"How indeed!" I hear a voice ring out from some concealed place beyond the opaque rows of columns looming on both sides of the open courtyard. I sense that this might be the voice of one of the God's Servants, thus I lower my head in reverence of his station. Again his voice pierces the divine stillness of the outer court.
"Why do you ask for purification when you have already been admitted into the Divine One's precincts? Do you not know that only the pure of heart can truly come into the presence of the Divine? Those with ill intent will never experience the Ka of the God, but will instead become obsessed with only the things their senses can detect. They will see the Netjer as an image only, a source for personal benefit, thus they pray for power, money and pleasure. This is the lowest grade of worship, and yields only temporary satisfaction. Such persons cannot be purified, though they may douse their bodies one hundred times in the Sacred Lake!
Secondly come those who approach the God out of fear or obligation, knowing that the Netjer is the Creator of all things and thus of their own life. These worshipers make offerings to the God in order to placate their fears, and see the God as an authority that must be obeyed, thus worshiped and appeased. These persons observe the ritual gestures and holy days, and make offerings when directed to do so by either priests or sacred texts. These are also the grade of individuals who perform only the works required of them by others, and give out of obligation because it will keep inconvenience at bay.
When ill or suffering, such ones pray the Netjer to cure their troubles, and, when well, forget to give thanks because their desires have already been satisfied and relief bestowed. This too is a lower grade of service, and these worshipers too see the Netjer as form with their senses only, and forget to pay homage to the true Spirit of Divinity residing in all things, in all actions, at all times.
Now come the most noble grade of all; those who adore the Netjer through an altruistic heart, a heart that serves without the desire to be served. Such persons have a natural disposition to love without being requited, to give without receiving, and to serve the right things simply out of recognition of their goodness and benefit to others. These are the servants of the God whose hearts have been captured by the adoration of the Higher Ka, who recognize the Sa, the Essence of all that is, and see in It the vibrant pulse of all life and Truth. These are ones who recognize the Netjer in both form and Spirit, as both flesh and principle, who see signs and symbols as the hallmarks of deeper mysteries.
To them the Netjer Shetau, the Mysteries of the God are the experiences of the heart and mind while one walks upon the Earth and performs whatever labors one is compelled to perform. Yet such persons are cognizant of the Divine principles that infuse all characteristics and functions in Creation, and see the Netjeru in all manifest things, not only in signs, symbols or works of the Temple. For the true Temple, the true Par Netjer is the Hawat Ba, the Mansion of the Spirit, which cannot be contained in only one thing, however holy, however revered it may be.
This Spirit Temple is the true dwelling place of Netjer, and man is and can be its embodiment, if he but recognizes the perfection and wholeness that already exists within him. This wholeness, this perfection is the indestructible Spirit, the Higher Ka, which awaits beneath the flesh, within the layers of the mind, covered only by delusion, desire and ambition. If his ambition and desire are only for things of this Earth, without recognition of the Higher Ka, the Spirit within, then he cannot ascend to his Ka and remains always with his sense-body. However, if he uses his sense-body, and the desires and ambitions manifested through it, for awareness of his higher nature, then perfection is attainable and he will be united with his Spirit Temple.
What is purification, then? What is it, but the recognition of one's perfect nature, of one's untainted Self, absolved of greed, ambition, selfish desire and service to the ego. This was our true and original state of being as we dwelt in the womb of our mothers, and it was the state of the world as it existed in the Primordial Ocean of Nuwn, the Father-Mother, the Precursor of all that is. Nuwn is the undifferentiated quintessence of Creation, before the divisions of male and female, time and eternity, night and day, one and other. It exists beyond the manifestation of a Self, which defines itself based upon its relationship to things perceived as being separate from the Self.
Such perceptions, such differentiations are part of the ego that holds itself as unique from other things, and this is the perception that drives men to selfish ambitions and desires that negate the true and Eternal Spirit from which they were born. All things emerged from the Nuwn, and all things are composed of the Nuwn, being neither male nor female, disposition or characteristic. In this Ocean, this Sea we call Nuwn, all things exist in their original states of being, pure, luminous, untouched by time, death, impurities or conditions.
