Universal Magick: The Five Principles of Power

[Humming]

Universal Magick:
The Five Principles of Power
http://shamans-cave.com/Universal_Magick.html

Whether you call yourself a shaman, a witch, a sorcerer, or whatever it may be, the act of performing magick is universally the same. Remember that we defined magick as the ability to alter the fabric of reality in conformity and proportion to our imagination and will. There are certain universal principles that govern our reality. Once we understand those principles and learn to apply them effectively, we can virtually assure the results of our efforts every time we apply ourselves to that knowledge and understanding. This page is the result of decades of careful study and application of the principles that govern the mortal individual's ability to literally change reality. The application of these principles in our everyday lives is so innate to our nature and thinking that we virtually apply them every day without any clear recognition that we are even doing so. For most people, the negative application of these principles in their lives has led to unnecessary pain and suffering world-wide. A simple understanding of these principles and their correct application can have equally astounding positive results. The principles are clear, easy to understand and require no financial investment on your part. That only requirement in the application of these five principles is that you follow each step precisely and completely. Do not move to the next step until you are completely satisfied with the results of the last step. You have nothing to loose.

REALITY OF ILLUSION

On previous pages, we have discussed The Reality of Illusion versus The Illusion of Reality. I don't desire to take the time and space to repeat that again here, but some mention does need to be made. In every society and culture, there exists a universal acceptance of what reality can and can not be. This is called Consensus Reality. From earliest childhood and subsequent experience, we are indoctrinated by social interaction as to what the consensus reality is, and, thusly, what our illusion of reality may and may not be. This consensus reality is extremely powerful and all inclusive. Anyone who wanders outside of consensus reality will very quickly discover how powerful the influence and effects of consensus reality really are. For example, when I say David Koresh and Waco, Heaven's Gate, Jim Jones, or Salem, Massachusetts, around 1690, we all have an instant recollection of those who have wandered beyond the norms of consensus reality. Within each of their own individual realities, their conditions and actions were perfectly understandable and justified. So we come to consensus reality vs. individual reality. Like the hundredth monkey theory, consensus reality is a long process in which everyone within a group, society, or culture agree and adapt a mass identification, complete with all the beliefs and taboos. Within this group exists all the individuals who are part of this mass identification, each with their own individual illusion of reality. In our present industrial consensus reality, anything that is not empirically oriented is subject to skepticism and denial. Anything that can be reasonably be termed occult, is feared and avoided. Thus, anyone involved in the paranormal, and especially the occult is shunned, feared, and usually threatened or punished back into conformity. For more information on consensus reality and the challenge of going beyond the consensus identity, I strongly recommend the paperback book written some years ago by Dr. W. Brugh Joy, called "Joy's Way".

This brings me to my point. In a group, society, culture or religion where adherence to the consensus reality is limited to empirical data only, magick and the practice of the occult arts with their corresponding gifts and abilities can not flourish. In order for magick to exist, your individual illusion of reality must undoubtedly include the ability to perform magick. This is the prime difference between a witch or shaman and the average person attempting the same act. The "Magickal Illusion of Reality" will enable the practitioner to accomplish easily that which someone else who is either doubting or unsure will have great difficulty accomplishing. This magickal illusion is then reinforced time and again through positive experience until the witch or shaman is absolutely sure of their abilities.

Among the most sacred and important magickal truths that you may ever learn, you must learn a magickal illusion of reality. You must accept the possibility that magick does exist and that you, in fact, can alter the fabric of reality in conformity and proportion to your intent and will.

Shamanism, like other occult arts, is not a playground. The process of learning the craft, if you will, requires years of dedicated effort, and acknowledges the existence of powers, forces, and beings in a world separate from our own, but equally as real. By acknowledging the reality of these other-worlds and learning to work within the bounds which exist there, the Shaman gains the vital help and wisdom which is available. To the Shaman, the worlds through which he or she travels are just as real, just as vivid, and just as alive as the world in which you and I exist.

