Lesson 8-9: The Road and Life - The Level of the Being
PENSUM
Lesson 8: THE ROAD AND LIFE
- What is Life?
- What is the Road?
WHAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT
- The path of the “razor’s edge”.
- Who walks this, Path?
- That life is mechanical and horizontal and therefore all humanity submits to circumstances.
- That life for man consists of birth, growth, reproduction and death without having achieved any goal for the afterlife.
- He who walks the Path, walks the vertical path of Consciousness and escapes the mechanical laws of life.
- In this Path we learn to fulfill the Laws of God and to make the Revolution of Consciousness that will lead us to true and objective knowledge.
- That we need a radical change if we really wish to conquer freedom and peace because the Way requires conscious effort and work.
PRACTICE: CONTINUING WITH THE PRACTICE OF THE 2ND COURSE (OBSERVER & OBSERVED), THE KEY S.O.L (SUBJECT, OBJECT, PLACE). EXPLAIN THE BENEFITS OF THESE PRACTICES IN BEING AWARE AND KNOWING THE FLAWS THAT BRING US INTO A WRONG STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
Lesson 9: The Level of the Being
- What is The Being?
- The wonderful staircase. The Cross, the horizontal and vertical axis.
- The reflection of what we carry within us.
WHAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT
- That the individual must desire the radical change in his life and must understand the level of his Being.
- That the level of Being where we are now is the basis for gaining higher levels.
- That since it is possible to ascend to higher physical levels, it is also possible to ascend to higher spiritual levels.
PRACTICE: CONTINUITY WITH THE PREVIOUS PRACTICE AS MENTIONED ABOVE AND ESPECIALLY WITH THE GATHERING.
The Two Lines
(See “Revolutionary Psychology”, chapter “Life”) (See “Revolutionary Psychology,” chapter “The Book of Life”)
The Horizontal Line
- The horizontal line is Life.
- On this line all men walk.
- Belongs to time: It goes from past to future, from birth to death.
- In this line we meet all the external events of life. i.e. we go to school, make friends, get a job, get married, have children, move houses, divorce, remarry, retire, get sick and die.
- On this line the personality develops according to the experiences and stimuli it receives.
- The end of the journey on this line is inevitably death. This means that by simply walking the horizontal line we live a mechanical life, fulfilling our duties towards Nature and society (reproducing, working, raising a family, etc.), but without having done anything for our Soul and our Being.
The Vertical Line
(See “Revolutionary Psychology”, chapter “The Level of Being”) (See “Revolutionary Psychology”, chapter “The Miraculous Staircase”) (See “Revolutionary Psychology”, chapter “Radical Change”)
- The vertical line is the level of our being. When we speak of the “level of being” we are not referring to the Inner Being, the Innermost. We refer to what everyone is like as a person, i.e.. good or bad, pure or lascivious, etc.
- Each of us is at some level of being. i.e. the level of being of a saint is different from that of a murderer, that of an honest man from that of a liar, that of a chaste woman from that of a prostitute, etc.
- Its different levels are like a ladder. Each level represents a step. Each one of us at any moment is on some step. At every moment above us there is a higher level of being and below us a lower level of being.
- The higher a person’s level, the more that person has: More freedom More Consciousness More happiness More virtues More simplicity More internal unity
- The lower a person’s level, the more: He is more of a slave He has less Consciousness More misery More defects-egos It’s more complicated He has more internal conflicts
| Lower Levels | Higher Levels |
|---|---|
| Slavery | Freedom |
| Unconsciousness | Consciousness |
| Misery | Happiness |
| Defects | Virtues |
| Complexity | Simplicity |
| Conflicts | Unity |
- Its level is every moment going up or down.
- The outside is the reflection of the inside. The level of being attracts us to external events. Changing our level of being changes our life. (the life line goes up or down depending on its level) i.e. someone who is at the level of an angry and irritable person will always attract external events related to quarrels, fights, arguments, etc. Conversely, someone who is on the level of a humble and understanding person will not attract this kind of trouble.
