Theos-Talk Archives (December 1995 Message tl00033)

> Alan:
>
> >As I see it the question in Kabalist
> >terms is how safely to direct people to the Abyss in the first
> >place - you can't cross it until you get there. For
> >non-Kabalists I am talking about the gap between lower and
> >higher manas here or similar.
>
> Is the term "abyss" meant to imply a "dark night of the soul"
> experience for those that cross it? Then it would be akin to
> the western experience of transcending the personality of
> rising to the pure experience of unqualified consciousness.
> An eastern depiction of the same experience would need a
> different term. It would be more like a "sweet melting" leading
> to a sense of "eternal delight" rather than a "dive into
> the dark unknown" or a "shattering".
>
> -- Eldon

Not quite in my version. It is a reaching "upward" or "inward"
to a different dimension or plane. A useful comparison is the
apostle Paul's write-up on the "third heaven" experience in 01
Corinthians. Imagery ceases and there is the possibility of an
experience which some have called "darkness visible."

Alan
--
Member Theosophy International
Private e-mail: guru@nellie2.demon.co.uk