The Transformation of Self-Interest: The Radiant Unicorn
No matter how often Masters of all schools and currents repeat that the principal motive for any act is the act itself — the very necessity of performing it — in practice, people most often act while expecting to receive something for themselves.
In such cases, the usual “trigger” mechanism is envy or jealousy, in one form or another. Either a person sees something in another and thinks, “He is worse than I am — so why does he have this while I do not? I am better, therefore I deserve it.” Or he fears losing what he has, fears it will be taken away, and so builds walls to protect his property. One way or another — whether attacking or defending — he becomes habituated to performing only those actions that seem likely to increase or preserve his possessions, whatever is meant by “possessions”: something material and tangible; the possession of another person; or the possession of knowledge and skills. The urge to take pleasure in the awareness of one’s ownership of what is valuable, of what seems important — this is one of the major demonic destructors underlying consumer society.
And, as with any destructor, envy and jealousy are born from a distortion of mind’s own striving — whose basic need, in this case, is the need for realization. Mind, striving to know itself through its actions, once caught in the trap of separateness and the urge to possess, begins to act not for the sake of the accomplishing itself, but for the sake of maintaining its isolation and feeding the demon of self-interest.
In its “primal,” original manifestation, however, this impulse is a pure striving to act, to know, to realize — simply because the necessity has ripened. Not for the sake of obtaining a result, but for the sake of doing what must be done. Traditionally, it is expressed through the image of the Unicorn.
The image of the One-Horned Steed — an animal with pronounced expansive, active energy — has been known since deep antiquity: depictions of such beings have been found on the walls of cave temples more than 4,000 years old.
This Power — expressing the “restless,” active nature of mind, its striving toward all-perfection and unimpeded self-manifestation — was celebrated in countless myths and legends.
In Slavic myth, this activity belongs to the field of Dazhdbog; and for the Magus, the work of awakening and mastering it is among the key tasks of his Way.
The Magus strives to act with an emphasis on the actions themselves. For this, he accepts the challenges offered by the world and responds to them, understanding that each challenge, each new chance, each opened possibility is yet another step on his endless path — another link in the infinite chain of self-knowledge and self-realization.
It is precisely awareness of the infinity of the Way — awareness of the immeasurable flow of realizations — that awakens the Unicorn. As soon as the Magus clearly understands that all efforts to master anything are finite — and, in general, risible when seen against the scale and perspectives of infinity — he ceases to strive toward final goals, perceiving each realization only as a link, a stage, a moment on his road.
“Chastity,” so valued by the Unicorn, is precisely the refusal of possession — the refusal to be an owner or to be a victim— the refusal of market and consumer modes of behavior.
The principle of the Unicorn is air: a mobile principle that disperses smoke and fog. Therefore, the awakening of the Unicorn’s Power in mind signifies not only the acquisition of mobility, lightness, and non-attachment, but also the “dissolving” character of its activity. Performing one action or another, the Magus “dissolves” the tension that served as the impulse toward that act; he disperses the uncompensatedness of energy that led to the necessity of this realization.
By doing what is necessary, the Magus passes his Way with ease; and the Unicorn — bearing his mind through dark forests and the bogs of material attachments — proves an invaluable aid in overcoming self-interest, envy, and jealousy.
Jealousy: Vine
Severing Obstacles
The Magus’s “Great Work”
“Positive Thinking” or Life Without Profanity
Effortless Effort
Exhaustion and Transformation
Lack of Realization, Dissatisfaction, and the Shadow
Remembrance of the Magus
With our imagination, we create an image.
We endow it with qualities.
We direct our attention.
The more frequently we direct our attention, the more energy the image is filled with, and the brighter and more alive it becomes.
Tabitha, no. Imagination is useless. It’s not a property of pure presence. Imagine. Reject distorted shards, listen to Enna’s words purely. Forget everything and remember everything.
The unicorn is an Image, a Form. Do you agree?…………Words are also Images, Forms. Consciousness operates with Images, Forms. You attach and connect the Image of the Unicorn to the Process occurring in Consciousness – You shape the Process with the Image. You place the Process into the Image, that is, you visualize it…………………………………………………………………………… and Pure Presence is a State, to which you ascribe certain Properties. You describe the State with Words, that is, you also place the State into an Image.
Tabitha, you are right. Indeed, while imagining, we create a form and fill it with the power of consciousness, which, with certain skills, becomes material. This is how mages learn to create Worlds and understand the nature of forces based on them. But to be more precise: the impulse of the embedded idea, depending on the force applied to the beginning of the movement, acquires a form expressed in the structure of the vector passes through the consciousness matrix, imprinting in the world’s consciousness, and reflected receives realization in the form of filling this idea.
At this time, a unicorn is growing up in our world. It is being strictly guarded. It has the potential to turn the world towards the light and is a concentration of power, as well as restoring the balance of Light and Shadows.
“Beautiful image”
For me, a very important step towards the transformation of selfishness and greed has been the understanding of the concept of the mimetic double.
By nature, humans imitate other people. Very often wars and conflicts flare up not where there are any real contradictions, but where one side wants the same as another. Simply because the first unconsciously imitates the second. (From this angle, one might consider the murder of Abel by Cain.)
But at the same time, this mechanism provides the opportunity for learning as such. At least at that stage where the student must follow the teacher. On a purely physical level, if I correctly interpret the modern conception of neurophysiologists, mirror neurons are responsible for this.
Thus, it turns out that a useful mechanism of our life contains a distractor, forcing us to desire what others have (even if we do not need it).
Not that this is an important “practical conclusion”. Understanding how it works both conceptually and physiologically, shifting the problem from the shadow area into consciousness has helped me understand how this part of me should work properly.