In the previous classes (1-5), we have studied the Ray of Creation in Decent, and in the following classes (7-14) we will study the Ray of Creation in Ascent.
Today, after we discuss the Language of Symbolism (the Kabbalah or the ‘Science of Signs’), we are going to study a Historical or Scholarly Gnostic Text (the ‘Hymn of the Pearl’) and then we are going to study some of the foundations of the “New Science” (the Great Work), as well as how to understand the concept of Free-Will (or the Reconciliation of Liberty & Necessity).
What is Kabbalah and Why Study it?
In the Prologue to Tarot & Kabbalah, Samael Aun Weor says:
Krumm-Heller, in the final Lesson of his Course of Ario-Egyptian Kabbalah, tells us that:
… KABBALAH is the knowledge of the PHYSICAL, the superlative knowledge of the METAPHYSICAL and the knowledge of correspondence between the two.”
And Eliphas Levi speaks on this subject as well:
It helps one to comprehend the usefulness of religious practices (which fortify one’s willpower by fixing the attention), and it equally throws superior light upon all the various forms of worship.
It proves that the most effective of all the forms of worship is whichever brings together (in some way) divinity and humanity, through effective signs, making humanity see, touch and in some way incorporate divinity into themselves.”
Religion “…is high magic organized and regulated through symbolism and hierarchy. It is a combination of help offered to human weakness in order to establish one’s willpower for the good.”
-Paraphrase from 8th Lesson of “THE ELEMENTS OF THE KABBALAH – In Ten Lessons”
by Eliphas Levi
available in The Kabbalistic and Occult Philosophy of Eliphas Levi – Volume 1
So, let us begin by looking at what exactly the Science of the Kabbalah is…
The Science of the Kabbalah
2. and the works which are the final form, or the complement of the verb.
The High Science thus has two fields:
2. and the secret of the works (the final form or complement of the verb) which is related to the science of light and of fire.
The science of signs and their correspondences is the Kabbalah.”
-Paraphrase from Letter #7 of Eliphas Levi to his student Baron Spédalieri
available in The Kabbalistic and Occult Philosophy of Eliphas Levi – Volume 1
The science of light and fire is Alchemy.
“The science of signs begins with the science of letters. Letters are absolute ideas. Absolute ideas are numbers. Numbers are perfect signs. In using ideas with numbers one can operate upon the ideas just as one can operate upon a number and arrive at the mathematics of truth. The tarot is the key of letters and numbers…”-Paraphrase from Letter #7 of Eliphas Levi
to his student Baron Spédalieri
available in The Kabbalistic and Occult Philosophy
of Eliphas Levi – Volume 1
-From Ch. 25 of Tarot & Kabbalah by Samael Aun Weor
Tarot, Kabbalah and the Degeneration of Esoteric Knowledge
-From Ch.22 of Ritual of High Magic by Eliphas Levi
The Tarot which is so sacred, so knowledgeable, has become a poker game among the different card games to entertain people. People have forgotten its laws and its principles.
This is similar to how the sacred pools of the ancient Temples, of the Mystery Temples, have today become just swimming pools.”
-Paraphrase from Ch. 3.05 (‘THE DOMINION OF THE MIND’)
of The Revolution of the Dialectic by Samael Aun Weor
For a brief summary of the Gnostic Associations between the Hebrew Letters and the Tarot Cards, see page 2 of this class’ notes.
Letters, Words, Actions and the Language of Nature & Light
-From Ch. 2 of Book 2 of The Key to the Great Mysteries by Eliphas Levi
available in the Editor’s Appendix of The Reconciliation of Science and Religion
Every word is made up of letters and in Hebrew, each letter has a very special significance. The universe is created from these letters, at least this is the symbolism given in the Sepher Yetzirah, a book of Kabbalah.
-Paraphrase from Section One of Logos Mantram Magic by Arnoldo Krumm-Heller
These forms, these characteristics, this writing, is unique and primordial, and cannot be found without first knowing the jewel, the hidden root of the human language.
…This primary dialect, was a language full of truth, of strength, of pristine purity, of reason and also of light… and its characteristics were just and unchangeable. In every work of Nature, everywhere, one will find these unchanging characters.
