suavedave
Senior Don Juan
Spells, beliefs, affirmations, prayers.
We are discussing magic above... this is a subject I've done a bit of thinking about. Here is a summary of my findings thus far and I am fascinated to hear what all of you think about this subject. Here are some rough notes... And this is related to picking up chicks but first we have to get through some basics. The basic point is that praying/doing affirmations is in essence casting a spell.
What I have found is that there is a common element running through the practices of prayers, affirmations, magical incantations and the like. Let us spend a bit of time looking at these various practices and try to observe the common element. The first example comes from the Christian tradition:
If you attend an anglican church around lunch-time you can participate in a short service. During the service the priest does the following
"The body of Christ, the bread of heaven"
"The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation." (The book of Alternative Services of the Anglican Church)
What we are told here, in essence is that by eating the bread and by drinking the cup we are, in effect, being saved. This statement will be explained later. Also within the Christian tradition we see within the Bible the following type of passage:"
"Christ died... For who shall ever believe in him shall not perish but will have everlasting life."
Not only in the Christian tradition, but in the Buddhist tradition as well we see something similar. We read the following in the Lotus Sutra:
"Good Man, if all the countless hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings tormented by misery and pain hear of Guan Shi Yin Boddhisatva and with all their hearts invoke his name, Guan Shi Yin Boddhisattva will immediately respond to their prayers and set them free. [Fire wont burn them, weapons of assailants fall apart, chains will fall away, etc...]"
We see something similar in the Korean tradition as well in the following passage:
[Whether I am reborn in] Heaven or among humans,
I will receive merit like the Buddhas.
Coming upon this wish-fulfilling jewel,
I am certain to receive the incomparable [Perfect enlightenment]" (In Buswell, Robert _The Zen Monastic Experience, 241)
And, the final example from the Buddhist tradition comes from the Pure Land sect where we read the following from the Larger Sutra:
"[Amida: ]If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten quarters with sincere mind, joyful trust, and aspiration for birth in my land and saying my name perhaps even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain the supreme enlightenment. [Amida did receive enlightenment, therefore we are all saved]. "
Now, moving towards more contemporary writers, we read the following from Napolean Hill: "Änything the human mind can believe, the human mind can achieve." and, Ï know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my definite purpose in life...." (Think and Grow Rich).
Finally, here is a spell from the Wiccan tradition that should help us piece these myriad examples together as give us a clearer perspective about the underlying unity among these traditions:
"Light a pink candle to mark your commitment to creating a new relationship. Spend a few moments just breathing this wish deeply into your body and, as you exhale, notice any emotions.... [R]epeat the following incantation.... 'Love come, flying free/Bring my perfect partner to me.''
Looking over these examples from the Christian, Buddhist, New Age and Wiccan tradition we see the commonality that all of them asks the individual to believe that, by doing a certain action, (whether that be saying certain words or doing something physical) a specific result will occur. Prayer and affirmations, then, are a form of magic. In following Maniac's affirmations (1) for example we are, in a sense casting a magic spell that will assist us in attaining our desire.
(1) http://www.pickupguide.com/classic/aff.htm
--
'To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour.' -- Robert Louis Stevenson.
We are discussing magic above... this is a subject I've done a bit of thinking about. Here is a summary of my findings thus far and I am fascinated to hear what all of you think about this subject. Here are some rough notes... And this is related to picking up chicks but first we have to get through some basics. The basic point is that praying/doing affirmations is in essence casting a spell.
What I have found is that there is a common element running through the practices of prayers, affirmations, magical incantations and the like. Let us spend a bit of time looking at these various practices and try to observe the common element. The first example comes from the Christian tradition:
If you attend an anglican church around lunch-time you can participate in a short service. During the service the priest does the following
"The body of Christ, the bread of heaven"
"The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation." (The book of Alternative Services of the Anglican Church)
What we are told here, in essence is that by eating the bread and by drinking the cup we are, in effect, being saved. This statement will be explained later. Also within the Christian tradition we see within the Bible the following type of passage:"
"Christ died... For who shall ever believe in him shall not perish but will have everlasting life."
Not only in the Christian tradition, but in the Buddhist tradition as well we see something similar. We read the following in the Lotus Sutra:
"Good Man, if all the countless hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings tormented by misery and pain hear of Guan Shi Yin Boddhisatva and with all their hearts invoke his name, Guan Shi Yin Boddhisattva will immediately respond to their prayers and set them free. [Fire wont burn them, weapons of assailants fall apart, chains will fall away, etc...]"
We see something similar in the Korean tradition as well in the following passage:
[Whether I am reborn in] Heaven or among humans,
I will receive merit like the Buddhas.
Coming upon this wish-fulfilling jewel,
I am certain to receive the incomparable [Perfect enlightenment]" (In Buswell, Robert _The Zen Monastic Experience, 241)
And, the final example from the Buddhist tradition comes from the Pure Land sect where we read the following from the Larger Sutra:
"[Amida: ]If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten quarters with sincere mind, joyful trust, and aspiration for birth in my land and saying my name perhaps even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain the supreme enlightenment. [Amida did receive enlightenment, therefore we are all saved]. "
Now, moving towards more contemporary writers, we read the following from Napolean Hill: "Änything the human mind can believe, the human mind can achieve." and, Ï know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my definite purpose in life...." (Think and Grow Rich).
Finally, here is a spell from the Wiccan tradition that should help us piece these myriad examples together as give us a clearer perspective about the underlying unity among these traditions:
"Light a pink candle to mark your commitment to creating a new relationship. Spend a few moments just breathing this wish deeply into your body and, as you exhale, notice any emotions.... [R]epeat the following incantation.... 'Love come, flying free/Bring my perfect partner to me.''
Looking over these examples from the Christian, Buddhist, New Age and Wiccan tradition we see the commonality that all of them asks the individual to believe that, by doing a certain action, (whether that be saying certain words or doing something physical) a specific result will occur. Prayer and affirmations, then, are a form of magic. In following Maniac's affirmations (1) for example we are, in a sense casting a magic spell that will assist us in attaining our desire.
(1) http://www.pickupguide.com/classic/aff.htm
--
'To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour.' -- Robert Louis Stevenson.
