Re: Why do you study the occult?
Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 1:29 am
I'd agree on that, ie. most people's penchant for blissful ignorance, and I think for a lot of us it seems like the red tape in life is ruled by brute and irrational forces that there really isn't even a way to get under with dedicated effort. Add reductive materialism on top of that and I don't think most people know what else to do.
I had a talk with a close acquaintance in one of the orders I'm in and he said something that to the effect that it sounds like I'm growing up and in some of the best senses of the phrase. That's probably true. One of the challenges early in the path is that you have no idea what to expect, a lot of the 18th and 19th century greats seem to promise the moon (Rudolph Steiner was great for that), and being pitched the idea that in 10 years dedicated time you can do anything you tend to go with it - partly because you're sold the idea that belief is such an integral part of the engine that it can't work without intense faith.
To that end I think it's just a resizing of expectations and realizing that this is a very long-slog process. Knowing that means that I'll aim to be jogging the rest of the way rather than sprinting. it's also humbling to know that Plotinus - the most sublime Neoplatonist philosopher, maybe had between half a dozen and a dozen experiences in his life. I should probably ask myself, when I'm craving too much more knowledge or understanding, whether I could write something like the Ennead. I also have to ask, very honestly, if my desires are partially escapism and - if so - realize that the universe is not in the wish fulfillment market, regardless of what Rhonda Byrne wants to tell people.
I had a talk with a close acquaintance in one of the orders I'm in and he said something that to the effect that it sounds like I'm growing up and in some of the best senses of the phrase. That's probably true. One of the challenges early in the path is that you have no idea what to expect, a lot of the 18th and 19th century greats seem to promise the moon (Rudolph Steiner was great for that), and being pitched the idea that in 10 years dedicated time you can do anything you tend to go with it - partly because you're sold the idea that belief is such an integral part of the engine that it can't work without intense faith.
To that end I think it's just a resizing of expectations and realizing that this is a very long-slog process. Knowing that means that I'll aim to be jogging the rest of the way rather than sprinting. it's also humbling to know that Plotinus - the most sublime Neoplatonist philosopher, maybe had between half a dozen and a dozen experiences in his life. I should probably ask myself, when I'm craving too much more knowledge or understanding, whether I could write something like the Ennead. I also have to ask, very honestly, if my desires are partially escapism and - if so - realize that the universe is not in the wish fulfillment market, regardless of what Rhonda Byrne wants to tell people.