Ming the Mechanic:
Faith and Doubt
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 Faith and Doubt2004-06-11 11:50
8 comments
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"I slept with Faith, and found a corpse in my arms on awaking; I drank and danced all night with Doubt, and found her a virgin in the morning." - Aleister Crowley, The Book of Lies

Always good to keep inquiring. If you're getting too sure about anything, you're probably fooling yourself. Life is an unfolding mystery. The more certain and necessary something seems in the mind, the more likely it is that it is just a blind spot.



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8 comments

11 Jun 2004 @ 12:10 by Tim Rowe @81.109.241.105 : Traps
It also helps keep one free of traps (hopefully). Certainty itself can be a trap.
I have your friend Max Sandor to thank for his Pnoteftu writings on Traps and similar topics:
http://orunla.org/pnohteftu/contents.html  

11 Jun 2004 @ 12:16 by jmarc : "The more certain
and necessary something seems in the mind, the more likely it is that it is just a blind spot."....are you certain of that? It seems alot of people are very certain about the high value of moral relativism.  

11 Jun 2004 @ 12:16 by ming : Trap
Yep, certainty of that which isn't certain, is one of the better traps we can stick ourselves in.  

11 Jun 2004 @ 12:20 by ming : Am I certain?
Sure, jmarc, 110% Guaranteed, or your money back. The people who're most concerned about morals are usually the real irresponsible perverts.  

11 Jun 2004 @ 16:04 by jmarc : no doubt
i've seen the same in some people, but what i wonder is if you are so certain doesn't that certainty in itself cast doubt on your assertion, re: the above statement?  

11 Jun 2004 @ 17:29 by ming : Certainty
Yes, of course it does, if that wasn't clear. Anything we say with words takes on an apparent finality which usually can't be matched in reality. Great truths are often paradoxes. Meaning that they can't be satisfactorily put into language, and our minds tend to get tied into knots trying to understand them. When we succeed in going beyond that, a lot of apparent self-contradictions cease to exist. Something more absolute becomes available if we are able to see the silly limitations of absolute thoughts or statements.  

11 Jun 2004 @ 17:35 by jmarc : fair enough
:0)  

12 Jun 2004 @ 13:57 by ming : Transcending belief
On {link:http://www.futurehi.net/archives/000203.html|FutureHi} Paul gives this intriguing comment on the subject:

Flemming just reminded me of this quote, which is Aleister commenting on one of the most powerful magickal techniques ever devised.

The idea is to invoke a belief system which is contradictory to your current set of beliefs. For example if you are a liberal, become a conservative; a theist, become an atheist, etc. The idea is to do it fully, to live and breath this new belief system until you have some kind of manifestation or epiphany, in which you come to believe in it with all of your heart. Once you've accomplished that, immediately proceed to doubt all that you just invoked, until you once again hold the belief with complete skepticism.

Rinse, repeat, recycle.

If you can manage to do this faithfully, you will eventually transcend dogmatic belief, and dogmatic doubt entirely.

As Aleister once said, "a true skeptic doubts his own doubt".  

Other stories in
2012-05-03 00:04: An evolving path
2012-01-02 13:52: 2011 Accomplishments and 2012 Aims
2011-11-17 02:20: Your inner piece
2011-02-01 00:05: Slow Mo Flow
2011-01-22 18:40: Recognition
2010-08-23 00:36: Where's Ming?
2010-07-20 14:24: Getting other people to do stuff
2010-06-22 00:27: Inventory
2010-06-19 23:10: Conversations
2009-10-28 12:31: Then a miracle occurs


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