Re: Re: Illuminated - help!

From: Peter Larsen <plarsen_at_...>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 08:52:30 -0500

At 01:28 PM 1/21/2004 +0000, jorganos wrote:
>Peter Larsen
> > Pass on Martial Skills, etc. To drag this back to Glorantha, a similar
> > thing happened to Ingolf Dragonfriend in the EWF (KoS) -- his urge to
> > help his kin overcame his desire to stay on the Path, and it destroyed
> > him. His good intentions kept his failure from being as bad as it
> > might have been, but he's a good example of how not to be a mystic.
>
>So this makes a good mystic a failed one?

         No, but it depends on what you mean by "good." If a mystic does "good" (fights monsters, heals the sick, etc) out of Compassion for the World, that might be in keeping with the Mystic Path. If the mystic does it because it's his/her sister that's sick, or his clan that is being attacked, then that's entangling.

>Seems like becoming Humakti, severing all pre-existing ties, and then
>severing one's cult ties would be a good start for being a mystic.

         Except becoming a Humakti entangles one further in the World, since Death is Part of the World. You're trading a lot of little entanglements for one big one. And what Death takes, Death keeps.

>Basically, this makes me wonder whether a mystic may experience
>failures to refute distractions or seductions, or whether this means
>once failed, never transcendent? Is mysticism forgiving?
>
>Was old-Testament Job a mystic?

         No, not at all. Job's revelation is a theist one -- the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Trust the Lord and everything will eventually be made right, even if you don't understand how.

Peter Larsen