Tag Archives: mysticism

by - 2 Comments

Relativist and constructivist paradims

I am contemplating what it means to be of service to humanity. Am I really making an optimal contribution? Maybe leaving a legacy is not as important as to actually having the energy and consistency in producing some value. In order to make such a contribution it is essential that I have confidence in myself and in my work. What I can do is to better engage with other people and work more with the assistance of other people. I think generally that I am not as aware as I should be aware of other people. What has put me in this frame of mind is my time in the celestial sanctum and the yearning it creates within to be a true illuminatus and somebody that is an unconditional servant of humanity. Saying it is unconditional is truly a high and noble ideal that is not as easy to put into practice. In practice, we are lazy, we want to enjoy life, and if we can, we will do it without putting in effort.

Most of us are working just so that we can survive and others to continue to feed their hunger for power, fame or wealth. As a true Stoic; the three hungers are irrelevant since the Stoic endeavours to achieve an internal goal that is a goal of being inwardly the best human being possible. A human being that exceeds in every aspect in the qualities that makes a human being human. The fact is that from a mystical perspective we are even more than what are generally considered being human. In general, Stoics define our humanity in terms of the ability to reason, the social nature of humans and the ability to be self-aware and creative. Other creatures in our world does not seem to have these qualities.

Yet the mystic believes that there is the divine spark within that of which all these qualities, that we attribute to being human, are just a shadow. From a mystical point of view, more will be realised in this world when we truly understand this “sage within”. I prefer this term over “Master within” because the term master has so many negative connotations within the South African context with its history of one group being dominated by another. Indeed, I am beginning to realise more and more that what we consider as legacy will differ from society to society and from generation to generation.

This I am saying from the perspective of being both a constructivist and relativist. True these positions are not perfect and not the answer to all but I do think that they offer the best of values in our world. However, it requires an agreement on these base assumptions for it to be effective. When you have intellectual arrogance as oppose to intellectual humility then a relativist will have to continually fight a dominant or unmovable opposing position for incorporating it blindly into one’s own world will violate that very premise of relativism and even in terms of a constructivist view it is becoming something that has the wrong baseline. In terms of this, the relativist and constructivist must find ways and means to neutralise strong opinions and bring them to equality with other ideas before there is an evaluative phase that allow the strongest ideas to come forward. Indeed the question is how we evaluate different ideas when we are in the fluid world of a relativist or constructivist paradigm.

The moment we make a value judgment, we are in a position where we are moving out of the fluid paradigm into a structured paradigm. Maybe this illustrates once again the polar nature of our thinking. We cannot just be constructivist and relativist all the time. We have to be able to discern when to be in this free flow paradigm and then when to start to crystallise solutions and conclude our theories. Even the relativist needs some fixed points of reference.

Here we have some lessons to learn from the astrologer, who aligns his actions with the celestial bodies. The time of Saturn is always such a time where firmness replaces flow and Yang must flow from Yin. We can see Saturn time in a negative light but it is opposite to that of Venus time when we have to be open to society and fluid in our thinking. Projecting this onto my thinking about the tree of life then Yesod is the flowing paradigm and Malkuth the crystalline paradigm. In the first, we have some flexibility that allows different things to manifest but it can come only in existence in the latter.

by - 1 Comment

The pursuit of knowledge.

Not only in the Picatrics, does India being acknowledge for its knowledge but also in the fragments of the Masters. They are given credit for knowing how to use breath and mantra’s.  I have recenly started to read about swara yoga that specialises in breathing and can also concur that there is definite value in mantra’s well chosen. Hinduism, today, have their own way of acknowledging the trinity through Brahman (creator), Vishnu (sustainer) and Shiva (destroyer) which are all aspects of the Divine Source. So many Western people are oblivious to the depth of knowledge that is maintained within the sacred lore of India. Like Tai Chi and the Tao te Ching from China this is an inexhaustable system of insight that will take on its own a life time , or more, to fully master.

The Picatrix says that the sage keeps on with a relentless pursuit for knowledge and learning.  Even a superficial overview of all the systems of thought in the world currenlty and in its history shows an incredible wealth of knowledge that needs to be mastered. One can easily get overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the task to gain an insight into all available knowledge. It is no wonder that we have lost touch with many noble pursuits into the psyche of mankind. We can only but try to bring all this strands together into some coherent form for us in a single life…. even disgarding something that is of value because we simply do not have the time to go into depth on the multitude paradigms possible. We can highlight and summarise but few can break it down to a usable amount that can be learned in a life time and also used during that life time for full benefit and effect.

