Virtues and Vices of the Sephirorh: Tiphareth
Tom
Tiphareth is pride.
Tiphareth is the sephirah in which one transcends personality and personal
identity. So far in this series, I've outlined a progressive expansion of
consciousness from the body to the mind and on to the society. Here in
Tiphareth we expand yet again. This time, the self is transcended. In
Netzach, we discovered how important it is to become unselfish, to defer to
a larger goal than one's personal desires. Yet, it is self-interest that
motivates that deference to the group, since the group maximizes our own
survival and prosperity and that of those extensions of ourselves into the
future, our offspring.
In Tiphareth, for the first time, we become aware that there is a greater
reality, a reality in which self is utterly unimportant except as a means to
a much greater end. Bringing our actions into harmony with that greater
reality is what has come to be called "the Great Work".
What may be difficult to understand is why devotion to the Great Work begins
here, as the virtue of Tiphareth when it might seem that one could hardly
even get started on the path of magick without a fixed devotion to the Great
Work. It is because, without having the spiritual experience of Tiphareth,
variously described as the "Mysteries of the Crucifixion" or "Knowledge and
Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel", one has no proper grasp of just
what the Great Work actually means. Prior to the expansion of consciousness
in Tiphareth, one has only oneself as a reference point. Everything
revolves around the personality of the individual. However, the
death-and-rebirth experience of Tiphareth (exemplified by the mythic death
and rebirth of Jesus) expands consciousness beyond the self for the first
time. A point of view arises in which self is not only deferred but almost
entirely irrelevant. Consciousness is no longer centered on the individual
but is diffused throughout the the universe.
This is an ancient and primordial transcendent entity, a consciousness that
precedes the rise of the organism as a focus of awareness. It is a
consciousness without identity, without focus, and without location. It
flows through the self but is not dependent on the self.
This consciousness is barely perceived by the consciousness of Malkuth and
prompts the spiritual experience of Malkuth, the Vision of the Holy Guardian
Angel, that vague but persistent sense that there is something transcendent
within us. However, because this consciousness is not fully recognized, the
Great Work it does is not understood. It is represented in Yesod as the
myths of the gods, saints, and heroes. It is conceived in Hod as the
orderliness, the unifying principle of the universe. In Netzach, it becomes
religion and the value of self-sacrifice. But in Tiphareth, it comes fully
and directly into our awareness. Only then can true devotion to the Great
Work arise. Prior to the operations of Tiphareth, we have only analogues by
which to understand it and those analogues are severely limited by the
tinyness of the organism. The consciousness manifesting in Tiphareth is
vast and timeless. It is impossible to represent it accurately in a
consciousness located and limited in space-time.
Tiphareth is a gateway between the Divine and the Mundane. The God
descends, the human ascends.
In order to let that consciousness arise fully, it is necessary to let go of
our attachment to self, not just to self-interest, as we did in Netzach, but
to the whole notion of individual existence. From the point of view of the
lower sephiroth, this appears as a fearsome, monstrous veil. It is
sometimes represented as a demon that tears the body, mind, and heart to
shreds and devours them. We can only proceed on the path of the magician by
facing that demon, by letting it disintegrate our local consciousness.
Following that experience, a new sense of self arises. The power that first
pushed our consciousness into existence from insensate matter still operates
and, once the self is destroyed, that healthy mechanism generates a new one.
First comes death, then rebirth. Yet, this reborn self now contains a
memory of an experience that transcends itself and a formula for how to do
it again.
Now comes the opportunity for the vice of Tiphareth. Having transcended the
self once, having a memory of becoming something so vast and ancient, we can
delude ourselves that we are now beyond all that and have become a
superhuman being. We become convinced of our superiority, of our elite
status as one of the Enlightened. We become proud, and, in our pride, we
cling even harder to our oh-so-important new self. Having once destroyed
ourselves, we think it is no longer necessary to do it again. After all, we
can *feel* that primordial consciousness within us still. But that feeling
is a representation in Yesod. It is a memory of an event, not the ongoing
event itself.
Immediately after the death-rebirth experience of Tiphareth, we continue to
feel that ecstacy, that serenity, that joy for quite a while. Our friends
and associates notice it and are deeply impressed. We take on a new and
enhanced social status. We are sought out as a teacher and a sage. Then
the power of the experience begins, ever so slowly, to fade as more
immediate experiences are overlaid on this memory. The feeling of
transcendence becomes stale and what Chogyam Trungpa described as "spiritual
materialism" sets in. We feel the need to preserve our new status as an
Enlightened Being, even as we find the feeling of it fading away. The more
we cling to this spiritual materialism, the more the feeling fades. It
cannot be renewed because we cling to yet another self and we're clinging
even harder than ever. We may even find that our formula, that method that
worked so well the first time, no longer works. This is because, in our
pride, we watch ourselves go through the actions and say in our hearts, "Now
I will regain that wonderful feeling and all the status that comes with it."