…The first man necessarily had this primeval language, then it was lost. The Moabites spoke it, and successive generations then lost it. But the tradition, the connecting link of the Initiates, has been preserved…
The ancient Initiates also knew it. In this ineffable and absolute dialect, Moses received the Tablets of the Law.
From Egypt and, everywhere, (when men sang with the joyous rhythm which directed their souls through dreams), this divine language emerges which was considered as a sacred dialect.
All Initiates know this sacred dialect. The mission of all Initiates is to trace, little by little, the path to where it can be found again. All initiation is about the re-conquest of this supreme language.
…In this language, the connection, the road and the communication with the invisible worlds is established. In this language and writing of light is the synthesis of all of the intellectual and physical mysteries.
The ways to obtain this language of light are:
|
• Faith. • Knowledge of oneself. • Childlikeness. • Modesty. • Prayer. |
• Renunciation. • Church. • Purification. • Observation. • UNION.” |
-Paraphrase from Section Six of Logos Mantram Magic by Arnoldo Krumm-Heller
The Language of the Consciousness
The Human Being is contained in the Universe and the Universe is contained in the human being.
What we experience within ourselves is real, because only the consciousness can experience reality.
The language of the consciousness is symbolic, intimate, profoundly significant and only those who are awake can understand it.
Whoever wants to awaken the consciousness, must eliminate all the undesirable elements which constitute the Ego, the “I”, the Myself, from within; because the Essence is bottled therein.”
-From Ch.7 of The Great Rebellion by Samael Aun Weor
The Gnostic Legend of “The Hymn of the Pearl” or “The Hymn of the Robe of Glory”
Read the story (see the section “The Hymn of Judas Thomas the Apostle in the country of the Indians.”).
Here are some points of interest in the Legend:
• Eating the “food/drink” of ‘Egypt/Earth’ causes us to fall into a deep Forgetfulness/Sleep (first 2 states of Consciousness) about our Spiritual Purpose
• When we become tired or sad in this world, we can take advantage of those emotions to call out to our Divine Parents for help who can send us a “letter/message” which can help us to remember our Spiritual Purpose
• The Pearl as the Treasure of the Consciousness (third and fourth State of Consciousness)
• The Robes as the Superior Existential Bodies of the Beings
• The Serpent/Dragon lives in the Ocean/Water (the Sexual Waters)
• Singing or Enchanting the Dragon/Serpent as a use of Speech/Mantrams
• Returning to the Divine Realm by accomplishing one’s Mission or Duty
Note what Samael Aun Weor says in Arcanum 8 of Tarot & Kabbalah:
The Sacred Serpent or Savior Logos sleeps coiled within…, mystically lying in wait; awaiting the instant of being awakened.
KUNDALINI, the Igneous Serpent of our Magical Powers, is coiled within the Magnetic Center of the coccyx (the base of the spinal column) and shines like a flash of lightning.”
This story is a Symbolic explanation about reconnecting with our true purpose, our reconnection with the Divine. One of the things that is this brings up is the idea of Liberty and the question of Free-Will. Because in Gnosis our Free-Will should be understood, and it should be understood in terms of its relationship to our Duty to God.
The Human Being’s Right to do his Duty
God, that is to say, a supreme master: that which excludes every idea of liberty, as the school of Voltaire understood it. And liberty, that is to say an absolute independence of any master, which excludes any idea of God.”
But we must see things differently if we are going to comprehend this concept. So let us redefine these terms:
“Since there is no liberty for the human being except in the order which results from the true and the good, one may say that the conquest of liberty is the great work of the human soul.
Man, by freeing himself from his evil passions and their servitude, creates himself (in a way) a second time.
Nature made him living and suffering; but he makes himself happy and immortal: he thus becomes the representative of divinity upon earth and exercises the almighty power relatively.”
-From Ch. 1 of Book 2 of The Key to the Great Mysteries by Eliphas Levi
available in the Editor’s Appendix of The Reconciliation of Science and Religion
Now let’s remember what Levi said earlier about Religion:
-Paraphrase from 8th Lesson of “THE ELEMENTS OF THE KABBALAH – In Ten Lessons”
by Eliphas Levi
available in The Kabbalistic and Occult Philosophy of Eliphas Levi – Volume 1
The Human Being’s Duty to Him or Herself and to God
The autonomy of man is necessary to his divine binomial.
