Article - Laura Knight-Jadczyk
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Editors Articles Something Wicked This Way Comes
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Boris Mouravieff: Polar Opposites, or the Fifth Way of Love by Laura Knight-Jadczyk
Boris Mouravieff writes in his book "Gnosis: Study and commentaries on the Esoteric tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy. Book I, Exoteric Cycle"
This last remark seems to me to be important. Very often people write to me and say that the C's material is too "scary" and that we talk too much about the "illusion" why aren't we talking about positive things or concentrating on "escaping" or whatever. Well, the fact seems to be that what Mouravieff has said above is the key: If we cannot map the illusion, we have no hope of getting out of it. Over and over again we have seen folks like Anna Hayes and others come along with their "map out of the illusion," only to find that it is not a map out because they don't even fully understand that it is just another layer of illusion. When I was spending years struggling my way through this material - in real time - up close and personal, I wailed about it to the C's:
The point is that it seems that until a person fully SEES the illusion - the layers and layers of it - they have no hope of becoming free of it. Many people simply can't do it. They can't stand the bloody mess of the birth of the higher self which takes place on the bodies of all the sacred cows that were held so close for so long. And, as Mouravieff has just said: "If we only knew what Illusion is, we would then know the opposite: what Truth is. This Truth would liberate us from slavery." And it seems that the only way we have of discovering Truth in this reality, is to first of all strip away all the lies. And Lord! There's a raft of them! Now, back to Mouravieff:
Now, Boris Mouravieff, obviously had access to some ancient stuff - read ancient documents - and did some very interesting "working out" of many things that seem to be so "on target" that it is hard to not think that he had some inspiration, even if we can see that he was also trying to fit in some things that just don't work. This last is only because we have some hindsight on such things - which include his attempts to reconcile some of Schwaller de Lubicz's work into his synthesis. This series was only translated into English fairly recently, but Ark read them in French many years ago. He had forgotten much of what was in them because he had to read them with a dictionary and it was a slow and laborious process. But recently, when we found them in English, we ordered them and I have to tell you that reading some of the things in there really amazed me. Even more amazing are the things that we KNOW because of experiences, that are described and explained in the books, but said experiences happened for us before reading the explanation. And even though Ark had read some of it, those specific things that I want to quote, had no meaning for him because they were - at the time - outside of his range of experiences. Mouravieff talks about the degrading of women to "living merchandise" and how Jesus (as a Gnostic teacher) taught "reciprocal choice in love" which established the idea of "romance" between men and women. Well, this seems to ring with some truth because of the Grail stories and their emphasis on romance - on "platonic love" and so on. If what Mouravieff is saying is true, then it makes sense because of the possible survival of the Cathar teachings in the Grail stories and the lays of the minstrels and Troubadours, etc. Also, there is Fomenko's theory to consider - that much of the "history" of the Dark Ages in Europe is really the history of ancient Byzantium, the origin of the Grail stories, and the "path of transmission" of the ancient Gnostic traditions. Mouravieff writes:
C's have said:
Mouravieff writes:
C's have said:
The parable of the coach:
If the desire for transformation has enough vigor and intensity, this will fill the interval between the notes DO and Si, which is the First Threshold - the seeker will then stand with a firm footing on the first step of the Staircase.
The four notes which form the Staircase are linked by a deep interdependence, since their resonance draws its strength from the initial impulse of Desire. This means that if this initial desire does not unite all man's existence in obedience [to the thing desired, i.e. to become free] if it does not dominate his whole being, it is better for him to stop in time and not cross the Threshold. We repeat: The Way is a path of no return. This is the real reason for this test of Desire. This Desire must have the strength of Thirst.