And it is exactly that which prevents us from achieving it again.
The death-rebirth experience is not the ultimate experience of magick. It's
not something to be experienced once and then cherished as an achievement of
the Great Work. In fact, it's only the start. There is a whole lot of Work
left to do and a lot more to learn about the path of the magician.
As always, the trick to escaping the vice of Tiphareth involves the virtues
mastered in lower sephiroth. We must be able to discriminate between the
experience itself and its representation in our minds. We must be able to
envision that something beyond the self may have more than one aspect and
that not all those aspects have been explored. We must hold fast to our
principles and continue to experiment in a careful and rational way, facing
the results as we get them. And we must remember, always, to be unselfish
in our actions, maintaining as far as possible a humble position in society.
By sticking to these virtues, we can see through the trap of pride and
attain mastery of the gateway between the mundane and the spiritual.
Bassos
"Tom" <dantoPAYAT...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ZuOdnZeqWYoTBU3Y...@comcast.com...
> The virtue of Tiphareth is devotion to the Great Work. The vice of
> Tiphareth is pride.
It is too bad your stuff in these series has just gotten better and better.
Hardly anything to comment on, except a "well done tom" thingy.
> This is an ancient and primordial transcendent entity, a consciousness
> that
> precedes the rise of the organism as a focus of awareness. It is a
> consciousness without identity, without focus, and without location. It
> flows through the self but is not dependent on the self.
How could you tell it precedes anything ?
> In order to let that consciousness arise fully, it is necessary to let go
> of
> our attachment to self, not just to self-interest, as we did in Netzach,
> but
> to the whole notion of individual existence.
Kinda like the detachment from buddhism.
> From the point of view of the lower sephiroth, this appears as a fearsome,
> monstrous veil. It is
> sometimes represented as a demon that tears the body, mind, and heart to
> shreds and devours them. We can only proceed on the path of the magician
> by
> facing that demon, by letting it disintegrate our local consciousness.
We are 666, the beast, till we transcend.
(yes every single one of us, a formula)
Then we are the tamer of the beast.
The ringmaster if you will.
> Now comes the opportunity for the vice of Tiphareth. Having transcended
> the
> self once, having a memory of becoming something so vast and ancient, we
> can
> delude ourselves that we are now beyond all that and have become a
> superhuman being. We become convinced of our superiority, of our elite
> status as one of the Enlightened. We become proud, and, in our pride, we
> cling even harder to our oh-so-important new self. Having once destroyed
> ourselves, we think it is no longer necessary to do it again. After all,
> we
> can *feel* that primordial consciousness within us still. But that
> feeling
> is a representation in Yesod. It is a memory of an event, not the ongoing
> event itself.
Quote sprigg :
"a group of people huddling around an ever distant flame".
(in reference to the gd)
Tom
"Bassos" <zebaz...@zonnet.nl> wrote in message
news:45d264b7$0$339$e4fe...@news.xs4all.nl...
>> that
>> precedes the rise of the organism as a focus of awareness. It is a
>> consciousness without identity, without focus, and without location. It
>> flows through the self but is not dependent on the self.
>
> How could you tell it precedes anything ?
It's a language thing.
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
John 8:58
>> In order to let that consciousness arise fully, it is necessary to let go
>> of our attachment to self, not just to self-interest, as we did in
>> Netzach, but to the whole notion of individual existence.
>
> Kinda like the detachment from buddhism.
Yes, kinda like that. The spiritual experience of Tiphareth is comparable
to a kensho experience in Zen.
>> From the point of view of the lower sephiroth, this appears as a
>> fearsome, monstrous veil. It is
>> sometimes represented as a demon that tears the body, mind, and heart to
>> shreds and devours them. We can only proceed on the path of the magician
>> by facing that demon, by letting it disintegrate our local consciousness.
>
> We are 666, the beast, till we transcend.
> (yes every single one of us, a formula)
That's an interesting point of view.
Bassos
>>> fearsome, monstrous veil. It is
>>> sometimes represented as a demon that tears the body, mind, and heart to
>>> shreds and devours them. We can only proceed on the path of the
>>> magician by facing that demon, by letting it disintegrate our local
>>> consciousness.