To really merit or deserve something from God, one must obey God. But to obey God one must have an independent will. The slave does not obey, he undergoes.”
-Paraphrase from Letter #34 of Eliphas Levi to his student Baron Spédalieri
available in The Kabbalistic and Occult Philosophy of Eliphas Levi – Volume 1
Sinning, is lacking happiness.
The person who does not succeed is always at fault: either in literature, or in morality, or in politics.
Bad is, in every sense, the beautiful and the good poorly accomplished.”
-From the First Section of The Reconciliation of Science and Religion by Eliphas Levi
For instance: water is good in its place, but if the water is out of place, if it floods the house, then it would cause damage; it would be bad and harmful.
Likewise, fire in the kitchen, when in its place, besides being useful, is good. Yet, the fire out of its place, burning the furniture of the living room, would be bad and harmful.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 29 (‘Decapitation’) of Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology
A coward is one who neglects the care of their moral dignity in order to blindly obey the instincts of nature.
Yet In the presence of danger … it is natural to have fear and to seek flight: why, then, is this a disgrace?
Because honor has made a law for us which is to prefer our duty over our attractions and our fears.”
“To learn to conquer oneself is therefore to learn to live… To yield to the forces of nature is to follow the current of collective life, it is to be the slave of secondary causes.
To resist and subdue nature is to make for oneself a personal and imperishable life, it is to free oneself from the tribulations of life and death.”
“All the ancient initiations had as their goal to find or form such persons.”
-Paraphrase from Ch. 1 of Dogma of High Magic by Eliphas Levi
The Development of the Human Being’s Willpower
So, then, how can one conquer oneself and subdue nature?
Through willpower!
The human being’s dignity consists in doing what he wills, and in willing the good, in accordance with the science of the true.”
-From Ch. 1 of Book 2 of The Key to the Great Mysteries by Eliphas Levi
available in the Editor’s Appendix of The Reconciliation of Science and Religion
Therefore, if (in reality) we want the perfect emancipation of our Willpower, then we need, with maximum and unavoidable urgency, to disintegrate all those “I’s” [Egos or Psychological Defects] that live in our interior.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 28 (‘Willpower’) of Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology
The “Great Work”, Willpower and Freeing the Essence
Agrippa never progressed past the first part of the “Great Work” and he lamentably died while struggling in the disintegration of his “I’s” with the objective of possessing himself and establishing his independence.
The perfect emancipation of the willpower assures the sage absolute dominion over [the Philosophical Elements of] Fire, Air, Water and Earth.”
“Unquestionably, many pseudo-occultists wish they could … have the same powers, however, this is more than impossible as long as the willpower continues to be bottled up in each and every one of those “I’s” which we carry within the depths of our psyche.
The Essence, engrossed in the “myself”, is the Genie of Aladdin’s lamp, wishing for liberty… Once the Genie is free, it can accomplish miracles.
The Essence is “Conscious-Willpower”, unfortunately processing itself in virtue of our own conditioning.
When our willpower is liberated, then it blends or fuses itself with the Universal Willpower. Thus, as an outcome of this, when integrated like this, our willpower becomes sovereign. The individual willpower fused with the Universal Willpower can accomplish miracles…”
-paraphrase from Ch. 28 (‘Willpower’) of Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology
Liberating the Willpower
Eliphas Levi explains to us how to use our Willpower (Volition) in his books:
“Human volition realized through action is like a cannon-ball and never recedes before an obstacle.”
-From Ch. 16 of Dogma of High Magic and Ch.1 of Ritual of High Magic by Eliphas Levi
Samael Aun Weor clarifies this related with what we have been studying:
2. Those which belong to the Law of Recurrence [related with Karma], actions always repeated in each existence;
3. and actions which are intentionally determined by the Conscious Willpower.
Unquestionably, only persons who have liberated their willpower through the death of the “myself” (the Ego or “I”) will be able to accomplish new acts born from their free will.
The normal acts of humanity are always either the result of the Law of Recurrence or the mere product of mechanical Accidents.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 28 (‘Willpower’) of Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology
Karma is the Law of Compensation, not of vengeance.
There are those who confuse this Cosmic Law with determinism and even fatalism, to the point of believing that everything that happens to man in life is determined beforehand.
It is true that the actions of men determine Heredity, Education and Environment.