The first step leads to the test of Faith. To Believe is not enough; one must have faith. Here we not that we are not talking about faith or belief in some outside source, but in the self. Here the seeker must surmount his fear of abandonment. Many trials and troubles will face the seeker... all designed to destroy his faith in his own ability to be and to succeed in finding the life that is not materially evident but is only a dream... "Be not therefore anxious saying, what shall we eat? Or What shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. but seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His truth; and all these things shall be added unto you." The second step is a test of Strength. The third step is the test of Discernment and Skill. He who can see and understand the precept "you cannot serve God and Mammon" will be better prepared to withstand this test. The fourth step is the test of Love, or true, life-giving love, a consuming fire quite different from what now smolders under the ashes. It is a blazing sword whose flames burn up all alloy mixtures; all that man takes for love - within him or towards him - when it is not that. If we keep these words before our minds, we will immediately be able to judge every movement of the heart, and will know whether or not it contains traces of true Love. To live in the True, with all lies excluded, is the prerogative of the Cycle of the Spirit: Light without shadow. We speak here about certain human beings who have attained or who are about to attain the Second Birth. The text leaves no room for ambiguity: "Lie not to one another: seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings and have put on the new man, that is being renewed until the knowledge after the image of God: where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman; but Christ is all and in all." This is only addressed to those who are on the Way in their relations between themselves. He who reaches Love would not know how to lie. But to triumph over lies requires an esoteric culture which is inaccessible to ordinary man. This highlights the important problem of lying. The struggle against lying is long and drawn out. It is first of all a struggle against ourselves, against our spontaneous tendencies, and against that mechanicalness that makes us revert constantly to lying. Useless lies to others are far less harmful than lying to oneself - and easier to master and heal. Lying to oneself sometimes takes on finely shaded forms that necessitate total and sustained attention, together with methodical and persistent efforts. to eliminate useless lying to others does not demand continual effort: one must simply watch to see that it does not slip into conversation. At the moment when it is on our lips a simple effort of attention is sufficient to stop it. That is why in struggling for truth, it is recommended to begin with this type of lie. But, we easily understand that lying to oneself, or the struggle against this kind of lie, is not perceptible from the exterior. When we stop lying uselessly, this will also be unnoticed by those around us. One can say that in practice, the struggle against these two categories of lies does not alter man's relations with other men in any way, although it is very effective for the person who undertakes it. We can therefore begin it without delay, as long as we do it discreetly so as not to draw attention to ourselves, and so do not provoke increasing pressure from the General Law [of accident and mechanicalness which will try to circumvent these efforts; i.e. The Predator's mind/Matrix.] [...] As for efforts at suppressing lies to oneself, they entail quite different and important consequences. Such lies grow deep roots. In this domain, paradoxical situations sometimes arise, some of them of such psychological subtlety that it is difficult to draw them out of the shade. Here we must mention the question of marriages where one of the partners, having realized that this union is an error, persists in trying to convince him or herself of the contrary. If he is of an affectionate nature, he will redouble his amiability towards his partner as if truly toward his polar "other." The absurdity of the situation reaches its limits if the other partner reacts by adopting a corresponding attitude - without any sincere or spontaneous glow of tenderness. The danger from the esoteric point of view is that, by mere force of habit, such a situation takes on for one of the partners, or even for both of them, the value of true love. this kind of lying to oneself can go on for dozens of years with people who are amiable and of good faith, and they entail tragic disillusions in the end. The man who starts to struggle against lying to himself must be forewarned of these difficulties, and of the possible collapse of some or all his greatest values. All should know that true esoteric work only begins after the individual has passed through a general bankruptcy and has had his gods helplessly thrown to the ground. We have indicated the absolute necessity for anyone who aspires to esoteric development to cure himself as soon as possible of this deep-rooted habit of lying to himself. We shall now look at this problem from another angle: that of the objective results which man obtains when he is able to stop lying. This work takes time, demands the courage to face disillusion, and needs self- confidence and faith in the self. As the seeker advances, he feels a new sentiment. He will sometimes feel bitter regret as his beautiful dreams vanish, but at the same time he will feel himself more and more liberated. His growing sincerity towards himself will establish an atmosphere of truth in his inner life. The law proclaimed "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" will apply to him in its fullness. The word "free" was deliberately chosen to contrast a state of slavery. After each operation of inner purification, painful though it may be, the seeker will feel more and more fully a profound gratitude for being freed from this absurd slavery. Having reached a certain stage in internal liberation, the individual will understand the full value of the magical power expressed in the word Freedom.
