The Perilous Path Towards Awakening (6)
by Bernhard Guenther
Read the fifth part of the article
Regardless what happened “to us”, in light of the process of awakening, we need to become aware of the victim archetype that is strongly embedded in our collective psyche in order to empower ourselves and take self-responsibility for our healing, growth, and life journey.
“The root of the Victim archetype is a fear that you cannot survive or will not survive. Not just physical survival but the survival of your identity, your hopes and dreams or sense of self. Deep down there is a belief that you don’t deserve to thrive and the Victim is a way to have passive control over your life. All victims are entitled. It may take you some time to see your own sense of entitlement but it is important to identify it to be able to transform this interesting archetype from shadow to light. Working through the Victim may be the most difficult thing you do but it is the most life altering as well.
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The Enlightened Victim understands that real power comes from within and is bound up with personal responsibility. When you are the Enlightened Victim you cannot blame others because you can see that the loss of power happens from within. It would be useless to look for empowerment where it does not exist. The Enlightened Victim asks ‘what can I do with the situation that I have been given?’
There is this great scene from The Lord of the Rings movie where Frodo, feeling victimized by the fact that the ring of power has come to him, says to Gandalf: ‘I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.’ And Gandalf answers him wisely: ‘So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.’ Here Gandalf shows Frodo where his true power lies. There are some things in life that are not for us to decide but we can decide what to do with what we have been given, or what has happened to us. It is a very encouraging thought.
The Enlightened Victim is not afraid of weakness and fragility because you maintain vulnerability as a strength. You have learned that power can be found even in the worst victimization. You are no longer afraid of failures, losses, tragedies, suffering and misfortune because none of these outer circumstances has the power to control your life. Vulnerability is the keystone of your strength because it allows you to discover different kinds of power and especially recognize the strength of openness. Vulnerability makes you pliable and willing to be changed by your circumstances without losing your power.” – Susanna Barlow, Understanding the Victim Archetype
We see the victim/blame archetype playing out on social media these days as well. A good way to check yourself in order to ensure you are not falling into that trap (and thereby essentially giving your power away energetically) is to observe how easily you get triggered/upset about other people’s posts, opinions, pics, etc… especially on a baseline emotional level. Observe how you may be projecting inner turmoil onto people you have never met personally, nor talked to face to face… taking things personally, getting offended, even if you feel justified in doing so because you were “attacked” (by the way, there is nothing wrong with blocking people – making clear boundaries is important, too!). Observe, when sharing personal stuff, if it is actually coming from a place of self-pity and blame, instead of honest vulnerability that’s supported by humility (not to be mistaken as “self-diminishment”) and personal responsibility… or posting something in order to seek out attention, which relates to Narcissism.
All this of this emotional “loosh” – based on egoic self-centeredness – is sustenance for the Matrix. It’s tricky at times to catch it in yourself, and the ego/predator mind can camouflage itself and shape-shift like a chameleon. Self-sincerity, radical self-honesty, and observing oneself are key tools to deploy in order to check in with our actions and thoughts at all times in that regard (a good question to ask oneself: what is my true – most often hidden – intention for posting this or that?). All of this is especially true in relation to the internet and the archonic A.I. infection we are all exposed to via technology, keeping us head-centric and isolated (despite the positive side of connecting, networking and sharing information).
At the same token, it’s important not to blame ourselves, especially when buying into the New Age distorted idea of “You Create Your Own Reality” and the over-simplified idea that you “created” everything in your life, based on your thoughts and emotional state.
The so-called “Law of Attraction” (as it is commonly used these days in corrupted New Age/pop-spirituality concepts of “You Create Your Own Reality”) is a gross distortion of its true esoteric meaning and source, just as the saying “Ask and You Shall Be Given” has also been corrupted from its original esoteric meaning and watered down into “I can have anything I want from the ‘universe’, if I just ‘ask’ for it and align my thoughts and emotions with my desires”. First of all, the “law of attraction” (based on the saying “like attracts like”) was geared towards the sincere seeker engaged in esoteric self-work, meaning that he/she will “attract” (through his “SINCERE asking”) anything that will help him/her for his/her soul evolution with the aim of union with the “One”, i.e. soul embodiment, self-realization, awakening/enlightenment, etc. The phrase “Ask and You Shall Be Given” relates to esoteric Knowledge, Truth, assistance, and “occult secrets” that will help him/her on the path, not a “thing” (or job, money, relationship) based on the ego’s culturally-conditioned cravings.