Having accomplished step #1, achieving a Magickal Illusion Of Reality, there are five key aspects to the creation of any magickal act. The absence or negative influence of any one or more of these aspects will turn the tide of your efforts to naught almost before you begin. The ironic part of these aspects is that each one is totally dependent upon one thing - you!!! No outside influence, Solar or Lunar position, planetary alignments, archangels or even your immediate environment can stop you faster than your own "humanness." That said, here goes.

The five elements by relative order of execution (some overlap or realignment may occasionally be required) are as follows:

1.)DESIRE
2.)INTENT
3.)ALIGNMENT
4.)RITUAL
5.)EXPECTATION

DESIRE
That's pretty simple. We all know what desire is. Everyone of us at this very moment, if asked, could name a desire and probably several. Desire is a longing or a need which someone wishes to satisfy. Desires usually range from wishful thinking (with no real expectation of it ever really coming to pass) to deep, burning, life consuming desire. For an act of magick to occur, there must first be a want or need that requires satisfaction. And secondly, that desire must have a force of emotion behind it. It must be a burning desire. Any thought sufficiently empowered by intense emotion will begin to draw to it the object of that thought, either good or ill. Thus the old adage - what ever you desire the most or fear the most, you will draw to you.

INTENT
One of the most important factors in bringing empowered desire into physical reality is a clear and specific blueprint of exactly what you desire, or your expected outcome. This is not a vague or fuzzy guess, or in the case of a friend who run a business out of his home, who has 8 different house pictures, 3 different yacht pictures, 3 new automobile pictures and at least as many vacation packages, all on one refrigerator door. What is your clearly defined desire and the exact blueprint for your specified solution or outcome? Ever try to assemble one of your children's more complex Christmas toys without using the instructions? Magick, and life in general, function the same way. Garbage in, garbage out!!! You must have a detailed, specific idea, plan or blueprint in mind of exactly what it is you desire to manifest, while being flexible enough to allow the Universe to bring to you the manifest result in the highest and best way. Please remember, when you are working on your intent as it relates to another human being, i.e. love spells, binding spells, etc., it is never acceptable to impose your force of will on another by Magick or otherwise. I cannot advise strongly enough that you avoid any Magickal practice that will knowing and deliberately harm or restrict the free agency of another. Be very careful what you send out as it will come back to you.

ALIGNMENT
When you look in the mirror, how many people do you see? According to the ancient teachings of Huna and others, we are actually three people - the Higher Self or spirit, Talking Self or mental, logical self, and Younger Self, the lower, physical self. Each has a critical role to play in our ability to exist and function in this time and place, and in our ability to grow and evolve from our experiences while we are here. But each also has an agenda to satisfy. Younger Self is concerned with physical survival and sexuality, and generally associated with base wants and desires. Talking Self is concerned with your conscious thought processes and logic. And Higher Self is connected to Younger Self and to the Universal Consciousness, the seat of creation. From this standpoint, every decision, every act must originate with one or more aspects of our being and agree with or override the others. Here is where we encounter internal conflict, which can be sudden death to acts of magick. The purest act of magick will manifest with the greatest expectation of success when there is no internal conflict within yourself, between yourselves. Any internal conflict is bound to have a proportionately negative effect on you chances of success. For instance, if you desire to quit smoking, all three selves must be in alignment if you are to be totally successful. If Higher Self says that it is important to quit smoking, and Talking Self agrees that it would be good to stop smoking, but Younger Self enjoys smoking and does not want to quit, no matter how often you perform a ritual or "spell" to stop smoking, no matter how fervently you say you desire to stop smoking, you will never be completely successful until all three Selves are in agreement.

The following quote sums up pretty much all there is to be said about alignment and magick in general, "If you have done everything correctly, and there is no greater force opposing you, you have every right to expect the desired outcome".

There are, of course, other considerations concerning conflict and magick. The compatibility of your friends and associates while you are working (if you are working in a group), and the compatibility of your external surroundings are all important, but any Shaman, Witch or Medicine Man worth his or her salt must practice to overcome all blocks and challenges and be ready, willing and able to work when work is required. To me, this separates casual magick from the true practitioner.