The acquisition of Inner Freedom is the sine qua non condition of further success in esoteric work. This elimination of lying to the self enables one to observe the work of the lower centers in the self objectively. This observation is commenced from this "command post" of impartial observation and judgment of the individual who has overcome the lies to the self. When our interior world is thus purified by these rays of the Cosmic Sun, when we have ceased to lie to ourselves, how then are we to act towards others? This problem is far from easy. It is written: "the kingdom of heaven is forced, and it is the violent men who hold it." If we remember that the kingdom of heaven is within, and NOT outside us, then we begin to understand that some force or even violence must be employed INTERNALLY to retake our own fortress. This is very often necessary to eliminate the roots of Illusion within us, the mother of lies to ourselves. Thus we see that the test at the fourth step is decisive. Until lying stops, man drags along the defects of his past: lying, weakness, self-pity, inner compromise. Generally, it takes time, the opportunity and the possibility to rid himself of his baggage before committing himself to the fourth step is met. Many individuals, because of the weight of their past, waste time and allow many opportunities which present themselves to go by. But, on the fourth step, the balance sheet must be drawn up and accounts settled. Man, poor and naked, is accepted at the second Threshold, but only on condition that he is consistent and pure. The essential is that he be consistent, meaning that he contains within himself true Love, which can only be revealed by the cessation of lying to the self. Everything false within him will be burned by the flames of this blazing sword. All of these steps happen more or less together in many combinations. They are distributed unequally according to different personalities, and driven by the force of our Desire to be free. In stepping onto the Staircase, to approach and then cross the Second Threshold, man adopts a new attitude towards himself: from this point on, he takes his fate in his own hands. During later development, the Individuality becomes progressively integrated with the higher cosmos. The life of man is a film. It is certainly difficult for our Cartesian minds to grasp this concept. Our three-dimensional minds are badly adapted to ideas and facts which touch on the domain of the eternal. Incomprehensible as it may seem, our life is truly a film produced in accordance with a script. This film goes on continuously, without ever stopping, in such a way that, at the time of his death, man is born again. What seems absurd is that he is born in the same place, at the same date where he was born before, and of the same parents. So the film goes on again. Each human being, then, is born with his own particular film. this represents the field of action in which man is called to apply his conscious efforts. The repetition of the film is not reincarnation, although these two notions are often confused. Exterior man, who lives in the system of the Future-Past cannot embrace in a single moment the ensemble of his film, nor even the part that contains his immediate future. To do so, he would need to enlarge the slot of his Present. It thus happens to him that, faced with certain events, he will feel that he has already seen or lived those events. Some see in such phenomena the proof of so called reincarnation. In reality, phenomena of this sort are the result of a casual and temporary surge of fine energies in the organism: the slot of the individual Present then enlarges for a few moment, and some significant facts of the immediate future slip into the waking consciousness. In this way, the impression is created of a return of another time. In a certain way this is true, although the impression of having lived before is only caused by mechanical unfolding of the film. By reincarnation, we must understand a phenomenon of a very different order. Although the theoretical film revolves integrally on the plane of possibilities, meaning in eternity, the film of the exterior man clings to the plane of realization, that is, of Time, but only to the extent strictly necessary to satisfy the ends of the Ray of Creation. True reincarnation, on the other hand, occurs entirely in time, and belongs integrally to the domain of the Real, well understood as part of the broader frame of Manifestation. The human personality is not a reality in the proper sense of the word, but a possibility. It plays a role in the film to which it is attached, from which it will not disappear until the moment of the Second Birth. At that moment, it will cease to be a Personality. Because of its indestructible union with the real "I", it will be transfigured, and so it will become an Individuality. As long as man lives in the wilderness, self-satisfied and immersed in lies and illusions, the film will unfold with mechanical inflexibility, and the Personality will remain entirely unchanged. These circumstances start to change the moment man crossed the first Threshold. This passage can be compared to the conception of the future Individuality. The Staircase symbolizes the period of gestation, and the crossing of the second Threshold represents the second Birth, the birth of Individuality. As man becomes more and more integrated with his "I", growing his Individuality, he becomes progressively integrated with the Cosmos and acquires "gifts" appropriate to his individual nature. Simultaneously, he progressively participates in real, objective existence, which finally characterizes his being. This is liberation from the bonds of the film. It is only at this point of evolution that true individual reincarnation becomes possible. True reincarnation is not mechanical; it is done