- On the vertical line we find the internal states. i.e. love, hate, peace, anger, purity, lust, faith, insecurity, generosity, greed, joy, sadness, etc.
The Moment
(See “The Return of the Messiah”, chapter “The Moment”) (See “The Jewels of the Yellow Dragon”, chapter “Jewel 23”)
- The horizontal and vertical lines join at their point of intersection. This point is the “now”, the moment in which we live. We must learn to live in the “now” because life is but one eternal moment.
- From the center of the cross we can consciously manage internal situations and external events. If one identifies with events or situations, it means that one is not centered.
Combination of Facts and Situations
- The key to success in life is to correctly match external events with internal situations.
- People, when they remember their lives, think that it consists only of external events. But in reality, every event is accompanied by an inner state. This internal state can be harmonious or disharmonious.
- No matter how good an external event is, if we are not in the right internal state, it will do us no good. i.e. on her wedding day a bride, instead of being happy, may be stressed and busy while organizing the reception. i.e. one can be at a celebration but be sad.
- Every external event must be consciously combined with the appropriate internal state. Even unpleasant or dangerous external events become harmless or even useful when we combine them with the appropriate internal states. i.e. an external event in which someone offends us, if combined with an internal state of peace and understanding, can result in disarming, or even sympathy for the offending person. On the contrary, if it is combined with a wrong inner state of anger it can result in a fight.
- We must eliminate from ourselves the disharmonious inner states. This is done by eliminating our psychological defects.
The “Being” and the “I know”
(See “Lectures of a Great Mystery 2”, chapter “The “Being” and the “I know” ”) (See “Basic Education”, chapter “Wisdom and Love”)
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Man develops in two directions, the “i know” and the “being”.
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The horizontal line relates to the “I know”. One may know more or less than another on a subject. Also, what one knows can be right or wrong, closer to the truth or further from the truth.
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The vertical line relates to “being”. One can be more moral/good or more immoral/evil than another. “A man, to be able to do, he must be.” To do the inner work we must be at least at the level of “being” called a “good host”, that is: a person who is responsible, who fulfills his obligations, with common sense, is balanced, etc.
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Understanding is the composite of “know” and “is”. From “knowing” and “being” properly united comes understanding.
Understanding = “The being” + “the I Know”
In proper development, the line of knowledge and the line of “being” progress simultaneously and in parallel, helping each other.
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If the “I know” far exceeds the “being” the result is a mental impostor. That is, a person who knows a lot, but is selfish, without ethics, integrity, etc.
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If the “being” far outweighs the “i know” the result is a dumb saint. That is, a person who can do, but does not know what and how.
Morals and Ethics
- On the horizontal line are morals. The sense of what is right and wrong depends on place and time. i.e. in ancient China it was considered proper to kill one’s father when he could no longer support himself. But in modern China this would be considered a crime. i.e.. in western countries it is considered immoral for a man to have many wives. But in middle eastern countries it is considered moral. Morals therefore belong to the personality. Since morals are relative, two very ‘moral’ people from different cultures may consider each other ‘immoral’.
- On the vertical line there is ethics. Ethics belong to the Conscience. Two people with the same level of Consciousness have a similar understanding of what is right and what is wrong, regardless of the culture they come from. The higher a person’s level, the more Consciousness they have. The lower a person’s level, the less Consciousness they have. This means that there are things that Consciousness does not allow us to do (informs us that they are wrong).
| Vertical | Level of Being | Internal States | Essence - Ego | Being | Ethics | Christ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horizontal | Life | External Events | Personality | Knowing | Moral | Lucifer |
The Path
(See “The Return of the Messiah”, chapter “The Path”) (See “The Return of the Messiah”, chapter “Introduction”) (See “Light in the Darkness,” chapter “Our Orientation — The Position”)
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To change our level of being we must change ourselves (what we are). We first need to know the level of being we are on. We must see what we have in excess (our defects) in order to get rid of it, and what we lack in order to obtain it.
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The Path is a conscious path we take on the vertical line to raise the level of our being.
