Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) · 188 of 225 · tr. Nicholas Bessaraboff and Claude Bragdon
Chapter XXII (part 16)
Having become indifferent to objects of perception, the pupil must seek out the Rajah of the senses, the Thought-Producer, him who awakes illusions.
The mind is the great slayer of the real.
Let the Disciple slay the Slayer.
For— When to himself his form appears unreal, as do on waking all the forms he sees in dreams; When he ceases to hear the many, he may discern the ONE—the inner sound which kills the outer.
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292 Then only, not till then, shall he forsake the region of ASAT, the false, to come into the realm of SAT, the true.
Before the soul can see, the harmony within must be attained, and fleshly eyes be rendered blind to illusion.
Before the soul can hear, the image (man) has to become as deaf to warnings as to whispers, to cries of bellowing elephants as to the silvery buzzing of the golden firefly.
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And then to the inner ear will speak— THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE And say: —If thy Soul smiles while bathing in the sunlight of thy life; if thy soul sings within her chrysalis of flesh and matter; if thy soul weeps inside her castle of illusion; if thy soul struggles to break the silver thread that binds her to the MASTER, know, O Disciple, thy soul is of the earth.
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Give up thy life, if thou wouldst live.
Learn to discern the real from the false, the ever-fleeting from the ever-lasting.
Learn above all to separate head-learning from soul-wisdom, the "Eye" from the "Heart" doctrine.
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Light on the Path , like The Voice of the Silence is full of symbols, hints and hidden meanings.
This is a little book which makes demands upon the reader.
Its meaning is elusive, and it requires to be read in a fitting state of spirit.
Light on the Path prepares the "disciple" to meet the "Master," i.e., the ordinary consciousness for communion with the higher consciousness.
According to the author of Light on the Path, the term "THE MASTERS" is a symbolical expression for the "Divine Life." 1 Light on the Path Before the eyes can see they must be incapable of tears.
Before the ear can hear it must have lost its sensitiveness.
Before the voice can speak in the presence of the Masters it must have lost the power to wound.
Before the soul can stand in the presence of the Masters its feet must be washed in the blood of the heart.
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Kill out all sense of separateness.
Desire only that which is within you.
Desire only that which is beyond you.
Desire only that which is unattainable.
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293 For within you is the light of the world.
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If you are unable to perceive it within you, it is useless to look for it elsewhere.
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it is unattainable, because it forever recedes.
You will enter the light, but you will never touch the Flame.
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Seek out the way.
Look for the flower to bloom in the silence that follows the storm: not till then.
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And on the deep silence the mysterious event will occur which will prove that the way has been found.
Call it by what name you will, it speaks in a voice that speaks where there is none to speak—it is a messenger that comes, a messenger without form or substance; or it is the flower of the soul that has opened.
It cannot be described by any metaphor.
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Themes
◆Correspondencecosmology
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The text states that if one cannot perceive the light within, it is useless to look for it elsewhere.
All passages →◆Divine Sparkscosmology
Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.
The text describes the soul singing within a chrysalis of flesh and matter, implying a divine nature trapped in the physical.
All passages →◆Microcosm Macrocosmcosmology
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The passage claims that within the individual is the light of the world, mirroring the cosmos in the human.
All passages →◆Monadcosmology
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The passage instructs the disciple to discern the ONE when ceasing to hear the many.
All passages →◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
[auto] The central theme is learning to discern the real from the false through soul-wisdom rather than head-learning.
All passages →Related passages · 12 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1l
“Need is there to understand that in proper truth we do but use the elements and syllables and phrases and written terms and words as an aid to our senses; inasmuch as when our soul is moved by spiritual energies unto spiritual things, our s…”
Both passages discuss the need to transcend sensory perception and intellectual understanding to achieve a higher spiritual state. They emphasize the importance of inner silence, the rejection of illusions, and the pursuit of a direct, unmediated experience of the divine or ultimate reality.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 1 (part 6)
“The human selfhood will then follow in its perceptions the Spirit of God, tremblingly and in the joy of humility, and become able to see what is contained in time and in eternity.
