When I write of trying to build the temple with "untempered
mortar", I mean trying to reach for the wisdom and experience of Cosmic
Consciousness without doing the preparatory work of purifying oneself of false
concepts and patterns. When we try to have our cake and eat it too, we build the
temple with untempered mortar, and we end up building a false tower of Babel
instead.
The ego wants the benefits and trappings of wisdom, but it does not want to
change.
Date: Friday, May 28, 1999 7:10 PM
Subject: Seeing Vanity
S.E.,
Wonderful excerpts on Cosmic Consciousness, but I think we are leaving out the
most important part of the discussion. In fact, if this question cannot be fully
answered between us and our Higher Self, then I don't think we'll get very far.
Remember the admonition not to try and build the temple by daubing with
untempered mortar?
Wanting IT (Cosmic Consciousness) is necessary, but it is not sufficient.
One has to want it for the right reasons.
So the question is : "Why do YOU want Cosmic Consciousness?"
Now this may seem like a simple (or even insulting) question with a simple
answer that I'm sure we can all lip sync to if need be, but it is not a simple
question (or at least arriving at an honest and correct answer ain't so simple).
That's because most of us are not aware of our conscious and sub-conscious
motivations which are often in conflict as well as our ingrained patterns of
error. (just like the clothed man and woman in K16, our Self-Conscious and
Sub-conscious don't really want to see each other unclothed)
Thus the first step in Alchemical Process of the Great Work is Calcination (K4)
also known as "Purification". Which results in the expulsion of the
volatile shown by K16 in which our false ideas are destroyed and our false
tower(s) are thrown down.
It's the first step, and it's also the step that almost nobody does. Everywhere
people are trying to build the temple with untempered mortar.
Still seeing vanity, but at least I feel bad about it.....