consciously, generally to accomplish a mission. It is important to grasp clearly the difference which exists between the film, a mixture of possibilities, and reincarnation in time, which belongs to the domain of the Real, and to understand the meaning of this difference. At the time of the second Birth, that is to say, by crossing the Second Threshold, man escapes his bondage to the film, and enters the domain of redemption. He is then admitted into the sacred brotherhood of living Beings. These beings are an unshakable force: those who are part of it are no longer subject to illness or sorrow. Death loses its hold over them. They have overcome the world. In theory, the film in which man is born and in which he lives can go on until the end of the world, on condition that he is happy, satisfied with himself, attributing his virtues to himself, and blaming others for his mistakes and misfortunes. Properly speaking, this kind of existence cannot be considered as human; it could be described as anthropoid. This term is justified in the sense that exterior man, immersed in self-satisfaction, represents the crowning achievement of millions of years of evolution of the species from its animal ancestors, yet from the point of view of esoteric evolution, he is a possibility which has not yet been realized. If we envisage the problem of esoteric evolution from the point of view of the film and the different parts man can play in it, it is clear that this kind of evolution is impossible as long as the film can always be considered as turning in the same circle. People who perform in such a film are those we have called anthropoids, puppets, the dead who, in the words of Jesus, "believe themselves to be alive." Esoteric evolution starts when man, by his conscious efforts, proves capable of breaking the circle and transforming it into an ascending spiral. The spiral represents an intermediate state between the position where the human Personality is found to be trapped in the film, which revolves mechanically in a way hardly separated from the eternal plane, and that of the perfect, free Individuality, who is able, if need arises, to reincarnate consciously in Time. This is an intermediate state in this sense, that the film definitely departs from the plane of the eternal, from the plane of possibilities. The curve of life, which for exterior man does not in practice differ from a circle, transforms itself into a spiral and does not end - as it did previously - almost at its point of departure: the distance between these two points now marks a definite progression in Time. The film in the form of a spiral belongs to human beings who climb the staircase. Complete disengagement of the film is produced at the moment of crossing the second threshold. If man is able to do that successfully during a single life, so breaking the circle for the very first time, he does not return to it. Such a case is very rare: it is the lot of the just. Generally, this liberation requires several lives; several revolutions of the spiral. As a general rule, each revolution occurs in Time, and consequently can appear to be a reincarnation. In reality, it is nothing but a return to exterior life. A pseudo-reincarnation like this is neither conscious nor personal: it is the actors in the film who return, and they do not remember any previous experiences. However, a change is possible as soon as the conscious efforts of man increase the effect of the Time factor by enlarging perception of the Present. In a film which unfolds in a spiral in this way, the contents of the play change; they change in two ways: first in each life, that is, during each revolution, and also from spiral to spiral. The composition of the cast, the circumstances, and the scenery all change. Two elements however remain permanent: first, the general aim, to reach and cross the second Threshold; then the absolute condition for crossing this Threshold, that all the karmic debts which have been accumulated in the present life, as well as during previous spirals, must be neutralized and liquidated. Before the Second Threshold, every drama must be played out to its denouement. The work is hard and difficult because man constantly makes mistakes. The attentive reader has already understood that following the spiral, or climbing the Staircase, is reserved for human beings who have already absorbed a certain quantity of Cosmic Sun influences and who thus possess a more or less developed magnetic center. This does not guarantee that they will make no more errors. It is true that from the time man first mounts the Staircase he is watched, especially if he makes sincere and considerable efforts. The Esoteric Brotherhood offers him a helping hand. Certain meetings, a play of favorable circumstances, are the forms taken by this help. This assistance does not, however, free him of the need to work on himself and to go on making conscious efforts. In addition, it must be said that often the proffered help is not used, because man does not listen to the advice given, or because he does not grasp the meaning of the favorable circumstances and the possibilities of progress which open before him. He is still more than half a creature of the domain of Illusion, he continues to take frequent impulsive decisions, and often turns against his own avowed aims. It must be understood that as long as a man has not attained and crossed the Second Threshold, he will have to start all over again. He will restart every spiral in the wilderness, he will once again have to discern the Cosmic Solar influences, cross the First Threshold, and climb the Staircase step by step. It is true that no conscious effort is ever lost, but the experience acquired in one spiral only appears in the next in the form of innate personal aptitudes, or vague recollections of people in the cast.
[...]
