Thelemic Mystic Manual - Thelema & Mysticism

I've just released the "Thelemic Mystic Manual" available both as a free PDF download & in paperback print at: http://www.lulu.com/content/2682470

The contents include essays like "Thelema is Zen," "What is 'Do what thou wilt?,'" "Thelemic Upanishads," and "The Beginnings of a Mystic Interpretation of Liber AL."

If you are interested in Thelema, mysticism, yoga, magick, or occultism - this book is a great download/buy!

Thelema: Knowing & Doing one's Will

TO KNOW ONE'S WILL IS TO DO ONE'S WILL

There is always much talk about the Will in Thelemic circles and consequently about how to know what one's Will is and further how to perform that Will.

I submit that, like Plato proclaimed "To know the Good is to do the Good" for his ancient ethical system, Thelema asserts an identity between the knowledge of and the doing of one's Will.

This knowledge is not the knowledge of ideas and facts, where one knows an object to be large or small, a color bright or dark, etc. But this is the Knowledge of Gnosis, the experiential understanding and identification with one's True Motion.

To Mega Therion wrote, "Thou must (1) Find out what is thy Will. (2) Do that Will with a) one-pointedness, (b) detachment, (c) peace." Once we know our Will, our true Self behind the phantom-self of ego, this knowledge expresses itself in action, in Doing & Going.

This Will is naturally one-pointed by virtue of both its supreme Force and that one has destroyed all Duality in the Great Work. Further, it is worked with detachment because all moments are a joyous end in themselves, worked without "lust of result." Finally, the Will is worked in peace for this Movement is One, having united one's conscious will with the inertia of the Universe, wherein even the greatest Conflict is a harmonious facet of the All.

What is "Do what thou wilt"?

Thelema is not about labeling oneself.

The term "Thelemite" is only used once in the Thelemic Holy Books when it is said, "Who calls us Thelemites will do no wrong, if he look but close into the word." (Liber AL I:40) It refers only to others labeling those who follow the Way of the Crowned & Conquering Child...

This same line ends with the eleven words, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law"

"Do what thou wilt" is negative & destroying in the sense that it cuts through all

• Morality (as an a priori truth) [AL I:40; III:60]  
• Dogma (metaphysical sophistry as binding to our Going). [AL II:27-34]
  

But it is also positive & creating in the sense that

• it inherently leads us to the ancient injunction, "Know Thyself"
• This is the Great Work wherein we come to know ourselves as Ourselves, without limit and infinite.

 

We must perform the operation of Solve, dissolving into the formless Unity which is Naught, so that we may consolidate our Will in our Way, Coagula. In this, each moment is a new Sacrament, and a new branch of Joy. [AL II:9, 42-44, 66]

Then - being "chief of all" [AL I:23] - the Child of Thelema works her Will, guarding against the phantoms of Morality and Dogmatism with the merciless red flame which is as a sword of Ra-Hoor-Khuit [AL III:38].

Thelemic Upanishads - pt.3: The Book of Six Questions

The Hindu Upanishads represent the true esoteric knowledge of the Self being one with Brahman, the un-differentiated boundless substance of Being, Consciousness, and Bliss (sat-chit-ananda). Their wisdom is timeless although the names and forms which they refer to are continually uprooted, interchanged, and transformed. They have been re-translated (based on Easwaran) to be pertinent to the New Aeon of the Crowned & Conquering Child, Horus.
* * *

The Prashna Upanishad
The Book of Six Questioins

"There is great danger in me; for who doth not understand these runes shall make a great miss. He shall fall down into the pit called Because, and there he shall perish with the dogs of Reason. Now a curse upon Because and his kin! May Because be accursed for ever! ...Also reason is a lie; for there is a factor infinite & unknown; & all their words are skew-wise. Enough of Because! Be he damned for a dog! But ye, o my people, rise up & awake!" - Liber AL II:27-29, 32-34



Six children of earth sought endlessly for Self-realization. Eventually they approached with love a sage - the prince-priest the Beast - for his guidance on the spiritual path. The Beast-sage told them: "Live with me for one year, practicing control of the senses and mind. Ask me questions at the end of the year, and I will answer them."

Question I

After a year, the first child asked the sage: "Master, who created the universe?"

The Beast replied, "The Boundless Lord, the giver of name and form, meditated on Himself and brought forth Energy (prana) with Matter (arayi), Male and Female, so that they would bring forth innumerable creatures for Him.

Energy is the sun; Matter is the moon. Matter is solid, Energy is subtle; the Supreme Self therefore is present everywhere.

The Sun gives Light and Life to all who live. East and west, north and south, above and below: It is the Energy of the universe. The wise see the Hawk-headed Lord of Love in the Sun, rising in all Its golden radiance to give Its warmth and Light and Life to all.

The wise see the Supreme Master in the year, which has two paths, the northern and the southern. Those who seek the Self through meditation, self-discipline, wisdom, and persistence travel after death by the Unitive Path. The path of Energy, to the solar world, supreme refuge, beyond the reach of fear and free from the multiplicity of birth and death.

"...This Lion came forth to proclaim the Aeon of Horus, the crowned and conquering child, who dieth not, nor is reborn, but goeth radiant ever upon His Way. Even so goeth the Sun: for as it is now known that night is but the shadow of the Earth, so Death is but the shadow of the Body, that veileth his Light from its bearer."
- The Heart of the Master, part III

Some look upon the Sun as our Father who makes life possible with heat and rain and divides time into months and seasons. Others have seen him riding in Wisdom on his Chariot, with seven colors as horses and six wheels to represent the whirling spokes of time.

The wise see the Supreme Magus of Love in the month: Matter corresponds to the dark half, and Energy to the bright half. The wise rejoice in the Light of Wisdom, while others suffer in the darkness of ignorance (avidya).