Our pursuit for knowledge is unending. As a philosopher I am constantly adding knowledge, putting it in practice and rejecting that which does not work for me at the time. As our external appearance changes with time the way we encounter and process and knowledge also changes. My own mystical path with a proper teaching curiculum has proven extremely valuable to have a core philsophy, that is robust yet open, that can serve as a backbone for all the other pursuits of knowledge.

by - 8 Comments

VITRIOL

I am contemplating the Azoth of the Philosophers which is an alchemical drawing that reflects well on spiritual alchemy.

VITRIOL = Visita – Interiora – Terra – Rectificando – Invenies – Occultum – Lapidem

Visita – To visit or start a journey

Interiora – to the interior or inner most parts

Terra – of the earth

Rectificando – setting things right

Invenies – you will discover

Occultum – secret or hidden

Lapidem – the stone

“Visit the inner most part of the earth and by setting things right you will find the hidden philosopher’s stone.”

VITRIOL is a natural form of sulfuric acid and to the alchemist it was the liquid fire – the fundamental  agent of change in most alchemical experiments and also symbolic of the Secret Fire that drives the spiritual perfection of the alchemist.

My latest art project was inspired by my study of the Most Holy Trinosophia  and relates well to the theme of my pondering on VITRIOL.

The lines of the golden ration is not on the original painting but it does show how the golden ration overlaps on the painting to highlight the meaning of the painting itself.

In the Most Holy Trinosophia  the author starts by explaining that he is writing from a dungeon. He writes: “It is in the retreat of criminals in the dungeon of the Inquisition that your friend writes these lines which are to serve for your instruction…it gives me pleasure to think while surrounded by guards and encumbered by chains, a slave may still be able to raise his friend above the mighty, the monarchs who rule this place.”

This is for me such an inspirational text.  For a true mystic it does not matter how dire a situation is, there is always the opportunity of uplifting another.  A mystic’s life is not free from calamity but a mystic spirit is not bound by the chains and constraints of life itself. The mystic sees beyond the chains and the dungeons for true knowledge can not be contained by material means. I have met many people who, despite personal problems, continue to be a blessing to the people around them.  This painting is in a sense to honor all those who in the depth of despair still see  the light and never loose hope.

As I painted this picture I remembered the story of Plato’s cave which he wrote in Book 7 of “Republic”. The story goes roughly like this according to Ben Dupré:  “Imagine you have been imprisoned all your life in a dark cave. your hands and feet are shackled and your head restrained so that you can only look at the wall straight in front of you. Behind you is a blazing fire, and between you and the fire a walkway on which your captors carry statues and all sorts of objects. The shadows cast on the wall by these objects are the only things you and your fellow prisoners have ever seen, all you have ever thought and talked about. Now suppose that your are released from your shackles and free to walk around the cave. Dazzled at first by the fire, you will gradually come to see the situation of the cave properly and to understand the origin of the shadows that you previously took to be real. And finally you are allowed out of the cave and into the sunlit world outside where you see the fullness of reality illuminated by the brightest object in the skies, the Sun.” This story aptly depicts the mystic’s unfolding of insight. First that which seems real must be seen as not the reality for the full picture can only be seen in the true light of truth.  This painting speaks to that aspects where man starts his search in the interior that is dark and through which light slowly begins to illuminate the soul so that truth can be seen.

Following the golden ratio it tells a story of the senses, sight and hearing of objective consciousness through which we access our immediate experience of the world.  The hand depict that man begins to act in the objective world observing it.  Through observation knowledge is gained and through knowledge gained the possibility of creativity unfolds. The candle is the light of the inner soul that starts to give meaning to the objective consciousness and reveals a subjective consciousness. The light within is what the mystic sees as the inner knowledge of wisdom, yet it is not the full source of knowledge for the full source of knowledge is the greater light, represented here by the sun coming through the window. We see the greater light or Divine Light only in part and we learn from it by looking at the shadows it throws on the cobble stone floor that surrounds us.  Unless we escape the cave like in Plato’s story we will remain in the darkness of the cave. The enneagram scratched onto wall contains the promise of progress and transformation. Gurdjieff said the enneagram is the philosopher’s stone because it represents perpetual revitalization.  The promise is made that it is possible to break free from the prison of this world that prevents us from living as we were truly meant to live with personal self-mastery.

Although the painting might be at first sight dark and depressing, it talks about hope and the confidence that our spirit can never be arrested by the material woes and limitations. The author of the Most Holy Trinosophia writes to his friend that despite him being captured he will meet him soon in person: “My torturers upon entering my cell will find it empty and, soon purified by the four elements, pure as the genius of fire, I shall resume the glorious station to which Divine goodness has raised me…..  At the first mysterious assembly you will see your friend again.”

Related articles