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Page 106 of 1081906 · PDF PAGE 254
… For if nothing 1 Without an elaborate analysis of the ideas involved in the Ding an sich of Kant, and of H. Spencer’s definition of all things as Modes of the Unknowable, I may point out in passing that these hypotheses are as sterile as the ‘vital principle” in biology, or ‘‘ phlogiston ” in chemistry. They lead literally nowhere. That the phenomenal world is an illusion is all very well; one girds up one’s loins to seek reality: but to prove reality unknowable is to shut all avenues to the truth-loving man, to open all to the sensualist. And…
1929 · PDF PAGE 320
…ver in lack of anything that I {521} need for the performance of any particular work. My deliberate carelessness, my attempts to destroy things, are always quite useless. The gods always perform the necessary miracle to enable me to have at hand anything that may be necessary at the moment.) So my diary reads on April 18th: Studying Liber Legis. Decide to ask F. to invoke Aiwass and converse with Him when invoked, and thereby to decide on the quality of that Magick. On the twentieth, therefore, we went into her temple: Aiwass invoked appears, o…
1929 · PDF PAGE 209
…t is absolutely first rate wherever my true interests are concerned, and also first rate in a very different sense, in elimination other things so as not to overload the mind. But --- I think it was on returning to Boleskine from Paris after taking the Grade of 5° = 6ř that I asked Eckenstein to join me for the ski-läufing and salmon. We left London together in a sleeper. I had one hundred and fifty pounds in bank notes in my pocket book, which I put under my pillow. In the morning I dressed hurriedly, still half asleep, and left the book behin…
1929 · PDF PAGE 537
…the appearance of the cynocephalus my journey through the Desert had reached its last stage. I went on struggling for some months to get things done, not understanding that I was attempting what was not impossible but undesirable. But at least my impotence was only too evident; and I returned to Europe in December. Even at the time, I felt more or less clearly that I had come to a definite turning-place in my career. It is still difficult to interpret the next period, if only because, for one thing, it is incomplete, and for another, too close …
1929 · PDF PAGE 65
…this is in itself sophistical, for the third component only exists as a make- weight; and it is pure fiction to discriminate between two things whose only function is to counterbalance a third thing. In respect of the universe of discourse involved, a proposition cannot have two contradictories. If the opposite of good exists at all, as it must, if "good" is to have any meaning, it must be exactly equal in quantity and quality to that good. On the Christian hypothesis, the reality of evil makes the devil equal to God. This is the heresy of Mane…
1929 · PDF PAGE 260
…n one occasion he actually tried to bribe a man with boots and claws to do his ordinary duty. As long as I was with the main body, these things didn't matter. Nobody dared to disobey the Bara Sahib. A moment's hesitation in complying with any order of mine and they saw a look in my eyes which removed the inhibition. They knew that I would not scold or wheedle, but had a strong suspicion that I might strike a man dead without warning; at the same time they knew that I would never give an {430} unreasonable order and that my active sympathy with …
1929 · PDF PAGE 566
…y as a diner in a Soho gargote objects to mistakes in his bill. I was furious at the abuse of my introduction, but I kept my temper, put things as pleasantly as I could, and begged Harrison to moderate his grab. His conscience convicted him. He put up the feeblest arguments I ever {894} heard in my life about the great value of the property which he constantly declared a thankless burden and a financial loss. I knew it was hopeless, and of course Kahn wrote back briefly that he had inquired and found that the Forum was not for sale. We had disc…
1929 · PDF PAGE 363
… in that room and let it soak in. I decided then, and might concur still had I not learnt the absurdity of trying to ascribe an order to things which are each unique and absolute, that "Las Meninas" is the greatest picture in the world. It certainly taught me to know the one thing that I care to learn about painting: that the subject of a picture is merely an excuse for arranging forms and colours in such a way as to express the inmost self of the artist. I had made several experiments with hashish since my return from China, always with excess…
1929 · PDF PAGE 377
…as soon as I am sure that I can attain any given object, from climbing a mountain to exploiting a beauty spot, I lose interest. The only things I complete are those of which (as for instance, poetry and Magick) I am not the real author but an instrument impelled by a mysterious power which sweeps me away in effortless enthusiasm which leaves no room for my laziness, cynicism and similar inhibiting qualities to interfere. I did try to get a few booksellers to stock The Equinox but found myself immediately up against a blank wall of what I must c…
1929 · PDF PAGE 95
…t. It cannot be denied that the majesty and philosophical irreproachability of the book are sensibly diminished by the addition of these things to the invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel. I should have preferred it without them. There is, however, a reason. Anyone who reaches a new world must conform with all the conditions of it. It is true, of course, that the hierarchy of evil appears somewhat repugnant to science. It is in fact very hard to explain that we mean by saying that we invoke Paimon; but, to go a little deeper, the same remark a…