RITUAL
The next step in the co-creative process is ritual. In all of my experience, this is probably the most over-emphasized and least understood aspect of magick. It seems that the New Age shelves are full of books on ritual, candle magic, love spells, elixirs, potions and more. All address ritual from a purely mechanical, physical level, without adequately addressing the deeper aspects of true ritual.

So, what is ritual? In its simplest form, ritual is the effort of mortal man to reach beyond himself to that which is Timeless and attempt to evoke a favorable response. In ancient times, the more often a ritual evoked a favorable response, the more powerful the ritual was thought to be. People would attempt to copy the powerful rituals, hoping to experience the same success, without understanding that there are very powerful hidden mechanisms working within a successful ritual that enhance or nearly guarantee that favorable response.

To understand ritual, you must understand metaphor and the associative functions of the human mind. Our minds work by association. We think in relative terms, we remember by association with other items already stored in our memory.

A metaphor is a pattern of thought in which the meaning ordinarily associated with one thing is applied to another. Have you ever heard someone say that they feel like they have been hit by a train or that they feel good enough to walk on water? These are metaphoric statements. We use metaphors constantly in our lives because the mind has a powerful capacity to relate through association of thoughts and concepts.

We now return to the three selves and the act of getting all three to agree and work together. This is the actual function of ritual. Ritual is the physical enactment of a clearly understood metaphor that works on all three levels of self to draw the selves into more perfect alignment, each self participating in the ritual at the level of its own function. The Younger Self, through the physical body, is drawn into the actual physical enactment of the metaphor, Talking Self clearly understands the associations of the metaphor and the logic of the ritual in relation to the desired outcome, and Higher Self, connected to Younger Self and to the Eternal, can associate with the metaphor and then transmit the power of Younger Self generated in the ritual to propel the desire toward manifestation. The enactment of the metaphor on the physical plane is designed to align the selves and create sufficient power within the etheric substance of creation so as to alter physical reality according to the desired outcome.

EXPECTATION
The last and final stage of the ritual is expectation. Expectation is the attitude or state of mind that you assume while you are waiting for the etheric tide to return the physical manifestation of your desire. Expectation can range from obsessive worry and frustration to the point of illness through the full spectrum of human emotion all the way to joyous anticipation. If you have prepared well, done everything correctly (in accordance with the principles I have previously outlined), and there is no greater force opposing you (and there normally will not be unless you are acting contrary to the good of another), then you have every right to expect the anticipated outcome to be exactly as you created it. To the experienced shaman, this is a time of rest and taking the mind off the desired outcome. Worry, frustration, or anxiety over the outcome only cripple your work and stall or even cancel all your previous efforts. Rest, relax and enjoy your spare time.

I sincerely hope that you find this information helpful. I use these principles constantly in my own life and in my magickal practices, and know first hand that they work.

[ March 05, 2006, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: Humming ]

[Swami]

I sincerely hope that you find this information helpful. I use these principles constantly in my own life and in my magickal practices, and know first hand that they work.

The main principle to remember is that unless there a real plan of physical cause and effect, magick is merely self-deception as is CLEARLY demonstrated by Randi's unclaimed million.

I have previously been promised a remote curse for my blasphemy. Things have got even better since that time.

[Lowlight]

Randi...

just think about the man...

nothing more to say

[ March 06, 2006, 10:41 AM: Message edited by: Lowlight ]

[silentwolf]

What's a million dollars to a guy who can toss a levin-bolt from his fingertips?

[Dna]

Humming, I liked that a lot.

Silentwolf, what is a 'levin-bolt'?

Thanks,

Dna

[Thom]

I've heard of elf-bolts, which are darts flung by elves in folk tales, so maybe a typo from Silent?

Anyway, nice find Humming. I found the piece unfussy and lucid - other good stuff on the site.

[Humming]

waterthere posted in the "so bored" topic saying,

"I remember Daniel asserting in the past that there's something inherently selfish in the practice of magic(k), that the practices seem to be self-serving, about acquiring power. Silentwolf's actions of late would seem to back up that idea, but I'm sure many of you out there will swear by certain rituals. Out of curiosity and respect, what do you all use for your personal exorcisms (so to speak) and what, in the name of bare honesty, motivates you in practicing them?

