T H E T R E E OF L I F E

THE VICTORIOUS LIFE (3)Lesson Thirty

Two channels c a r ry the influence of the Holy Influence from above down to N etzach. They a re the tw en ty -first and tw enty-fourth Paths of W isdom, the paths of the le tte rs Kaph and Nun corresponding to Keys 10 and 13 of T a ro t. F u ll consideration of these w ill be found in the next cou rse of th is s e r ie s ; but h e re it w ill be sufficient to point out som e of the fundam ental ideas.

In the sam e way, we shall not attem pt h e re to en te r into an extended explanation of the th ree channels which link Netzach to the th ree Sephiroth below i t . We shall lim it the d iscussion of th ese to such m a tte rs as have im m ediate bearing on the main object of th is co u rse , which is to give you m eans of gaining a thorough understanding of the r e la ­tionships between different p a rts of the T re e . The th ree paths ju s t m entioned a re those of the le tte r Feh (joining N etzach to Hod and sym bolized in T aro t by Key 16); of the le t­te r Tzaddi (joining Netzach to Yesod and sym bolized by Key 17); and of the le tte r Qoph (the link between Netzach and Malkuth rep resen ted in T a ro t by Key 18).

F rom your T a ro t studies you have learned that the path from C hesed to Netzach corresponds to the le tte r Kaph which signifies the human hand c losed in the act of g ra s p ­ing. It is the path of com prehension and co rresponds to those m ental activ ities which find ou ter m anifestation as the p a ir of opposites, W ealth and Poverty.

Wealth is the outcome of adequate g rasp of the tru th p resen ted sym bolically by Key 10 of T a ro t. Poverty is the effect produced by inadequate com prehension of the sam e tru th . N or w ill the re a d e r of these w ords who is duly and tru ly p rep a red fo r the re c e p ­tion of genuine occult knowledge fa il to perceive that he who has p roper g rasp of the tru th we mean has also a tru e understanding of what constitu tes re a l w ealth, and of what constitu tes actual poverty .

Such a person may not, and usually will not, p resen t to the w orld any appearance of being r ic h . T here a re som e exceptions to th is , but they only prove the ru le . But all persons who rea lly g ra sp the s e c re t of the tw en ty -first Path of Wisdom a re tru ly affluent, and not one of them lacks anything he may re q u ire fo r the fulfilm ent of h is life-pu rpose . Thus it hardly need be added that every such person has a definite aim in life, and knows exactly what he wants to be and what he intends to do .

"Before they call, I w ill answ er; and while they a re yet speaking, I w ill h e a r ," is one clue to the m eaning of the path of Kaph. The idea h e re is that a ll human d e s ire s a re rooted in the L ife-pow er's perfect m em ory of what it is and has done. Chesed, the fourth Sephirah, is the sea t of th is m em ory, and re p re se n ts , m oreover, the L ife-pow er's un­failing im pulse to im part itse lf to all c re a tu r e s . Behind human d es ire is the divine urge of the L ife-pow er to pour itse lf out in ev ery -in c reasin g m easu re .

The human quest fo r b e tte r things, fo r im proved conditions, fo r w ider and f r e e r ranges of expression , is rea lly a reaction to th is down-flowing influence from C hesed. T his u rge fo r growth was active before m an appeared on th is planet. It fo rm ed the nebula, shaped the so la r system , organized the kingdoms below m ankind. It w orks now through m an h im self to make him tru ly "m o re than m an ," so that the G reat Work may

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be com pleted through and by the ac tiv ities of perfected human be in g s .

Even in its low est fo rm s of expression , human d es ire is , like a ll e lse in human personality , an activ ity orig inating at a h igher level than that of personal se lf-co n sc io u s­n e ss . Just as all e lse that we do is done through us, ra th e r than by us, so is it with our d e s ire s . "Before they ca ll, I w ill an sw er." What in sp ire s the ca ll is the p resence of the answ er among the tre a s u re s of the L im itless Substance. This L im itless Substance is ev er at our d isposal. It is available fo r a ll. Thus the path of the le tte r Kaph, the "Path of D esirous Q u est," is not m an 's but God’s . It is not the sea rch of a human being fo r som ething he wants to g e t. It is the L ife-pow er’s eag er seeking fo r suitable outlets fo r the benediction it w ants to give.

