The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme · 131 of 159 · tr. Franz Hartmann
Chapter 12 (part 11)
The human will refuses to submit itself entirely to the exquisite grace which offers itself out of divine love, and seeks for its own self and for the love of that self which belongs to that which is impermanent.
It loves itself and the state of this world better than God.
Here man is tempted by his own nature, which in her centre stands outside of the love of God, in anguish, combativeness, and dissension, and in which the devil puts his perverted desires for the purpose of leading man away from the sublime grace and love of God.
Here the dragon within the soul turns its eyes in vanity towards the world, and shows to her the glory and beauty of this world, and derides her because she desires to become another creature.
He puts before her the kingdom wherein she exists and wherein she has her foundation." ( Letters , xliii.
3.) 249:1 The second temptation for the regenerated is spiritual pride.
"The second temptation is, that the soul, after having tasted of divine love, and having once been illumined, desires to have that light in her possession, and to act therein in her own power.
The fiery nature of the soul ought to be transformed into a love-fire, and she ought to give up her natural right.
This she does not like to do, but looks about, prefers to see herself in her own power, which she, however, does not find.
Then the soul begins to doubt the power of grace, for she sees that she has to desert therein her natural desire and will.
She then trembles, and will not sacrifice to the divine will the rights conferred upon her by nature and die in the divine will; and she imagines the light of grace, which acts without such a fierce power, to be a false light." ( Letters , xliii.) 250:1 In the regenerating man the third temptation is, that the soul thinks of employing the spiritual powers which she has acquired for purposes which are not divine, namely, for awakening the sourcive spirits of the lower qualities, and thus of raising her head higher than God, as was the case with Lucifer.
250:2 The sun of wisdom is higher than the moon of imagination.
251:1 Thus in each individual man the overcoming of the temptations on this or that occasion is not sufficient for permanent salvation; for as long as the germ of evil exists, it may sprout again.
Final safety is attained only after the battle, when the root of the evil is torn out of the heart.
251:2 A more modern way of expressing it would be: When the disciple becomes an accepted " Chela ," his evil Karma begins to assert itself.
In other words, the awakening of a new life in an organism stimulates also the lower qualities therein, whether it be a man, a people, or a whole world.
252:1 When that which is mortal in man dies, that which is immortal in him returns to freedom.
253:1 Thus every one should sacrifice to God all of his actions, his thoughts, and will; he should not do anything out of his own power, but out of the power of God (after he once knows that power).
As the physical body, except in a state of disease (such as spasms, epilepsy, &c.), does not perform any motions except such as originate in the will of the person, likewise the regenerated acts only as he is made to act by the God in him.
Mortal and sinful man cannot perform anything really good by his own power; to attempt it would be a presumption and arrogance; for all that is good belongs to God; man is merely an instrument for divine power.
254:1 If the self-will is entirely sacrificed to the divine will in man, then does man's will not thereby become annihilated, but is itself rendered divine.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis
Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.
[auto] The text repeatedly emphasizes giving up natural rights, sacrificing self-will to the divine will, and letting go of possession of grace.
All passages →Mystical Unionsoteriology
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
The passage describes the regenerated acting only as made to act by 'the God in him,' indicating a merging of human agency with divine presence.
All passages →Theosis Deificationsoteriology
The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.
[auto] The passage explicitly states that when self-will is sacrificed, man's will is 'rendered divine,' centralizing the transformation of the human into a partaker of the divine nature.
All passages →Related passages · 15 of 34 parallels
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I|Sutra 1
“OM: Here follows Instruction in Union. Union, here as always in the Scriptures of India, means union of the individual soul with the Oversoul; of the personal consciousness with the Divine Consciousness, whereby the mortal becomes immortal,…”
Shared concept: Mystical Union — The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite)|Page 5 (part 2)
“The anonymous Cloud of Unknowing belongs, I believe, to the early part of the fifteenth century, and it is to be classed among the most signal presentations of the conditions and mode of the Union which I have met with in Christian literatu…”
Shared concept: Mystical Union — The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity. (derived)
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 225
“Section 4 4. Does each individual Soul, then, contain within itself such a Love in essence and substantial reality? Since not only the pure All-Soul but also that of the Universe contain such a Love, it would be difficult to explain why our…”
Shared concept: Mystical Union — The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 4 (part 19)
“Chapp.