Everything is near to a soul in that state, for the soul is…”
Both passages emphasize the need to transcend the illusions of the senses and the ego to attain a higher state of consciousness. They both advocate for a state of inner harmony and humility to perceive the divine reality.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 70
“Section 9 9. And this inner vision, what is its operation? Newly awakened it is all too feeble to bear the ultimate splendour. Therefore the Soul must be trained- to the habit of remarking, first, all noble pursuits, then the works of beaut…”
Both passages emphasize the need for inner purification and transformation to perceive ultimate reality or divine beauty. They share the theme of self-improvement and the necessity of inner vision to attain spiritual insight.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 307 (part 2)
“Because the soul is not seen and the body is: we perceive the body, and by its movement and sensation we understand that it is ensouled, and we say that it possesses a soul; to speak of residence is a natural sequence.
If the soul were vis…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to the body and the material world. They emphasize the need to transcend the physical and sensory to perceive the true nature of reality, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 345
“Section 25 25. But the organ is not the only requisite to vision or to perception of any kind: there must be a state of the soul inclining it towards the sphere of sense. Now it is the soul's character to be ever in the Intellectual sphere,…”
Both passages discuss the need to transcend sensory perception and the illusions of the mind to attain a higher state of being or understanding. They emphasize the importance of inner focus and the rejection of external distractions to achieve spiritual insight.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 348 (part 1)
“Section 28 28.
Thus much established, we may return on our path: we have to discuss the seat of the passionate element in the human being.
Pleasures and pains- the conditions, that is, not the perception of them- and the nascent stage of…”
Both passages discuss the need for the soul to transcend sensory perception and achieve a higher state of awareness. They emphasize the importance of inner harmony and the rejection of illusions to attain true knowledge or vision.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 422 (part 2)
“But in soul the utterance is obscured, for soul is an image and must look to its own original: that Principle, on the contrary, looks to the First without mediation- thus becoming what it is- and has that vision not as from a distance but a…”
Both passages discuss the soul's journey towards a higher reality or divine principle. Passage A describes the soul's need to look to its original Principle, while Passage B talks about the soul's journey to discern the real from the false and attain inner harmony.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 454 (part 2)
“How does the Intellectual-Principle come to meet with them as it travels round; what keeps each true to its character; what gives them enduring identity; what conceivable shape or character can they have?
They are being presented to us as…”
Both passages discuss the nature of perception and the distinction between true knowledge and illusion. They emphasize the need to transcend sensory perception to attain higher truth, with Plotinus focusing on the Intellectual-Principle and the Theosophical passage on the inner voice and the realm of SAT.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|INTRODUCTIONj
“The body is in the soul, the soul is in the mind, the mind is in God.
The life of the soul is the true life of the man.
Of all his various faculties, that which rules all, that which exalts our nature, is Thought.
By means of it we rise…”
Both passages emphasize the need to transcend the illusions of the senses and the mind to attain a higher state of consciousness or union with the divine. They both advocate for the purification of the soul and the elevation of thought as a means to achieve this union.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fourth Dialoguee
“She dispatches the armed thoughts, which, solicited and urged by disagreement with the inferior nature, are sent to recall the heart.
The soul instructs them how they should conduct themselves, so that, being allured and attracted by the o…”
Both passages discuss the need to control and focus the mind and senses to achieve higher spiritual understanding. They emphasize the importance of inner vision and the rejection of illusions or distractions to perceive the true nature of reality.
2 more
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|Fourth Dialoguef
“Hence it follows that not less do we desire to see things unknown and unseen than those known and seen.
And from this it does not follow that the desire does not proceed from cognition, and that we desire something that is not known; but I…”
Both passages discuss the idea of transcending sensory perception to attain a higher, more spiritual understanding. They emphasize the need to look beyond the physical and the known to grasp the universal and the divine.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|First Dialoguek
“Equally, to be heard by the Divine, is precisely to listen to it, and to be favoured by it, is the same as to offer to it; for from the one immoveable and the same, proceed thoughts uncertain and certain, desires ardent and appeased, and re…”
Both passages emphasize the need for inner transformation and the purification of the self to perceive divine or higher truths. They share a mystical focus on transcending the illusions of the material world and achieving a state of unity or direct communion with the divine.