We should know that, at the end of a spiral (incarnation), a comparison is made between the film as it was conceived at the time of birth and what it has become at the time of death. The balance sheet between these two states is drawn up, as in accounting, by listing assets and liabilities, followed by a profit/loss statement. This will show the result of the elapsed life objectively. This balance sheet furnishes the basic elements for composing the film at the start of the following spiral. If we could avoid all errors and complications in this new experience, produced as a result of free movements, esoteric evolution would then occur in a harmonious rising curve. Generally, this is not the case. Man most often comes to this idea of evolution after he has already complicated the film to which he belongs. But true evolution cannot occur except on the basis of the original film - after all artificially added elements have been eliminated. The latter is conditional on a return to the PURITY of the centers, especially the emotional center which - at least at the start - is the sole receptacle of Cosmic Solar influences. (L)
Are instincts different from emotions?
The heart must therefore be pure, and if not already pure, it must be purified. This is the sine qua non condition of success. All the discussion of lying in all its aspects is given to emphasize the absolute need for purifying the heart, and for beginning to re-educate the emotional center in a positive direction. [Remember, the emotions are represented by the horse pulling the coach.] This necessity explains the meaning of the words of Jesus: "Except you turn, and become as little children, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." This refers specifically to the emotional life. Many have interpreted this as a restriction on the development of the intellect. This is a huge mistake. Intelligence and intellect must be developed and stimulated. The admonition to "become as little children" only points to the need for purity of the centers, NOT the idea of keeping them in a primitive state. Paul wrote: Brothers, be not children in that which concerns judgment, be children in what concerns malice, but as to judgment, be fully grown men." It is now time to turn to a possible short cut in esoteric work which can rapidly take us to the second Threshold. This is a possibility offered to Polar beings, those couples described by the ancient Tradition in the myth of the Androgyne. On the basis of the preceding analysis, the essential data for the film of any ordinary person can be described as follows: as the hero of the romance of his own life, the subject must necessarily be the star of the film. But he can also play a minor role in the film of people who play a secondary role in his own film. In this way, each film gets enmeshed with other films, where the same people are found in totally different situations. One must also distinguish between two categories of actors. The first are really part of the cast. A definite role is assigned to them: they are organically tied to the film. The second group only appear by accident in the film, drawn into the action by the free movements of the hero. This complexity is further increased because some of the actors who have genuine parts in the film play their roles badly, while others play roles which are not their own. Situations like this are widespread. The human Personality is an organism with multiple parts or facets, 987 to be exact. In the ideal case, only realized by polar beings, and the only effective one from the esoteric point of view, the 987 facets of man and woman are strictly polar. These are the predestined husband and wife whose union will create a true couple. However, the cast contains other people, who play roles organically tied to that of the hero, and who are necessary to bring the film in its ensemble to its natural end. these are friend souls, brother souls, sister souls, collaborating souls, servant souls, etc. The Personalities of each of them have a certain number of facts identical to those of the hero, for actors of the same sex, or polar for actors of the opposite sex. In the case of brothers and sisters, the number of identical or polar facets can be as many as half or even more. The lack of discernment and of sincerity towards ourselves, the innate desire to find a perfect resonance to the vibration of our soul, and the impatience that follows, all multiplied by the action of the General Law [of accident], induce us too often to contract unions which can only result in absurd situations. Instead of resisting the mirage; instead of waiting and seeking, we slip into imperfect unions, which are a source of suffering both for the partners and their children. In addition, these unions alter the meaning of the film in its ensemble, and so corrupt the personal lives of all the actors in the drama. Lastly, the esoteric results foreseen in the initial composition of the film are gravely compromised. It is as a result of considering on the matrimonial plane, or through lack of consideration on the sexual plane, that most of our errors are committed, including those which demand the heaviest payment. Even beings of good faith are not exempt from error. To confuse a brother or sister soul for husband or wife compounds very complicated situations, especially from the esoteric point of view. The situation is all the more confused when children are born from such unions. Life then takes on the character of a perpetual compromise with oneself. the moral and physical health of "accidentally united couples" suffers: with changes in the intellectual center due to cheating and lying; heart disease if the emotional center is sensitive and still aspires to the truth; also diseases of obscure origin, of which cancer is one that attacks the body in its most fragile parts. In every case, the condition