It was in this state that Ra-Atum the Sun of Creation existed before He felt the urge to awaken and pull Creation from His desire. After human beings came into being and recognized through their reasoning that they were differentiated from other forms of life, and from other human beings, thus was personal ambition and selfish service to the ego born. Thus men forgot their Divine creation from the originality of Nuwn and thus their pure nature, constructed of Spirit and undivided by the senses.
So, what is this Holy Lake of Purification resident in your thoughts? How can a man be purified by washing in mere water, whatever its name? As I have said, purity is innate to the human Soul, as it was fashioned by the Netjer from the quintessence of Nuwn. It is that which is layered over our quintessence, the veil of ignorance of our innate purity, our Higher Ka, that causes pollution and binds man to suffering and death. Strip this ignorance away, wash it away with true awareness of the Higher Ka, and his pure nature will be revealed.
Thus do the Servants of the God bathe ceremonially in the same lake upon which Ra rises and sets, embodying the Primordial Abyss of Nuwn out of which Ra in the beginning arose. Such an act serves as a reminder to those who would enter into the hallowed spaces where the ritual works of the Netjer are carried out. These must be accomplished in a state of clarity and selflessness, as tributes to the Eternal; thus the Priests of the God submerge themselves in the waters that serve as an embodiment of the Primordial Quintessence of the beginning, the state before things were tainted by time and differentiation.
To receive the anointment of the holy waters is to return one's Self back into the Primeval Substance of the Divine Ka, resident in all life, indestructible and self-renewing. It is to shun one's ignorance, one's imperfections, the dirt and grime emitted by one's ego, and stand before the Netjer as one was at the dawn of Creation. How many men have such courage as to brave the tempest of the ego, of its greed and the fire of its ambition, in order to be reborn as a Soul of eternal, divine light? To renounce personal ambition in exchange for the impersonal Soul. This is a passage through fire, death and the burning thirst of the desert. It is to question, to repudiate knowledge for its own sake, to turn one's back on power and glory that in the end are a service to the selfish ego only. It is a task that only the bravest of men can undertake, those who would empty out their hearts and endure the loneliness of the road solely for the sake of Truth.
But is not love Truth when it is given as a true gift of the Higher Ka? To give of one's Self, to extinguish one's desire for personal gain and gratification, and hand over the Self as a vehicle for the service of another's gain. This is the calling of a man who has found the meaning of true love, who has discovered his Higher Ka and mastered the meaning of the Divine Creation. For the Netjer gives life without conditions. The Sun rises and sets without prejudice. A flower emits its fragrance that may be inhaled by any passerby. Thus does the altruistic heart, the heart of the Higher Ka, offer its water to all who thirst, and does not ask to be quenched itself. Its performance of Justice, of what is right, of Ma'at is enough to satisfy it. Such should be the desire of all who approach the Mansion of the God".
I bow my head at such beautiful wisdom, and in my heart flowers the desire to be purified in such a way, to love according to such virtues, to serve the God by walking such a perfect path. Again, my mind turns to the glistening waters of the Holy Lake of Purification, shining with pristine glory, reflecting the silver light of the moon in its depths.
"Can I walk such a path by way of love while I am upon the Earth? Can I not feel love, desire and passion, and give these while also in the embrace of my Higher Ka? Can I not be a lover?"
From the still shadows came the voice once more, rising with an echo above the bulk of columns and hard stone. "Ah! This is a treacherous road indeed, for how many men follow their passions for love without thought of personal gain? How many partake of sensual delights without asking for gratification? So natural is the act of love, for it is innate to all living creatures. It is the Earth from which our flesh springs into being, and our natural impulses drive us ever towards its satisfaction. Yet how many engage in the act of love solely for its own sake, to give pleasure and bestow the fruit of the Self to another? To grant fulfillment without expectation of fulfillment. How many engage in the ecstasies of love with such a goal in mind?