However, what he/she will be “given” or “attract” is not up to “him/her”, but relates to his/her soul lessons and even includes (besides “positive” things, such as the right teacher/teaching, and assistance appearing at the right time) challenging situations, trials and initiations (including attacks by occult forces, which can be teachings/initiations in disguise) that may seem “negative” to the uninitiated eye, but are necessary lessons for him/her to pass through as part of the awakening process. They have nothing to do with “attracting them because of his/her negative attitude”. In the end, it’s about letting go of the monkey mind conditioning, and realizing the illusion of “personal will” (ego identification) so as to give way to Divine Will – becoming an embodied sovereign Individual, a conscious instrument for Spirit to work through, expressing itself in this reality plane by merging with him/her/it as a unique frequency anchor.
Trap of Savior and Martyr Consciousness
On the other side of the victim coin is the Savior/Martyr complex, which ties into the previously-discussed ‘waking up/helping others’ trap. This inflated state – being identified with the “savior” – is based upon the illusion that there is something “wrong” with reality (as in, the creative force of the Source/God/Universe from which all originates/is manifested from, is somehow a “mistake”) and we therefore need to “save” or “fix” the world. By assuming “God’s point of view”, and thus resulting in a sense of grandiosity and feelings of “special-ness” (superiority complex), this trap ties into the misconception of what “evil” actually is, and how it operates within the duality of light and dark. It doesn’t mean to just sit by either, but rather, to actively engage in the evolution of consciousness, with all of the collective and personal lessons contained within that process, in order to become frequency anchors in alignment with Divine Will.
The savior complex is also very common in people who are overly-identified with the ‘wanderer/renegade/starseed/family of light’ concept, which their ego hijacks so as to put themselves on pedestals while “looking down” on humans (as mentioned before in the superiority trap).
It also relates to people who are very attached to (and identified with) what they perceive as their “mission” and “purpose”. While we all do have our individual callings in life – which we can (and should) be passionate about – it is important to keep in mind that purpose is not a definition, but a process, and should be seen in light of our individual soul evolution and how it aligns with our unique talents, our development, and our lessons to learn. The moment ambition, pride, will-full doing or a need to “prove ourselves” kicks in, we are not aligned with spirit within, but rather with ego-consciousness… cravings take over, and the matrix has us.
The martyr complex is an even more exaggerated form of the savior complex – it is activated whenever we feel we need to suffer “for others”, and pride ourselves for carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. It shows itself when we proudly “show off” how we are being “attacked” for what we do (activism or speaking out) and often needlessly put ourselves into compromising situations to somehow prove how right we were all along. This behavior is also based on a lack of external consideration and strategic enclosure as explored before in this article. It relates to deep dogmatic religious programming as well, especially the Christian idea that “Jesus died for our sins”, and ties into the collective external savior program, with the masses looking for someone to save/lead them (based on authoritarian programming).
In order to avoid any of these traps (or pull ourselves out of them again if we fall into one), humility and modesty are key assistants on a basic foundational level:
“Like it or not, humility exists only in the wake of arrogance. Few people know humility for itself or opt for it right away. Most of us have fallen into arrogance and egotism and have failed. We come to humility after having thoroughly tested the alternative.
True humility is a choice we make each time there is a confrontation, and unless a person is supremely comfortable, self-assured, and safe, he or she cannot easily be humble. The dynamically modest person chooses to be humble out of strength. The humility of the Changes [I Ching / Yijing] is an active power. As such, it is more than a moral position: it is a virtue.
Humility is akin to compassion – at least in the sense that true compassion means extending one’s energy and talents on behalf of others. One cannot be merciful from a position of weakness.[…] Remaining humble even when you are under great duress, staying self-possessed in the face of insults, and refusing to bully others with your position and power are all examples of humility from the vantage of great strength.
Those who are humble will gradually discover other advantages. They will not hesitate to go beyond themselves. With nothing to prove, they are willing to explore new situations. True, they might make mistakes. They may even suffer embarrassment. But the humble person acknowledges and accepts that. The immodest make mistakes too – but they try to hide their errors and deny their fallibility. That worsens their mistakes and increases their isolation.” – Deng Ming-Dao, The Living I Ching; Using Ancient Chinese Wisdom to Shape Your Life (Hexagram 15)
The path to the temple of secrets
“The Temple of Secrets is located on a high mountain, and everywhere thorns are covering the path leading to the Temple. The inconceivable, mysterious height of the mountain is the reason why many people doubt the existence of the Temple of Secrets. Some think of it as a Fairy Tale, some consider it an old Myth and others believe it to be the Truth.
