LHP Compared To RHP

[Sebomai]

First, a little background.

When I was in my early teens, I had done some scattershot investigation and study of the occult. I was rather obsessed but also rather un-directed. I invented my own religion, essentially. It was based on my theory at the time that God was indeed a Demiurge, a word I'd never heard and had never encountered Gnostic thought at that time. It just seemed to make sense to me. There was a Trinity above this Demiurge. They were also above the demons/devils/Satan, whatever. But the Satanic forces were the ones who were actually loyal to this Trinity and "God" was a rebel who created a flawed and vile world that needed to be transcended. Those who transcended were Ascended Mystics. These Mystics were chosen by their respective Divine forces to become Divine themselves. I was chosen by one of my Trinity, naturally, and my younger brother by another.

Now, my brother was the one who came up with the idea that we ascended and actually replaced the deities we were aligned with. They would somehow vanish or be retired, so to speak, their energies actually absorbed into us, those Mystics who replaced them. It was a Left Hand Path reversal of the Right Hand Path union concept. I was not so sure, mainly because I had and still have a serious devotional streak in me. A streak that wants both Divinity and something to worship. I have always sought a strange middle way between complete dependence upon a God or Satan and a complete independence to be my own God.

Now, the point of all this, and I may be spouting utter foolishness to those of you who know more than I do, is this: The theory that one on the Left Hand Path may believe in a Divine power, a God if you will, but wants to be their own God, take that step beyond the one the Right Hand Path takes of Union and go beyond and become God, isn't that just another step of Unity? Isn't that becoming God the ultimate step in knowing God so intimately you are at one with Him? I may be totally off base or I may be nudging a deep secret. I do not know and would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this matter. Regardless, my devotional tendencies and my independent streak are both still very active, and I have learned much more than I knew when I was 14, thankfully. I wish to channel what I know into the right directions, though, so guidance is always appreciated.

[Nefastos]

I don't see conflicts between your & your brother's idea and the one of the Satanist's path of ascension as I see it. Although, that path is a long one.

When man dies, his energies are disintegrated (while still having their very coherent magnetisms or "klesas" that are disposed in certain ways) in, say, seven different kingdoms of nature. Where we yearn, there we will go, but only in that degree we have been able to identify ourselves with.

In these seven kingdoms of nature, the highest three are the kingdoms of high spirits: the world of Asuras (anti-gods), the world of Devas (gods), and Nirvâna (omnipresence & omniscience). (I'm using these oriental terms in convenience's sake, the names themselves are unimportant.) In the degree we have been able to grasp those worlds in our worldly life, in devotion & seemingly by other means, we are born into those words. But it will take many "reincarnations" (people who do not believe in personal reincarnation might say it in different way, but the energies are always the same) to become so utterly spiritual that our Ego escapes the demiurgic world - "the cardboard box world", as C.G. Jung so aptly called it - & is born fully active and centered in those truly spiritual worlds.

When that happens, our divine Master who has lived as our personal guiding spirit (ie. Guardian Angel, Watcher, &c.) on those levels, can "retire", as you said. We have been so fully absorbed to Him & His word, and by Him to that spiritual world of existence, that we have actually "become him" & at the same "retired" Him. Now where does he go? Not away, for the spirit is always One; but there are Nirvânas beyond Nirvâna, so to speak, and the world can be and is sublimated (evolved spiritually) in deeper & deeper, wider & wider circles. After that point, we are God the Whole (for we have attained the point of omnipresence & omniscience of our cosmos), we are our Master (for we have become one with our personal divinity), and still we have something "to worship", for it is the basic truth of occultism that there's always a greater whole, a greater holiness to grasp, even when we have reached the mountain top of our present hierarchy of divinities. As the space is endless to the eyes of the scientists, as endless is the vastness of consciousness to the eyes of the occultists.

Of course, this "citius altius fortius" works in fine ways indeed. It works as Laozi said, by making itself small. If one thinks he will be able to march from one macho triumph to another, he will break himself sooner or later. The forms of great nature's triumphs often enough look more like compromises or even failings, if we don't have eyes to look. But if we have, the greates strength of all strengths is there, and it knows no limits where to take a soul.

[Benemal]

You've very rarely made things this simple. Thank you. This is close to how i see the world and if my view differs, i'm certainly wrong, but i must work with my own illusions, because accepting wisdom is not achieving wisdom. Intuition and imagination are my most powerful tools, not knowledge, or intelligence, but obviously not discarding those either.

[Sebomai]

I am almost speechless with how much that resonates with my inner being. Thank you for such a well-thought out and sincere and open response. That truly hits on exactly what I felt all those many years ago and have kept inside me, close, hidden, all those years since. I am moved deeply by the fact that there are others who share such ideas, for I knew I couldn't be the only one, but I was losing hope that I'd ever find the others. I am blessed and honored to be learning from and sharing with all of you here.