However, it is also true that man has free-will and can change his actions; refine his character, create superior habits, overcome weaknesses, strengthen virtues, etc.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 27 of The Initiatic Path in the Arcana
of the Tarot and Kabalah by Samael Aun Weor
Whosoever has their willpower bottled up in the pluralized “I” (the Ego, the “myself”) is a victim of circumstances.”
“No one can arrive at “Real Illumination” nor exercise the absolute Priesthood of Conscious Willpower, if they have not first radically died in themselves here and now.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 28 (‘Willpower’) of Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology
We must free the Willpower
Unfortunately, since the willpower of people is absorbed in each “I”, obviously their willpower is divided into multiple wills that process themselves in virtue of their own conditioning.
It is clear to comprehend that each “I” possesses its own particular, unconscious will.
The innumerable wills engrossed in the “I’s” frequently clash with each other, making them impotent, weak, and miserable, victims of circumstances, and are incapable, due to that very reason.”
-paraphrase from Ch. 28 (‘Willpower’) of Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology
The Development of Real Faith
In order to free the willpower from the “I”, we need to understand our situation and how we can change it… This is where the Kabalah helps us to see (in a metaphorical or allegorical way) how to accomplish this goal of achieving true liberation.
It is the algebra of faith. It resolves all the problems of the soul like equations, by extracting the unknowns.
It gives to ideas the clarity and rigorous exactitude of numbers; its results are infallibility for the mind (relative, every time, to the sphere of human knowledge) and profound peace for the heart.”
-Paraphrase from 1st Lesson of “THE ELEMENTS OF THE KABBALAH – In Ten Lessons”
by Eliphas Levi
available in The Kabbalistic and Occult Philosophy of Eliphas Levi – Volume 1
By understanding the structure of the universe and the Archetypal energies that interact with each other then we can necessarily determine how to change our situation. But in order to truly do this, we actually have to experience the universe and these energies for ourselves.
So, for now, we are learning about these things theoretically. Once we take these theories and put them into action, then we will begin to experience these things directly. This is how we can develop real FAITH. And this is why Samael Aun Weor says:
the body, the affections and the mind.
Distinguish between faith and belief. Beliefs are found stored in the Intermediate Mind, Faith is a characteristic of the Interior Mind.
Unfortunately, there is always the general tendency to confuse belief with faith. Although it seems paradoxical, we emphasize the following: “WHOSOEVER HAS TRUE FAITH DOES NOT NEED TO BELIEVE.”
This is because authentic faith is living knowledge, exact cognition, and direct experience.”
-From Ch.12 of The Great Rebellion by Samael Aun Weor
Right now, we experience life through our senses and through our beliefs, prejudices, opinion, concepts, etc. So we need to do something in order to experience “the real”.
This ‘something’ is a key in order to access the superior worlds and includes the practices given in the Gnostic Teachings: meditation, vocalization, prayers, invocations, as well as other techniques and methods.
By implementing these practices into our lives we establish a devotional attitude which changes the way we perceive our lives and therefore also changes our experience.
So now we can understand why Eliphas Levi says:
-From Ch.2 of Book 2 of The Key to the Great Mysteries by Eliphas Levi
available in the Editor’s Appendix of The Reconciliation of Science and Religion
And why Samael Aun Weor says:
“…one needs to study the Epistle of James which is for those who work in the Great Work… It is necessary for the Great Work and the psychological work to be supported with faith, because faith is manifested in works.”
-From 8.04 (‘EVIDENT SELF-REFLECTION’)
of The Revolution of the Dialectic by Samael Aun Weor
So Faith is direct experience of “the real” which manifests itself through our actions (our works).
But if a brother or a sister is naked and may be lacking in daily food, and any one of you say to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, but does not give them the things the body needs, what gain is it?
So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself.”
-From the Universal Epistle of James or Book of James Ch.2 v14-17
Faith without works (actions or doing) is dead.
Remember that “the verb is begun with letters”, but it too is “achieved with acts“.
This is why we have faith in someone who keeps their word, because their behavior has shown us that their word (or verb) is accomplished: they do what they say.
So we must seek to experience “the real” in order to establish authentic faith within ourselves. In this way we can begin to have direct knowledge of all the subjects discussed in Gnosis and then these teachings will be more than just concepts.
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