© fra Necros
Much has been written and discussed in the Star of Azazel about unifying the hands of the Left and Right paths. Applying principles for striving, that is, the effort to strive upwards on one’s path of ascension, is not done through an immediate focus on outer form or action. What first must be emphasised is purification. As an individual tries to apply these principles of striving to their lives, the challenges might seem to be defined by outer structures, including personal preferences and limitations of their temperament. It has been easy and natural for me to approach life’s challenges through these external structures. But I’ve also repeatedly cast these aside and found myself disconnected and dissatisfied while doing so, doubtful and drifting. How should we define our restrictions, and when is the right time to break our bonds to reach genuine development on our spiritual path?
As we dwell deeper in the traditions of true religion1 and especially the immensely rich esoteric teachings and world view of genuine occultism,2 we learn that focusing and building solely upon outer structures and behaviours is indeed a grave mistake.
Why so? As we often try to advocate these surficial patterns in inner or outer dialogue, we will face issues that always seem to be left unresolved. How can we define good behaviour and principles that work regardless of the situation, parties involved, or circumstances? Unpredictable as life is, we always seem to fall short of our principles of good and bad, morality, and guidelines of being something akin to a decent person. It seems that we are incapable of forming lasting outer structures. I’d propose that this is because they shouldn’t be our point of focus; instead, we should focus on the inner ground, a solid structure of our individual soul, upon which we can dynamically build.
What is needed is inverting this approach of solidifying and focusing on outer structures while mistakenly leaving inner principles and essential purification unattended. So, in order to find our solutions to everyday struggles and doing the right thing, we need to focus on our inner being and try to find the solid internal structure – our intention. This essential process might seem unfamiliar to the common materialistic mind, a mind that has been conditioned to focus on outer appearances and behaviours. Everything we do, feel, and desire is a result of our inner being, our core self. And we need first to study it and know it thoroughly. This is, of course, an everlasting, deeply spiritual process as we slowly seek to connect with our Inner Master.
Once we start to learn what our solid, inner self is, we will eventually find our own idealism, our inspiration. This deep fulfilment of truly existing in our consciousness will make it clear that we indeed have a ground from which we can strive for anything. And now, instead of making outer structures for our behaviour, we are establishing inner structures of intention. We weigh our actions on our will to do the right thing, we measure our feelings on our striving for love, and we can observe our personal thoughts and ponder if we are being truthful and if we truly understand.
We will also learn that every moment and thought is an action towards our future self. What we present for our mind to ponder upon will be a building block on what our thoughts will focus on in the future. We have the choice, and we have to decide where we are growing towards. We must understand that just letting things happen to us and permitting our culture and society to condition us freely is also a choice we are making. Resisting this conditioning and creating our own current of striving and essence is one core aspect of the left hand path.
As our focus completely shifts, every moment presents us with a challenge and an opportunity to exercise true freedom – not being bound to desires, limitations, or dogma. We are dynamic and free in our actions, emotions, and thoughts.3 We have learnt to know ourselves and are deeply rooted in our idealism, filled with intent for striving for love and understanding.
Now, as we have chosen our path with true inspiration, filled with joy – even when we are
suffering – we understand how outer structures are ever-changing. The dynamic dance of applying a fitting expression and form for the inner core of Love and Truth.
1. True religion is a form of social structure that supports genuine spiritual striving. As we can see, common religions are something very different from this: Institutions that make up mental apparatuses to seemingly fill individual needs of gratification. These institutions are maintained with the intent to reach and hold power and control. False religion leads to degeneracy, abuse, and futility. True religion leads to integrity and strength of individual and social structures.
2. Genuine occultism seeks to understand the truth. It is a comprehensive approach to study all phenomena. It is not aimed toward easy awards of personal gratification but will reward us secretly in our eternal striving for truth and perfection.
3. Of course, we need to understand that the challenge always remains. We choose how and on what grounds we categorise something as desirable or harmful. The root of desire is sacred, and limitations very much define our lives. Yet these ideas can become twisted when we merely accept them without measuring and pondering. It would be ideal to learn to observe how we measure things to see how often we blindly accept and just happily follow something that becomes a dogma. In order to be free, we must understand our limitations first and clearly see what might be a) a helpful and appropriate set of boundaries and b) an obstacle that we need to cross.
Salome 