The wise see this Lord of Love in the span of a day: Matter corresponds to the dark night, and Energy the daylight. Those who use their days solely for sexual pleasure consume Energy needlessly, the very stuff of life. But mastered, sex becomes a spiritual force as a weapon of the True Will. They who live solely for sensual pleasures like sex take the lunar path, but those who are self-controlled and truthful to themselves will go to the Bright Regions of the Sun. The Bright World of Ra-Hoor-Khuit can be attained only by those whose will is pure and true, only by those whose will is pure and true."


Question II

Then another child approached the Beast and asked: "Master, what powers support this body? Which of the powers are manifested in it? And among them all, which is the greatest power?"

The sage replied: "The powers are space, fire, water, air, earth, speech, mind, vision, and hearing. All these powers boasted, 'We support this body,' but Will, vital energy, supreme over them all, said, 'Don't deceive yourselves. It is I, dividing myself fourfold, who hold this body together.'

"Hoor hath a secret fourfold name: it is Do What Thou Wilt. / Four Words: Naught-One-Many-All. / Thou-Child! / Thy Name is holy. / Thy Kingdom is come. / Thy Will is done. / Here is the Bread. / Here is the Blood. / Bring us through Temptation! / Deliver us from Good and Evil! / That Mine as Thine be the Crown of the Kingdom, even now. / ABRAHADABRA. / These ten words are four, the Name of the One."
- Book of Lies, ch.2

All the powers including speech, mind, vision, and hearing then sang this song: "The Supreme Will burns as fire; It shines as the sun; It rains as the clouds; It blows as the wind; It crashes as the thunder in the sky. It is the earth, It has form and no form; the Crowned & Conquering Will is immortality.

Everything rests in the Will, as spokes rest in the hub of the wheel: all the holy texts, all our rituals & daily movements, all the merchants and warriors and kings.

O Supreme Will, you move in the mother's womb as life to be manifested again. All creatures pay their homage to you: you carry offerings, bring war, and allow sages to master their senses. All depends upon you for their function.

"Come forth and dwell in me; so that every my Spirit, whether of the Firmament, or of the Ether, or of the Earth or under the Earth; on dry land or in the Water, or Whirling Air or of Rushing Fire; and every spell and scourge of God the Vast One may be THOU. Abrahadabra!"
- Invocation of Horus, used in 1904

You are the creator and destroyer, and our protector. You shine as the sun in the sky; you are the source of all light. When you pour yourself down as rain on earth, every living creature is filled with joy and knows food will be abundant for all.

You are pure and master of everything, O Supreme Will. As fire you receive our acts of love under will: it is You who gives us the breath of life.

O Divine Will, which invisibly pervades the voice, the eye, the ear, and the mind: let our motion be One. O Supreme Will, all the world depends on you. As a mother looks after her children, give us health and strength. Grant us wealth and wisdom: the accomplishment of our True Motion."


Question III

Then a third child approached the sage and asked: "Master, from what source does the Will come? How does It enter the body, how does It support all that is without and all that is within?"

The Beast replied: "You ask searching questions. Since you are a devoted aspirant seeking the Boundless Godhead, I shall answer them.

The Will is born of the Supreme Self. As a man casts a shadow, the Self casts its Will into the body at the time of birth so that the mind's desires may be fulfilled.

"I am Omniciscient, for naught exists for me unless I know it. I am Omnipotent, for naught occurs save by Necessity, my soul's expression through my Will to be, to do, to suffer the symbols of itself. I am Omnipresent, for naught exists where I am not, who fashioned Space as a condition of my consciousness of myself, who am the centre of all, and my circumference the frame of mine own fancy. I am the All, for all that exists for me is a necessary expression in thought of some tendency of my nature, and all my thoughts are only the letters of my Name."
-Liber V vel Reguli

As a king appoints officers to do his work in all the villages, so the Will employs the various energies, each a part of himself, to carry out different functions in the body. As the distributor of energy, it moves through the myriad vital currents radiating from the heart, where lives this Self.

The Sun is the outward form of Energy in the universe, and it rises to bring light to our eyes. The Supreme Self is the source of inner and outer Energy that pervades all things. Those who realize this go beyond death. Those who perceive how the Will rises, enters the body, and serves the Self... they die not; they die not.


Question IV

Then the fourth children approached the prince-priest the Beast and asked him: "O Sage, when a man is sleeping, who is it that sleeps in him? Who sees the dreams he sees? When he wakes up, who in him is awake? When he enjoys, who is enjoying? In whom do all these faculties rest?"

The sage replied: "The dreaming mind recalls past impressions. It sees again what has been seen, it hears again what has been heard, and it enjoys again what has been enjoyed in many places. Seen and unseen, heard and unheard, enjoyed and unenjoyed, the real and the unreal: the mind experiences all these things in a dream-filled sleep.

When the mind is stilled in dreamless sleep, it brings rest and repose to the body. Just as birds fly to the tree for rest, all things in life find their rest in the Supreme Boundless Self. All the gross and subtle elements, what can be sensed, the mind and what it thinks, the intellect and what it knows, the ego and what it grasps, the heart and what it loves, the light and what it reveals: all things in life find their rest in the Supreme Self in dreamless sleep.

"Say thou that He God is one; God is the Everlasting One; nor hath He any Equal, or any Son, or any Companion. Nothing shall stand before His face."
- Liber Ararita, III:0

It is the Lord of Silence & Strength, the Supreme Self, who sees, hears, smells, touches, tastes, thinks, acts, and is pure consciousness. The Self is the Crowned & Conquering Child: changeless and supreme.

Those who know the Supreme Self as formless, without shadow, without impurity, know all and live in all. Those who know this Self, the seat of consciousness, in whom the breath and all the senses live, know all and live in all."


