81 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
81 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
WONDER.
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"A little more than kin, and less than kind" are the Trance of Sorrow,
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and the Vision of the Machinery of the Universe; this latter being the
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technical aspect of the Apprehension of the Law of Change, which is also a
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Trance of the same order as that of Sorrow. Now one mode of victory over
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all these is the Trance of Indifference, in which one stands aloof from the
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whole matter; but it is only one mode, and (in the generally known form)
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full of falsehood and imperfection. For to stand aloof is to affirm
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duality, which is itself the root of Sorrow. To obtain the highest one must
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unite oneself with all things, partake of all as a true Sacrament. And this
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motion leads to the Trance of Wonder.
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It is written "The fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom." Here
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the Predicate refers to the Opening of the Grade of Magus; but the Subject,
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duly translated, reads "The Wondering at Tetragrammaton," and so refers to
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this Trance. For herein one is wholly identified with the Universe in its
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dynamic aspect; and the first synthesis of the understanding thereof is
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this Amazement at the fitness and necessity of the entire mechanism. For,
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given the formula of Manifestation, the need to conceive and perceive
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Perfection by means of the symbolism of Imperfection, the actual process of
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ideation becomes apodeictic. (I write as for the least instructed of the
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Little Children of the Light.)
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The Trance of Wonder arises naturally -- it is the first movement of the
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mind -- from the final phrase of the Oath of a Master of the Temple. "I
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will interpret every phenomenon as a particular dealing of God with my
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~soul." For, immediately the Understanding illuminates the darkness of
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knowledge, every fact appears in its true guise miraculous.
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®MDUL¯It is so:®MDNM¯ then, how marvellous that it should so be!
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In all Trances of importance, and most especially in this, the Postulant
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should have acquired the greatest possible knowledge and Understanding of
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the Universe properly so called. His rational mind should have been trained
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thoroughly in intellectual apprehension: that is, he should be familiar
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with all Science. This is evidently impossible on the face of it; but he
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should aspire to the closest approximation to perfect Adeptship in this
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matter. The method most possible is to make a detached study of some chosen
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branch of Science, and a general study of epistemology. Then by analogy,
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fortified by contemplation, a certain inner apprehension of the Unity of
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Nature may grow up in the mind, one which will not be unduly presumptuous
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and misleading.
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But our Work demands more than this. The Neschamah or Intuitive Mind
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must also be furnished with Knowledge and Understanding of those Planes of
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Nature which are inaccessible to the untrained sense. That is, he must
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pursue our Methods of Vision with indefatigable ardour.
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Now in all this the true unitive and transcendental Science is that of
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Mathematics for the Ruach, and its crown the Holy Qabalah for the
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Neschamah. By this means the Work is not, as would at first seem, increased
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beyond human capability. There is a definite critical stage, comparable to
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that familiar to the Adepts of Asana and of Dharana, after which the terms
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of the Equation (like the latter terms of a Binomial Expansion) repeat
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themselves, though after another manner, so that the meditation becomes
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progressively easier. The Postulant, so to speak, finds himself at home.
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The added knowledge is no longer a burden to the mind. he is able to throw
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off the gross facts which present themselves as complication, and to
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apprehend their essence in simplicity. He had in fact succeeded in
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developing a higher function of the mind. The process is similar to that
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which occurs in ordinary study of a science, when one, by grasping the
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nature of a general law underlying diversity of experience, is able not
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only to assimilate new facts with ease, but to predict new facts wholly
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unknown. One may instance the discovery of Neptune from mathematical
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considerations without optical research, and the description of unknown
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elements by contemplation of the Periodic Law.
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Let it be known each such step in Meditation is itself a motive Energy
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capable of inducing the Trance of Wonder; and this Trance (like all others)
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grows in sublimity and splendour with the quantity and quality of the
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material which is furnished to the mind by the Adept.
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Those, therefore, who effect to despise "profane" Science are themselves
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despicable. It is their own incapacity for true Thought of any serious
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kind, their vanity and pertness; nay more also! their own subconsciousness
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sense of their own shame and idleness, that induces them to build these
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flimsy fortification of pretentious ignorance.
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There is nothing in the Universe which is not of supreme significance,
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nothing with may not be used as the very keystone of the Rainbow Arch of
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the Trance of Wonder.
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It is necessary to add but one brief word to this elementary essay: this
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Trance is of its nature not only passive and intuitive. Its occurrence
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floods the mind with Creative Energy; it fills the Adept with Power, and
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excites in him the Will to work. It exalts him to the Atziluthic World in
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his Essence, and in his manifestation to the Briatic. In a very special
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sense, therefore, it may be said that the Postulant is most intimately
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united with the Supreme Lord God Most High, the True and Living Creator of
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all Things, whensoever he attains to enter this most Majestic Pylon of the
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Trance of Wonder. |