Touchstone
by Arrow
'Tat
Tvam Asi'
From
the sanskrit, meaning:
"Thou
Art That"
A
maha vakya, or 'great saying',
that indicates the principle of Brahman.
~~~~~
Throughout
the early alchemical treatises the masters of that art emphasized
that the work must first be approached with devotion to the Divine.
This was not due to any 'religous' zeal on their part but, for the
reason that the stone can only be wrought in unison with the supreme
Creator. Then, as now, that is the only way. The alchemists sought
union with the Divine that they may become true co-creators. In turn
that served to elevate Nature to it's true glory.
But, the stone
was not by any means acheived through a connection with a worldly
church, nor by any pleas cast towards a distant, majestic throne.
The stone was acheived through unity with the Divine Conciousness.
And, that Conciousness was not just deemed to be the perception and
judgements of a diety that sat on laurels, removed from Creation but,
was seen as the Divine eye and mind throughout all of Nature, at it's
heart, at it's core.
The alchemist's devotion was towards that which they sensed permeates
the here and now. They excercised their hearts and minds in prayer
so that they may see with eyes that can see, and hear with ears that
can hear. In that way they sought to consumate the marriage of Heaven
and Earth within themselves. That was the supreme goal of the opus.
The central philospophy behind their effort to elevate Nature was
to first be acheived within their own nature. So they paved the path
with a fervent reverence towards all that is Divine; towards the Divinity
that is to be found in All; which they sought within themselves. They
became the altar for their work, and the crucible. The transformative
work was to be acheived within them, as well as without.
In truth,
though, alchemists never really brought, or bring, Heaven and Earth
together; for Heaven and Earth are inseperable except by one means
alone, and that is the fallen consiousness. The conciousness of man,
and of nature, as viewed through alchemy, are seen as being detatched,
asleep; removed from the great Conciousness by the fall of Spirit
into matter. Matter casts it's spell of sleep over the Spirit. The
true alchemists see and understand this.
So, the alchemists
sought, and seek, to truly see, and truly hear; to awaken from the
sleep so as to work with Spirit within matter; to marry the small
I to the Great I, to become one with the Divine Consiousness. Through
that personal awakening the Divine in Nature is enlivened and She
rejoices, and becomes the bride that will give birth to the stone.
This is the real work behind that which is called 'The Great Work':
the persuit of awakening the Divine that sleeps within the twilight
grip of matter.
Of course,
you probably already know that the vision of the marriage of Heaven
and Earth is not altogether exclusive to the alchemical persuit. That
ideal is sought by the devotees of many diverse spiritual paths that
have their roots in antiquity but, especially those that follow the
teachings that were born and still thrive in the East.
Alchemy also has it roots in that same Eastern soil, and there we
find, among other outstanding spiritual works of art, the Upanishads,
that were penned to serve the soul as a path towards that great Conciousness,
therein named, Brahman.
The Upanishads state that when the height of realization is won by
the follower, when true seeing and hearing occurs, it is perceived
by the Atman. That dawning is the birth of Brahman in the mind of
the initiate on this plain of being. Yet the two, Brahman and Atman,
are said in actuality to be one. It is a shared vision of Creation,
as though seen through a singular eye.
The Atman
(individual aspect of Brahman) is like a molecule of water in the
vastness of the sea that is Brahman. The two are truly one. It is
merely a matter of awareness.
~~~
Is it
The Saint that carries the babe across the water,
or is it the babe that is The Saint?
The two
are one!
~~~
The real bane
of the alchemical work is seperation from the Divine Conciousness,
and that seperation is due to the fallen conciousness. Without the
fulfillment of the connection which perceives and works in harmony
with the marriage of Heaven and Earth the work towards creating the
stone will be all for naught.
So the way
towards the stone begins simply (yet far from so seemingly simple)
with the waking of the Sleeping Beauty; freed from the arms of the
night, from the spells of the deep, roused by dawn, like the morning
star's illumination.
In truth there
is no one thing in the entirity of Creation that is outside of the
Divine Conciousness; not a stone, not a piece of discarded rubbish,
not the chair that now is your seat, not these words that you read
here, saying to you:
They
are you
and they
are me.
They
are us.
They
are 'I'.
That is the
Quintessence behind the alchemical opus: the single eye at the apex
of the pyramid. It is the 'nail' that pierces through all matter and
manner of nature. The nail that ties beam to beam.
Without it
the Mage's house will not stand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"My
name used to be 'Me',
but now it is 'You'."
an
anonymous monk
~~~