necessarily leads to permanent loss of fine energies which, in its turn, brings on accelerated aging and leads to premature death. Difficult as are these situations that arise out of our errors, they must not prevent anyone who throws himself into esoteric work from finding the courage in himself to look them in the face and to search for a satisfactory outcome. If the Devil - the General Law - tries to lead us into new errors to obstruct our esoteric evolution, the supporting hand of the Lord is always stretched out to help us. Yet our minds, too rational and too realistic, often stop us from sensing this help. When a situation has been entangled by our errors, the Gordian knot must NOT be cut, it must be untied in such a way that the participants, both tied by the same knot, feel only relief at the disappearance of a situation which was simply a source of suffering for both. If the situation is resolved, the original meaning of the film and its normal development can be found. The ensemble of people organically linked in one film forms a team. In the initial conception of the film, this team must attain a predetermined aim as a result of the way the participants play their roles in the play of life. This esoteric aim is always different from the aims we follow under the influences of the General Law [the Predator's mind.] The objective for such a team always has an esoteric meaning in fact, though the Personalities which compose it may be very different. they will share a deep need: a desire to end lies and illusions once and for all, the escape the domination of the [Predator's mind] and, in one form or another, to reach that objective existence in which man finds his real "I" and identifies himself with it. Here we must describe the principal law which underlies the formation of these teams. On the material plane, the greatest reward goes to him who commands. On the esoteric plane, the greatest reward goes to him who serves. The confusion between these two important master ideas - that of commanding and of serving - sometimes appears dramatic. Even among Jesus' disciples, the question of knowing who was greatest among them tormented them. The more evolved the team, the more important the task entrusted to it. History provides examples of the work of teams in all fields. the role of women in teams is particularly marked in crucial periods of the history of peoples. [...]Once the First Threshold is crossed, esoteric work will begin to reveal the true meaning of the film. Man must proceed with an impartial analysis of its contents: the role that each of the actors plays in it - and the value of this role - must be passed through a sieve. Gradually, as this stripping work progresses, the positive or negative character of different roles emerges more and more clearly. After this, inappropriate elements tend to disappear from the scene. At the end of this analysis, the film will contain only a reduced number of actors. but all of them are organically bound together, and with the hero, by the contents of the play, as it was conceived from the beginning of these experiences... which are pursued by the real "I" through centuries or even millennia. The play must then be played out to its resolution or denouement. The basic task of man, once he has crossed the first Threshold, is to shelter himself from the karmic influences which are the effects of errors committed in his free movements, either in the present life or in the past. In the past, workers used to go to some monastery or hermitage where they were able to concentrate on introspective work. In the present, our times require energetic and rapid methods. Our last question is to examine the method whereby the Staircase between the two Thresholds can be climbed more quickly, while we remain and work in the contemporary world. This means exists: it is to work as a couple. However, for this esoteric work to be completed successfully by two people, it is essential that the two beings - man and woman - are integrally polar. Q:
(A) My first question is: I want to understand what is this "predestined
mission," what it consists of?
In the "long path," by successive elimination based on long and minute analysis of his film, and after new errors and new failures, man may end by finding his legitimate spouse, a fully integral polar being with whom to unite himself. In the "short path", man must begin by a conscious search for his polar being. If found, they can work together on the film which - in its origin - is common to them both. A man alone is incomplete. But just where he is weak, his polar being is strong. together, they form an integral being: their union leads to the fusion of their Personalities and a faster crystallization of their complete subtle bodies, united into a common second Birth. This is the redemption of "original sin." The system of films is conceived in such a way that polar beings will necessarily meet in life, in certain cases more than once. Only the confused ties contracted in this life by each of them, as a result of their free movements, combined with the karmic consequences of one or more previous experiences, can divert the man or woman from the ONLY being with whom they could from a Micro cosmos. If there were no karmic debt, everything would go wonderfully: two young people would meet in the most favorable family and social atmosphere, and their union would represent a true fairy-tale. But this is not reality. Obeying the principle of Imperfection, and moved by the action of the General Law, the two predestined beings will commit errors. Deeply buried in lies, they do not generally know how to appreciate the gift they are given. Often, they do not even recognize each other. If this is the case, then an agonizing question is put: is there one or more means to detect our polar being, and if so, what are these means? To meet that person, to do so