30B, 164, 37B and 148.
Although these chapters were found at Hermopolis, the city of Thoth, it does not follow that they were drawn up there.
5.
See Birch, in Bunsen, Egypt's Place in Universal History , vol.
V., p.
125; Navill…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 5 (part 1)
“THE LEGEND OF OSIRIS.
The main features of the Egyptian religion constant.
The chief features of the Egyptian religion remained unchanged from the Vth and VIth dynasties down to the period when the Egyptians embraced Christianity, after t…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 13 (part 7)
“16.) The text of this Chapter agrees rather with the second version in the papyrus of Nebseni than with that in B.M.
papyrus No.
9964.
As the Ani papyrus is of Theban origin this was to be expected.
Chapter LIV.
"The Chapter of giving…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 19 (part 1)
“PLATES VII.-X.
Vignette : The vignette of these plates, forming one composition, runs along the top of the text.
The subjects are:- Plate VII.
i.
Ani and his wife in the seh hall; he is moving a piece on a draught-board (to illustrate l…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 34)
“Many copies of this version were written by scribes who did not understand what they were copying, and omissions of signs, words, and even whole passages are very common; in papyri of the Ptolemaic period it is impossible to read many passa…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 38)
“{Greek Mo'non de` tw^n merw^u tou^ O?si'ridos th`n I?^sin ou`x e`urei^n to` ai?doi^n e`uðu`s ga`r ei's to`n potamo`n r!ifh^nai kai` geu'sasðai to'n te lepidwto`n au`tou^ kai` to`n fa'gron kai` to`n o?ksu'rugxon.
k.t.l.
}.
By the festival…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 61)
“The mighty ones in heaven shoot out fire under the caldrons which are heaped up with the haunches of the firstborn; and he that maketh those who live (514) in heaven to revolve round Unas hath shot into the caldrons the haunches of their wo…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 116)
“17.) The two incense burners which stand, one at the head and one at the foot of the bier, are peculiar to the papyrus of Ani.
[1.
Naville, Einleitung , p.
97.] List of Chapters.
Chapter XCI.
"The Chapter of not letting the soul of a m…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 13 (part 28)
“Ἥ δ᾽ ἔτεκ᾽ ἄλλο πέλωρον ἀμήχανον, οὐδὲν ἐοικὸς 295 θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποις οὐδ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσιν, ἐν σπῆι ἔνι γλαφυρῷ θείην κρατερόφρον᾽ Ἔχιδναν, ἥμισυ μὲν νύμφην ἑλικώπιδα καλλιπάρῃον, ἥμισυ δ᾽ αὖτε πέλωρον ὄφιν δεινόν τε μέγαν τε αἰόλον ὠμηστ…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III|Sutra 35
“The personal self seeks to feast on life, through a failure to perceive the distinction between the personal self and the spiritual man. All personal experience really exists for the sake of another: namely, the spiritual man. By perfectly…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III|Sutra 40
“By mastery of the binding-life comes radiance. In the Upanishads, it is said that this binding-life unites the upward-life to the downward-life, and these lives have their analogies in the 'vital breaths' in the body. The thought in the tex…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XXVI-b
“And, in the third and last place, it may easily be conceived from hence how prayer and sacrifice mutually corroborate and confer on each other a sacred and perfect power in divine concerns.
Hence, since it appears that there is a perfect c…”
Shared concept: Theosis Deification — The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy. (derived)
Contrasts · where traditions diverge
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi)|6. The Medium And Mediator-a
“TWO things, as we have shown, are necessary for the acquisition of magical power - the emancipation of will from servitude and its instruction in the art of domination.
The sovereign will is represented in our symbols by the Woman who crus…”
Both passages discuss the struggle against the lower, natural self or forces, symbolized as a serpent or dragon, which must be overcome to achieve spiritual liberation or divine will. The concept of overcoming temptation and the duality of forces is central to both texts.