Has anybody, at the end of the nineteenth century, any idea what poets of stronger ages called inspiration? If not, let me describe it.
With the smallest residue of superstition within oneself, one would indeed hardly escape the idea of being merely the incarnation the mouth-piece, the medium of super-human powers. The idea of revelation, in the sense that suddenly with incredible certainty and subtlety, something becomes visible and audible, shaking us and overpowering us in our deepest being: all this is merely a description of facts. One listens, one does no search; one accepts, one does not ask, who is giving; like lightning a thought flashes up, with necessity, without hesitation with regard to its form – I never have had a choice.
An ecstasy of joy, whose immense tension sometimes dissolves into a stream of tears, and whose pace is sometimes like a storm and sometimes becomes slow; a state of being completely beside oneself, yet with the clearest consciousness of an infinite number of fine tremors and wave-like vibrations running down to the very toes; a depth of happiness, in which all that is painful and dark, does not act as a contradiction but as a necessary condition, a challenge, as a necessary colour within such an abundance of light; an instinct for rhythmic proportions, which spans extensive realms of form — the extension, the need for an all-encompassing rhythm ins almost a criterion for the power of inspiration, a kind of compensating counter-force against its pressure and tension.
All this happens involuntarily in the highest degree, and yet like a storm of freedom, of unconditionality, or power, of godliness…The involuntary character of the inner image, the simile, is the most remarkable part; one has no more the slightest idea what is image or simile, everything offers itself as the nearest, the most adequate, the simplest expression. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
Lama Anagarika Govinda compares Nietzsche’s experience to similar experiences of the meditative state of dhyana described in Buddhist texts:
- The visualization of inner experience.
- The feeling of rapture and bliss, even down to the toes, i.e., to the smallest part of the body.
- The bridging of contrasts through the incorporation and integration of all qualities and all Chakra centres.
- The increasing luminosity of the mind and the gradual transfiguration of the body.
- The feeling of release and freedom, beyond personal volition.
- The awakening of powers of siddhis by awakening the psychic centres, and the attainment of the highest realization in the state of Perfect Enlightenment.
The Lama points out that when the mind becomes luminous, then the body takes part in the luminosity. The opposite path of trying to illuminate the body in order to illuminate the mind, does not work, even if the path begins with the body as we will describe in an upcoming post.
Please notice the passive, even priestly, aspect of Nietzsche’s experience, as it involves a self-surrender, an inspiration. Yet that is not the whole story, since the lunar and solar energies must be integrated and sublimated as they rise from chakra to chakra. The attempt to be one or the other leads to imbalance. In the Dhammapada, we read this description of the Buddha:
The sun shines by day, the moon shines by night,
The warrior shines in his armour,
The Brahmin by his meditation.
But the Buddha shines radiant both day and night.
Lama Govinda offers this commentary, keeping in mind what Rene Guenon says about the man who has realized all his possibilities:
These are not merely poetical metaphors, but expressions connected with an ancient Tradition, whose roots lie deeper than any known form of religion.
Sun and moon correspond to the forces of day and night, to the outwardly directed activity of the warrior and the inwardly directed activity of the priest. The perfect man combines both sides of reality: he unites within himself the depth of the night and the light of day, the darkness of all-embracing space and the light of suns and stars, the creative primordial power of life and the luminous all-penetrating power of knowledge.
The primordial creative power of life is blind without the power of knowledge, of conscious awareness, and becomes an endless play of passions…The power of knowledge, without the unifying primordial force of life, turns into the deadly poison of the intellect, the demoniacal principle, aiming at the annihilation of life.
Where, however, these two forces cooperate, penetrating and compensating each other, there arises the sacred flame of the enlightened mind, which radiates light as well as warmth, and in which knowledge grows into living wisdom, and the blind urge of existence and unrestrained passions into the power of universal love.
I cannot but be vexed by this. It seems to imply that there is a reconciliation of dual elements. However, if knowledge is the Unmoved Mover which commands the soul, then upon that attainment everything should move into place.
Lama Anagarika Govinda explains a Solar-Lunar dichotomy very good in ”Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism”. And there is one quote I remembered from another book, I think ”The Secret Doctrine”: ”Moon is mind, Sun is understanding”.
I believe these qualities embody every aspect of our being, from mental, psychological to even physical, through a ever lasting tension between the two (with alchemy being a science of balancing them out), so that dominant force manifests itself in various ways – psychologically perhaps through introversion and extraversion, physically probably in different types and races, with nordic, nordid, or, what we consider Aryan in general, being Solar, and Semitic escpecially being Lunar (physically and psychologically)
I did those Jungian personality tests and they all ”showed” that I’m INFJ, with ”I” standing for Introversion, ”N” for intuition (preferred to sensing), ”F” for feeling over thinking and ”J” for judgement over perception. I have a feeling that first two are Lunar aspects, if not all four. Maybe I’m wrong. But introversion definitely is Lunar, it is inward, mysterios, contemplative. In school I never felt any interest in math or logic, but loved to just think and imagine. I have imagined whole worlds that could fill volumes. Recently I trained this logic, rational side with Wittgenstein, although probably not too successfully.