Question V

A fifth approached the sage and asked: "Those who have become established in the Double Word of Power ABRAHADABRA, what happens to them after death?"

The Beast replied: "ABRAHADABRA is both immanent and transcendent. Through it one can attain the personal and the impersonal.

These five syllables when they are separated cannot lead one beyond mortality; but when the whole mantra - indivsible, interdependent - goes on reverberating in the mind, one is freed from fear, awake or asleep.

Established in this cosmic vibration, the awakened child-sage goes beyond fear, decay, and death to enter into infinite peace."

"I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice. My incense is of resinous woods & gums; and there is no blood therein: because of my hair the trees of Eternity."
- Liber AL I:58-59


Question VI

Then the final child-student approached the Beast and said: "Master, the prince of a great kingdom once asked me, 'Do you know the Self with its multifaceted forms?' 'I don't,' I replied. 'If I did, I would certainly tell you.' That prince mounted his chariot and went away silent. Now may I ask you, where is that Self?"

The Beast-sage replied: "Within this body dwells the Self with his multifaceted forms, gentle child. The Self asked himself, 'What is it that makes Me go if I cannot go from myself?' So he created Will, and from it the various urges of Energy; and from this Energy he made space, air, fire, water, the earth, the senses, the mind, and food; from food came strength, austerity, innumerable books, rituals, and all the worlds. Everything was given name and form.

"None, breathed the light, faint & faery, of the stars, and two. For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all."
- Liber AL I:28-30

As rivers lose their private name and form when they reach the sea, so that people speak of the sea alone, so all these multifaceted forms disappear when the Supreme Self is realized. Then there is no more name and form for us, and we attain immortality.

This True Self is the hub of the wheel of life, and the multifaceted forms are only the spokes. This Self is the paramount goal of life: attain this goal and go beyond death into Eternity!"

"I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star. I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is theknowledge of me the knowledge of death. I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. "Come unto me" is a foolish word: for it is I that go."
- Liber AL II:7-8

The Beast concluded: "There is nothing more to be said of the true Self, nothing more."

The students adored their teacher and said: "You are our father; you have taken us across the sea to the other shore." Let us adore the illumined sages! Let us adore ourselves and all things as our Supreme Self!

"The end of the hiding of Hadit; and blessing & worship to the prophet of the lovely Star!"
- Liber AL II:79

Thelemic Upanishads - pt.2: Various books

The Hindu Upanishads represent the true esoteric knowledge of the Self being one with Brahman, the un-differentiated boundless substance of Being, Consciousness, and Bliss (sat-chit-ananda). Their wisdom is timeless although the names and forms which they refer to are continually uprooted, interchanged, and transformed. They have been re-translated (based on Easwaran) to be pertinent to the New Aeon of the Crowned & Conquering Child, Horus.
* * *

The Tejobindu Upanishad
The Book of the Drop of Divine Splendour

"How the dew of the Universe whitens the lips!" - Liber VII I:47


Let us meditate on the shining True Self: changeless, underlying the world of change, and realized in the heart in Knowledge & Conversation.

This supreme goal is hard to reach, hard to describe, and hard to abide in. They alone attain Knowledge & Conversation who have mastered their senses, and are free from emotional fluctuations, free from likes and dislikes, without selfish bonds to people, things, and ego.

"Since I am Infinite Space, and the Infinite Stars thereof, do ye also thus. Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt. But whoso availeth in this, let him be the chief of all!"
- Liber AL I:22-23

They alone attain Knowledge & Conversation who are prepared to face challenge after challenge in the three stages of meditation*. With persistence & concentration they become united with Heru, the Lord of Love. Called Ra-Hoor-Khuit, who is present everywhere, the three dimensions of space emanate from Him, although He is infinite and invisible. Though all the galaxies emerge from Him, He is without form and unconditioned.

To be united with Horus, the Lord of Love, is to be freed from all conditioning. This is the state of Self-realization, far beyond the reach of words and thoughts. To be united with Horus, one's Angel and Inmost Self - imperishable, changeless, beyond cause and effect - is to find infinite joy. Ra-Hoor-Khuit is beyond all duality, beyond the reach of 'thinker' and of 'thought.'

"The word of Sin is Restriction."
- Liber AL I:41

Let us meditate on our True Shining Self, the ultimate reality, who is realized by the Hermits of Hadit in Knowledge & Conversation.

One's True Self cannot be realized by those who are subject to greed, fear, regret, pity and anger. The Lord of Silence cannot be realized by those who are subject to pride of name and fame or to the vanity of scholarship. It cannot be realized by those who are enmeshed in life's duality.

But to all those who pierce this duality, whose hearts are given to the Lord of Force & Fire, He gives Himself through His infinite wrath; He gives Himself through His infinite grace.

ABRAHADABRA


* The three stages of meditation are the three degrees of concentration that one maintains on the object of concentration. In the first stage one loses identification with the body, in the second stage one loses identification with the mind, and the third stage is Knowledge & Conversation/samadhi. "...the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the omnipresence of my body." - Liber AL I:26


* * *

The Atma Upanishad
The Book of the Supreme Self

"In the name of the Lord of Initiation, Amen." - Liber Tzaddi, line 0


Ra-Hoor-Khuit manifests in three ways: the outer [body], the inner [mind], and the Supreme Self.

Skin, flesh, vertebral column, hair, fingers, toes, nails, ankles, stomach, navel, hips, thighs, cheeks, eyebrows, forehead, head, eyes, ears, arms, sides, blood vessels, nerves: these make up the outer self, the body, subject to birth and death.

The inner self perceives the outside world, made up of the various elements. The inner self is the victim of likes and dislikes, pleasure and pain, delusion, sorrow, regret and doubt. It knows all the subtleties of language, enjoys dance, music, and al the fine arts; delights in the senses, recalls the past, reads the scriptures, and is able to act. This is the mind, the inner person.