Whitewave? Daniel? DNA? Anyone?"

I'm quite interested in that discussion, but thought it would be more appropriate in a different thread.

So, the question I would like to ask is: what is magic?

Is it true that through the focused, conscious application of energy and perception, reality can be influenced or shaped in a certain way? Is the application of magic a question of manipulating forces exterior to yourself, or of re-shaping one's own beliefs or mode of perceiving so that the reality that is desired is the reality that is perceived?

Is this statement in the above post correct?

"In order for magick to exist, your individual illusion of reality must undoubtedly include the ability to perform magick. This is the prime difference between a witch or shaman and the average person attempting the same act. The "Magickal Illusion of Reality" will enable the practitioner to accomplish easily that which someone else who is either doubting or unsure will have great difficulty accomplishing. This magickal illusion is then reinforced time and again through positive experience until the witch or shaman is absolutely sure of their abilities."

[ March 06, 2006, 12:41 PM: Message edited by: Humming ]

[silentwolf]

A levin-bolt is a type of magic frequently used in fiction...it's kind of like a lightning bolt, but it's composed of pure magical force and tends to simultaneously incinerate and blast things to dust.

I like the instruction in this post, but the problem I find with a lot of modern magical traditions is too much ritual - I try to remove all external focus-items myself like daggers, wine, altar, chalice, that sort of thing. They're bulky, and they get in the way of speed.

I also find the part of alignment interesting...but since it does not work for me, I leave it to others who are able to use that as a focus.

I've actually had another break-through tonight that I am terribly eager to share, but I know that sharing it before I have seen it through will only be detrimental to the practice itself.

I am still amazed at the way ancient techniques "come to me" as I practice and seek a more potent, efficient way.

[daniel]

I thought I would post a bit from the enlightened Hindu guru Ramesh, which can help refute a lot of the silly ideas about magic, once he is understood properly:

Quotes form “The Divine Banker” - Ramesh Balsekar



1. The ego is the belief that you are

a separate entity with free will.

The basic ingredient

for the movie to go on is the ego.

It is the very essence of the game of life.

God has created the billions of egos.

Of these, God eradicates a few egos

in order to maintain the balance.

The only obstruction for the ego to be eradicated

is the individual thinking

'he' can achieve Enlightenment.

If this is accepted unconditionally

then Enlightenment is not far away.

If Enlightenment itself

is the total annihilation of the individual

then how can the individual be Enlightened

or achieve it?

Enlightenment means the total absence of desire



Ramesh says,

It is that State in which

there is total acceptance of what is.



2. I was told to watch my mind

by my previous teacher."

Can you explain that a little bit?

"It means wait for the next thought.'

Who is waiting for the next thought?

If somebody is waiting

then it is the mind or the 'me'.

There is a big difference

between someone watching the mind

and the happening of watching the mind.

Then 'you' don't wait for the next thought.

You just sit quietly.

Ramana Maharshi says,

"BE STILL".

He also says,

"The interval between two thoughts

is your natural state".

If there is somebody waiting for the next thought

then there is no stillness.

Now that you understand

that things are just happening

you arc no longer concerned with it.

The understanding is

that nothing happens

unless it is the will of God.



Ramesh says,

This understanding

is itself

watching the mind without judging.

But, if the 'me' is watching the 'me'

then you are running in circles.





3. As you keep on watching

the actions that happen

through the bodymind organism

as not 'your' actions, the mind-intellect

becomes more and more convinced that

no action is William's action.

Then the question that arises in the mind is,

"If no action is my action

then who is William?

Is there a William at all?"

This bothers the mind-intellect so much

that this period is called

'The dark night of the soul'.

The dark night continues

until there is total conviction

that William just does not exist.

With total understanding the dark night ends

and I AM shines forth in all its glory.

The doing does not stop.

Doing includes thinking and experiencing too.

The feeling "I am doing things"

disappears totally.