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The Path is for the few. “For many are called upon, but few are chosen” - Matthew 22:14 “For narrow is the gate and hard is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” - Matthew 7:14 “Strive to enter in through the narrow gate; for, I say to you, many will seek to enter in and will not be able.” - Luke 13:24 “Of a thousand that seek me one finds me, of a thousand that find me one follows me, of a thousand that follow me one is mine.” - Krina, Bhagavad Gita “Few among men cross over to the other side. The rest only come and go on this side of the river.” - Buddha, Dhammapada
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We walk the Path by exercising the 3 Factors of the Revolution of Consciousness. “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself (death), and take up his cross daily (alchemy) and follow me (sacrifice).” - Luke 9:23 Through death we eliminate the defects that keep us on the level of being where we are and embody the virtues that belong to the higher level. Through alchemy we create the vehicles that allow us to settle into the higher levels of being. Through sacrifice we gain the values to level up. There is an inner axiom that says: “to climb a ladder we must leave someone else on the ladder we were on”.
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To walk this road, we will need:
- To know our destination.
- A road map.
- A mentor.
- A beacon to see where we are going.
- Not carrying too much luggage.
- The necessary supplies and tools.
- To know where we will find water.
- Fuel to keep us going.
The Map
- We need to have a road map.
- The Great Masters who walked the inner path and reached their destination have left us a “map” so that we too can get there.
- This map is the inner Teachings.
- We need to study the authentic teachings of the great Masters.
- Someone who collects all kinds of pseudo-esoteric information from various books, from the internet, etc. makes a fake map that leads to nowhere.
- The path is not the same for everyone, but each person, applying the inner teachings to himself and his life, discovers his own path.
- In the First Chamber we will study this map in detail so that we know exactly what we need to do to move forward internally.
The Guide
- We need a guide on the way.
- A guide is one who has managed to reach the end of the inner path: the self-realization of their Being.
- Also, to a lesser extent, the role of mentor can be fulfilled by anyone who is more advanced than us.
- Such a person can point out the dangers we will encounter, prepare us to overcome the obstacles that lie ahead, etc. because he has already passed through them.
- It is impossible for a man to take the way alone.
- For this reason the inner work was always carried out in groups.
The Lantern
- We need a lantern that gives us light to see the road.
- The initiatic path is something very internal and personal for each person.
- Therefore, to see it we need to awaken the Consciousness.
- Consciousness is the light that shows us our path.
- Anyone who walks the inner path without awakening the Consciousness risks getting confused or misguided and taking a wrong direction that will lead them to a dead end or even opposite of their goal.
- Therefore, we need techniques and methods to awaken our Consciousness.
- We will learn and practice these techniques and methods in the First Chamber.
- i.e. meditation practices, techniques to live in the here and now, runic exercises, etc.
The Luggage
- We need to not carry too much luggage.
- Every person carries many things that are useless or even harmful.
- i.e. insecurities, prejudices, complexes, traumas, fanaticism, bad habits, programming, memories, etc.
- All this makes the internal road more difficult and delays us.
- The sooner one gets rid of them, the easier and faster his path will be.
- Often, we cannot go beyond a point on the inner path unless we leave something behind.
Supplies and Tools
- We need the necessary supplies and tools to overcome the obstacles we will encounter.
- On the way we will meet many obstacles that we have to overcome.
- To overcome them we need to have the right preparation, the right tools.
- These tools are the specific inner practices that we will learn and apply in the First Chamber.
The Water
- We need to know where to find water to give us life and not die of thirst.
- The water of life is the creative energies that our body produces.
- Every man has within himself the source of life, from which he must learn to draw this water, in order to develop the spiritual life within him.
- Transforming our creative energies allows us:
- In the First Chamber we will learn and practice specific techniques to transform our creative energies.
- i.e. pranayama practices, pranic exercises, physical-internal exercises, vocalizations(mantras), runic exercises, etc.
The Fuel
- We also need something to give us an inner push to move forward on the path.
- This drive and enthusiasm is given to us by sacrifice for others.
- The more we do something for others out of conscious love, the more doors are opened for us to move on our inner path.