I
must create a system,
Else be enslaved by another man’s
I will not reason and compare,
My business is to create!
(William
Blake)
Suppose
there were a voice that spoke something utterly new from utterly outside
us, could we understand or even hear it? Is not all understanding
dependent upon prior preparation and hope? The teacher must not go
too fast. Insight must become as intuition. I cannot hear others screaming
until I myself have learned to scream.
(Lawrence Kushner - The River of Light)
If
a man would follow in the steps of the Hermetic philosophers, he must
prepare himself beforehand for martyrdom. He must give up personal
pride and all selfish purposes, and be ready for everlasting encounters
with friends and foes. He must part, once and for all, with every
remembrance of his earlier ideas, on all and on everything. Existing
religions, knowledge, science, must rebecome a blank book for him,
as in the days of his babyhood, for if he wants to succeed he must
learn a new alphabet on the lap of Mother Nature, every letter of
which will afford a new insight to him, every syllable and word an
unexpected revelation.
(H
P Blavatsky)
Hold
no man, no thing, in subjection to you, yet be all things to all men.
He who would save his all must part with his all.
(Master
Hilarion - Teachings Of The Temple)
Contemplate
memory and consciousness. Since memory is for the past, consciousness
is for the future. Therefore We replace memory by consciousness. By
means of memory I cannot penetrate within the boundaries of the sun,
but consciousness opens the gates. For Us, the museum and library
replace the memory; therefore, disciples should not grieve over the
loss of the old memory. It is simply that a small thing is replaced
by a great one. Consciousness is akin to the spirit understanding;
it grows until one's whole being is engulfed as in a flame. During
this process the chips of memory, like dross, impede the burning.
To know does not mean to remember. He who attains hastens on without
looking back. Humanity must remember the transmutation of consciousness.
(Agni
Yoga - Leaves of Morya's Garden II)
Before
we can rise from branch to branch of the Tree of Life, we must disencumber
ourselves of whatever might hold us back. This means altering a great
many ideas and starting with a fresh and inquisitive mind, ready to
look at Life from entirely new angles.
You
have to distinguish between 'brain thinking' and 'mind thinking.'
The former is limited to the more or less mechanical thinking confined
to a physical brain, while the latter involves your actual 'life awareness'
and perceptiveness as a conscious creature partaking in the act of
life itself. That is to say, 'mind action' is much more than memory
retrieval from the stored tapes among the cells of the physical brain.
It is the activity of consciousness enabling you to experience anything
as an item or integral of existence relative to yourself, however
remote from your present point in the scale of time, space, or events.
It is thus an activity of the non-material part of yourself which
survives the death of your physical body for an indefinite time.
(W.G.
Gray)
Let
us distinguish clearly between modes of knowing and knowledge itself.
Language is a mode of knowing. When we have formulated facts in satisfactory
words it is our habit to believe that we then know those facts. But
words are only a lower vehicle of knowledge, a substitute for facts,
like the terms in algebra; at best they only suggest ideas, they cannot
replace them and they must be transcended as we approach closer to
a real knowledge of the relations between things. All the forms that
we see and that we can visualize are only an imperfect mode of knowledge,
and they also will be transcended in due course. This does not mean,
however, that intuitional knowledge is less definite than what is
embodied in words; though it might seem so to one who approaches it
by metaphysical argument, it certainly does not appear so to one who
reaches it directly by the practice of meditation.
(Ernest
Wood - Concentration)
I
don't want you to simply follow me on the path I am following to reach
the goal. Go your own way, on the path you select for yourself, corresponding
to your own innermost inclinations. Don't accept any statement because
I made it. Even if it is true a hundred times over, it is still not
YOUR truth, it is still not YOUR experience, and it will not belong
to you. Bring truth into being, and then it will belong to you.
(Elisabeth
Haich -Initiation)
The
fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you've gotten the fish
you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit.
Once you've gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist
because of their meaning. Once you've got the meaning, you can forget
the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can
talk with him?
(Chuang-Tzu)
Dare
to throw out all of the so-called “knowledge” you have acquired
and begin the study of this subject with a fresh uncluttered mind.
The
obstacle lies in the fact that where there is a rapid development
of this center [the throat] without spiritual orientation, students
become crystallized in their thinking. They contact only concrete
knowledge, only that which has been given form by other minds, and
in so doing, lose touch with the reality underlying form
Wherever
your thought is set, you are crystallized. Wherever you entertain
a set of ideas as being absolute truth, there you are crystallized
and incapable of contacting reality; your vision is distorted. Attain
an open mind anent all subjects. This is the first step toward the
attainment of Wisdom.
(Lucille
Cedercrans - The Soul and Its Instrument)
