Crowley certainly pushed the boundaries going to the uncomfortable side of life at times, but even then, in his poetry can be beautiful flashes of unbridled passion for the written word.
The road to enlightenment is much like a mirage in the distance; it always seems so attainable and yet, there is always more to do to get there.
Wasting time is part of the journey - that’s why it takes so many lifetimes. But wasting time on Crowley? I dunno; how many more lifetimes do you want? At least you’ve figured out that he was a jerk. Pass GO and shed some karma for that.
Duly noted. By I must admit--I do lean toward the blending of Kabbalah and yogic practice, having an aesthetic proclivity for those disciplines. But yeah, the ceremonial stuff is starting to seem ineffectual. What are your practices?
My practice consists of prayer, meditation, pranayama, occasional puja (although I admit I don't much like watching other people do puja), and whatever else my Guru comes up with. My goal, like you, is to get off the damn wheel., so I keep working to coax the Kundalini up the trail. My path: Kundalini Maha Yoga - https://dyc.org
I asked my grandfather many years ago what he knew about Kabbalah, He said there were three requirements: 1. You have to be male. 2. You have to be over 40. 3. You have to be willing to go mad. At the time, I had only one of those. Now I have two. As for the third, I've already experienced madness and didn't like it one bit.
I'm liking many of the branches of yoga, mainly pranayama and asana. There are overlaps with the chakras and the sephirot, the Middle Pillar spheres on the Tree of Life. I know that quieting the mind while also tricking it into dissolving the phenomena of the world are Vendantic as well as Kabbalistic concepts. Aryeh Kaplan's and David Chaim Smith's books focus on this without leaning much on a celestial godhead wagging the finger. I'm afraid that I meet all three of your grandfather's criteria!
Crowley certainly pushed the boundaries going to the uncomfortable side of life at times, but even then, in his poetry can be beautiful flashes of unbridled passion for the written word.
The road to enlightenment is much like a mirage in the distance; it always seems so attainable and yet, there is always more to do to get there.
Wasting time is part of the journey - that’s why it takes so many lifetimes. But wasting time on Crowley? I dunno; how many more lifetimes do you want? At least you’ve figured out that he was a jerk. Pass GO and shed some karma for that.
Duly noted. By I must admit--I do lean toward the blending of Kabbalah and yogic practice, having an aesthetic proclivity for those disciplines. But yeah, the ceremonial stuff is starting to seem ineffectual. What are your practices?
My practice consists of prayer, meditation, pranayama, occasional puja (although I admit I don't much like watching other people do puja), and whatever else my Guru comes up with. My goal, like you, is to get off the damn wheel., so I keep working to coax the Kundalini up the trail. My path: Kundalini Maha Yoga - https://dyc.org
I asked my grandfather many years ago what he knew about Kabbalah, He said there were three requirements: 1. You have to be male. 2. You have to be over 40. 3. You have to be willing to go mad. At the time, I had only one of those. Now I have two. As for the third, I've already experienced madness and didn't like it one bit.
I'm liking many of the branches of yoga, mainly pranayama and asana. There are overlaps with the chakras and the sephirot, the Middle Pillar spheres on the Tree of Life. I know that quieting the mind while also tricking it into dissolving the phenomena of the world are Vendantic as well as Kabbalistic concepts. Aryeh Kaplan's and David Chaim Smith's books focus on this without leaning much on a celestial godhead wagging the finger. I'm afraid that I meet all three of your grandfather's criteria!
Thanks for the link.