The Accolade of Accolades

Like unto a beautiful woman hidden in the interior of a palace who, when her friend and beloved passes by, opens for a moment a secret widow, and is only seen by him; then again retires and disappears for a long time; so the doctrine shows herself only to the elect, but also not even to these always in the same manner. In the beginning, deeply veiled, she only beckos to the one passing, with her hand; it simply depends [on himself] if in his understanding he perceives this gentle hint. Later she approaches him somewhat nearer, and whispers to him a few words, but her countenance is still hidden in the thick veil, which his glances cannot penetrate. Still later she converses with him, her countenance covered with a thinner veil. After he has accustomed himself to her society, she finally shows herself to him face to face, and entrusts him with the innermost secrets of her heart. [Sod]

Khalil Gibran

You ask me how I became a madman. It happened thus: One day, long before many gods were born, I woke from a deep sleep and found all my masks were stolen -- the seven masks I have fashioned and worn in seven lives. I ran maskless through the crowded streets shouting, "Thieves, thieves, the cursed thieves."

Men and women laughed at me and ran to their houses in fear.

And when I reached the market place, a youth standing on a house-top cried, "He is a madman." I looked up to behold him; the sun kissed my own naked face for the first time. For the first time the sun kissed my own naked face and my soul was inflamed with love for the sun, and I wanted my masks no more. And as if in a trance I cried, "Blessed, blessed are the thieves who stole my masks."

Thus I became a madman.

Defeat, my Defeat, my solitude and my aloofness;
You are dearer to me than a thousand triumphs,
And sweeter to my heart than all world-glory.

Defeat, my Defeat, my self-knowledge and my defiance,
Through you I know that I am yet young and swift of foot
And not to be trapped by withering laurels.
And in you I have found aloneness
And the joy of being shunned and scorned.

Defeat, my Defeat, my shining sword and shield,
In your eyes I have read
That to be enthroned is to be enslaved,
And to be understood is to be leveled down,
And to be grasped is but to reach one's fullness
And like a ripe fruit to fall and be consumed.

Defeat, my Defeat, my bold companion,
You shall hear my songs and my cries and my silences,
And none but you shall speak to me of the beating of wings,
And urging of seas,
And of mountains that burn in the night,
And you alone shall climb my steep and rocky soul.

Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage,
You and I shall laugh together with the storm,
And together we shall dig graves for all that die in us,
And we shall stand in the sun with a will,
And we shall be dangerous.

The "I" in me, my friend, dwells in the house of silence, and therein it shall remain for ever more, unperceived, unapproachable.

I would not have you believe in what I say nor trust in what I do -- for my words are naught but your own thoughts in sound and my deeds your own hopes in action.

When you say, "The wind blows eastward," I say, "Yes, it does blow eastward"; for I would not have you know that my mind does not dwell upon the wind but upon the sea. You cannot understand my seafaring thoughts, nor would I have you understand. I would be at sea alone.

When it is day with you, my friend, it is night with me; yet even then I speak of the noontide that dances upon the hills and of the purple shadow that steals its way across the valley; for you cannot hear the songs of my darkness nor see my wings beating against the stars -- and I fain would not have you hear or see. I would be with night alone.

When you ascend to your Heaven I descend to my Hell -- even then you call to me across the unbridgeable gulf, "My companion, my comrade," and I call back to you, "My comrade, my companion" -- for I would not have you see my Hell. The flame would burn your eyesight and the smoke would crowd your nostrils. And I love my Hell too well to have you visit it. I would be in Hell alone.

You love Truth and Beauty and Righteousness; and I for your sake say it is well and seemly to love these things. But in my heart I laugh at your love. Yet I would not have you see my laughter. I would laugh alone.

My friend, you are good and cautious and wise; no, you are perfect -- and I, too, speak with you wisely and cautiously. And yet I am mad. But I mask my madness. I would be mad alone.

My friend, you are not my friend, but how shall I make you understand? My path is not your path, yet together we walk, hand in hand.

The Hour of Man

I want to see the radio or television turned off for an hour a week, the paper or magazine laid aside, the car locked safely in the garage, the bridge table folded, the liquor bottle corked, and the sedatives kept tightly in their packages. I want to see production and consumption forgotten for this hour. Politics must be forgotten, national or international. The hour that I propose could be called The Hour of Man. During this hour, man could ask himself and his neighbor just what purpose they are serving on earth, what life is, what a man or woman can rightly ask of life as well as what they must give in return. If that man is working and struggling for what he really wants, is it worth the price he pays in personal suffering? Neighbors should learn to listen intently to neighbors. In only that way will the eye turn inward. In other people's souls they could see the undistorted image of their own souls. As they helped others they would help themselves.

- Walker Winslow

From a possible future.

Is a state of affairs unthinkable in which the malefactor calls himself to account and publicly dictates his own punishment, in the proud feeling that he is thus honoring the law which he himself has made, that by punishing himself he is exercising his power, the power of the lawgiver [...] Such would be the criminal of a possible future, who, to be sure, also presupposes a future lawgiving - one founded on the idea 'I submit only to the law which I myself have given, in great things and small.'

