I've often thought of the five grades of the Outer College not so much as things to be attained, but as things to drop off, to let go of. Recent studies into Buddhist philosophy, I noticed an interesting correlation with the five skandhas and the sephirah.
First, what are skandha: in Buddhism these are the 'aggregates' or 'elements', these are things that in themselves have no independent existence, being accretions of various influences, yet they often give the appearance of being real things in themselves. The skandha are as follows:
Rupam: Form, physical existence. this skandha relates to the physical world, constantly in flux yet giving the impression of permanence, corresponding to Malkuth and the Neophyte grade.
Vedana: sensation and sense-perception, the link between the body and the brain, the nervous system and it's signals that we perceive as sensations, and thus corresponds to Yesod.
Samja: thought, ideas. the logical faculty and the contents of the mind, corresponding to Hod
Samskara: confection, conformation. Childhood imprinting, culture, behavioural patterns and values, corresponding to Netzach.
Vijnana: consciousness. Awareness itself, giving the impression of a permanent self, an ego, and thus corresponding to Tiphareth.
in Buddhism these aggregates are the components that make up our world: the worlds of the body, the senses, thought, sociosexual programming, and the sense of self itself, so we can see that the A.'.A.'. path through the Outer Order is an encounter with each of these in turn, to my mind the purpose of this encounter is to, recognise by direct experience the delusions of each skandha, allowing the gradual disengagement from its dominion.
Something to think about anyway, as we continue to work with these skandha.
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