Then, as a young adult I manifested Dionysian aspect, overwhelmingly over the Apollonian. I was interested in anything shamanic, tantric, ecstatic, orgiastic and erotic, resulting in the years of existence in unmolded, raw potentiality. Around that time my idea of living further north as possible was born. Another example of unabalanced currents. One girl then told me, after telling her I want to live in arctic or at least subarctic circle, that I have too much fire within and thus feeling drawn by the cold, dark north. This could be true, but I see now it’s just a result of disbalance. Not realizing my Apollonian essence, my being intiutively gravitated towards the physical location. I acted horizontally, instead of vertically. Luckily I haven’t moved to Svalbard.
These changed finally when I hit 30. Although always being Solar in my essence, I could finally enjoy it’s warmth and light after spending years in darkness. A cycle needed to be completed. Not that I’m saying I balanced myself out, I just went through one revolution, in a period of 27-30 years and I feel awakened only now at the beginning of 30s – compared only to a previous stage. I can only imagine what is the next one. I try not to become ”too solar”, although undoubtebly I probably am right now. Interestingly enough, soon after realizing my awakened Solar essence I met a girl who is of Lunar essence and coming from a lunar Asiatic culture, and we balance each other out As almost as if my being, getting rid of a portion of lunarity (instead of harmonizing it), projected outwardly, outside of myself, bringing the outter Moon into my life.
My Lunar side is still present, though. I will probably always be introvert, although I can be social if I want to. It takes to complete a whole first cycle to finally see all the good and bad sides and fix them. Transforming what is eventually negative into something positive.
Is it even possible to harmonize and balance these energies perfectly within ourselves? Probably, it should be. But to balance it all out, to perfect these psychic currents within takes time and huge effort. Meanwhile, we are to try living with them best as we can and never let any side run loose. Too much solarity is equally bad as too much lunarity. Perfect balance, in my opinion, makes one being a perfect master over his life and world around. Nothing is an accident anymore. But before reaching that stage, solar and lunar will effect our lives both inwardly and outwordly.
I think I could be said to be “too solar”, though because synthesis is the goal I think the more accurate term would be “moon deficiency”. “”It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12) Take your moon vitamins or you’ll start burning up.
My input from real life experience as always = its about the balance of your outgoing socialised existence , the sun, in opposition to your ingoing private contemplative existence , the moon, to live a life , and the attempt to keep these 2 in balance ,whilst also evolving your quality of existence, is a very difficult task that requires an evolving self-corrective discipline . Both these aspects of being in balance mean that in your outgoing socialised existence , you may exude a quality of sun activated discipline in harmony with moon activated reflecting wisdom which is the act of enlightenment in motion for me
Any excess of sun or moon activity is detrimental to ones evolving existence and leads to moon-delusion or sun excess which both have very destructive implications on the personality if left unchecked, and some of these are not completely apparent to the self because of the egos self-justification fortress that constructs itself quietly but with great diligence behind ones thought-directing scenes. And the over-active self-affirming egos symptoms are very different in sun and moon states of excess being . Alas, my sun-activity now calls me to task (:
…after-all, how could there be Will without life? Cause implies effect. Will is the world-power.
Sun the blazing intellect and Moon the world-power embrace. Change, in changelessness. This is our True Will.
He says “aiming”…I think this was the cause of my confusion. Perhaps due to Evola, I automatically associated “Solarity” with the Will. But remembering the model of the Intellect commanding the Will, I believe I grasp this now. The Will is present in the Moon. The Sun moves it.
“The power of knowledge, without the unifying primordial force of life, turns into the deadly poison of the intellect, the demoniacal principle, aiming at the annihilation of life.”
If that is the pure intellect’s determination, is it wrong?
“Where, however, these two forces cooperate, penetrating and compensating each other, there arises the sacred flame of the enlightened mind”
Why is that more enlightened than pure knowledge? Why does the Sun need the Moon?
I have just recently discovered your site and am finding a lot of interesting things to read, though I have to admit at the moment much of it is beyond my experience. Nevertheless I intend to plough on.
Thank You, That’s what I wanted to hear.
@tomi shevek,
I don’t believe that, at that time, writers were so concerned about “gender inclusive language”. It seems to me that Govinda is describing the alchemical marriage, the joining of opposites. So the “perfect woman” would unite the same qualities.
“The perfect man combines both sides of reality: he unites within himself the depth of the night and the light of day, the darkness of all-embracing space and the light of suns and stars, the creative primordial power of life and the luminous all-penetrating power of knowledge.”
Does this include the perfect woman also?