"Hear me, ye people of sighing! / The sorrows of pain and regret / Are left to the dead and the dying, / The folk that not know me as yet... These are dead, these fellows; they feel not. We are not for the poor and sad: the lords of the earth are our kinsfolk."
- Liber AL II:17-18

The Supreme Self, adored in various Holy Texts, can be realized through the path of Union in Magick and Yoga. Subtler than the smallest seed, subtler than the smallest grain, even subtler than the hundred-thousandth part of a hair, this Supreme Self cannot be mentally grasped, cannot be physically seen.

The Supreme Self is neither born nor dies. He cannot be burned, moved, pierced, cut nor dried. Beyond all attributes, the supreme Self is the eternal witness, ever pure, indivisible, and uncompounded, far beyond the senses and the ego. In him conflicts and expectations cease. he is omnipresnet, beyond all thought, without action in the external world, without action in the internal world. Detached from the outer and the inner, this Supreme Self purifies the impure.

ABRAHADABRA

* * *

The Isha Upanishad
The Book of the Inner Ruler


All this is full. All that is full.
From fullness, fullness comes.
When fullness is taken from fullness,
Fullness still remains.


"The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not two; nay, are none!"
- Liber AL I:45


The Lord of Silence & Strength is enshrined in the hearts of all and pervades the whole universe. Heru-Ra-Ha is the supreme reality. Rejoice in Him by renouncing separateness. Bind nothing! All belongs to the Lord of Infinite Space. Thus working with a pure will, you will live in an eternity; thus Alone, one with your true Child-Self, you will work in real freedom.

The Supreme Self is one. Ever still, this true Self is swifter than thought, swifter than the senses. Though motionless, He outruns all pursuit. Without this Self, no life could exist. This Crowned & Conquering Self seems to move, but is ever still; It seems far away, but is ever near. He is within all, and He transcends all.

Those who see all creatures in themselves and themselves in all creatures know no fear or pity. Those who see all creatures in themselves and themselves in all creatures know no sorrow or grief. How can the multiplicity of life delude the one who sees its unity?

"Come thou, O beloved One, O Lord God of the Universe, O Vast One, O Minute One! I am Thy beloved. All day I sing of Thy delight; all night I delight in Thy song. There is no other day or night than this. Thou art beyond the day and the night; I am Thyself, O my Maker, my Master, my Mate!"
- Liber LXV III:33-36

Horus, the Supreme Self, is everywhere. Bright is this Self: indivisible, untouched by 'sin,' wise, both immanent and transcendent. It is He who holds the Cosmos together.

The face of truth is hidden by your orb of gold, O Sun! May you remove your orb so that I, who adore the true, may see the glory of truth. O Nourishing Sun - solitary traveler, controller, source of life for all creatures - spread your light and subdue your dazzling splendor so that I may see your blessed Self. Even that very Self am I!

May my life merge in the Immortal when my body is reduced to ashes. O mind, meditate on the eternal Hawk-Headed Lord. O God of Fire & Strife, lead us by the path of our True Wills to eternal joy. Deliver us from good & from evil, we who Bind Nothing and drain our blood into the Cup of Babalon.

"Take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! But always unto me. If this be not aright; if ye confound the space-marks, saying: They are one; or saying, They are many; if the ritual be not ever unto me: then expect the direful judgments of Ra Hoor Khuit! ...But ecstasy be thine and joy of earth: ever To me! To me!"
- Liber AL I:51-53


ABRAHADABRA

The Path of Attainment

"Abrahadabra; the reward of Ra Hoor Khut."

- Liber AL vel Legis III:1

What does Attainment even entail?

Man is typically bludgeoned about by circumstance, unaware of a true locus of action within or without himself, unaware of his true identity.

This isn't inherently 'wrong' and certainly not 'evil:' it is the apparently typical human condition. But certain people are impelled to the Path of Attainment by their seemingly hopeless endeavor to find some lasting solace in the realm of multiplicity, or countless other reasons...

"I am the Hawk-Headed Lord of Silence & of Strength; my nemyss shrouds the night-blue sky."

- Liber AL vel Legis III:70

Attainment is two-fold:

1. Solve: the realizing of one's true Identity, the revealing of one's Self to oneself (Silence)
2. Coagula: the manifestation of that Identity in Motion, the performing of one's Will (Strength)

What man thinks is his 'self' and what he thinks is his 'will' are both ridiculously puny conceptions, based in nonsense. Attainment is therefore the identification of the self with the True Self and the aligning of the will with the True Will.

The mastery of Solve is the mastery of Mysticism, identification of Self with All. This is coterminous with understanding the Universe to be Continuous (0).

"I am the Lord of the Double Wand of Power; the wand of the Force of Coph Nia--but my left hand is empty, for I have crushed an Universe; & nought remains."
- Liber AL vel Legis III:72

The mastery of Coagula is the mastery of Magick, causing Change in conformity with Will. That is, Going one's natural & spontaneous Way. This is best done with a healthy, strong, and well-ordered body & mind.

"The ending of the words is the Word Abrahadabra. "
- Liber AL vel Legis III:75

θέλημά - the Will of God

θέλημά is the word used about 40 times in the Bible to designate most often the will of God.