The d e s ire s w elling up in our minds have fo r th e ir inm ost essence the L ife-pow er’s perfect knowledge that it a lready is a ll tha t we d es ire to be. M ore than th is , the Life- power knows itse lf as being all that is re a l in hum an personality . It is a ll we have ev er been, a ll we a re now, all we hope to be. Our hope, our d e s ire , our expectation a re no m ore than reflec tions of what it actually is .

In som e p erso n a lities , the re flec tions a re d is to rted like im ages in a flaw ed m ir ro r . Before human personality reaches a c e r ta in stage of developm ent, d e s ire seem s to be a purely personal m a tte r and often takes unlovely fo rm s. Yet, w hether a d e s ire be "high” o r "low ," it is ev er the sam e in e ssen ce . It is always m an 's m ental reaction to the out­pouring of the divine influence descending from C hesed through the tw en ty -first path .

Human mi sunder standing of th is un iversal urge, human belief that d e s ire is p e r ­sonal, human fa ilu re to perceive what the tru e goal rea lly is - - th e s e e r ro r s bring pain, and the fru it of pain is knowledge. Happy the man who has been brought to the stage of rip en ess w here he g lim pses the v ision of the w ise. He may not sh are th is v ision in all i ts fu lness of joy, but what he does re a liz e will save him untold suffering . Such a re tru e Q abalists, v e ritab le recep tive ones.

They a re rea lly com petent to g ra sp the meaning of instruction like th is . To them it is "given" to know the s e c re ts of the kingdom of the sk ie s . "Doubting T hom ases” may and do, get th e ir proofs, th e ir dem onstrations; but m ore b lessed a re they who can com ­prehend the p rincip les and recognize th e ir validity even before proofs a re given.

The u rge fo r growth we fee l in o u rse lves is the im pulse of the L ife-pow er's e te r ­nal inclination to im part itse lf ever m ore fully and f r e e ly . Yet often we d is to rt it into its c ru d est expression , the d e s ire to ge t th ings. D esires fo r possessions, fo r the in ­c re a se of personal pow er, fo r personal authority , fo r fam e o r p ro m in en ce--a ll such a re ta in ted with the delusion of sep a ra ten ess . Such d e s ire s se t in operation the fo rces of contraction ra th e r than those of expansion.

Swedenborg says, th e re fo re , that the essen ce of hell is the d e s ire to ru le o th e rs , the d e s ire fo r power over o th e rs . T his hell is bad enough when it finds outlet in the thoughts and w orks of a H itle r o r a M ussolini. Yet it is even w orse when it d isgu ises itse lf as m other-love, as in te re s t in the w elfare of friends o r fam ily , o r as any of those p rivate h e lls we m ake when we in te rfe re with the lives of o thers in o rd e r to rem old them into our own divine image! W ise m en seldom m ake any effort to re fo rm the w orld .

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They who a re tru ly w ise a re the g rea t g iv e rs . Instinctively they know the Life- power w aits to sh are with us w hatever aspect of its lim itless re so u rce s w ill se rve best to contribute through us to the estab lishm ent of m ore joy, m ore peace, m ore health, m ore abundance. They know the tru th that the m ore they give, the m ore will they have to give.

H ere is the re a l inner sec re t of path of Kaph. He who rea lize s h im self to be a stew ard, charged with wise d istribution of the inexhaustible supplies of all things needful from the rich s to re of L im itless Substance, is not concerned about g e tting . He sees , co rrec tly , that m an 's place in the schem e of things is to act as a d is tr ib u to r .

C onsider th is w ell. We all know that in th is physical world th e re is abundance of re a l w ealth--w ealth enough to ra ise the standards of living fo r everybody h igher than those now enjoyed by the so -ca lled "priv ileged c la s s e s ." We know, too, that honest app ra isa l of the causes of m ise ry and poverty brings to light the self-ev ident fact that these evils have th e ir roots in a fa lse system of d istribution which can be changed fo r the b e tte r right now without waiting fo r a m illenium o r delaying such changes until the suffering of the ig ­norant m asses b u rs ts forth in bloody revolution.