Daybreak 187

The Bodhisattva Issa

And, now, what are the Occult Teachings--the Secret Doctine--regarding the Real Virgin Birth of Jesus? Just this: that the Spirit of Jesus was fresh from the bosom of the Absolute--Spirit of SPIRIT--a Virgin Birth of Spirit. His Spirit had not yet traveled the weary upward path of Reincarnation and repeated Rebirth, but was Virgin Spirit fresh from the SPIRIT--a very Son of the Father--begotten not created. This Virigin Spirit was incarnated in His body, and there began the life of Man, not fully aware of His own nature, but gradually awakening into knowledge just as does every human soul, until at last the true nature of His Being burst upon him, and he saw that he indeed was God incarnate. In his short life of thirty-three years--thirty years of preperation, and three years of ministry, Jesus typified and symbolized the Life of the Race. Just as he awakened into a perception of his Divine Nature, so shall the race awaken in time. Every act in the Life of Jesus typified and symbolized the life of every individual soul, and of the race. We all have our Garden of Gethsemene--each is Crucified, and Ascends to Higher Planes. This is the Occult Doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Christ. Is it not a worthy one--is it not at least a higher conception of the human mind, than the physical Virgin Birth legend?

Spiritual Nature vs. Human Nature

Human nature is deceitful, it  continually claims it is good. But it always seeks its own gain as the purpose and result of its work, and it sees much gain can come from others. It rejoices at worldly gain and is depressed by worldly loss. It is greedy, it wants possessions and to take inventory of its property.

Spiritual nature has no pretense. It does all things for God. It is indifferent toward the world of the senses and craves contact with the Spirit influences within. It submits itself to a holy mental discipline. It does not desire to have dominion over any creature. It is always ready, for the love of God, to bow humbly before any creature. It accepts a humble estate. It does not want more temporal good than is necessary to win eternal life.

Human nature won’t easily die, be subjected, suppressed, or guided. It loves idleness and bodily rest. It is very frail. It fears rebuke and to be loathed. It is soon shaken by a sharp word. It loves the flesh, vanity, and the novelties of the world. It desires pleasant and unusual things. It gladly beholds the great things of the world. 

Spiritual nature beholds everlasting things. It doesn’t trust worldly things and is not troubled by the loss of them. It is not grieved by harsh words. It has invested itself in spiritual things that do not perish. It is content with little. It is sympathetic and generous to the poor, innocent, and less-fortunate. It draws mankind to the love of Good, virtue, and delights in goodness.

Human nature desires praise and that its accomplishments be admired and well-known. It loves many friends and the flattery from a high birth and noble blood. It seeks to be distinguished and to be associated with distinguished people.

Spiritual nature doesn’t care for the vain praise of the world. It regards family birth as meaningless considering that we can all become God’s children. It doesn’t desire that its own virtue and devotion be known, but that the infinite love of God be known. It regards itself as nothing, but renders all to God, the source of everything it is.

Human nature promptly complains for the lack of every little thing it wants or any little worldly grief. It judges every little act and word of all it encounters and criticizes most of it, to make itself seem superior. It secretly delights in the short-comings of others and finds pleasure in resentment. 

Spiritual nature rejoices in truth, and in the growth of virtue and goodness. It doesn’t regard its own opinion as preferable, but submits to righteous divine judgment. It knows that the greatest pleasures come from discovering eternal realities that make sensual pleasures meaningless and foolish by comparison. The Spiritual nature is a gift from God that lives inside our souls and seeks to influence our thoughts. 

Human nature loves secrets and craves experiences of the world of outward senses. It worries incessantly, and looks for new things to worry about. It is always curious about the future as if knowing it would stop the worrying.

Spiritual nature trusts in God in all things, it finds nothing to worry about. The Spiritual nature doesn’t know how to worry.

Human nature argues and strives for itself. It refuses to be treated unfairly. It will fight for its rights. It will not spare anyone’s feelings.

Spiritual nature submits to the righteous judgment of God and is unconcerned by unfair worldly treatment because it knows something of the glories of spiritual reality. It endures all for Good. It will gladly suffer anything for the sake of love. 

There are no shortcuts. We must win this inner struggle between our human and spiritual natures. 

Spiritual nature is so vitally necessary to the health of the soul.

Human nature poisons the soul.

Spiritual nature allows us to resist becoming slaves to human nature.

Human nature is the strong force; 

Spiritual nature is the weak force. Yet reflective human reason can see the validity of spiritual nature; it can see the difference between good and evil, truth and falsehood.

There is nothing wrong with humans being human beings as long as we strive for the more noble reactions of the Spiritual nature.

Who are you? Both. You are the parent and the child, teacher and student, doctor and patient. “Physician heal thyself.”

Spiritual nature is with us, it is our strength, our counsel and help. It is ultimately stronger than all enemies, wiser than the wisest, the master of truth, the teacher of discipline, the light of the heart, the comfort of trouble, the banisher of desolation, the avoider of dread, the nourisher of devotion, and the bearer of sweet tears. It goes before us and follows us. It is the Way that cannot be made foul, the Truth that cannot be deceived, and the Life that cannot end.

http://www.arrowstone.org/spiritual-nature.html

A Time (Judaism & Taoism)

There is a time for everything,

   and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

   a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

   a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

   a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

   a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

   a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

   a time for war and a time for peace.

- Ecclesiastes 3

There is a time for being ahead,

a time for being behind;

a time for being in motion,

a time for being at rest;

a time for being vigorous,

a time for being exhausted;

a time for being safe,

a time for being in danger.

- Tao Te Ching (Verse 29)