θέλημα - Will

• Matthew 6:10, "Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth."
• Matthew 26:42, "Again, a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cup can't pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done.""
• Luke 22:42, "saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.""
• John 7:17, "If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or if I am speaking from myself."
• John 9:31, "We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God, and does his will, he listens to him."
• Romans 2:18, "and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,"
• 2 Timothy 2:26, "and they may recover themselves out of the devil's snare, having been taken captive by him to his will."
• Hebrews 10:9, "then he has said, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first, that he may establish the second,"
• Hebrews 13:21, "make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."
• 1 John 5:14, "This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us"

θέλημα του θεου ("Thelema ton Theon") - the Will of God

• Mark 3:35, "For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." [see Matthew 12:50 below]
• Acts 22:14, "He said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth."
• Romans 12:2, "Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God."
• Galatians 1:4, "who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father--"
• 1 Thessalonians 4:3, "For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality,"
• 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you."
• Hebrews 10:7, "Then I said, 'Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.'"
• Hebrew 10:36, "For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise."
• 1 Peter 2:15, "For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:"
• 1 Peter 3:17, "For it is better, if it is God's will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil."
• 1 Peter 4:19, "Therefore let them also who suffer according to the will of God in doing good entrust their souls to him, as to a faithful Creator."
• 1 John 2:17, "The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God's will remains forever"
• Revelation 4:11, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!""

θέλημα του πατρός ("Thelema ton Patros") - the Will of the Father

The Will conceived of as coming from the Father is a distinctly Judeo-Christian tradition. The father implies discipline on His part and obedience on Our part, the children of God. Our normal considerations of 'want,' our self-will, is nothing until merged with the Divine Will of Thelema. "The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not two; nay, are none!" (Liber AL I:45)

• Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
• Matthew 12:50, "For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother."
• Matthew 18:14, "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."
• Matthew 21:31, "Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you."
• John 6:40, "This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
• Galatians 1:4, "who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father--"

θέλημα του κυρίου ("Thelema ton Kurion") - The Will of the Lord

The Will's source conceived of as being a Lord is common in nearly every single tradition. The Lord is the common title of one who commands and controls, the true Divine Will being the true Lord, the true Charioteer.

• Luke 12:47, "That servant, who knew his lord's will, and didn't prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes,"
• Acts 21:14, "When he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The Lord's will be done.""
• Ephesians 5:17, "Therefore don't be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
• Ephesians 6:6, "not in the way of service only when eyes are on you, as men pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;"

θέλημα του πέμψαντός ("Thelema ton Pemphantos") - the Will of Him who Sent Me

This is the Will understood as being the power of that which gives rise to all things and to which all return, the Source. The true Divine Will comes from the Source and we act as Divine emissaries, carrying the 'Good News.'

• John 4:34, "Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work."
• John 5:30, "I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don't seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me."
• John 6:38, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me."
• John 6:39, "This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day."

Thought and Naught

"Thoughts are false." - Book of Lies, ch.5
All fluctuations of the mind have the potential towards being misleading. They often lead to identifications, e.g. "I am A" or "I am not-A." All thoughts have an implicit dualism and all dualism is false. The method for overcoming this handicap is the uniting of each thought to its opposite. This is the basis for koans, paradox, the apophatic Hindu practice of 'neti, neti' and the kataphatic invocations apparent in the writings of St Dionysus the Aeropagite, "Thunder: Perfect Mind" from the old Gnostic gospels, and practically every mystic of the world.

"Identity is perfect; therefore the = of Identity is but a lie. For there is no subject, and there is no predicate; nor is there the contradictory of either of these things." - Book of Lies, ch.11

All words break down, though the Chinese "conception of the tao is still unequaled for clarity on this point." (see Tao Teh Ching, ch.1 & 2)

These are the most nefarious dualisms, especially in learning about Mysticism with all of its talk of 'Unity:'

• I & not-I / self & not-self
• permanent & impermanent
• finite & infinite / limited & unlimited / bounded & unbounded
• imperfect & perfect
• true & false
• conditioned & unconditioned / non-absolute & absolute
• multiplicity & unity
• dualism & non-dualism

Logic depends on the fundamental proposition that A equals A, and A does not equal not-A. While this may be the basis of our dissection of the world, its utility does not mean it is necessarily founded in any sort of objective truth about the world.

"Language was made for men to eat and drink, make love, do barter, die. The wealth of a language consists in its Abstracts; the poorest tongues have wealth of Concretes. / Therefore have Adepts praised silence; at least it does not mislead as speech does." - Book of Lies, ch.24

We may, for convenience, call this view the 'conditioned' view as opposed to the 'unconditioned' view but this sets up an unhealthy dualism. In the 'end' (which is the beginning) both 'conditioned' and 'unconditioned' are 'views,' two sides of one coin. The words are meaningless without each other. This is the basis of viewing the world as "None... and Two" while they are simultaneously One in that Ultimate Naught.

This method of uniting each thought to its opposite appears in the culimination of the Master Therion's work with the Enochian Aethyrs where Horus the Crowned & Conquering Child proclaims,

"I am light, and I am night, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am speech, and I am silence, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am life, and I am death, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am war, and I am peace, and I am that which is beyond them.
I am weakness, and I am strength, and I am that which is beyond them.
Yet by none of these can man reach up to me. Yet by each of them must man reach up to me." - "The Vision & the Voice," 1st Aethyr

Thelema is Zen

Thelema is a praxis, a way of life.

Thelema is a state of mind. It is Zen, the natural uprushing and outflowing of Will unhindered by Ego or Reason.

The word of the Law is Thelema. This is the Law of Dharma, the Law of the Tao, the Law of the Way-things-are. In this Aeon, we understand It as 'Thelema.'

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay. For there are no 'others' when absorbed in that state of Thelema, of pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from lust of result.

There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt. But who is this "thou?"... Only when the self is entirely enwrapped in the arms of its beloved does the naked child of Thelema awake, arise and come forth.

An outflowing does not necessarily imply purpose - is there not joy ineffable in this aimless winging?