1929 · PDF PAGE 300
… sacrifices, priestcraft, penance, vicarious atonements and the like. It is up to the missionary to show that the Christian form of such things is superior to the local variety and the difficulty is usually insuperable. The native can produce much bigger and more improbable miracles, a much more terrifying demonology, a far more fascinating pantheon, with a more alluring (and, so to say, actual) ritual than even the papist. The native perhaps seems little reason why he should not accept Christianity, but certainly none at all why he should disc…
1929 · PDF PAGE 366
…perceptions of the mind, and become sheer caricatures by the time they are translated into terms of bodily sensation. Now the reality of things depends on their truth, and thus it is that it is not a philosophical paradox but a matter of experience that the search for truth teaches us to distrust appearances exactly in proportion as they are positive. Physical facts betray their hallucinatory nature by their consistent refusal to comply with the requirements of reason, and thought admits its transparent falsity by violating its own laws at ever…
1929 · PDF PAGE 294
… is one of the most beautiful coins I have ever seen. The result of the contention of the currencies was that in Yunnansen one could buy things at an absurdly low price, provided that one would pay with the dollars which the merchant was being subsidized to accept. "When thieves fall out, honest men come by their own." It is certainly amusing to watch them cutting their own throats in order to cut ours more efficiently later on. I only wish we could stop the second part of the process. We reached Yunchangfu on the fifth day from Tengyueh. Our f…
1907 · PDF PAGE 247
…hardly a man, iii. 151 How light and how agreeable, i. 156 How sweet the soft looks shoot, ii. 78 How tedious I always find, ii. 184 How things are changed since Alice was so ill, li, 81 ‘* How very hard it is to be,” ii, 168 ‘* How you bungle!’”’ growled Ganesha, ii, 228 I ALMOST wonder if I ought, iii. 89 Iam a boy in this. Alas! ili. 3 Iamaman. Consider first, iii. 8 I am a pretty advocate, ili, 6 I am so sad, being alone to-night, iii, 66 I behold in a mist of hair involving, ‘ill. 58 I bring ye wine from above, iil. 207 Icarus cries: ‘‘ My…
1929 · PDF PAGE 369
…o by the vicissitudes of this wretched business. Rose was always begging to be taken back and it was very hard for me to be firm. I made things as easy as possible for her by spending as much time with her as I could. The marriage having been in Scotland, there was no King's Proctor to cause one's knees to tremble, and it was unlikely that any spies would discover that we were living together, to all intents and purposes, the whole time the divorce was pending. Apart from short trips to Paris, I was in England till autumn, when I thought it bes…
1929 · PDF PAGE 157
… dayaka; and very kindly and wisely did he provide for him. I walked back with Allan to the temple and commenced discussion all sorts of things, but continuous conversation was quite impossible, for people of all sorts trooped in incessantly to pay their respects to the European bhikkhu. They prostrated themselves at his feet and clung to them with reverence and affection. They brought him all sorts of presents. He was more like Pasha Bailey Ben than any other character in history.
1929 · PDF PAGE 137
…erfere with one's ability to control one's respiration; but one is inclined to laugh at the Hindu theory that it can be affected by such things as casual conversation. None the less, they are right. Apart from one's normal reactions, these practices make one supersensitive. I was not confining myself to any rigid {238} diet; and I remember that at a certain period the idea of food became utterly revolting. It is doubtless a question of nervous hyperaesthesia; as is well known, over-indulgence in alcohol and certain other drugs tends to destroy …
1929 · PDF PAGE 394
… kind one wants. This was fulfilled by my being commissioned to write The Diary of a Drug Fiend and the present book, as well as several things for the English Review. The fifth phase shows the man getting on with his work and obtaining renown and profit thereby, but it warns the inquirer that his position is perilous and bids him to be on his guard while not swerving from his course. From this I understood that the publication of my novel
1929 · PDF PAGE 321
…nts G. R.; does not mind whether S. W. is with me or not; but I should use Brahmacharya (? if with her, or anyhow), I shall be guided as things turn up, as to the truth or falsehood of Aiwass, who is not to be altogether distrusted. (I think the opposition is Aiwass's limitation as a servant.) A.'. will give us a sign: F's freedom. (I reply that if this comes about in a miraculous manner, well and good.) (Note: Her husband died quite unexpectedly not long after this time.) April 21st. Sol enters Taurus. Open T.'. with A.'. I.'.. (Possibly ...1 …
1904 · PDF PAGE 113
…r if nothing 1 W ithout an elabor ate analy sis of the ideas involved in the Ding an sich of Kant, and of H. Spencer’s definition of all things as M odes of the Unknowable, I may point out in passing that all these hypotheses are as sterile as the “vital principle” in biology , or “phlogiston” in chemistry. They lead literally nowhere. That the phenomenal world is an illusion is all very well; one girds up one’s loins to seek reality: but to prove reality unknowable is to shut all avenues to the truth-loving man, and open all to the sensualist.…