Attaining Desires
Since the Western Way is the Way of liberation by exhaustion — that is, the identification and actualization of the “root” potentials of this stream of awareness — it is not surprising that the question of discovering and realizing «true desires» occupies a keystone position within it.
It is precisely the skill of correct identification of impulses arising in the “waking” mind as desires (and therefore subject to realization), needs (subject to satisfaction), or whims (subject to transformation) that usually constitutes the Rubicon that separates the adept on this Way from its seeker.
Accordingly, learning to make this distinction is the chief task of the early stages of progress.
As we have already mentioned, the current state of the Primary Law of Magic proclaims the necessity of “finding the Desirer” and then fulfilling its Desires. We have also discussed that by the “Desirer” is meant the state of potency of the operative stream of individual awareness — that is, the creative activity of that stream.
Accordingly, the task of “searching for the Desirer” reduces to the need to find this basic, stable, and natural state of the stream of awareness and to identify with it. It is precisely toward this discovery that all Search Rituals are directed — “Knowledge and Conversation”, the Quest for Vision, Contemplation of the Basis, and so forth.
In other words, the primary aim of the traveler on the Western Way is to attain a stable, natural state of their mind as a basis, which will allow further steps to be taken. It is clear that at first identification with this basis is unstable: a mind accustomed to flitting through a disorderly stream of divergent impulses periodically “forgets” it. However, if the Basis is identified correctly and truly is the natural state of that stream of awareness, then as soon as the onslaught of impulses and destructive urges diminishes, the mind spontaneously and effortlessly returns to this basic state, and each time its stay there becomes more stable, while the cycle of arbitrarily induced impulses grows smaller.
Once a stable basis is found, the next stage arises. It differs on the masculine and feminine sides of the Way. For women, finding the Basis allows one to discover within oneself a field of possibilities, and for men — a field of the mind’s aspirations. Yet regardless of this first step, both fields are interdependent and mutually conditioned: identifying unfilled possibilities gives rise to the need for the aspirations that will fill them, and discovering a set of aspirations inevitably requires a field toward which those aspirations can be directed. In any case, the Basis of the stream of awareness manifests as the binary aspiration and means, whose poles, of course, complement and condition one another.
Accordingly, an attraction arises between aspirations and means — and this is the force of Desire.
Thus, if the stream of awareness is identified correctly, the remaining stages of its realization arise naturally and inevitably. This is precisely why it is so important for the Magus to find their Basis — a stable and natural state of their stream of awareness. Desires manifest naturally and freely when the Desirer is discovered and the obstacles to its activity are removed.
The further Way of self-realization is about maintaining the “purity of the link” between the Basis of the mind and its external manifestations, ensuring the unobstructed flow of aspirations from their points of origin to full realization and completion.
Another key skill is the ability to perceive the hierarchy of aspirations and their “scale.” It often happens that one or several impulses active in the mind are merely stages composing the realization of a more global aspiration, and the identification and fulfillment of that “higher in the hierarchy” aspiration automatically removes the need to actualize the entire spectrum of its “sub-aspirations.”
As mentioned, this skill is developed in the course of mapping the psyche — that is, discovering and describing as many active impulses as possible present in the mind, determining their “hierarchical position” and place within the overall structure of the psychic universe. This self-study is achieved by two methods — both through introspective immersion and by analyzing the mind’s reactions to various interactions with the “external world” — other forces and agents. It is necessary to employ both strategies: studying the mind “in itself” as well as its interactions and reactions to them.
A Magus is one who knows themself — that is, can remain steadily in the mind’s natural state; desires — that is, identifies attractions between one’s aspirations and possible means for realizing them; dares — that is, acts on discovered desires; and keeps silent — that is, practices introspection. By combining these core hermetic skills, the traveler attains full self-realization and transforms the “base elements” of their embodied state into the “gold” of a free and actualized stream of operative mind.
Dear Enmerkar, if a magician has begun a process, they can rethink it and stop it or, if the magician decides to do something, they do it, even if at some point it seems to them that it was a mistake?
Since childhood, I often felt that someone was coming and wrapping me in a blanket, even though I didn’t know anything about God or various spiritual matters back then. I just fell asleep “in their embrace.”
It still happens now, but I still can’t explain it. As a believer in the Christian God, I was convinced that it was Him who saved me from death, from illnesses, who protected and corrected me. But now I understand that there are different gods, many different forces, and there is still someone who, just like in my childhood, comes and covers me.