To me, devotional practices in a Right Hand Path way are a way of giving of our Love (yes, intentionally capitalized) back to the Divine and that by this act of reaching out, we accomplish a very Left Hand Path goal of being drawn closer to Divinity ourselves.The way I've always felt and seen and thought it, there is a current between ourselves and the Divine out there, the indwelling immanence and the external transcendence, and that current is fed by our prayers and worship in such a way that when we do those practices, channels are opened in us that fill us more and more with Divinity ourselves. RHP and LHP married and merged, is how I've always felt.

[Sebomai]

Just a little bit of clarification of the above. Not sure if I went on and on with too many words and not enough sense conveyed by those words.

My basic point is that I feel if we are striving to raise ourselves to Divinity, at the same time, we are being pulled upwards by an even higher Divine Unity than that which we are seeking to raise ourselves to equal. So, as Fra Nefastos seemed to be saying, once we have reached the heights, that's a better vantage point to see that there is something even beyond that to worship and be devoted to and, perhaps, to raise ourselves towards... and maybe be pulled up by whatever lies even beyond that.

[obnoxion]

I think that the distinctin of LHP and RHP are most essential in the realm of ritual observance. I take my example from Shaivism, with apoligies to those who are less familiar with it. I hope this example can be followed by most.

In the dualistic Shaiva Siddhanta, which is example of RHP ritual, the klesas (mentioned above) are of three kinds. Simply put, these sins or impurities have a corporeal attachement, and their removal need a mechanistic ritual observance and an initiation by a lineage holder.

In nondual shaivism, there is essentialy only one klesa - spiritual ignorance - which cannot be removed simply by mechanical ritualism. The essential ingredient is the descent of grace, of which the apperarance of guru (at least in the higher instances) is not so much a prequisite but the by-product. This seems to pertain also to (mostly) buddhist mahasiddhas, who often become enlightened quite aprubtly amidst their ordinary lived, wether they be beggars, sinners, royals, saints or common workers.

Also, the distinction is born in the world of ritual, which both paths see as a legitimate vehicle for removing the klesa of spiritual ignorance. In this realm, seemingly little things have ultimate meanings; like if the shakti sits on the right or left side of the sadhaka; or, as we on the SoA have practiced the shifting of the vajra in the left hand and the bell in the right hand.

How this essentialy ritualistic orientation becomes a way of living is, I propose, by the evolution of the ritual in Tantric context: First the rituals become domesticated, then internalized. And after this development, by internalisation of the ritual realm, the power and the meaning of the left handed ritual action become ubiqutous to all aspects of life. It becomes a most subtle, yet marked widdershins attitude which allows for abruptness and spontanity of the spirit, while having the deep patience, openess and concentration of the original ritual setting. The internalised ritual acts and implements are mirrored in everyday life, and they allowe for creative use and interpretation.

[Nefastos]

or, as we on the SoA have practiced the shifting of the vajra in the left hand and the bell in the right hand.

A sidenote from this practice:

I had adopted it intuitively in the past, but in the time of my life when I saw that a more masculine energetics was needed & I had to give more emphasis to the exoteric Jupiter pole of the Jupiter--Venus -axis of my White practice (those two planetary powers being the patrons of the White work), I forced myself to go back to the "orthodox" way. This helped a lot, and I found a way to change my polarities into a shape that is more exoterically "male". (Sidenote of a sidenote: I consider planetary archetypes changing polarity i.e. sex when they are esoteric. Thus, in the occult side, we have the feminine Jupiter in the form of a lightning bolt, and masculine Venus in the form of Lucifer mentor.)

This change of polarities to the exoteric, emphasis on masculine Jupiter, has created a great deal of changes inside, and I wonder should I switch back to the occult reversal. It is hard to be sure whether a phase has been gone through wholly and the positive stream exhausted, especially when the starting point was the more "esoteric" one.

I mention this because the ceremonial orthodoxity is not an emphasized part in the Star of Azazel practices. We have many reasons not to stress that, but the thought that changes would not matter is not among them. Even the slightest changes in how a daily ritual is made has a huge impact, or, let us say, the changes we make tell a great deal of ourselves & bring results accordingly.

[obnoxion]

as we on the SoA have practiced the shifting of the vajra in the left hand and the bell in the right hand.

A sidenote from this practice:

I had adopted it intuitively in the past, but in the time of my life when I saw that a more masculine energetics was needed & I had to give more emphasis to the exoteric Jupiter pole of the Jupiter--Venus -axis of my White practice (those two planetary powers being the patrons of the White work),

A sidenote upon a sidenote...

Come to think of it, it must be a rare strength when liturgical system tolerates inversion witin its formulas. This unpacks much of the diabolism heaped on the concept of religious inversion.