Thelema contains all purposefulness and all unpurposefulness. In each setting of a goal is the possibility of attachment; in each attachment is the seed of suffering, but 'pure will' is executed without 'lust of result.' One should remember that there is joy in the setting of the goal, in the striving towards the goal, in the achievement of the goal, and in the transcending of the goal.

Thelema: bind in your soul the watchwords of Will, Strength, Naturalness, Force, Fire, and Growth. Or rather: cast away the clouds of dispersion, duality, over-thinking, and attachment to allow the natural Joy of Love under Will emanate forth from one's being in all things, even one's death.

Therefore was it given to us to "Die daily," but I say "Die momentarily." That is, every moment is death of the old, it is also the birth of the new - the crest and trough of the undulating Serpent of Life, "for every step is a death and a birth." Hold steadfast, then, on the ever-changing, flowing river of Thelema.


"We attained to be starry grains of gold dust in the sands of a slow river. Yea, and that river was the river of space and time also. We parted thence; ever to the smaller, ever to the greater, until now, O sweet God, we are ourselves, the same... The beat of my heart is the pendulum of love. The songs of me are the soft sighs: The thoughts of me are very rapture: And my deeds are the myriads of Thy children, the stars and the atoms. Let there be nothing! Let all things drop into this ocean of love!"
-Liber Liberi vel Lapidus Lazuli V:17-19, 23-28

Using LSD to imprint the Thelemic experience (introductory outline)

* Introduction
- LSD can be used as an imprinter
- Leary's work with 8-circuits, etc.
-Jung's theories of unconscious, LSD as something that releases unconscious contents
- A sort of Thelemic syntax or map can be used to both 'navigate' through this experience and to 'imprint' a certain perspective/attitude to life
- This is done by unifying the universal physiological and psychological occurences during the LSD experience to various symbols and passages from Thelemic texts

* LSD as imprinter
-What does it mean for LSD to 'imprint'?
-What are the various 'stages' - significant portions of time characterized by various subjective effects as the substance runs its course through the body - of the LSD experience?
-What are some major realizations and perceptions that appear to occur somewhat universally?

* Thelema as a map
-The imagery and passages may be used to give a viable interpretation to the entheogenic experience & concretize the importance of Thelema in one's life
-Symbology: Symbols of especial importance to Thelema must be attributed to various 'perspectives' and 'feelings' during the experience
1) Nuit: infinite possibilities
2) Hadit: flame burning in the heart/consciousness
3) Horus: the whole system; homo totus
4) The child (Hoor)
-Passages: Passages also use symbology but allow for words to describe understandings & notions

-images of power
1) Gnarled oak of God (A'ash)
2) Hair of nuit (AL; 418)
3) Hadit/flame in the heart (AL)
4) RHK as warrior (AL; Tzaddi; A'ash)

-ultimate aimlessness
-Liber LXV ch.II
-Liber AL ch.II

-revaluation of values
-Do what thou wilt (AL)
-All things lawful (A'ash; VII)

-All things as acts of love & joyful
- AL; VII; A'ash, etc.

- Solve et Coagula/IAO/0 and 2
-The 'creation of the world' from undifferentiated-ness (AL I:28-30)
-Liber LXV (ch.2)

* The 'Psychedelic Experience' by Leary et al. using the Tibetan Book of the Dead should be used as a model, except substituting Thelemic terms. It is of note that the phrase 'clear light' appears in Liber AL. ("But thou hast all in the clear light, and some, though not all, in the dark.") I:56

The Mystic Interpretation of Liber AL vel Legis

Note: The Mystic Interpretation is always "All is One." It may be conceived in many forms - "Naught-One-Many-All" - but it always refers to the un-differentiated, non-dual substance that underlies and binds together all phenomena unto a Unity. As it is said in Liber Causae, "Now the Great Work is one, and the Initiation is one, and the Reward is one, however diverse are the symbols wherein the Unutterable is clothed." Also, it is said in Liber Ararita, "O my God! One is Thy Beginning! One is Thy Spirit, and Thy Permutation One!"

* * * * * *

AL I:1 -  Had! The manifestation of Nuit.

Had! is the first breath. H the beginning, A the breath (Air), and D is creation & love (Venus). By this breath, as the Taoist 'Tao' and the Hindu Purusha and Norse Ymir divided themselves up/were sacrificed, the 'world' is created by the unity being divided into duality. Nuit may only be known through her manifestations.

AL I:2 - The unveiling of the company of heaven.

This unveiling is the 'apocalypse,' the perception of Unity where all beings are seen to be 'the company of heaven.' This pronouncement underlies the message of the Book that will follow.

AL I:3 - Every man and every woman is a star.

In antiquity, heaven was understood to be the skies with the motions of the celestial bodies being perfect. We now know that Earth is in Heaven, and Heaven is understood by the manifestations of Earth. Just as the company of the ancient heaven were the stars, we have unveiled before us this new symbolic perspective: every man and every woman is a star and is therefore part of this company of heaven. This means also, every man and every woman has the potential for attaining to this consciousness of being a star - that is understanding the Self as the Monad... and it is an affirmation that every man and every woman is a manifestation of this Monad, created to know & love & enjoy Itself. (Transitive verbs are misleading; all things are the various modifications of a unified Subject in itself, and therefore as a whole it is never modified. Only when this unified Subject is divided, when 'things' and 'categories' arise and their bounds are felt as reality, do 'modifications' and 'change' seem to be apparent. All 'objects' are part of the unified Subject; the deed, the doer of the deed, and the situation which makes the deed possible are all parts of the unified Subject. The many change and pass, the One remains.)

After contemplating, I add this conception - Every man and every woman is a star, an aggregate or ganglion of force, and are naturally parts, the company, of the Whole of heaven. Again, it may also refer to the part's potential for abolishing its false selfhood in its immersion in the unified Subject.

AL I:4 - Every number is infinite; there is no difference.