Ramesh says,

As the understanding goes deeper

there will be a.Sudden Realization

that involvement has not happened for a long time.





4. If there is resistance

what can you do about it?

Accept that it will be there until

it is God's will for it to go.

You can't do anything about it.

When 'What Is' is not accepted

there is disturbance.

Why is it not accepted?

Because you have expectations.

Elimination of expectations

can happen only if it is God's will.

You have no control

over the arising of expectations.

In abandoning expectations

there is an essential sense of doership

Not having expectations

means freedom from suffering.

The basis of expectation is time.



Ramesh says,

When there is no expectation

you are in the present moment.





5. “I want to control my desires.”

The arising of a desire

comes with the programming.

Trying to control

the functioning of the programming

is the basic involvement which causes trouble.

Who is to control the desires?

Being able to witness

depends on the destiny of the bodymind organism

and God's will.

Whether the desire, even after witnessing,

gets cut off or not

depends on the destiny of the bodymind organism.

You cannot cut off the desires.

The Sage is not concerned

whether the desire gets cut off

or turns into action.

Life is action.

Desires turning into action happens.

There is a misconception

that the bodymind organism

becomes perfect after Enlightenment.

The misconception is,

The Sage is always in control.

Ramesh says,

In the Sage

there is no 'me' to control anything.

[daniel]

In the deepest sense, the idea that "you, in fact, can alter the fabric of reality in conformity and proportion to your intent and will," is complete bunk.

There is no you.

You don't think. You don't act. Thinking is just happening. Acting is just happening.

When we think we are altering "the fabric of reality," we are in error. We are not doing anything of the sort - these things are just happening.

Ramesh notes that enlightenment is the annihilation of personality. Therefore, it is not "good" or "bad," happy or sad. It is beyond dualisms.

Chogyam Trungpa, speaking to a group of Buddhist students in the West, said, "Of course, you could all be enlightened right now, but I don't think you would like it very much. You would find it too cold and too spacious."

If we stopped trying to make things happen -- whether through science or magic -- we might find that something could actually occur.

[Eagle Wing]

that sounds very similar to Sun Ra's advice, as well.
According to Ra, our only necessity is to BE.
Only when we stop human doing can we know human being.
Ramesh and Sun Ra have seemingly sage perspectives on this.

I find it interesting that many of us on this board are preoccupied with power and how it can be acquired (or lost) through magic. This is indeed the kind of territory that we begin to tread when we get involved in stoking the currents with psychedelics.
Nevertheless, no matter how amazing the synchronistic manifestation of magic or a presence that I have experienced, is there not always, somewhere inside of me there, that feeling of a hole? Yes. An infinite void. It is there, it is within me and it surrounds me. I am nothing.
No matter how much power I could ever collect...
where would i keep that collection? Is the receptacle of this collection truly an illusion itself, just like the "reality" that would be manipulated?

Some kind of intution in me is saying that the use of magic for the means of increasing personal power, is a futile struggle, for the essential reality of beingness is to be powerless.
"Power", in this reality, is even twice the illusion.

the reality of being -- is nothing.

any thoughts people?

[Thom]

As i understand it, ceremonial magic is bascically an elaborate method of self hypnosis. It can be dangerous in the way that hypnotic regression can be dangerous - the story created in the circle is very rarely, if ever, the sole creation of the magician's higher 'will.' It seems to me that magicians are as egocentric as anyone else.

Those who do have some power are supposed to have surrendered elements of their personality in exchange for that power. The idea being that this 'surrender' is actually a sacrifice to the divine will, the higher self, and so any changes made are in accordance with God anyway, manifested through this will. Again, there is obviously ample room for self delusion here. In theory the idea is sound - but in practice it seems pretty torturous to me.

Maybe if you achieve enlightenment you are already doing god's will and so have no desire to change reality. If you haven't achieved enlightenment and are seeking to change reality you may be doing gods will - but at the ego level, god is just another entity.

[Dna]

I have said elsewhere in this forum that ceremonial magic is camp, silly and self-indulgent.

