The Fetters Of The Blood

[QUOTING]

In Romans 7, we read:

"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal; and through the flesh I have been sold to sin. I cannot understand my own behavior: I fail to carry out the things I want to do, and I find myself doing the very things I hate. When I act against my own will, that means I acknowledge that the law is good. Then it is no longer I that do it, but sin living in me. I know of nothing good living in me; I mean, in my flesh. Certainly, the will to do what is good is in me, but the performance is not. Instead of doing the good things I want to do, I carry out the sinful things I do not want to do. When I act against my will, then it is no longer myself that does it, but sin which live in me.

Thus, I discover in me the following law: whenever I want to do good, it is something evil that comes about. After the inner man I dearly love God's law, but in my members I see a different law that battles against the law of my reason and makes me a prisoner of the law of sin, which rules in my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, it happens through Jesus Christ, our Lord!".

We would like now to discuss at some length the fact that all in whom the New Soul is not born , all who have not completely raised the Light-Power of the Gnosis up into the head sanctuary, the open space behind the frontal bone, live continually in a state of intoxication.

The narcotizing substance responsible for this is called by Hermes "the malignity of ignorance". It floods over the whole earth and corrupts every New Soul condition developing in the body. The narcotizing substance is atmospheric, yet is also active in the blood, even down to every atom of the personality, with the exception of some parts of the heart and head which are not Yet entirely in the grip of the nature-of-death.

The malignity of ignorance seeks to gain dominion over the heart and the head also, and thus make them unsuitable for their high destiny. So man finds himself in the state of captivity so adequately described by Paul in Romans 7: By virtue of the light that touches me, I turn towards the light and definitely want to do what is good, but the power existing in my blood dominates me and, consequently, I do what is evil.

Just as there is a God within you, in your microcosm, so there is also evil within you. Through the living evil within you, you deny the God who is imprisoned in your microcosm. Accept this, although you don't like the idea. Accept that the evil you experience is not outside of yourself, does not come from a being that exists outside of you. Do not think that someone else can harm you without your co-operation. The evil you suffer through others as well as the evil that is manifested in you yourself, keep perfect pace with the powers of evil existing within you.

Evil is in everyone; it is inherent in the personality. It can command you and it will command you, and unfortunately, you will find satisfaction in it as long as you act out of your blood culture. Unless you make every effort to undergo a radical change, you will remain in this situation which pulls you down and keeps you down. The stream of life must flow through the head sanctuary. Then, the sensorial faculties will again be susceptible ti the Light, matter will be removed from it and the sinful pleasure will disappear.

"Sinful pleasure" in the hermetic text means pleasure in, and satisfaction with, actions and thoughts arising from our blood culture. He who allows himself to be imprisoned by his blood type and culture is also imprisoned sensorially. He does evil, thinking that he is doing good, and in this he find his satisfaction. This is the fatal intoxication of sinful pleasure.

"The Fetters Of The Blood" - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis, Vol II - Jan van Rijckenborgh

[END QUOTING]

All of us go through this struggle, even those of us on  The Path. We do our best to do right, to follow the light of the Gnosis. Then, out of nowehere, we do something completely at odds with the Path we are walking, with the inention of our hearts. Do not feel a failure when this occurs. It is a part of the struggle, it is what must be overcome. Why does this happen?
There are three obstacles that the candidate on The Path must overcome:

environment - the influence of this nature-order upon your thinking, willing and acting
karma - the accumulated karma of all the personalities that came before you in your microcosm
heredity - the accumulated tendencies of your ancestors, passed on to you by your human parents

It has been said that "the blood is a very peculiar fluid", and so it is. Among other things, it carries the tendencies of all the personalities that came before you. Our blood circulates throughout the entire body and thus transmits these influences to the heart and head sanctuaries, where our thinking and feeling is centered.

When the blood is impure, saturated with sin, we will be constantly influenced by these ancient tendencies. We must wash the blood clean of these nefarious influences. How do we accomplish this?

~ g
.