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THE FAI TH OF THE WI SEbyRober t CochranePent agr am( 4) August 1965

I t i s sai d by var i ous "aut hor i t i es" t hat t he Fai t h of t he Wi se, when t hey dobel i eve i n i t s exi st ence, i s a si mpl e mat t er : a pr e- Chr i st i an r el i gi on basedupon whatever Gods and Goddesses are t he cur r ent vogue- - f ul l of si mpl e, heart ypeasant s doi ng si mpl e, hear t y peasant - l i ke t hi ngs . . . t hi ngs t hat i n some casescompl ex, ner vous sophi st i cat es al so enj oy doi ng i n ur ban parl our s. Consequent l ywe have an i nt er est i ng phenomenon: ci vi l i sed sophi st i cat es r unni ng roundbehavi ng l i ke si mpl e peasant s- - and si mpl e peasants who have never hear d of sucht hi ngs! I t i s al so mai nt ai ned by the same "aut hor i t i es" t hat we f ol l ow a bel i efwhi ch, as one dear ol d f el l ow put i t , i s headed by a dei t y "Who i s t he sweet estwoman, ever yone l oves her . " To quot e someone el se who i s j ust a st udent of t heCr af t , "Wi t chcraf t i s about r i t ual s, " whi ch I suppose t o be t r ue, i f one car est o accept t he def i ni t i on as wi t chcraf t .Al l t hi s worr i es me somewhat - - si nce I am not a peasant and nei t her am Ipar t i cul ar l y i nt er est ed i n bei ng l ed by a sweet woman, and r i t ual t o me i smerel y a means t o an end. So what i s t he Fai t h al l about ? Admi t t edl y I can onl y

speak f or mysel f , and what I wr i t e here are my own opi ni ons, but here goes.Unf ort unat el y f or aut hor i t i es, st udent s and "mer e seeker s af t er t r ut h, " t heFai t h i s not about anythi ng t hat has been wr i t t en above. The Fai t h i s f i nal l yconcer ned wi t h Tr ut h, t ot al Tr ut h. I t i s one of t he ol dest of r el i gi ons, andal so one of t he most potent , br i ngi ng as i t does, Man i nt o cont act wi t h Gods,and Man i nt o cont act wi t h Sel f . As such t he Fai t h i s a way of l i f e di f f er ent anddi st i nct f r om any theor y pr omul gat ed by the aut hor i t i es or hi st or i ans. Wi t hi nt he di sci pl i nes of t he Fai t h, man may of f er devot i on t o the Gods, and r ecei vecer t ai n knowl edge of Thei r exi st ence by par t i ci pat i on i n somet hi ng of t heper f ect ed Nat ur e of Godhead, r ecal l i ng t hat both wi t hi n and wi t hout whi ch i smost t r ue. The Fai t h i s a bel i ef concer ned wi t h the i nner nat ur e of devot i on,and f i nal l y wi t h t he nat ur e of myst i ci sm and myst i cal exper i ence. I t has, i ncommon wi t h al l gr eat r el i gi ons, an i nner exper i ence t hat i s great er t han theext er i or wor l d. I t i s a di sci pl i ne t hat creat es f r om t he wor l d an enr i chedi nward vi si on. I t can and does embr ace the total i t y of human exper i ence f r ombi r t h t o deat h, t hen beyond. I t creat es wi t hi n t he human spi r i t a l i ght t hatbr i ght ens al l dar kness, and whi ch can never agai n be ext i ngui shed. I t i s neverf ul l y f orgot t en and never f ul l y remember ed. The Tr ue Fai t h i s t he l i f e of t hef ol l ower , wi t hout i t he i s not hi ng, wi t h i t he has cont ai ned somet hi ng of al lcreat i on.For ce r equi r es f or m at t hi s l evel of bei ng, t her ef or e r i t ual exi st s to cont ai nt hat f orce. Godhead demands worshi p, t her ef ore r i t ual exi st s t o gi ve andf or mul at e that wor shi p. Man needs hel p, t her ef or e ri t ual i s desi gned to gi vet hat hel p. I t i s possi bl e t o compr ehend Godhead or For ce wi t hout r i t ual , si ncet he Fi r st Pr i nci pl e of Godhead i s pr esent at al l l evel s and i n al l t hi ngs at al lt i mes- - but t otal per cept i on i s not pr esent i n humani t y al l t he t i me. Ther ef or er i t ual basi cal l y becomes a mat t er of i ncr easi ng per cept i on unt i l somet hi ng of

