The outcome of desire is karmic experience, since karma is simply the result of our actions, and active desire and yearning lead to action. If the desire is selfish, we may turn away from the results in disappointment and disgust. Therefore, it is wise to be careful what you allow yourself to desire and the intensity with which you pursue it.Clarity, in regard to Netzach means that we learn to become more effective at thinking things clear through. Of course, we can't foresee all contingencies, but we can develop a more circumspect attitude. Satiety with material desires makes them no longer attractive to us. Detachment goads us into a search for something more meaningful--for something less transitory.
Reaching upward, we find relief from dissatisfaction and boredom, as the light of truth pours in with increasing intensity. Finally the brightness of Inner Light saturates us with its truth. The Higher Self is able to gain a lasting victory over the delusions of the lower nature, and our perspective is changed forever.
This is the sphere of sincerity and truth, for we cannot pretend when it comes to desire or devotion. It cannot be faked. Our attention wanders off weak desires, but when the focus of desire is the search for the Beloved, sincerity is the only way to become a conscious and effective instrument.
A degree of perfection is the spiritual experience of Netzach, for it is where the final work of personality transmutation takes place. When you are no longer attached to earthly desires, and yearn for the harmony of the Truth of Unity, desire becomes the key to perfection or individuation. But sincere desire must be accompanied by the desire to act as an instrument for the outflow of Higher Wisdom. This requires some maturity and life experience.
In Netzach our love grows and prepares us to embrace fully a philosophy of life based on the truth of Unity and the power of Love. In Malkuth, we sought processes hidden below the surface of observable reality. This realization led to the desire to find out more about unseen realities. We learned the importance of dedicating ourselves to work for realizing our human potential (Hod) and the evolutionary force. On Path 25, we become artists of the evolutionary process.
In Yesod, we built a firm foundation for the transmutational work. Directed by the Self, tapping the power of Yesod accelerates the transmutation process by building in new structures that lead to spiritual rebirth in Tiphareth. Hod helps us develop faith through satisfying the intellect with objective validation of our experiments. Form comes to be perceived as synergetic interaction of points of conscious, living light. These relationships can be represented by certain geometrical figures.
Human consciousness is a formative power which grows stronger when we aspire with increasing devotion and intensity. When we keep knocking at that door, we realize an influence descending from above. There is a feedback loop that keeps the process intensifying enough to keep desire alive through inevitable dry periods of practice.
We see our experiences and the purpose of life the way we want it to be. When we synthesize our learning and experience into a philosophy, desire is very much a part of it. We can pursue it sceptically or idealistically, but both can be zealously pursued. We philosophize from our emotional biases. The difference is that the Qabalist's desire is a refined, unattached, and directed desire. It is based on practice and direct experience of higher states of consciousness. Desire (or bhakti) can be cultivated and focused into full creativity (Tiphareth). This yoga of devotion links us back to the source.
Netzach is the sphere of fire on the mental plane. It means "remembrance" but with more acute realization than ever before. The goal is kept before the mind's eye with imagery and exercising creative imagination (dhyan) as the force which transforms spiritual energies into manifestation. This brings an increase in devotion and aspiration, and an acceleration in the cycle of development. The seeker is ready when he can exert consistent personal effort to gain more understanding of life.
Netzach brings stabilization and experiential realization to the mental knowledge that personality is a vehicle for the radiant form of the divine Self. First it comes only in fleeting moments. But receptivity grounds it in the ego, feelings, and behavior. This series of realizations accelerates development. Deeply knowing that the Self of every human personality is One, is the highest expression of the power of Venus, her truest beauty, nobility and grandeur.
By demonstrating Love, we enter more fully into the stream of higher consciousness which pulls us along in its current. It draws the soul upward. Our compassion and sympathetic nature is refined. We become more creative and appreciative of beauty.
Artistry is the result of a renewed ability to perceive and express harmony, proportion, and balance. This blends the discerning qualities of Hod with the unifying nature of Netzach. This results in the refinement in the astral light of both our mental and emotional expressions.
In Netzach, we also learn to refine our mental images and remain focused on our growth. Our personalities blossom when we receive the healing influence of the Self. The image-making faculty in Tiphareth is freed of lower distorting influences. Emotional and mental processes are brought into harmony. This process stabilizes over time.
Netzach is called Victory, for human desire becomes aligned with universal desire--the cosmic Will. Human imagination is the mediating force which makes it possible to manifest divine will in the material world. Intense desire holds the promise of fulfillment which already exists on a subtle plane ... read more ...
