Magick Without Tears

228 MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS for a quarter of a century, and I seem to be unable to get it printed!) None of these published translations, learned and admirable though they may be as such, can be of use except to familiarize you with the terminology; for not one of these scholars has the most nebulous idea of what Lao-tze was talking about. The Book of the Law states the doctrine of Tao very succinctly; "Thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that and no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect." (AL, I: 42-44) "Thus also the Sage, seeking not any goal, attaineth all things; he does not interfere in the affairs of his body, and so that body acteth without friction . It is because he meddleth not with his personal aims that these come to pass with simplicity." (The Tao Teh King, VII: 2) The ideal analogy seems to be that of a planet in its orbit. It has its "true motion"; it meets the minimum of friction from circumambient space. When it suffers the attraction of another body, it sways slightly to make the proper adjustment without effort or argument; it can, consequently, continue indefinitely in its orbit. This is roughly the plan of the Taoist in his attitude to life. Having ascertained the Path which satisfies the equations of his Nature (as we say, "found his True Will") he continues "without lust of result," acting only when it happens to be necessary to adjust himself to any external stress that affects him, and so proceeds happily thinking of a way To feed oneself on batter. And so go on from day to day Getting a little fatter. -assuming that his "True Will" is of that variety. Basil King Lamus asserts this in The Diary of a Drug Fiend when he says: "If I were a dog, I should bark; if I were an owl, I