without recognition, to let our polar being pass by, is the worst mistake we could possibly make: because we would remain in our factitious life, without light. Must not everything be sacrificed in favor of a union which is the only chance of our life: the promise of return to paradise lost? Nevertheless we should beware of the last trap, one we can fall into just at the moment when ineffable happiness seems to smile upon us. We have just said: all must be sacrifices; we have not said: all must be broken. If, having recognized one another, the two polar beings triumph over this last ordeal or test, often the most painful, the new life, will open in front of them, as they are then called to be One on earth and in heaven. But let us now return to the question of knowing how not to pass by after having met our true alter ago, the pledge of happiness and salvation. There is a whole series of subjective and objective clues which assist us in recognizing our polar being. The polarization is manifested on ALL planes simultaneously: sexual, physical, mental and spiritual. Two elements must be taken into consideration: If it is correct to say that the predestined man and woman are absolutely polar beings, this polarity is not simple because, to a certain measure, both are physically, mentally and spiritually hermaphroditic beings. That measure, that proportion, is at the same time, sufficient and necessary. It is necessary to permit every being coming into this world to carry within himself the image of the polar being; this image is expressed, in each case, by means of the organ of the opposite sex which exists in every being in a state of non-development. It is, so to say, a part of the flesh and blood of his polar being that each one of us carries within himself. this proportion is sufficient, that is, it is the absolute minimum that will not jeopardize the complete polarity, since the proportion of hermaphroditism in both polar beings is strictly equivalent. The second element, which is subjective, is the distortion of our personality due to conscious or unconscious deviations to which the initial film was subject during the course of our existence. Distortions of this kind make it more difficult to recognize the polar being, and can make us less willing to exert ourselves to unite with that being. [...] It is the Androgyne who constitutes a true Micro cosmos, not the isolated man or woman. The creation of man in the image and likeness of god was in the form of the Androgyne: this description refers to the joint astral body of two polar beings. For man as for woman, salvation in the bosom of the Absolute depends on their reintegration in the Micro cosmos, as Paul indicates explicitly: "neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman in the Lord. Man and woman are in fact, incomplete beings who - taken apart - cannot reflect in His fullness the image of God who is all in all. it is an axiom that every man and every woman has a polar being. Nevertheless, not all human beings feel the imperative need to be united to their polar being. Beings who live enclosed in their Personality without thinking deeply - which constitutes the great majority of humanity - enthusiastically involve themselves in a life ruled by material influences, and do not really feel the need for such a union. For them, the polar being is on the same plane as everyone else. The Personality does not perceive anything exceptional in him, and if by some chance an extraordinary impression is experienced, it is instead felt as something abnormal and embarrassing. We can speak of couples formed under the influence of the Law of Accident in which the partners have opposite aspirations. At the base of such unions we often find, beside a double error of judgment, the influences of karmic debt, remote or recent. the most intelligent attitude to take on such occasions is to unite the efforts of the couple to unravel the situation to their mutual benefit. Left to itself, the situation will only get worse. Very special care must be taken of the children of such a union, as they suffer within the union. Everything must be done to remedy this. As a general rule, we must not lose sight of the fact that, even if it is permitted to the human being to offer himself in sacrifice, he has no right to accept the sacrifice of others. To sacrifice yourself to a union that is formed under the law of accident only teaches your children to do likewise and hinders their possibilities of ever discovering their own polar being. Accelerated evolution of the hero of a film via work on the self - i.e. purification - brings him ever nearer to his polar being. At the same time, it automatically removes from the film those personalities who are not organically integral. After the formation of the magnetic center within him, man starts to feel the desire, the need, to be united to his polar being. This desire and need will increase in proportion to the growth of the latter. The concept of the Androgyne has purely mythical or theoretical value for ordinary man. But we now realize that a living aspiration to be re-integrated in the Micro cosmos - the most direct way to the re-integration in the Absolute - is the fruit of a high moral culture within the individual. As mentioned, esoteric evolution is conditioned at the start by bankruptcy, a moral breakdown. To make progress after this, man must know exactly where he stands. He must SEE himself. Isaac the Syrian said that he who has been able to see himself as he IS, is better than he who has seen angels. what we call bankruptcy, the ancient traditions call "death." It is death while still in a living body. One must first die, then be resurrected. By progressively taking his fate into his own hands, man at the same time takes responsibility for ALL the partners in his film. He must restore the original meaning of his film, then push