Hahaha, I like the deep discussion going on. I just wanted to post again and thank everyone for helping me! All your posts have been really helpful, and right now I feel much more clear.
On a side note, I realize this isn't pertaining to what we're talking about right now exactly, but I have found that this has also really helped:
after reading this, I have found myself interuptting my friends less, and I'm not as inclined to just blurt out my own opinion, etc. unless it's clear they want it, and I have actually felt quite peaceful and good about this.
Actually yeah, I agree with you completely.
On a side note, I realize this isn't pertaining to what we're talking about right now exactly, but I have found that this has also really helped:
Quote:...the positive path where power is accrued by being the weakest, and true greatness is achieved by being the servant of others, where advice and teaching are given only when requested.
after reading this, I have found myself interuptting my friends less, and I'm not as inclined to just blurt out my own opinion, etc. unless it's clear they want it, and I have actually felt quite peaceful and good about this.
(12-20-2010, 07:17 PM)ahktu Wrote: Well, seeing how somebody already beat me to the Jesus example, I will just say that if feeling magical makes you STS, then Carla is STS, seeing how she pulls down her magical personality in order to practice white magic every single day. I am not stating that fact in a spiteful way, but I think this channeling needs to be taken in context.
I know from personal experience what Quo is talking about, or at least what I perceive them to be talking about. There have been moments when I realized that, due to my expanding awareness, a huge, raw power lay at my fingertips, and there was much I could do with that power. My heightened awareness made me feel superior to those around me. I could easily control them and break their weak minds. It was a delicious, intoxicating feeling, and I had to take serious inventory of my intentions to avoid being swept away by the power.
I think "feeling special" in this context is feeling that your uniqueness puts you above others- that you have something that they don't. In reality, every single soul has the potential to walk the path of the adept and pursue magical workings. Just because you can do something that is considered unusual doensn't mean you are among an elite class set apart from the rest. The adoption of the elite is purely a STS tactic. You are just learning at your own speed.
However, loving the self, experiencing the self, and growing in your relationship to the Creator is an unavoidably magical process. There is nothing wrong with rejoicing in the fact that you are a unique individual who has a gift to offer to the universe that no one else can match- as long as you realize it is the same for everyone else around you as well. I also do not see anything wrong with self discipline, either. Ra speaks extensively of the "disciplines of the personality." I think it is at the point where you narrow your vision to the point that life passes you by in pursuit of power that you are heading in the STS direction.
As a matter of fact, I also see nothing wrong with taking the STS path, and I fully agree with you that a person can vibrate between both paths at once. In the end, taking one or the other will greatly help in speeding up evolution, but I don't see anything wrong with experimenting with both sides and seeing what works for you. If we don't understand the dark side, know what it is about, and feel for ourselves what it offers, how can we make a fully informed decision? It is possible to understand both sides completely, realizing that both are necessary and equal. At that point, it is just a matter of preference. STO seems a heck of a lot easier to me...just go with the flow and realize we are all one to begin with, but I understand the STS way of thinking. If I wanted to, I feel that I could easily switch to that path in the blink of an eye. I just have no desire to.
As always, this is all just my opinion and may or may not have an ounce of wisdom within it. In the end, I'd say just go with your gut. Your inner self will not lie to you.
Actually yeah, I agree with you completely.