Hi Cug(I'm still here for a minute

)
Yes, Thelema is about the elimination of the ego.
But we have to understand that by "ego" we are not only referring to pride or vanity, or referring only to the mistaken view of a inherently
existing "I".
That's pretty much the root of ego(along with lust), however we also need to understand that each of our defects(hate, lust, envy, greed, etc.) is
also an ego or "I", or each one like a different personality in itself.
The "I" of lust wants to fornicate, while another "I" of gluttony is screaming that it wants ice cream, while another "I" of laziness wants to
watch TV, etc.
Samael Aun Weor(and the Tibetan Buddhists and Gurdjieff) teach us that we do not have true Individuality(indivisible duality) until this Legion of
quarreling "I's"(Red Demons of Set) is put to death.
In other words, while we work to meditate on realizing the Emptiness of an intrinsic-self or "I", we also have to work on our defects one at a
time.
In Tibetan Buddhism, we learn that if one were to search in meditation for a self-existing "I", this one would not be able to find it, neither
through analytical meditation, nor through meditation on the Void(no-thing).
Phenomena do not exist from their own side; they only arise, interact with each other and disintigrate in relation to
everything else, and are
impermanent.
So one might experience the level of the Tree of Life of Atma/Chesed; but if in a meditation session one discards the Atmic body and keeps
going('across the Abyss') this one will find the Christ/Logos. If one keeps going even deeper they will go beyond the manifest Logos and enter the
Illuminating Void or Shunyata, where All is Truly One(and no-thing). They would experience the Inner Light which has it's center everywhere and
circumference nowhere(The Solar Absolute or Clear Light).
It is taught that all this is possible to achieve through Willpower and Imagination, even for one who still has their Consciousness/Will bottled up
within the many egos or "I's". Through Imagination and Willpower we can extract the Consciousness from the personality and even experience the
Absolute, however when that Essence returns to the personality after the meditation session, the many "I's" are still there if they have not
previously been eliminated through the utilization of the sexual act(although some egos can be eliminated by a bachelor who is in chastity).
This is why we have to work on our defects one by one.
Because even if we attain Right View of Emptiness through meditation, this doesn't mean that the egos have in their totality been eliminated.
And this is dangerous, because they will be there to tempt us into falling.
This is where the Abyss(Daath/Sex) comes in.
We have to understand directly the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil(Daath/Gnosis).
To Unite Heaven and Earth(to use Taoist terminology), we work from Below(sex) and from Above(meditation).
The Tao is found in the Middle, the Kundalini, in the Spinal Column or Brahma Nadi and only Unites Heaven and Earth via the Kundalini through Sex,
according to the merits of the Heart.
The egos (the "aggregates" of Tibetan Buddhism) that bottle up our Consciousness/Will can only be fully eliminated by working with Sex(Daath).
This is why monks can only reach a certain level of Initiation without a consort.
A monk might be a Master meditator and have experienced every level of the Tree of Life, but if he doesn't utilize the Sexual act to eliminate the
aggregates, he will eventually fall somewhere in his day to day life.
With the sex, we can create(the Solar Bodies) and destroy(the ego).
The ego was created because of the symbolic Fall, or because of fornication.
We have to re-enter Eden through the door that we left: Sex.
But this is only if we Transmute, instead of spilling the seed or reaching orgasm.
If we fornicate, the Flaming Sword that guards Eden, or Lucifer, drives us out.
The Three Factors for the Revolution of the Consciousness(which require Thelema) are:
To Be Born Again(create the Solar Bodies/Merkabah)
To Die(eliminate the egos)
To Sacrifice for Humanity(the Path of the Bodhisattva)
This is where it gets really interesting.
It is said that Aleister Crowley created the Solar Bodies(he was actually Born Again, and most believing Christians are not!
