On being and non-being
The purpose of life is to recreate the experience of “oneness”. By this, I mean dissolution of the ego-self into a greater awareness, which encompasses all of creation. Another way to interpret this experience is as a merging into “nothing-ness”, which is, in my understanding, the objective of Buddhist teachings.
At first, there appears to be a contradiction between the concepts of oneness and nothingness. And this is characteristic of a dichotomy between the Western and Eastern mystical traditions. Where the Alchemical path of the esoteric schools of the West seeks the transformation of Self, the Eastern traditions seek the dissolution of self. In reality, these are paradoxes only from our limited perspective. Being, as we experience it, is a very limited form of awareness, one that is encompassed by our senses, our bodies, our thoughts, emotions, and reactions. We imagine that to be without these limitations, would be emptiness, a void. I think that, in fact, the merging of the individual self into the greater cosmic awareness is not to destroy the ego, but rather to stretch beyond it to infinity, to embrace all that is, and this can be seen either as being everything or as being nothing.
There is one other path. That is the path of negation, which is the end goal of our culture at large. The illusion of consumerism, of ego, of separateness is to give the appearance that we are utterly alone. It promises individuality in the form of ever-expanding desires that can never be sated (“have it your way”). At the same time, it promises community (be part of the “in” crowd, etc.), which is not true community at all, but rather a homogonous race of automatons, behaving, living, consuming exactly the same way as everyone else.
In all things, Lucifer is a mirror. Like his namesake, the Morning Star Venus, his light is one of a lesser reflection of a true light. The culture of illusion sells reflections of spiritual realities. But they never sell the substance, which can only ever be given or found. Thus, like hungry ghosts, we forgo our true search in exchange for never ending desires that never bring fulfillment.
At first, there appears to be a contradiction between the concepts of oneness and nothingness. And this is characteristic of a dichotomy between the Western and Eastern mystical traditions. Where the Alchemical path of the esoteric schools of the West seeks the transformation of Self, the Eastern traditions seek the dissolution of self. In reality, these are paradoxes only from our limited perspective. Being, as we experience it, is a very limited form of awareness, one that is encompassed by our senses, our bodies, our thoughts, emotions, and reactions. We imagine that to be without these limitations, would be emptiness, a void. I think that, in fact, the merging of the individual self into the greater cosmic awareness is not to destroy the ego, but rather to stretch beyond it to infinity, to embrace all that is, and this can be seen either as being everything or as being nothing.
There is one other path. That is the path of negation, which is the end goal of our culture at large. The illusion of consumerism, of ego, of separateness is to give the appearance that we are utterly alone. It promises individuality in the form of ever-expanding desires that can never be sated (“have it your way”). At the same time, it promises community (be part of the “in” crowd, etc.), which is not true community at all, but rather a homogonous race of automatons, behaving, living, consuming exactly the same way as everyone else.
In all things, Lucifer is a mirror. Like his namesake, the Morning Star Venus, his light is one of a lesser reflection of a true light. The culture of illusion sells reflections of spiritual realities. But they never sell the substance, which can only ever be given or found. Thus, like hungry ghosts, we forgo our true search in exchange for never ending desires that never bring fulfillment.
posted by PanDoor at 11:23 PM
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