>>
>> We are 666, the beast, till we transcend.
>> (yes every single one of us, a formula)
>
> That's an interesting point of view.
Huh ?
Not mine uniquely, just some reformulation of crowley and rowe.
Crowley claiming to be the beast, and rowes the beast and the star.
Seems kinda obvious, no ?
104
> "Bassos" <zebaz...@zonnet.nl> wrote in message
> news:45d264b7$0$339$e4fe...@news.xs4all.nl...
>> "Tom" <dantoPAYAT...@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:ZuOdnZeqWYoTBU3Y...@comcast.com...
>>
>>> This is an ancient and primordial transcendent entity, a
>>> consciousness that precedes the rise of the organism as a focus
>>> of awareness. It is a consciousness without identity, without
>>> focus, and without location. It flows through the self but is
>>> not dependent on the self.
>> How could you tell it precedes anything ?
>
> It's a language thing.
>
> "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I
> am!" John 8:58
>
>>> In order to let that consciousness arise fully, it is necessary
>>> to let go of our attachment to self, not just to self-interest,
>>> as we did in Netzach, but to the whole notion of individual
>>> existence.
>> Kinda like the detachment from buddhism.
>
> Yes, kinda like that. The spiritual experience of Tiphareth is
> comparable to a kensho experience in Zen.
" My body became immovably rooted; breath was drawn out of my lungs
as if by some huge magnet. Soul and mind instantly lost their physical
bondage, and streamed out like a fluid piercing light from my every
pore. The flesh was as though dead, yet in my intense awareness I knew
that never before had I been fully alive. My sense of identity was no
longer narrowly confined to a body, but embraced the circumambient
atoms. People on distant streets seemed to be moving gently over my own
remote periphery. The roots of plants and trees appeared through a dim
transparency of the soil; I discerned the inward flow of their sap.
>
> The whole vicinity lay bare before me. My ordinary frontal vision was
> now changed to a vast spherical sight, simultaneously all perceptive.
> Through the back of my head I saw men strolling far down Rai Ghat
> Road, and noticed also a white cow who was leisurely approaching.
> When she reached the space in front of the open ashram gate, I
> observed her with my two physical eyes. As she passed by, behind the
> brick wall, I saw her clearly still.
>
> All objects within my panoramic gaze trembled and vibrated like quick
> motion pictures. My body, Master's, the pillared courtyard, the
> furniture and floor, the trees and sunshine, occasionally became
> violently agitated, until all melted into a luminescent sea; even as
> sugar crystals, thrown into a glass of water, dissolve after being
> shaken. The unifying light alternated with materialisations of form,
> the metamorphoses revealing the law of cause and effect in creation.
>
> An oceanic joy broke upon calm endless shores of my soul. The Spirit
> of God, I realized, is exhaustless Bliss; His body is countless
> tissues of light. A swelling glory within me began to envelop towns,
> continents, the earth, solar and stellar systems, tenuous nebulae,
> and floating universes. The entire cosmos, gently luminous, like a
> city seen afar at night, glimmered within the infinitude of my being.
> The sharply etched global outlines faded somewhat at the farthest
> edges; there I could see a mellow radiance, ever undiminished. It was
> indescribably subtle; the planetary pictures were formed of a grosser
> light.
>
> The divine dispersion of rays poured from an Eternal Source, blazing
> into galaxies, transfigured with ineffable auras. Again and again I
> saw the creative beams condense into constellations, then resolve
> into sheets of transparent flame. By rhythmic reversion, sextillion
> worlds passed into diaphanous luster; fire became firmament.
>
> I cognized the center of the empyrean as a point of intuitive
> perception in my heart. Irradiating splendor issued from my nucleus
> to every part of the universal structure. Blissful amrita, the nectar
> of immortality, pulsed through me with a quicksilver-like fluidity.
> The creative voice of God I heard resounding as Aum, the vibration of
> the Cosmic Motor.
>
> Suddenly the breath returned to my lungs. With a disappointment
> almost unbearable, I realized that my infinite immensity was lost.
> Once more I was limited to the humiliating cage of a body, not easily
> accommodative to the Spirit. Like a prodigal child, I had run away
> from my macrocosmic home and imprisoned myself in a narrow microcosm.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samadhi
Bassos
"104" <no...@none.com> wrote in message
news:qjXFh.29977$OK6....@newsfe4-win.ntli.net...
The start.
Beginning has the difficulty of continuation.