive ‘Mort’, and I would prefer that you will. As the fact of my presence in this forum indicates, I am interested in Thelema. I, however, don't identify myself as a Thelemite, partly because I don't want to consider myself a member of a particular religion, partly because I dislike attaching labels to myself. Although I don't identify with a religion, there are some words that can—at least, to a certain degree—describe my spiritual perception: agnosticism, nihilism, hedonism, pragmatism and mysticism. Other than that, I'm just a 16-years-old kid from Ukraine.
Love is the law, love under will.
Yours faithfully,
Mort