Thom wrote:

Those who do have some power are supposed to have surrendered elements of their personality in exchange for that power. [...]this 'surrender' is actually a sacrifice to the divine will

This is closer to my experience of 'magic'. More in a moment.

First, magic is no more than the law of nature. The adage 'be careful what you wish for...' and 'you attract what you think' are so true in my experience. Magic is the natural working of life, and it applies to me, you and everybody. It is probably the same as Karma.

For example, I have had times when I have thought ill of others, at work, more than once. It snaps back at you like an elastic band. It hurts. Magic might put more distance between you and your nemisis, but it will be more painful when you have to meet it.

I think we do have free will. Thom suggested above that people are powerful insofar as they submit to a divine, or higher, will.

Yes, and no. I prefer to think that we align with the divine will and [url=http://www.wholistichealingresearch.com/Articles/Burbank.asp]co-create[/URL ] our world. In this there is great power and freedom.

Many Christians believe in the power of prayer as a means of altering reality.

The practice of altering reality, or creating your own destiny is outlined well in Wayne Dyer's book: 'The Power of Intention'. He is a popular new age author and I like his later stuff. He talks about aligning with the divine will.

I liked the quote from the "Divine Banker". Particularly this bit:

Whether the desire, even after witnessing,
gets cut off or not
depends on the destiny of the bodymind organism.
You cannot cut off the desires.
The Sage is not concerned
whether the desire gets cut off
or turns into action.

We are always going to have desires. The only difference is what we do with them.

That's all for now.

[silentwolf]

I think that Ramesh quote was taken a bit out of context...especially after studying Panchodasi's writings. That's why I don't take anyone's work as "definitive" or "gospel," and I advise everyone else to see for yourself through exploration...if you aren't enlightened yourself, you can't comment on it yourself from a perspective of understanding, and if you didn't write it, you can't say what the guy who did meant by it. Sometimes people say garbage to encourage you to do what they feel is the right thing.

Xi Sui Jing was a very, very hidden practice, only shared with those that the head monks and priests thought could handle it in Buddhism - in fact today, it's hard to get good information on it because it's so little understood. However, that is a basic exercise leading to the great work of creating vibrations - something spoken of a bit in "Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism."

[silentwolf]

Also keep in mind that on the subjects of enlightenment and magic, you are qualified only to comment as an observer...

Perhaps if you practiced, you could see for yourself, and you wouldn't have to rely on your interpretation of what others have described to see.

Remember the story of the blind men and the elephant? You are not even touching the elephant, you are taking what you like from the descriptions of the other blind.

[Eagle Wing]

silentwolf,
do you agree with dna's statement that magic is very closely connected with karma?

[silentwolf]

Manning - it's a touchy subject, enlightenment; the only people who argue about it are those who don't have it. Magic is the same way, really. Your comments on the two are very much from the view of the observer.

Eagle Wing - that depends on your view of karma. Karma as I understand it is totally cause and effect, and it's extremely complex. A good practitioner will develop the ability to sense this flow, and work with it...because it only takes a little nudge to bump a moving object the way you want it to, whereas it takes a massive shove to get something that's not moving to go where you want it.

[jezebelle]

I experience magic everday. It's called a miracle. I swear one follows me everyday and I'm grateful.

I quess my point is; terminology and the intent of the user can make the difference whether the lamb will lie with the lion.

It's tough facing your pain (the lion) with lamb's open eyes.
respectfully, jez

[Thom]

Manning when you wrote,

"the people I felt most hurt by appeared to be alive and well, whereas those I most loved were hurting rather badly, me along with them."

this poem by Janos Pilinszky came, stealthily, into my mind:

Fable

Once upon a time
there was a lonely wolf
lonelier than the angels.

He happened to come to a village.
He fell in love with the first house he saw.

Already he loved its walls
the caresses of its bricklayers.
But the windows stopped him.

In the room sat people.
Apart from God nobody ever
found them so beautiful
as this child-like beast.

So at night he went into the house.
He stopped in the middle of the room
and never moved from there any more.

He stood all through the night, with wide eyes
and on into the morning when he was beaten to death.

