To ‘endure unto the end’–that is to attach oneself of the epic drama that is your own life. Despite what the world has for you; the local herd that sustains you, you suffer and hold onto your voice; your inner vision. How many fall off this horse? How many so easily sell their soul for comfort and pleasure? And they’ll be insistent that you join them!
Please see the sermon video below, and the notes used to deliver the sermon below that.
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Sermon Notes
Heroism by Ralph Waldo Emerson
1. Most people coming to spirituality for the first time, proclaim that they are in a search for truth.
1A. I would say they have a dysfunctional relationship with the world around them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Heroism works in contradiction to the voice of mankind, and in contradiction, for a time, to the voice of the great and good. Heroism is an obedience to a secret impulse of an individual’s character.”
2. And if in the search for truth, you come to the Western Mystery Tradition, one of the first things that you will hear is the credo: “Know Thyself”–found on the enrance to Pythagoras’ mystery school.
2A. Note that often, Neophytes to the mysteries display a high level of narcisism; “in contradiction for a time, to the voice of the great and good,” as Emerson points out.
2A1. It is their dysfunctional relationship with the world that has already drawn them inward.
3. We define ourselves from both inward modalities and our experience of the outer world conditions set upon us.
3A. So conflict or dysfunction found in the outer world can create inner frustration and discord.
3A1. Such can be the grain of sand in the oyser.
3A1a. Low self-esteem develops psychic energy.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Self-trust is the essence of heroism. It is the state of the soul at war, and its ultimate objects are the last defiance of falsehood and wrong, and the power to bear all that can be inflicted by evil agents.”
3B. The soul becomes at war with itself, as much as the outer world.
3B1. It is said–“as above, so below.”
3B1A. That which is within, corresonds to that which is without.
4. It seems plain that it is much easier to conform to the world and to follow its dictates for every aspect of your life.
4A. Religion, career, lover, et al.
4A1. One then will remain asleep to the power of one’s soul.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“When the spirit is not master of the world, then it is its dupe.”
4B. To succumb to the pressure of the world and dictates is to surrender your own power to the world and its petty power mongers.
4B1. How many people are fooled by the politics of this world?
4B1A. It is no so wrong to be patriotic, but don’t let the world define how you love your country.
5. One will then find oneself at odds with the world.
5A. ‘An artist is now recognized in his time.’
5B. ‘A prophet is not recognized in his home.’
5C. Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The heroic soul does not sell its justice and its nobleness. It does not ask to dine nicely, and to sleep warm. The essence of greatness is the perception that virtue is enough.”
5D. How often when I was young, that I spoke of musicians who ‘sold out’ and gave up the struggle to create art by writing corporate music that catered to mass appeal and made big money.
5D1. Great minds were persecuted by the Roman church, as great ideas were noched or condemned as against the will of God.
AL:II.56 “Begone! ye mockers; even though ye laugh in my honour ye shall laugh not long: then when ye are sad know that I have forsaken you.”
AL:III.17 “Fear not at all; fear neither men nor Fates, nor gods, nor anything. Money fear not, nor laughter of the folk folly, nor any other power in heaven or upon the earth or under the earth. Nu is your refuge as Hadit your light; and I am the strength, force, vigour, of your arms.”
LXV:I.21-22 “O the filthy one! the dog! they cry against thee. Because thou art my beloved. Happy are they that praise thee; for they see thee with Mine eyes.”
6. Different from the sell-out is the one who continues, the one who endures.
6A. Crowley’s first motto was Perdurabo–“I will endure unto the end.”
6A1. So the hero doesn’t give up, but persists in the work.
6A1a. Indeed, most will give up.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The characteristic of heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits, and starts of generosity. But when you have chosen your part, abide by it, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be the common, nor the common the heroic.”
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