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Page 1 of 71954 · PDF PAGE 233
…ory. Now J want to put forward a thesis-and as far as I know it is personal to myself, based on my work at Cefalu-to the effect that the mind is constructed on precisely the same lines. You will remember from my note on "Breaks" in meditation how one's gradual improvement in the practice results in the barring-out of certain classes of idea, by classes. The ready-to-hand, recent fugitive thoughts come first, and ftrst they go. Then the events of the previous day or so, and the preoccupations of the mind for that period. Next, one comes to the l…
1954 · PDF PAGE 411
62 The Elastic Mind Cara Soror, Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. You ask me what I mean by an "elastic mind" - from our telephone conversation on Friday. It is hard to define; but let me give you an example of the bad kind: an old riddle. "Why is a story like a ghost?" Because A story's a tale a tail's a brush a brush is a broom a brougham is a carriage a carriage is a gig a gig's a trap a trap is a snare a snare's a gin gin is a spirit and a spirit's a ghost. You will have noticed a logical blunder-usually non distributio medii…
1954 · PDF PAGE 467
434 MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS De Arte Mentis Colendi (1) Mathematica Now, concerning the first Foundation of thy Mind I will say somewhat. Thou shalt study with Diligence in the Mathematics, because thereby shall be revealed unto thee the Laws of thine own Reason and the Limitations thereof. This Science manifesteth unto thee thy true Nature in respect of the Machinery whereby it worketh, and showeth in pure Nakedness, without Clothing of Personality or Desire, the Anatomy of thy conscious Self. Furthermore, by this thou mayst understand the Essence…
1954 · PDF PAGE 537
…and subsequently the classification of and finally the control of new worlds on new planes. So far as it concerns the development of the mind its object and method are perfectly simple. What is wanted is exaltation. The aim is to identify oneself with the highest essence of whatever world is under consideration. With Yoga you might easily slip into saying that it was identical, with the exception that the new worlds are from the start recognised as already existing within the human cosmos, but nobody is asked to extend these worlds in any way; …
1954 · PDF PAGE 412
THE ELASTIC MIND 379 present themselves, be judged as false or true, and rejected or accepted accordingly . The inelastic mind, on the other hand, is tied by training to a rigid sequence, so that it never gets a chance to think for itself. To develop a mind properly it needs (I) "Lehrjahre" (a first-class public school and university education, or the equivalent) when it learns all sides of a question, and is left free to judge for itself and (2) "Wanderjahre," when it sees the world for itself, not by any pre-arranged course (Cooks', Lunns', U…
1954 · PDF PAGE 183
150 MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS 1. Immediate physical interruption: Asana should stop these. 2. Things that are "on your mind ." 3. Reverie, and "Wouldn't it help if I were to- ?" 4. Atmospherics-e.g. voices apparently from some alien source. 5. Aberrations of the control itself; and the result itself. (Remember the practice of some Hindu schools : "Not that, not that!" to whatever it is that presents itself as Tat Sat-reality, truth.) Need I remind you how urgent the wish to escape will assuredly become, how fantastic are the mind's devices and excus…
1954 · PDF PAGE 182
…f-chastisement when you think, say, or do whatever it is that you have set yourself to avoid doing, you set a sentry at the gate of your mind ready to challenge all comers, and so you acquire the habit of being on the alert. Keep this in mind, and you will have no difficulty in following the argument of this letter. When you are practising Dharana 2 concentration, you allow yourself so many minutes. It is a steady, sustained effort. The mind constantly struggles to escape control. (I hope you remember the sequence of "breaks." In case you don't…
1954 · PDF PAGE 245
…l Axioms-or even Platitudes . "The more certain I am of anything, the more certain it is that I am only asserting a limitation of my own mind." Very good, but what am I to do about it? Some at least of such certainties must surely be "of aU Truth." The test of admission to this class ought to be that, if one were to accept the contradictory of the proposition, the entire structure of the Mind would be knocked to pieces, as is. not at all the case with the Astronomer's determination, which may turn out to be wrong for a dozen different reasons w…
1954 · PDF PAGE 247
…we understand that membership of the of-aIl-Truth class does not (as one is apt to think at first sight) deepen the gulfs which separate mind from mind, but on the contrary put us in a position to ignore them. Our acts of "love under will," which express our devotion to Nuit, which multiply the fulfilments of our possibilities, become continually more efficacious, and more closely bound up with our Formula of Initiation; and we progressively become aware of deeper and vaster Images of the of-alI-Truth class, which reconcile, by including within…
1954 · PDF PAGE 447
414 MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS bring to mind the curves in Nature-you will soon discover the words with a few little experiments; the T is a D, only lighter, quicker and younger-and so Good-night! Love is the law, love under will. Fraternally, 666