(Incidentally, I've always felt uncomfortable with the end of that. It seems overly melodramatic, and yet appropriate.)

[daniel]

hi manning,

i don't think there is a "fully enlightened" condition. I would think of enlightenment as a process rather than a state, and potentially it is a never-ending process.

[Dna]

Posted by Manning:

Then again, growth often occurs in a mix of leaps, stalls and lurches.

This is like the modern view of the evolution of species. It happens in fits and starts. Species adapt quickly to new challenges over a few generations and stay the same in stable ecosystems for aeons.

The evolution of the individual is the same. We need to be challenged to evolve.

Dna.

[jezebelle]

manning
I bet if you think about it, there is a miracle in your day.
I teach art to incarcerated teenagers (girls & boys) and privilaged children and everybody wants to tell you what they cannot do. I mean everybody has an attitude.
Just getting one person to try something they have never done before (without quitting) and make their own personal "magic" picture is a miracle. Creativity and "art- with-no-excuses."
I mean we as a speces are impossible, yet we are alive, how utterly impossible. Our natural intelligence ever awaits our ushering-in-of-it in a moment.
Pregnant in the now is a miracle!
respectfully, jez

[Swami]

Originally posted by Dna:
The adage 'be careful what you wish for...' and 'you attract what you think' are so true...

In a recent public TV Wayne Dyer special, he features a young woman named Immaculi, who survived the Rwandan genocide. Her story is inspirational, but goes directly against yours' and Dyer's assertion.

Most of her friends and family were slaughtered yet NOT A SINGLE ONE wished to be hacked to death by a machete. Immaculi hid out for months and was incredibly afraid of being discovered and killed (fear is a negative wish), yet survived.

There is not a scintilla of corroborating evidence to your world view other than in your own mind. Did the World Trade Center victims all wish to die in a fiery inferno? Does every murder victim have a similar wish?

[Dna]

Thank you Swami,

You are the voice of reason. Perhaps you are right.

Do you really think that the world is essentially random, and that co-incidence is no more than a result of random colissions? Does will have no influence on reality?

Peace,

Dna.

[silentwolf]

You throw a rock into a pond.

The rock causes ripples.

A floating seed hits the shore, takes root, and sprouts into a giant tree.

The giant tree dies, then collapses on a guy fishing underneath it.

Was it your fault he died?

[Rob P]

.......

- if you are ready to die, does it matter if you survive or not ?

.......

[jezebelle]

I guess death is the total leap or surrender but then you'll be in the same game again. You and the next world. My point is this:
Yea, yea, teaching art is rewarding, but it when it is . . . it's because I'm on my own target. For instance maybe I did my 5 am taichi and packed my stuff before.
One has to carve a place of empiness to receive a miracle or magic by putting out some effort.
A friend and I were just talking and he asks; how can one not be depressed by the mere facts of worldly affairs?
Depression I think it a condition of thinking "you are trapped." (a sort of simple interpretation, I know)
Perhaps we are trapped, but it's really "how you think about it ". . .that is . . . the trapped part.
The rest is sort of the human condtion expiencing the collective changes of a bigger entitiy.
respectfully, jez

[daniel]

hi swami,

just to give you the buddhist perspective, as i understand it, even those unfortunates in Rwanda and elsewhere are enmeshed in tragic and horrible situations because of past karma. Of course they didn't choose to be in those situations as ego-based individuals, but there may be a deeper level to it.

It is only if you can shift to a perspective that includes reincarnation, that much of the world's atrocities make some kind of sense. I suggest checking out the research of Ian Stevenson (some of it is on-line) or reading the latest issue of What Is Enlightenment, which has a 30 page feature on the best current research around reincarnation and past lives.

There may be an evolutionary process on the level of soul and spirit that requires suffering for development of capacities. Nietzsche was also interesting on this point.

JG Bennett, a Gurdjieff follower, thought that a certain amount of global suffering might be necessary to increase the planet's sensitivity. I agree with Nietzsche that without suffering there would be no ethical and moral growth.

[Lowlight]

The question is...