At the entrance of the narrow path stands Ignorance, with her sisters Stupidity and Laziness, and they tell awful tales to the travelers and of horrible adventures the travelers will encounter if they set foot on this path. That is how lazy Human Beings and fearful Human Beings can easily be persuaded to turn back.
There are a few Human Beings on which ignorance attempts her deceptions in vain. They climb up the first part of the thorny steep path, and when they are about half way up the mountain, they reach a plateau on which they find the Temple of Self-Love. Next to this Temple stands Self-Conceit, Pride and Know it-All and they offer the traveler a cup, out of which he drinks his own Self in great gulps and thereby becomes intoxicated with himself, with his own ‘I.’
These travelers then become so intoxicated with themselves that they imagine that their Temple, the Temple of Self-Love is the Temple of Secrets and there is nothing, but nothing, above them. The inscription on this temple, the Temple of Self-Love, reads as follows: The Sanctuary of the Wisdom of the World.
Desires, passions and wantonness are the servants of these priests. However, those whose heart searches for the truth will not find any satisfaction with this and they will keep on searching.
A few thousand steps from this Temple you will find a very secluded little hut, inhabited by a hermit, with the following inscription above the door: The Residence of Humility.
The man who lives here guides the strangers to the residence of humility, which in turn leads them to Self-Recognition. This Divine Beauty becomes the traveler’s companion, and with her, he conquers the inaccessible mountain. Whosoever tries to reach the Temple of Secrets without this Divine Beauty can very easily be misled by his Self-Love, and as a result, will follow the wrong path.
His greed for knowledge will lead him to the Temple of Curiosity. The inhabitants of this Temple are: fraud, seduction and deception, the founders of most of the secret societies, and those Human Beings who in search for the Truth and for the Temple of Secrets will, if they join these Secret Societies, be robbed of the ability to see with their Soul. They are then led to the top of the mountain, where they fall into the abyss or into the labyrinth or maze, in which they will walk in circles for eternity without finding the Truth.
Humility alone is the best guide. This alone will lead the seeker to the Master of Teachers of all secrets. This Master Teacher is the pure will. This pure will becomes the friend of the highest of knowledge and they enter into a bond of eternal union [Divine Will].
The knowledge of the effects of the Eternal Light of godliness in all created beings is True Magic in Theory. The conception of this Light, or the transition from the intellect to the will, is True Magic in Practice.” – Von Eckarthausen, Magic: The Principles of Higher Knowledge, 1788
Occult Hostile Forces Targeting The Seeker
The aforementioned traps on the awakening journey relate more to our inner attitude and ego-hijacked spiritual insights, experiences and knowledge (including knowledge of how the matrix works), which leads to the ego believing itself to be the awakening self. The way I use the term “ego” is in relation to identifying with who we “think” we are, the conditioned personality, or anything we “do” based on the illusion of being separate, caught in a fragmented state of consciousness, i.e. lack of wholeness, (which is also the result of the division of the inner male and female that shows up in the body-mind (head) split that is so prevalent in our modern society).
However, all of the traps mentioned before are also “enhanced” by hyperdimensional interference and attacks which lie “outside” of our ego-structure or shadow issues – as important as Shadow work is from a Jungian perspective, it has its limitations (as does psychological work in general, which I have addressed in this essay.) The occult hostile forces affect us in more ways than we are aware of, especially with those people who are actively engaged in consciousness-raising activities, spiritual self-work, seeking truth, and speaking out about it.
Be it through our own minds, like psychic attacks or entity attachments, or forces working through others who are being used as “portals” to vector us off our path, vigilance is essential. Think of Agent Smith being able to inject himself into any character in the virtual world within the film “The Matrix”, trying to stop Neo from awakening to his actual abilities. Hence, cognitively-blind people – people who are asleep, plugged into the Matrix, the grand illusion – can become unconscious “tools” and puppets of the Matrix, deploying tactics like peer pressure/social ostracization to make sure no one jumps out of line.
Read the seventh part of the article
yogaesoteric
July 19, 2019