There is also someone who is about two meters tall, with glowing green eyes, who comes and tries to scare me, but I stopped being afraid of him a long time ago. And there is someone else who has two sides, one dark and the other light, and at night I see the folds of his cloak depending on which side he turns.
I haven’t seen this green-eyed one described in demonologies; he’s probably some kind of hybrid.
I don’t understand the very framing of the question about “the greatest number of realized potentials.” After all, any realization implies some further development in that situation. If one aims to maximize the number of potentials realized, or strives for even more, it turns out that one must exit from the situations one has found oneself in due to past realizations. That is, one either has to wait for the children to grow up, or abandon them and move on to other realizations. Fine, with jobs, hobbies, and decisions it’s clear. One can stop and start something new. But one cannot simply leave husbands or children just because one wants to go to Africa and help children. This means that potential cannot be beyond certain life possibilities. Therefore, once again, it comes back to the worldview, its description, and limitations.
What should we understand by self-realization? Perhaps when creating a family, helping people in Africa, or engaging in some other projects contributes to the inner realization of the Monad’s potential, it doesn’t matter so much what we choose as our manifested realization (although, of course, it’s better to choose what resonates most strongly in our soul). The interesting part is HOW we act in these realizations, how natural, COMPLETE, and effective it is. What is the conversion coefficient of life force into consciousness? Are we missing anything from our field of attention? And what is the quality of our attention in realization?
It would also be good to reflect on our main idea (task) of embodiment… what is the very purpose for which the ray of the Monad actualizes its embodied state here and now…
It’s not a given that we will understand it right away, but at least we will start paying attention to the main movements of our soul, which might offer some insight…
Lena, self-realization is a stable vector of development. The key word is stable.
You are talking about desires, which are impulses from the origin for their own realization. So, if it is impossible to realize these desires under these circumstances, then either they are false, or the circumstances need to change? Is that right? So, if I want harmony, which you have written about repeatedly, and I cannot attain it, then either this is not the right person, or it is not the right harmony, or the source of the impulse is incorrect?
Not the right person – seems to be the right one, but understands harmony differently. Not the right harmony – seems to be the right one, but again, our understanding of it is different. Not the right source of the impulse – seems to be the right one, nothing unnatural, a continuation of what was before, no loss of strength.
So what is the issue? It turns out that it is neither the right person nor the right harmony. More precisely, it is the right person, but they understand harmony differently. So, all the circumstances boil down to just a change in concepts. Okay, I change my understanding, which means my source is deceiving me, giving me incorrect desires. Right? So everything is wrong then: both the desire, the person, and the understanding.
I change myself, but then everything collapses again. It turns out that another person was given the desires.
Thus, it seems that a mistake was made somewhere. Well, on the surface, it is not in me.
I trust my source. A shadow? Perhaps there is a shadow, but what caused it? Answering in your words – unfulfillment. Dissatisfaction and the inability to cope with this unfulfillment by my own means. This means my source is not deceiving me. I am deceiving myself by living in an illusion and thinking that something can change. And as long as I live in this state, it, having a destructive element, is mindlessly destroying me.
In general, the solution: urgently change something before this situation leads me to a complete dead end.
Gla, sometimes I enjoy the comments more than the article itself) After all, the article doesn’t reveal our reactions like our comments do. For example, the article by Enmerkar is called “the acquisition of desires,” but your comments could be titled “testimony of non-desire”… “What if the magician changed his mind…?” “After all, you can’t just leave your husband and children…” “Maybe the person isn’t right, or maybe, or maybe, or maybe…” All these questions arise not from a genuine desire to solve a problem but from fear… What are you afraid of, dear Gla, and what are you so eagerly running away from?
Just know that the answer to your first question has already been discussed in the thread about “vectors.” I wouldn’t even bother to look it up, but I fully understand that you don’t need that. You need attention, not an answer. If I were to provide you with that answer, you would read it, feel relieved that you got a response, and that would be it… You wouldn’t change anything in your life. As long as questions leap in your mind like horses—first one, then another, third, fifth, twentieth—creating the illusion of your development… The cart remains stuck. Even in your questions, the lack of support and your inner turmoil is apparent. Maybe it’s time to stop deceiving yourself? Be honest with yourself: you are afraid… You are afraid of your true desires and you run from them, grasping at any straw that helps you in this escape from yourself. Why do you treat yourself this way? Why don’t you love your true self? Why do you create suffering for yourself? Why do you self-destruct? It’s all so sad, very sad…