Every number is some construing of the infinite. 2 is the number of the 1 expressed as 2, divided into yin & yang, up & down. 3 is the number of the 1 expressed as 3. 4 is 1 expressed in a four-fold manner, etc. etc. "Differences" are contrivances, and the apparent separation between "things" they point out is a fiction (but untruth doesn't rule out utility). Even the number '1' is a silly contrivance which means to our thinking a Unity, but One has the opposing idea of 'Many' and/or 'not-One' therefore some people take solace in 'Naught'/0. All of these are masks of the infinite. 

AL I:5 - Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling before the Children of men!

The asking of help is really a command to rise up and awaken to the truth of Unity, to assume an active role in the process. Further, an intermediary is necessary for the expression of Unity to the many; that is, a body which has the means of materially communicating the dialectics of thought through language.

AL I:6 - Be thou Hadit, my secret centre, my heart & my tongue!

We are to assume the role of Hadit, the secret center of the Infinite, and a mode of its expression ('my tongue'). 

AL I:7 - Behold! it is revealed by Aiwass the minister of Hoor-paar-kraat.

We are made to expect a doctrine. Aiwass:Hoor-paar-kraat :: Mercury:Sun :: Tahuti:Ra-hoor. That is, Aiwass is the communicatory, active medium for the propagation of the Message of Hoor, the Silent Self, the Crowned & Conquering Child of Horus, the powerful Unity.

AL I:8 - The Khabs is in the Khu, not the Khu in the Khabs.

This verse depends on an interpretation of 'is in.' I take the meaning to be 'is inside,' 'is concealed within/beyond,' 'is that which transcends.' This is the common spatial metaphor of the outside as exoteric & false as a sort of crust or mask, and the inside as the esoteric & true essence. 

The Khabs is the Starry Nature concealed within Man - that is, his knowledge of himself as truly the Silent Self, the unified Subject. The Khu is the entire cosmos as it is 'known' to man, i.e. through the representations of his nervous system. This includes all interior (emotions, thoughts, imagination, memory) and exterior (surroundings, the world, the universe) things. This is essentially the Jnana Yoga doctrine of the unreality of impermanent, constituent things - also the Buddhist teaching of anicca and anatta which are intrinsically bound up in one another. The only 'real' thing, is the Unity which is beyond change because it contains all change in Itself.

AL I:9 - Worship then the Khabs, and behold my light shed over you!

We are then to penetrate beyond the veils of duality and worship (identify with) the Khabs... the inner 'light' of unity. "Light" is a common metaphor that can most likely be found in any religious text, especially when describing an encounter with god or some religious experience. This is the light that is beyond our notions of light & dark, but we ascribe the name light to it for various reasons (e.g. it disperses the darkness of ignorance, it has energy like the heat of light, etc.) It is by the worship of this 'inmost essence,' the 'quintessence' of the four elements, the Unity that transcends the impermanent constituents, that we come to know ourselves as Ourself.

AL I:10 - Let my servants be few & secret: they shall rule the many & the known.

A law of nature as well as a command to the ordering of society & the psyche. We are to order our psyche & society according to a few dominant principles, which will influence and guide the many. The psyche is still 'servant' to the Self. 

Where can Thelema spread?

Thelema is taken up mostly by middle-class, well-educated caucasians. 

There are large amounts of the population that may benefit from the Law of Thelema (for "the Law is for all"), including:

• Asians
• Hispanics
• African-americans

Seeing as how a large majority of those adhering to Thelema were formerly Catholic or Protestant, and knowing the large amount of the above-listed categories are also mostly Catholic or Protestant... it seems feasible that Thelema could just as easily spread to these people. The middle-class, well-educated slice of the demographic would be the most efficient for targeting.

* * * * *

...But the middle-class is a small slice of the entire demographic of humanity. 

What does Thelema have to offer the poor?

• philosophy of self-importance
• philosophy of affirmation & persistence in the face of conflict & obstacles

What does Thelema have to offer the rich?

• philosophy that accepts materiality - gold, jewels, clothing, drugs, etc. - if done in the proper attitude
• philosophy that affirms & exalts the strong - in this case, the financially/economically strong, the few (aristocrats) against the many (democrats)
• philosophy of non-attachment which is necessary in proportion to the amount of 'possesions' one maintains

It has the Way of Attainment to offer to all.

* * * * *

Further, Thelema's adherence is concentrated in the 20-40 year age group. Thelema is especially applicable to the young who are naturally full of force, fire, strength, beauty, joy, and laughter. Thelema is also applicable to the old, for it brings a view of death as fulfillment & ecstasy instead of an idea riddled with fear, punishment, uncertainties about 'heavens' and 'hells,' etc.

The young may take Thelema for its

• justification of their natural tendency toward growth, strength, danger, power, etc.
• symbolism for the unconscious to work with (stars, night sky, Nuit, Hadit, Horus, etc.)
• inherent individualism
• justification of all forms of sex & drug use if in accordance with Will
• lessons on reason (as minister, not king) and purpose (a useful limit which must always be uprooted for it is ultimately a contrivance)

The old may take Thelema for its

• promise of peace & ecstasy in death (I give unimaginable joys on earth... upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy)
• practical outlook on ordering values & morality (There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt)
• practical outlook on ordering one's life (Thou hast no right but to do thy will; All must be done well and with business way)
• destruction of the repressions of sex morality

* * * * *

Further, Thelema is overwhelmingly characterized by well-educated adherents, i.e. a college degree of some sort. Yet Thelema is for all, even as Magick is for all, and so the exoteric and pragmatic aspects must be rooted out, understood, and employed for those who have neither the wits nor the time to understand more subtle mysteries. But also these are saved from slippery slopes of sophistry.