) through
Alchemy(probably what he learned in Egyptian Masonry); however, he was what is called a:
Hanasmuss (Plural:
Hanasmussen) “The Twice Born who does not reduce his Lunar Ego to cosmic dust converts himself into an abortion of the Cosmic Mother. He
becomes a Marut, and there exist thousands of types of Maruts. Certain oriental sects and some Muslim tribes commit the lamentable error of rendering
cult to all of those families of Maruts. Every Marut, every Hanasmuss (plural: Hanasmussen) has in fact two personalities: one White and another Black
(one Solar and another Lunar). The Innermost, the Being dressed with the Solar Electronic Bodies, is the White Personality of the Hanasmuss, and the
pluralized “I” dressed with the Protoplasmic Lunar Bodies is the Hanasmuss’ Black Personality. Therefore, these Maruts have a double center of
gravity.” In synthesis, everyone who has ego is a Hanasmuss. For more information, see the lecture entitled The Master Key and the book The
Elimination of Satan's Tail.
So Aleister Crowley is said to have worked with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to Create the Solar Bodies, but he did not finish with the
elimination of ego which caused him to fall.
If you look at the rituals that he introduced to the O.T.O., there is just no way that they could be for White Initiations.
Obviously when one fornicates(orgasm) or engages in homosexual activity, they fall.
Isn't there also a ritual that involves ingesting menstrual blood and also one working with excrement?
Crowley's system of sex magic?
VII° Adoration of the phallus as Baphomet, both within and without
VIII° Interaction with something outside the closed vessels of the vagina and the anus
IX° Interaction inside the vagina with either the blood or the secretions of a woman when excited
X° Impregnation + fertilisation of an egg + the act of creation or succession (e.g. election of the OHO)
XI° Two-folded: i) Isolation in the anus where it is considered unable to interact with anything at all ii) interaction with excrements (one of
Crowley’s preferred ingredients) and small amounts of blood (when small wounds occur through the intercourse), mucus and of course the mucous
membranes that lead directly into the blood supply, etc., etc.
Yuck!
Let's see what the
Pistis Sophia has to say about that
kind of thing:
Of the chastisement of a foul act of sorcery:
Thomas said: “We have heard that there are some on the earth who take the male seed and the female monthly blood, and make it into a lentil porridge
and eat it, saying, ‘We have faith in Esau and Jacob.’ Is this then seemly or not?”
Jesus was wroth with the world in that hour and said unto Thomas: “Amen, I say: This sin is more heinous than all sins and iniquities. Such men will
straight way be taken into the outer darkness and not be cast back anew into the sphere, but they shall perish, be destroyed in the outer darkness in
a region where there is neither pity nor light, but howling and grinding of teeth. And all the souls which shall be brought into the outer darkness
will not be cast back anew, but will be destroyed and dissolved.”
Anyway, we really can't cross the Abyss if we aren't in Chastity(which is different than celibacy).
We have to work with the Abyss which is Sex(Woman and Man), Daath, The Tree of Gnosis, without spilling the seed; because if we reach orgasm, the
Kundalini that we are to raise will fall.
When we refrain the desire to orgasm, the sexual fluid is transmuted into Ojas or Christic Energy.
And for one to raise the Kundalini and create the Solar Bodies, and then fall, is very grave.
If this Hanasmuss does not raise himself back up(which is extremely difficult), he will be in the Hell Realms for much longer than the average
ignorant sinner; as the Solar Bodies take much longer to disintigrate than do the lunar bodies of the common person.
The Hell Realms(Inferior Abyss or Klipoth) are there to eliminate the egos in a slow, mechanical and painful way; because we did not do it on our own
Consciously.
Once the egos are completely dead after the painful journey through Dante's Inferno, we are able to return to Samsara as an innocent Human Elemental
dressed in lunar rags.
But for our Being(Ain Soph) to Self-Realize himself(Ain Soph Paranishpanna), he needs to create the Solar Bodies, and also eliminate the ego.
Now I don't want to say that all of this is my personal experience.
However I have studied quite a bit, and would like to share what I've learned.
Regards
[edit on 9-8-2006 by Tamahu]