
EGZY 2009
I saw the great Master in the Temple. He was siting on a golden throne set upon a purple platform, and he wore the robe of a high priest with a golden tiara. He held a golden eight-pointed cross, and lying at his feet were two crossed keys. Two initiates bowed before him and to them he spoke:--
"Seek the Path, do not seek attainment, Seek for the Path within yourself.
"Do not expect to hear the truth from others, nor to see it, or read it in books. Look for the truth in yourself, not without yourself.
"Aspire only after the impossible and inaccessible. Expect only that which shall not be.
"Do not hope for Me,--do not look for Me,--do not believe--that I am outside yourself.
"Within your soul build a lefty tower by which you may ascend to Heaven. Do not believe in external miracles, expect miracles only within you. Beware of believing in a mystery of the earth, in a mystery guarded by men; for treasuries which must be guarded are empty. Do not search for a mystery that can be hidden by men. Seek the Mystery within yourself.
"Above all, avoid those towers built in order to preserve the mysteries and to make an ascent to Heaven by stone stairways. And remember that as soon as men build such a tower they begin to dispute about the summit.
"The Path is in yourself, and Truth is in yourself and Mystery is in yourself."
I saw a lofty tower extending from earth to heaven; its golden crowned summit reached beyond the clouds. All round it black night reigned and thunder rumbled.
Suddenly the heavens opened, a thunder-clap shook the whole earth, and lightning struck the summit of the tower and felled the golden crown. A tongue of fire shot from heaven and the whole tower became filled with fire and smoke. Then I beheld the builders of the tower fall headlong to the ground.
And the voice said:
--"The building of the tower was begun by the disciples of the great Master in order to have a constant reminder of the Master's teaching that the true tower must be built in one's own soul, that in the tower built by hands there can be no mysteries, that no one can ascend to Heaven by treading stone steps.
"The tower should warn the people not to believe in it. It should serve as a reminder of the inner Temple and as a protection against the outer; it should be as a lighthouse, in a dangerous place where men have often been wrecked and where ships should not go.
"But by and by the disciples forgot the true covenant of the Master and what the tower symbolized, and began to believe in the tower of stone, they had built, and to teach others to so believe. They began to say that in this tower there is power, mystery and the spirit of the Master, that the tower itself is holy and that it is built for the coming Master according to His covenant and His will. And so they waited in the tower for the Master. Others did not believe this, or interpreted it differently. Then began disputes about the rights of the summit. Quarrels started, 'Our Master, your Master,' was said; 'our tower, your tower.' And the disciples ceased to understand each other. Their tongues had become confused.
"You understand the meaning here? They had begun to think that this is the tower of the Master, that He builds it through them, and that it must and, indeed, can be built right up to Heaven.
"And you see how Heaven responded?"
From the time we are born onto this Earth, and inserted into the voided, cosmic interplay, we are consistently influenced. Few deem it as natural and introspective, while others grant nurture and esoteric agents as the primary source of the influence. While both of these things are in constant diametric reign, I believe the introspective conscious and evolutionary, primal instincts are the main factors. These things are deeply-seeded within our very deep heads, into our very chemical make up through a process always reaching for perfection. With that said, some of these instincts should carry with them validity, even though contemporary ideology disgorges naturalistic ideas and substitutes that of social progress.
Esoteric agents are the facility which our moral standards hang out. Everything consumed from our upbringing, societal dogma, and religious preference is included in this facility, which intertwines with the primitive, mental embodiment to provide the cesspool that is our psychological influence. But, the esoteric agents contain a pseudo-truth, one that is ever-changing and never content. Ideas proposed in this manner usually contain a hint of hysteria though, and for example, Becker asserted that belonging to a larger culture shields us from the terror of our own mortality. This concept brings forth a notion that some “collective conscious” dogma could be synthesized and mystified.
But could these agents dependently coincide with the adaption of the human species to create a quasi-subconscious that is ever evolving? Or do our semantically defined attributes generalize these concepts to a point of unnecessary dualism? One could believe that esoteric influence and primal instinct both play a beneficial role in human development, while the other remains biased to nature or nurture.
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In class, we briefly discussed the validity of the existence of altruism. In short, altruism is the concept of a purely selfless act of goodness towards another with out moral facility or spiritual and ethical concern. I feel as though this is easily debunked as fallacious. The paradigm of morality is controlled and dependent on anthropological and spiritual ideas alone, though some feel as though piety and theism play a major role. With this said, these moral concepts cannot carry actual validity universally; what one may consider good, or right, the other may consider bad, or wrong (cultural relativism). This is a clear notion of ethical relativism, but relativism itself cannot properly weigh any type of absolute truth, and therein can be viewed as a waste of time.
Though morality and it’s existence has been debated and thought upon for ages by the sages, masters of thought, and philosophers alike, I believe morality cannot retain an absolute, universal truth or equilibrium because of its amorphic form in society. Another factor of my juxtaposition on universal morality and altruism relates to my disbelief in a “just” God, which clearly holds reason why. Now I do not exuberate an idea of moral nihility or moral recession therein, but that altruism cannot possibly exist because of this perceptual differentiation.
I have never disregarded an idea of a personal, pseudo-altruism, though. But, with that said, it does not carry truth. For example: a belief does not need absolute validity to be deemed truthful in a personal sense, but beliefs hold no residence in universal acceptance (universal truth). Therefore, if one believes in a personal, dogmatic altruism, it can rightfully exist, but only in their mind; this does not transcend into an ultimate reality though. This idea only provides falsehood and certain confusion on the outlook of altruism, and its inexistence universally.