The O.T.O. fulfills this role nicely with a version of the Catholic mass, the Gnostic mass. This form of public gathering for a public ritual with public communion is a familiar form to most people and therefore useful... but the Gnostic Mass is riddled with absurdities, the foremost in my mind being the Creed of the Mass... as if "belief" was necessary for anything, let alone these absurd constructs of images & symbols... Chaos, Babalon, etc. Belief is not necessary; feeling and becoming the energy which underlies these arbitrary forms is what is needed to become 'religious.' The form is excessively Qabalistic in my mind, to the point of destroying naturalness at the desire for having aesthetically pleasing 4-fold, 8-fold, 11-fold, etc. schemes.

On the other hand, a degree of irrationality or suprarationality must be maintained (and is inherently so by the employment of symbols). A ritual must be practically/pragmatically effective in instilling a certain praxis to the individual, but it must also convey a sense of (a) power and (b) mystery (which are inherently two sides of the same coin). There must also be room for movement, i.e. room for individual interpretation & integration of the lessons & symbols of the ritual. 

The Gnostic Mass holds weight in another sense because it is a centralized ritual that many people of diverse locations share... all Catholics share the mass, and all OTO members share the Gnostic Mass (and initiations). They have shared ordeals and can sympathize with similar forms of worship. And this is what is necessary to for any kind of exoteric Thelema to take hold, for the exoteric want security & comfort, i.e. a ritual that is founded in many years of practice... they do not want the terrible responsibility of creating forms for themselves. Yet this itself is implicit in the philosophy of Thelema - perhaps the seed of dissension should be placed in the exoteric, more static forms... ready to blossom if it touches the right nourishment.

This leads to the question: is a sort of common-place, exoteric form of Thelema possible if individualism is inherent in Thelema? The OTO represents the most concentrating group of self-proclaimed Thelemites and has a central ritual to bind them together... but by their fruits ye shall know them, and the fruits of the OTO have been inordinately sparse. 

In the end it seems antithetical to set up any centralized organization, let alone a centralized ritual, to delineate what Thelema is... These may arise naturally, and success will be their proof. Stars of great mass (great potency & energy) tend to attract other stars so clusters of stars - galaxies - may arise... But diversity & variety is the key to strength & growth. The setting up of exoteric forms will destroy the individualist, dynamic current that underlies the philosophy of Thelema.

What pragmatic tools does Thelema offer?

What tools does Thelema offer, like Buddhism offers the practice of 'mindfulness...'

• Attitude of non-attachment to results/fruits of labor (Liber AL I:44)
• Attitude of affirmation, strength, beauty, force, etc. (Liber AL II)
• Attitude of no guilt from lust, "sinful" things, materiality, etc.

But all these things are subtle, somewhat passive in that they are 'attitudes' and not pragmatic tools like mindfulness. 

Is Thelema merely a paradigm which does not necessarily come with any specific tools?

The traditional response is (a) Yoga and (b) Magick, but are these founded in Thelemic literature or Crowley's literature on... yoga & magick?

* * * * *

• The use of 'strange drugs' (entheogens) is explicitly endorsed by Hadit:
• "I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory, and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk thereof! They shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie, this folly against self. The exposure of innocence is a lie. Be strong, o man! lust, enjoy all things of sense and rapture: fear not that any God shall deny thee for this." (Liber AL II:22)
• The use of wines and alcohol is explicitly endorsed by Nuit: 
• "Be goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine apparel; eat rich foods and drink sweet wines and wines that foam! Also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! But always unto me." (Liber AL I:51) 
• ...by Hadit: "I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory, and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk thereof!" (Liber AL II:22) 
• ...by Ra-Hoor-Khuit: "For perfume mix meal & honey & thick leavings of red wine: then oil of Abramelin and olive oil, and afterward soften & smooth down with rich fresh blood." (Liber AL III:23)

Perhaps that to which is alluded to often.... "the first task of the Aspirant is to disarm all his thoughts, to make himself impregnably above the influence of any one of them; this he may accomplish by the methods given in Liber Aleph, Liber Jugorum, Thien Tao, and elsewhere." (AL II:25 comment)...

What makes Thelema unique?

What makes Thelema unique in...

Religion

• Sin & shame - There is no Original Sin, there is no Fall of man - we are born free & pure in an act of love & joy; there is therefore no reason for guilt, shame, or veiling of one's inclinations in any way
• Suffering is not ignored, avoided, or extirpated, but rather it is embraced whole-heartedly as one facet of Nature; all things have their complement, our notion of darkness balanced by that of light, and we may 'conquer' this by transcending opposites in Love (the result of which is Unity or '0'). 
• Naturalism - its acceptance of all things in Nature, especially the natural facts of power (overcoming), love (union), and the necessity of both 'good' & 'bad.'
• Self-centered  - let us not be ashamed of it, our philosophy is based on the self (but what does that mysterious word mean to you?), There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt. 
• Purpose of rituals & feasts - rituals have the purpose of K&C of HGA (Union with God/union of Microcosm & Macrocosm/Samadhi/satori/Nirvana, etc.) but also simply to build up energy of various sorts; feasts are for the dispersal or releasing of energy for joy & gratitude

Philosophy

• Dialectical monism - the scheme of creation (division) and destruction (union) espoused by Nuit in Liber AL I:28-30, "None... and two. For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all;" This 'none' is 'one' with a ' better' (more effective insofar as One commonly denotes a limit, and/or posits a Not-One) name, and it may only manifest in terms of 'two'
• Pantheism - God = All = Nature = Universe

Ethics

• Amorality - Beyond good & evil there is the freedom of following one's natural Way
• Suprarationality - the ethics of Thelema explicitly attack reason as "a lie; for there is a factor infinite & unknown; & all their words are skew-wise."