Presence in Being
The Western Myth describes the cosmos as a process of self-knowledge of the Great Spirit, which objectifies within itself an aggregate of distinct knowing elements — Monads — and an aggregate of its potential qualities to be known — energies.
Namely, the Great Spirit, striving for self-knowledge, brings forth an original duality — the Knower and the Known — and each pole of this duality contains within it an infinite variety of aspects, and it is these individual aspects that act as the direct participants in the world process.
Thus the biner being-mind arises, thus the power that gives life to the cosmos comes into being.
We have said many times that from this point of view the world process is a gradual saturation, a penetration of consciousness into being, or, put another way, a process of transforming the Force of life into the Power of awareness.
It follows that the Power of awareness is the product of the conjunction of being and consciousness — not merely their merger in the primordial unity that existed in the depths of the Great Spirit, but their mutual penetration, mutual saturation, and mutual actualization.
Macrocosm and Psychocosm — the object and the subject of knowing — are brought into alignment with one another; consciousness finds ways to reflect being of reflecting being, and the purer and less clouded this reflection is, the fuller the actualization, the greater the efficacy of existence.
Thus the effectiveness of each individual being, as a distinct aspect of the Great Spirit’s self-knowledge, can be determined by the degree of awareness of its existence, or, by the degree of its consciousness’ presence in being.
When we speak of the development of mind, we generally mean precisely the strengthening of this penetration, the increase of that presence, and all ways of self-perfection, including, of course, Magic, are aimed at that increase.
Ordinary human consciousness, controlled by numerous destructive forces, merely skims the surface of being, scarcely touching it, generating only small volumes of the Power of awareness and accumulating empty experience. The strategies of this diversion are manifold and aim to play with small amounts of energy presented under various guises, leading mind away from both widening the field of its perception and deepening available awareness. Consciousness repeats the same patterns again and again, the same models, plays the same simple games within a narrow cycle of meaningless acts. And even this narrow circle of actions is perceived only superficially; even this tinsel is not grasped deeply enough, and it turns out that life after life the mind merely imitates knowing, merely dreams of existence, stuck in a vicious wheel of consumption.
The appalling poverty of consciousness is hidden beneath the bright garments of empty experience, disguised by the false multiplicity of artificial systems of perception, entertainment, and hollow activity. Values are displaced, the unimportant appears important, and what could truly serve the development of mind and the exit from empty fixation appears unnecessary, distant, and excessive.
Instead of plunging into the depths of existence, a person immerses himself in the depths of activity, and activity itself becomes the measure of fullness, regardless of how empty and meaningless that activity is. In reality — the mind is absent from being, and the two poles of a single reality are found to be separated from one another, as symbolized by the many metaphors of the “end of the golden age,” the “expulsion from paradise,” and the like. Yet this very “return to paradise” is entirely possible and available: one need only allow the mind to enter being, to restore to the process of existence its original purpose and sense.
Consciousness that aspires to development, to increasing its effectiveness, must concentrate precisely on its Presence.
In other words, the chief question consciousness must ask itself is the awareness of “where am I now?”. One can repeat the importance of the present moment endlessly, but that importance must move from the realm of ideas into the realm of action.
The duality of being and mind is overcome precisely by their mutual penetration, and reality — the actuality of the Great Spirit — is achieved by this union.
A high degree of awareness, necessary for Magical realizations, is, above all, a means of that union, and Magic, as the art of matching being and mind, is one of the effective instruments of such actualization.
The more frequently and to a greater degree consciousness is present in being, the higher the degree of their mutual actualization, the closer they are to their source, the fewer the fetters of illusion, and the weaker the power of destructive forces.
The awareness of one’s presence in the here-and-now is undoubtedly axiomatic in any Tradition, and at the same time, an important question is “Where?”, i.e a question of the parameter of further evolution. The picture representing a full-energy subject, but unfortunately devoid of conscious goals, is unfortunately not uncommon.
So, the question is “How do value-meaning benchmarks relate to presence in ZIS?”. Thank you. EC.
https://enmerkar.com/en/way/prospects-of-the-magus
Thank you! For the umpteenth time, I am surprised. I think – I think about a particular topic for some time, and then your article comes out on the same topic, and this happens quite often, and judging by the comments, I am not the only one here – tell me, how do you think this happens? Are these the very waves of life, some stage of consciousness development with similar goals?
Regarding presence in being, I cannot add anything, but how not to lose humanity?
Knowing the necessity of the inevitable, that not only peace is necessary but war as well. And equilibrium does not recognize compassion, as everything is important. The indigenous “inhabitants” are important, and the “pure” need to be taught. How not to slide into indifferent “wisdom”?
One is pleased; looking within oneself, one understands: one must think, seek, help. This means living.
I will add. “Where am I now?” is undoubtedly a useful question, but it is clearly insufficient. For completeness, it would be more effective to ask “What? Where? When?”. And indeed, unwinding the ball of life and sorting your wyrd by its threads, you can see that these three questions are extremely useful. I would call them three dimensions of being.