Theos-Talk Archives (November 1995 Message tl00177)

On 08 199511 RIhle@aol.com wrote:
> Hi Jerry. Since the "raw material" of all visualization technique is
> naturally related to the third- or fourth-level "stratums" of consciousness
> such a practice is unfortunately probably not appropriate for fifth- or
> sixth-degree "souls" i.e. individuals at the fifth- or sixth-degrees of
> Self-realization. The resulting disparity between the level of semi-Self
> differentiated consciousness utilized and the degree of
> remaining/untransformed Self Undifferentiated Consciousness operating as
> "Silent Witness" is just too great to be psychologically pleasant for very
> long. Self-erasing indulgences of one sort or another can gradually ease
> such "existential pain" of course; however speaking neither as critic nor
> practitioner this is why I sometimes call vizualization technique a
> dangerous flirtation with devolution.

Greetings R I think I met you at a TS Annual Summer thing several years
ago ... good to see your inadvertantly enigmatic preesence here on the
list -: ...
The magic Jerry speaks of is at least I think it is a means of
using the recursive nature of self-illusion to ultimately defeat illusion
.. to wit:
Virtually everyone holds some form of self-image within
themselves and it greatly conditions the world they apparently live in
.. it functions almost as a filter that determines what few aspects of
the totality of the actual world will become apparent to waking
consciousness. And it is usually almost completely unconscious ... and
formed from a random and motley collection of inborn predilections
childhood environment and chance events. The apparent solidity of the
"objective" world is somewhat of an effect of the solidity of this
underlying image.
I believe what self-imaging magic attempts to do is to first
elevate this image from the unconscious up to the light of day that is
to take conscious control of what is generally an unconscious assemblege.
Then even further to glorify that image expand it attempt to live up
to that expansion ... which actually begins transforming awareness itself
.. but ultimately to the point where the transformation itself shatters
even the glorified image - hence using an image to finally shatter Image
itself.
Sorta like Narcissus redeeming himself by delibrately making an
equal but opposite mistake: He was bending over a pool fell in love
with his image reflected on top of the surface and fell in. Magic is
Narcissus standing on the bottom of the pond underwater gazing *up* at
his reflection reflected off the bottom of the surface of the pond ... a
reflection that appears to be almost transfigured because the sun is
shining through it ... and in seeking and falling in love with *that*
image ultimately again bursting through the image - to surface again
into the real world outside of the pond.
This though is quite different from "visualization" techniques
in a lot of new age books ... you know "imagine yourself wealthy" and
that kind of stuff which I would agree with you *does* create smaller
fractured images and certainly could be called a form of devolution as
it reinforces rather than overcomes the Narcissian error.
Giggles -JRC