When I think about pain and suffering and why it happens, I think of the
Tarot key sequence of 11-12-13-14.
11 - Justice - Pain is the Ox-Goad prodding us along into action. What we
must learn is balanced (scales) and discriminating (sword) action. We reap what
we sow.
12 - Hanged Man - Sometimes when we're suffering it feels like we're being
crucified, but the attitude to take is that of the Hanged Man - total dependence
upon the One Will - Surrender to the One Will. Thy Will Be done.
13 - Death - In many ways, pain (especially emotional pain) results from over
attachment to old worn out ways of thinking and feeling. The thing we must do is
DISSOLVE our over-attachment to past hurts and attachments to the way we think
things must be. We must therefore FORGIVE ourselves and others to dissolve these
painful attachments.
14 - Temperance - We must remember that it is our Guardian Angel who tempers
and works on our personality, pouring water on fire and fire on water. Therefore
our TRIALS do have MEANING and purpose. We are probationers whose trials and
sufferings are but tests whose purpose is to transmute some aspect of our
personality. Thus we can understand why supposedly "bad" things
sometimes happen to "good" people. The transmutation of our
personalities is more important than our physical comfort in any particular
incarnation. The more evolved you are, the more difficult and subtle the tests
can become.
So to sum up, Statement 5 is true. Justice does manifest undeviatingly in
every circumstance. But Justice (law of Karma) is not the only source of our
lessons. We are not on an infinitely closed loop, but an ever expanding spiral,
and like Jesus when the spirit took him into the desert to be tempted, we are
also being given tests and trials by our own Holy Guardian Angel so that we may
grow.
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Here are my questions...
1. Is the HGA over the Guph, the Ruach, the Nephesh, what?
2. What is it that the HGA is urging us to grow into?
3. Did the temptations to Jesus make him grow?
Thanks, Doug
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Doug,
I'll try to respond to your questions, to the best of my current
understanding.
1. Is the HGA over the Guph, the Ruach, the Nephesh, what?
It is my understanding from the BOTA lessons that our Holy Guardian Angel(HGA)
is in fact our true higher Self. On the Tree this is represented by Beauty (Tiphereth)
the 6th sephirah. Although Key 14 shows the Archangel Michael, the Tarot keys
function in all four worlds (Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah, Assiah), so that within
the world that man is evolving in (Yetzirah) the Archangel represents our Holy
Guardian Angel - our Higher Self.
2. What is it that the HGA is urging us to grow into?
In Key 14 our HGA is going to work directly on our vital animal nature (Lion)
and our driving procreative nature (Eagle). The purpose of our tests and trials
is to transmute SOME ASPECT of our personality. The aspects that need
transmuting are between you and your HGA, and are not for me or anyone else to
know. That's one reason why we mustn't judge each other. We can't possibly know
the whole story of what's going on with another person, our even ourselves for
that matter! The goal of transmutation is to perfect your personality, which is
the vehicle (K7) your Self uses to experience, to be able to perceive and
utilize more of the Life-Power and to become your Self (K21) (See the key combo
7-14-21).
3. Did the temptations to Jesus make him grow?
NO. He passed the tests. Had he not passed them, and given in to pride, power,
greed, etc.., he would have brought ramifications upon himself that would have
brought about (however painfully) the needed transmutation of those still
undeveloped parts of his personality. In our case, we are still being tested,
passing some tests, failing others, and bringing upon ourselves the lessons
needed to transmute those aspects of ourselves that need it.
This brings to mind what Tarot says about the Serpent.
That which leads us into temptation eventually delivers us from evil when we
finally know how to control it. Keys 8-11-14 show us the three stages of the
Serpent.
Tarot Key 8 : Teth, The Coiled Serpent.
Tarot Key 11: Lamed, The Serpent uncoiled and Active.
Tarot Key 14: Sameck, The Serpent with its tail in its mouth.