Godhead ' . s f i nal l y reveal ed, and t hat whi ch i s wi t hi n and wi t hout i s par t i al l yunder st ood: compr ehended i n the physi cal per son of t he par t i ci pant unt i l i t -becomes one wi t h hi s t otal bei ng. The f orces compr ehended are part of t he l i vi ngper son, i ncor por at ed i nt o ever yday l i f e as par t of a spi r i t ual , ment al andphysi cal di sci pl i ne t hat r et ur ns t he devot ee agai n and agai n t o the ori gi nalSource.Devot i on r equi r es pr oof . Ther ef or e t hat pr oof exi st s wi t hi n t he di sci pl i nes oft he Fai t h. The nat ur e of pr oof cannot be expl ai ned, si nce f orce can onl y beshown by i nf er ence and by par t i ci pat i on, not by i nt el l ect ual r easoni ng. The

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nat ure of t he proof f al l s i nto many f orms, but amongst t he most common aret hese:( a) POETI C VI SI ON, i n whi ch t he part i ci pant has i nward access t o dr eam i magesand symbol s. Thi s i s t he r esul t of t he unconsci ous bei ng st i mul ated by vari ousmeans. I mages are t aught as par t of a tr adi t i on, and al so exi st . ( as J ungspecul ated) upon t hei r own l evel s. They are, when i nt erpr eted pr operl y, means bywhi ch a l esser part of t r ut h may be underst ood.

( b) THE VI SI ON OF MEMORY, i n whi ch t he devot ee not onl y r emember s past exi st encebut al so, at t i mes, a past per f ect i on.( c) MAGI CAL VI SI ON, i n whi ch t he par t i ci pant under t akes by i nf er ence par t of a

Tr i ad of ser vi ce, and t heref or e cont act s cer t ai n l evel s. *( d) RELI GI OUS VI SI ON, i n whi ch t he worshi pper i s al l owed admi ssi on t o the TrueGodhead f or a shor t t i me. Thi s i s a par t of t r ue i ni t i at i on, and t he r esul t s ofdevot i on t owards a myst i cal ai m.( e) MYSTI CAL VI SI ON, i n whi ch t he servant ent ers i nt o di vi ne uni on wi t h t heGodhead. Thi s st ate has no f orm, bei ng a poi nt where f orce al one i s present .

These ar e proof s, si nce havi ng enj oi ned wi t h such f or ces, t here cannotaf t erwar ds be any doubt s as t o t he nat ur e of t he exper i ence. Man suf f er s f r omdoubt at al l t i mes, but t o the par t i ci pant i n such exper i ence, t he doubt cent r esar ound t he r eal i t y of t he ext er nal wor l d, not t he i nner . The r eal i t y of such

exper i ence i l l umi nat es t he whol e l i f e.Ther ef or e i t can be shown t hat t he Fai t h i s a compl ex phi l osophy, deal i ngf i nal l y wi t h the nat ur e of Tr ut h, Exper i ence and Devot i on. I t r equi r esdi sci pl i ne and work; pl us ut t er and compl ete devot i on t o t he common ai m.I t can onl y be f ul f i l l ed by ser vi ce, some l abour s t aki ng many year s t o compl et e.

The Fai t h t ol erat es no nonsense, and t hose who woul d come t o i t , must comeempt y- handed sayi ng " I know nothi ng, I seek ever yt hi ng, " si nce wi t hi n thest r uct ur e of t he Fai t h, al l t hi ngs may be cont ai ned and ar e cont ai ned. I t hassur vi ved, i n secrecy and si l ence, t he at t acks of per secut i on, i ndi f f er ence andmi sr epr esent at i on. I t i s secret because t hose onl y who ar e best sui t ed may ent ert he awf ul si l ences of t he Pl aces of t he Gods. I t i s si l ent because i n si l encet her e i s st r engt h, pr ot ect i on and a f ut ur e. I t i s al so si l ent t oday, because ast he Gr eeks sai d "Those whom t he Gods woul d dest r oy, t hey f i r st make mad. " I t i snear l y i mpossi bl e to ent er unl ess t he suppl i cant shows unmi st akabl e si gns ofpast memory and a genui ne myst i cal dr i ve, and i s wi l l i ng to undert ake t est s t hatwi l l f or ce hi m f i nal l y to di scl ose t hat mat t er whi ch i s most secret t o hi msel f .

The Fai t h has no secr et s i n t he sense t hat t here ar e f or mul as whi ch can ber eadi l y under st ood and t aught . I t i s f i nal l y and ut t er l y t he Tr ue Fai t h. ,st andi ng i mmovabl e beyond space, t i me and al l human mat t ers.- - - - - - - - - - - - - -* Bei ng r equest ed by t he Edi t or t o cl ar i f y t hi s st at ement I ask the i nt er est edr eader t o exami ne t he Hebr ew l et t er s I HV as t hey woul d be i n thei r ori gi nal andmat r i ar chal f orm, whi ch wi l l expl ai n somethi ng of t he basi c nat ur e of magi calr i t e and r i t ual . I t shoul d be as cl ear as t he Roebuck i n t he Thi cket now.