Like every o ther change in human ways of being and doing, th is approach to b e tte r and m ore equitable form s of the d istribution of wealth m ust begin, and in fact has already begun, in a change of th inking. What th is must be is , we believe, sufficiently indicated in what we have ju s t w ritten; and we leave it to the intelligence of a ll who a re worthy to be called "B uilders of the Adytum" to make the application to th e ir own use of the incal­culable powers of m ind.

F o r cen tu ries , the path of Kaph has been associated with sp iritu a l alchem y, and an old Q abalistic descrip tion of pow ers wielded by an adept whose mind is fully conform ed to th is path says: "He who p o ssesses th is path is able to change into gold not only all m etals, but also the earth itse lf, and even the refuse of the e a r th ." The sp iritu a l gold is enlightenm ent, but th is has also its ex ternal co u n terpart. He who is tru ly enlightened d iscovers the true values of things and c ircu m stan ces . Hence the tenth T aro t Key, c o r ­responding to th is path, includes in its sym bolism the signs fo r the th ree alchem ical p rinc ip les, Sulpher, M ercury and Salt; and fu rth erm o re , the en tire Key is an em blem atic sum m ary of the G reat W ork.

The tw enty-fourth path of the le tte r Nun c a r r ie s down to Netzach the influence from the sixth Sephirah, T iphare th . T iphareth is the seat of the Ego, and it is also the point on the T ree of Life corresponding to the im age-m aking power of the human m ind. Hence the special mode of consciousness rep resen ted by the tw enty-fourth path is called the "Im aginative In te lligence,” and it is rea lly the fundam ental form -build ing power at work in the whole sphere of human behavior.

What we im agine, that we becom e. What we im agine ou rse lves c lea rly and definitely as doing, that we sooner o r la te r accom plish . What we im agine as our physical su rround­ings we bring ultim ately into actual, tangible m anifestation.

But h e re , perhaps, one needs to rea lize that what has ju s t been w ritten applies to c lea r, definite im ages only, and to im ages which a re kept alive until m a te ria lized . Nor

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is th is a ll. We a re so constituted that we cannot m ake c le a r im ages of anything that is actually im possible fo r us to realize!

F o r exam ple, a person actually deficient in m usical ability might wish with all his heart to be a singer o r an in s tru m en ta lis t. But unless he rea lly has ta len t, his m ental im ages of h im self as being and doing what all com petent m usicians always have to under­take will be wanting in the essen tia l details that ca ll fo rth subconscious response . Read your Seven Steps lessons again, and you should have no difficulty in grasp ing th is .

Our tru e d e s ire s , being reflections of the L ife-pow er's intentions fo r u s, may a l­ways be im aged c lea rly . They a re the tru e Ego 's rea liza tions of what it can do through the agency of a given personality . They have trem endous potency, im m easurab le g en era ­tive pow er. In fact, as all your previous studies of the le tte r Nun and its T a ro t Key, Death, have shown you, the potency of the tw enty-fourth path is inseparab le from the physical fo rces of reproduction, although it is by no m eans lim ited to those activ ities which insu re the perpetuation of physical bodies fo r the human ra c e .

In Key 13 th e re is a ris in g sun in the background, and th is symbol re la te s to the sixth Sephirah whence the tw enty-fourth path p roceeds. In the foreground, on the righ t- hand side of the p ic tu re , is a growing ro se , and th is symbol re fe rs specifically to the seventh Sephirah because Netzach is said to be the Sphere of Venus, and ro se s a re the special flow ers of V enus. H ere is another exam ple of the c lose re la tion between the com ­position of the T aro t Keys and the p laces they occupy on the T ree of L ife.

In Lesson 31 we shall continue th is section of our study of the T ree by considering what is needful fo r th is cou rse concerning the paths of the le tte rs Pdh, Tzaddi and Qoph, which c a r ry down the influence of Netzach to the eighth, ninth and tenth Sephiroth r e s ­pectively.