1954 · PDF PAGE 172
ON CONCENTRATION 139 from the beginning as if there had never been anything on the subject written before. I must keep always in mind that you are assumed to know nothing whatever about Yoga or Magick, or anything else beyond what the average educated person may be assumed to have been taught. What is the problem? There are two. Beta: To train the mind to move with the maximum speed and energy, with the utmost possible accuracy in the chosen direction, and with the minimum of disturbance or friction. That is Magick. Alpha: To stop the mind alto…
1954 · PDF PAGE 49
… to me quite sufficient. 3. The Ruach contains both the moral and intellectual worlds, which is really all that we mean by the conscious mind; perhaps it even includes certain portions of the su bconscious. 4. In initiation from the grade of Neophyte to that of Zelator, one passes by this way. The main work is to obtain admission to, and control of, the astral plane. Your expressions about "purifying the feelings" and so on are rather vague to enter into a scientific system like ours. The result which you doubtless refer to is attained automati…
1954 · PDF PAGE 463
…portant. To extract something, you should first know what is there. Here astrology ought to give useful hints ; its indications give the mind something to work on. Experience makes "confirmation strong as Holy Writ" ; but beware of a priori. Do not be dogmatic; do not insist in the face of disappointment. Astrology in education is useful as geology is to the prospector ; it tells you the sort of thing to look for, and the direction in which to explore . There are, however , two main lines of teaching which are of universal value to normal child…
1954 · PDF PAGE 179
146 MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS you will make up your mind rapidly on this point . This is where your daily practice of the Qabalah will come in useful. You run through in your mind the seven sacred planets . The very first of them seems quite consonant with what you have so far seen. Everything suits Saturn well enough. To be on the safe side, you go through the others; but this is a very obvious case-Saturn is the only planet that agrees with everything. The only other possibility will be the Moon; but there is no trace noticeable of any of her more…
1954 · PDF PAGE 421
…y another aspect. We tracked the cause: it was frustration . Good: then we must counter it. How? Only (in the last event) by getting the mind firmly fixed in the complete philosophy of Thelema. There is no such thing as frustration . Every step is a step on the Path. It is simply not true that you are being baulked. The height of your irritation is a direct measure of the intensity of your Energy. Again, you soon come to laugh at yourself for your impatience . Probably (you surmise) your trouble is exactly that: you are pushing too hard. Your m…
1954 · PDF PAGE 523
…equisite in all this Work is that you so devote yourself to, and identify yourself with, the Gods, that there is never any doubt in your mind as to what They intend you to do? Love is the law, love under will. Yours fraternally, 666
1954 · PDF PAGE 234
STRUCTURE OF MIND 201 Accordingly, one finds oneself experiencing the thoughts, the feelings, the desires of a gorilla, a crocodile, a rat, a devil-fish, or what have you! One is no longer capable of human thoughts in the ordinary sense of the word; such would be wholly unintelligible. I leave the rest to your imagination; doesn't it sound to you a little like some of the accounts of "The Dweller on the Threshold?" Love is the law, love under will. Fraternally, 666
1954 · PDF PAGE 404
… or other it never came off. Presently he said that he guessed he knew what was the matter. Although I had the whole thing perfect in my mind I had not made the link between my mind, my eye, and my hand, and what I must do was not to go to him for teaching, of which I had had already enough and more than enough. He told me if I went on trying it would happen quite suddenly and unexpectedly one day that I found I could do it. This was particularly decent of him because it was in direct contradiction with his financial interest. But he was an all…
1954 · PDF PAGE 539
…been, but that it is so I have no doubt whatever. I see quite clearly now that Yoga from its very first beginnings is liable to lead the mind away into a condition of muddle, and though for each such state Yoga itself provides the necessary cure, may not one ask oneself it it is really wise to begin one's work with axioms and postulates which are inherently dangerous. The whole controversy might be expressed as a differential equation. Their curves become identical only at infinity, and there is no doubt, at least to my mind, that the curve of …
1954 · PDF PAGE 284
…omprehension; even in those here set down, there is quite a little that I should not care to boast that I had altogether clear in my own mind. Leaving out nearly everything, the only way to simplify it is to call Hadit the "Point-of-View," and "Anywhere" to be the radix of all possible "Point-Events," or "experiences," or "phenomena"; Nuit is the complement, the total possibilities of any such radix. You can only get this properly into that part of your mind which is "above the Abyss," i.e., Neschamah; even so, Neschamah must be very thoroughly…