Is the suffering worth it when the suffering is in an extreme form? Many would answer no. What reward cancels Treblinka?

Traditional theodic responses are silenced by such things...unless the God image is redrawn or reconceptualised.

Daniel - The new God is beyond Good and Evil, but not in the sense of Aquinas (God IS the Good), but rather God is the mystery beyond Good and Evil. This is no happy clappy all is alright in the end deity...this God lies beyond morality and that has terrifying conclusions.

[Humming]

"There is not a scintilla of corroborating evidence to your world view other than in your own mind. Did the World Trade Center victims all wish to die in a fiery inferno? Does every murder victim have a similar wish?"

Swami, I think you're taking the concept of magic into a literal/rational context, which is sort of missing the point.

It's not that you get what you wish for, but rather that you are responsible for your own circumstances.

When you create or tolerate negative energy, that doesn't mean that you will immediately pay the karmic price for it. In some cases karma will act immediately, but in other cases the negative energy manifests in more subtle ways in your life.

For example, I believe that most human disease (dis-ease) is caused as much by the mental manifestation of negative or un-harmonious energy as it is by a physical occurrence. There are many forms of energy healing that do not utilize the apparatus of Western medicinal science that would corroborate this statement.

In other cases this energy may manifest as an obsessive psychological disorder, or unwarranted anger, or depression.

This inevitably leads to the question that Manning brought up somewhere about bad things happening to good people. I agree with Daniel that these circumstances arise not necessarily because someone "wanted" them or wished it upon themselves in the relative sense, but rather that their purpose of existence is to experience this pain and anguish, with the hope of viewing it creatively and making something constructive out of it.

In the discussion of good and evil, I've thought about it at length and basically come to the conclusion that there truly is no good or evil, there is no duality; there are only infinite cycles of growth and decay, of novelty and entropy to use Terence McKenna's term.

If we look at what is considered "evil" I think that what we're seeing as evil is actually a blockage of creative growth, or a blockage of free expression.

As for the general discussion about magic, Daniel your post reminds me about what Goswami calls the "unified mind" or "supramental intellect". The point is well taken. In reality there is only one unified consciousness that is manifesting the world in myriad forms: I agree with this idea.

But to me that does not preclude the possibility of influencing or directing consciousness in a certain way, through ritual or mental energy and focus, or other means. This seems to be a question of free will, but it may be semantic.

In "Physics of the Soul" Goswami addresses the perceived paradox of the unified consciousness: that people have different opinions about things, and see things differently. What Goswami says is that in the relative sense this is true, there is a divergent opinion. But in the absolute sense, there is only one unified mind and that mind is creating all the possibilites that we experience, even those that appear to be paradoxical in nature are actually unified in the totality of perception.

So it seems that in this view, magic would be possible in the sense that it may be possible to influence consciousness to manifest in a certain way, but ultimately that manifestation is part of the whole of consciousness and so no influence is required.

In my own life, magic is found in the everyday "zen" of living. There are miracles happening around us all the time. Existence itself is a miracle.

And then there are synchronicities, which appear to reveal a deeper layer of an inter-connected magical reality than we normally experience.

For example, the first time that I met the poet Saul Williams I had been studying dreams, and had just come across the idea that it is possible to dream the future before it occurs, and that such an ability to have pre-cognitive dreams may be innate to human nature, and a learned behavior of shamans.

I had been thinking about this for several days, and applying my energy to meeting Saul because I wanted to talk with him.

When I did meet him, I wanted to ask him the question about dreaming: is it really possible to dream the future?

I walked up to him and before I spoke a word I saw that his t-shirt read these words: "Remember your dreams, then act them out two days later."

Literally, he had answered my question before I even asked it.

The power of even just this one experience is so immense... the statistical possibility of that synchronicity happening randomly is preposterous. This indicates to me that there is a deep inter-connection of reality that exists beyond space and time, and that irrational energetic fluctuations of realized inter-connection may have as much, if not more influence on reality than the rational physical laws of space and time.

Whew, long post..... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ March 09, 2006, 08:38 AM: Message edited by: Humming ]