the development of the latter in such a way that the "play" be properly played out to its intended denouement. The hero, while working on himself, must apply himself to create new circumstances around him, which will enhance the unfolding of the action towards its originally intended conclusion. His exterior efforts must above all be directed towards the creation of these circumstances, NOT towards seeking direct influence over people. Such direct influence over people may seem opportune, but it is an error. Instead of unraveling the situation, the influence creates karmic debts which complicate things all the more. One must be very prudent and circumspect. Yet new circumstances must be created in a way that effectively helps those interested to act in the direction desired. Once again: man should seek to serve, not to impose himself. Patience, perseverance and faith are qualities of great practical value in this work. For man to recognize his polar being, he must be fully attentive on all planes accessible to his consciousness. In fact, as a result of the distortion of the film, the meeting always occurs in circumstances and in a manner least expected, generally at a moment and in a form which resembles nothing he could ever have imagined. The rule is precise: to recognize his polar being, man must know himself. This is obviously logical: to recognize his alter ego, man must first recognize his own ego. We are thus confronted once again with the problem of the search for the way. It is true that the "I" of the body, like the "I" of the personality, aspire to find the perfect response from another being. This means that ONLY by identifying himself more and more with his REAL "I" that a man magnetizes the union with his polar being. It is with a heart full of faith, sharpening within himself his highest faculties of intuition and attention, his sense of critical analysis taken to the highest point of alertness, that man will go in search of the being without whom he is not real. As it was for the troubadour long ago, it is in Courtly Love that he can hope to find and recognize "la Dame de ses Pensees." The difficulty we find in discovering our polar beings lies in the fact that we are deformed, and constantly distort our film by free movements. We must rectify our own distortion and renounce our impulsive movements. This explains the prescription not to act under the influence of only one center. It is the necessity to correct for our distortion, which, logically, imposes on us the need, both in reception and transmission, for conscious effort to make our emotional and intellectual centers work together. When polar beings meet, by what immediately perceptible signs can humans who are still imperfect, still deformed by karmic debt, be certain in all objectivity that they are not making a mistake? Here are some indispensable criteria that can have objective value in mutual recognition. From the first meeting, in the presence of the polar being, both the "I" of the Personality and the "I" of the body vibrate in a manner which resembles nothing ever felt before. The reason for this is that these "I's" find themselves then in the presence of their First Love which continues through the centuries. Without clearly being conscious of it, the polar beings know each other; and this knowledge, as ancient as they are themselves, is expressed by the voice of their subconsciousness. This creates an atmosphere of absolute confidence and SINCERITY from the moment they meet. This is the Touchstone: for polar beings do NOT LIE to each other. They do not need to lie, for inwardly both are one single being, from the depths of which the real "I" issues his call and gives his assent. After this, that absolute, spontaneous sincerity constitutes the basis of their relationship. This gives these two beings an otherwise inconceivable feeling of Freedom in Unity, which ends the impression of servitude and isolation under which we ordinarily live. Soon afterwards, vague reminiscences of past experiences will start to come to the surface in their waking consciousness. the reader will now understand the deepest reason why lying to oneself is forbidden: he who lies to himself will also lie to his alter ego. That will be the end of the miracle. The wonderful side of the meeting will disappear behind a curtain of trivial lies, which will rapidly take the aspect of an impassable wall. This is how and why exterior man passes by his polar being without recognizing her. this is why practical work on the esoteric Way starts and necessarily continues with a struggle against lying to oneself. Success in this field is indispensable. To reach this aim, no price whatsoever is too high to pay. If they are open to the truth, and if their meeting makes chords - silent until now - vibrate in harmony within them both, the way is then marked out, for polar beings, by their conscious efforts to re-create the Micro cosmos which had formerly been dissociated and broken. They will traverse the Staircase like an arrow and will suddenly find themselves in front of the second Threshold. The catechumen crosses the First Threshold under the impetus of a negative feeling: the horror of life in the wilderness, and the ardent desire to escape from it. To reach the Second Threshold, the two polar beings who present themselves in front of it must be holders of a positive password, which will be required from them at that precise moment. The Way opens to those who know what they want; know what they aspire to, on the Way and outside the Way, in an exterior life which after this can never again be detached from esoteric work. Happy are those who can be useful in it. The Door which leads to Life will open before them, and they will read on the pediment of the wall the sacramental inscription: The laborer is worthy of his hire.
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