Kabala Library

DISCOURSE 6

by Jack Courtis

The time has come to ride forth on our own Quest. Are we like Parsifal, naive and foolish? Let's find out. We stand where he stands, at Objective Consciousness, here and now. What do we see? There are 3 paths before us, the path of Avalon to our left, the path of the Grail directly ahead and the path of Nimue to our right. Which path shall we take? We cannot see what lies beyond them so we must proceed with the faith of innocence.

Avalon of the Stars is a wondrous sight but it hides the Mother letter Shin. Its mode of action is a simultaneous 2-way flow of force that is shattering if we are not prepared for it, by many feats of strength and courage. Dare we take this path? Perhaps not.

Surely the path of the Grail is the obvious way to go? After all it is direct. Beware it is the path of Tav - the Cross. Its mode of action is the alternating reversal of force. It brings crucifixion to those who arc not prepared, as well as to those who are. This is Parsifal's path. He took it too soon. Are we going to succeed where he failed? Unlikely.

There is only one alternative. The path of Nimue. Can this be right? After all, she enchanted the mighty Merlin. What chance do we have? The clue is in the mode of operation of this path. It is a single path and therefore its mode of operation is on/off. It is a matter of timing. When the force flows we cannot proceed because it goes against us and we are yet too weak. When it does not flow, we can go forward. With care and boldness we can succeed on this path.

And so, beginning to be aware of the mystery of Time, we ride forth and the enchantress does not ensnare us. Our reward is to transform into Galahad. But now new problems arise, because we have 3 different paths to contend with. Again, we cannot see what lies beyond them. But this time something is different. As Galahad, we have developed the unquenchable Desire for the Grail. That generates an inner strength we did not have before.

The path of Dindraine is attractive because she is the Grail Maiden and the Cup Bearer. Moreover it is a single path and its on/off flow has been mastered. But this path leads directly to the Waste Land and although we cannot see it, we can feel it, because as Galahad we are the master of feeling. Not this way!

Kundry is as repulsive as Dindraine is beautiful. In any event, this is a double path with a 2-way flow of force. Look what happened to Parsifal. There is no need to go looking for trouble.

And yet, the Green Knight is trouble. He is the creature of Klingsor, the agent of destruction, the sworn enemy of the Grail. Are we ready to face him? It is only a single path after all and it is a matter of timing isn't it? Is our desire strong enough, or do we lack belief? Sometimes the easy path is not the right path.

What to do? Which path to follow? And then the flash of divine inspiration - timing! When the flow of a double path is against us, it will crush us. But when it is with us, it will take us to our destination. And so we plunge into the path of Kundry and..........shock! We come across the path of, Galahad?!

Galahad stares at himself. What does this mean?

It is the mystery of the Self and of self-knowledge. We already possess all that we need, if only we knew it. The whole point of the Quest is that the Grail that we seek is already staring us in the face. Like Galahad, we have desire, but we do not yet have the necessary knowledge to believe and therefore to know. And so we plunge on leaving the mystery unsolved.

But we are rewarded by being transformed into Bors. Poor old Bors, he lacks the tragic nobility of Parsifal and the brilliant charisma of Galahad, but he perseveres. With Intellect he thinks things through and although rather puzzled by the whole Quest, he doggedly pursues it. We need the qualities of Bors if we are to succeed. So what do we see? To our dismay there are 3 paths to choose from. To our left, Klingsor. To our right, Gawain and to our far right, Avalon.

We cannot see what lies beyond each path, but like Bors, we can think it through. Klingsor's path is a single path and therefore operates on/off, it is only a matter of timing. But Klingsor is the evil adept. If we make a mistake, we lose more than our life. We are not ready to face Klingsor. This confrontation must come, but it is not yet time.

Why not the path of Gawain? True, it is a double path, but timing and courage will get us through. However as Bors we have the advantage of the experience of Parsifal who has already failed on a double path and the intuition of Galahad who feels the Waste Land on the other side of this particular path.

In that case there is only the path of Avalon. But this is the path of a Mother letter and a simultaneous 2-way flow of force. What to do? The charismatic act of plunging into the path on clever timing will not help us. We must act on faith and sheer courage. Bors personifies Intellect, Galahad personifies Desire. Together, these qualities generate courage. Ride forth to Avalon!

We are rewarded by being transformed back into Parsifal. But now, we are a new person, a true knight, tried and tested. There are no more distractions. There is only one path - the Grail path. With Objective Consciousness we know our purpose. With Desire we have the passion to achieve it. With Intellect we believe it can be achieved. Since we have traveled this path before, we know that the Waste Land of our Sub-Conscious lies before us. That is exactly the focus of the Quest.

Redeem the Waste Land! Heal the wounded king - heal yourself!

Ride on Sir Knight, the Grail Castle of Kosmic Consciousness lies ahead. And here is the mystery of the path of Galahad that we faced before. Although Parsifal, Galahad and Bors all win the Grail, it is Galahad who heals the wounded king. It is on his path that we ride into the Grail Castle. The qualities that get us there are passion, tempered with knowledge and belief. The Tarot card of this path is Temperance.

Here is the final ride of the Grail Knight.

Is this the end? Of course not. There are many more adventures for the Grail Knight. We must still get to the holy city of Sarras. That will complete the lesser mysteries of the Grail. But then there are the greater mysteries connected with the 5 Transformations. Thus riding into the Grail Castle in triumph is only part of the Quest. The point is that we can achieve this part of the Quest on the basis of our own desire, belief and knowledge. We cannot go higher by ourselves. We still do not understand the meaning of all this. We need to be shown the way by guides.

Ride on Sir Knight, with the blessings of the Holy Grail.