Again, this is the path of a man who has risen to his Higher Ka, who seeks to serve without being served, who loves from the sheer beauty of bestowing it to others, who performs a divine task in service to the Divine Ka, the Sa of Life from which his own life was given form. Such a man brings joy to any lover he touches, for his manner is one of pleasing others unselfishly. He is tender and generous with his heart, asking for nothing in return, yet giving the full contents of his heart in truth. In the act of love he is unmatched because his goal is to manifest the ultimate pleasure in his lover, to satisfy every longing, to leave every thirst quenched and every longing fulfilled.
Imagine the joy that could be created by two lovers who unite in the spirit of such wisdom, each infused with the desire to serve only the other! Imagine the return of two Kas simultaneously to the Quintessence of Nuwn, where there is neither one nor the other, where the Ka is unfettered by time, space and conditions. Such a union is possible through love, desire and the passions of the sense-body, but it must first be attained by the individual Ka before he can properly apply it to another. A man must first be in the possession of his Higher Ka before he can know what it is to merge it with another. No amount of selfish desire can be included in such a union or it fails, and cannot serve a higher purpose. But a man who has cultivated the heart of altruism can achieve such perfection in all he does, and this includes the pleasures of love and the passions of the senses."
I stir and brave a remark to my unseen host. "Then my task is to master my heart, to achieve the desire of altruism, to use the divine gift of Sa for the benefit of Creation?"
"All men are the possessors of the Sa, as are beasts and all living beings. The Earth itself is composed of Sa, and the Stars of the firmament project and absorb its light. Sa is the Life-Essence, the dynamic energy of Creation, ever expanding and ever producing. The Sa is the motion of Creative energy, the propeller of the activity from which Creation expands. Within man the Sa is embodied in the fluids of sweat, blood, semen, tears and mucus, which sustain the body and assure its preservation; thus the Sa is depicted as a life preserver worn around the neck. In his seed man passes his Sa to manifest both life and energy, but it is as energy that the Sa truly thrives, and not in flesh.
Flesh is corruptible, whereas the Sa is eternal, indestructible energy, which only changes form, remaining itself the energy from which the motion of life arises. Because of this, Sa is described in the action of a man drawing his own seed, which manifests the energy through which he himself was created. It is said that Ra-Atum expressed His creative desire by uniting His penis with His tight fist, spilling His seed as the Primordial Substance out of which emerged the Netjeru of air and moisture. The meaning of this is one of creative action, the action of Sa urging the dynamics of Creation.
All men are inheritors of this creative instinct, whether it be used for the production of offspring or the release of sexual energy. The sex act by itself is a creative act from which energy is transmitted and expanded. This energy is the Sa, the Force of Life, passed from the Universe to man, from man to the Earth, and from man to man. It may be expanded, but never exhausted. In men the Sa is focused in the sex organs and generated during the sex act, through which it is transmitted in the ejection of seed. The production of seed in man cannot be suspended, even by its constant emission, thus man is the carrier of the Sa an Ankh, the Essence, the Seed of Life, the force of perpetual renewal.
As for the heart, let it be poured out in gratitude before the Netjer, that it may be filled with the devotion from which selfless service arises naturally. Let your heart be washed of its personal ambition, to become the repository of divine service that benefits the Spirit, the Higher Ka of Creation. In performing such a work as this, the Self is benefited far more than it would be through selfish desires that are the playthings of the ego's ambition. Such glory as that attained through the ambition of the personal ego is short-lived, while the glory manifested by the Higher Ka, exemplified through unselfish love, altruism and generosity, is eternal. It becomes the beacon through which other men are inspired and uplifted".
I nod, thinking yes, this is the path of love to be admired and sought after! Now, to move forward on the path...
"Then I wish to wash my heart in the presence of the God. I wish to bestow a love worthy of my Higher Ka, to become a lover whose Sa is transmitted through divine works of an unselfish heart, who uplifts men, who loves them and embraces them as aspects of the Self. To create! To create through the Sa of the God, perceiving Truth and bestowing it to other men by way of the path of Wisdom. This should be my goal, and I am ready to be immersed in it!"
All text copyright © 2006, 2015 Rev. Ptahmassu K.M. Nofra-Uaa