I have long since stopped commenting on RO's blog but in this case I am making an exception as he, to my mind, has proved a point that I have been attempting to write on for some time. This is more along the lines of mystical awareness than ethics. I came across his comments through this post on ethics from Kenaz.
In his post, Why You Need Occult Authors to Tell You Right from Wrong, RO wrote:
The fact is, you don't know right from wrong, and you're really not capable of figuring it out. You might think you know right from wrong, but you don't. You just think you do.
He is, of course, correct. Not long ago I had a discussion with Lon DuQuette. I told him that when I was a kid that I used to see the music of Black Sabbath and Ronnie James Dio as enticing but evil. Now that I've practiced for so long, I can see they are singing of holy things. His response was that from a higher perspective the event previously seen as evil can now be seen as good, positive and/or holy.
RO then goes on a bit about how you think killing is wrong and gives examples of justifiable homicide and the like. However, in all fairness that is a word game. If he started out by saying murder is wrong, there would be no way to play the game. To cite extreme examples, murder, rape and a host of other crimes are just plain wrong no matter how spiritual you think you are. Let's not split too many hairs here.
His post continues:
But here's the fucking thing: there is no right or wrong, there's only what you do, and the consequences, and whether you're happy with them or not.
I can fully see and agree with that perspective to a point. However, fucking with someone else's life magickally is nearly always wrong to me, even if I get what I want. Who am I to decide where you work, whom you date or which magickal group you belong to? It is wrong, in my book, for me to determine what is best for the other guy. Why? Because that is nine times out of ten me pandering to my little ego. Do that long enough, or effectively once, and your spiritual development can be done for quite some time. Petty revenge and temper tantrums are not worth it. Then this follows:
But if you're worried about whether or not something is right to do, then you do indeed need to be told what's right and what's wrong. If you're stuck in duality, if you haven't grasped the truth that the Universe appears both Good and Evil while it's actually neither, then you're going to need codes of conduct to keep you from fucking yourself and others up. You need rules. You need to be ruled.
RO is talking about something very real. From the heightened mystical perspective, we can see a perfection in all things. I have talked about it before. In that perfection, all is one, all is perfect, all is wonderful, no matter how bad it sucks. For me the red flag comes in here:
Everything else is motherfucking bullshit, a lie to keep you bound to the feeding trough like the good little fat piggy you are, until they're ready to eat you. Smoked, salted, fried, chopped, baked, diced with asparagus, red potatoes, and alfredo sauce. That's right, you're a ham slice. In shrink wrap, sitting on a shelf waiting to be consumed, staying carefully in the boundaries you have to stay in until someone gets hungry.
I duly note, that RO has not claimed in this post that he is above duality. However, if he did, the above should scream at you. Why? Because the above paragraph proves he sees an "I" and a "Them" i.e. YOU, you fat little piggy.
I bring this up because when you hit those lofty states of seeing the perfection in all things and other mystical experiences, you bring back PART of that awareness but not the full awareness immediately. When folks think they are there but resort to language like this or even a gentler version, their bubble needs popped because they are not where they think they are.
How do I know? Because I have done that! I didn't have the negative language of others at that time but I did see myself as a bit higher than I was.
I want to make it clear that I am not picking on RO here. I haven't talked to him in years. He may be a saint by now. It is just this post of his illustrated a point that I have wanted to make for some time but didn't really know how to say.
All that aside. For most of us, right and wrong applies. Most curses are thrown as little temper tantrums of a flailing ego. Spells to get a particular guy or gal are the same.
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