The following can be found in "
Mask of The Illuminati" (pg. 183-7, copyright 1981
Robert Anton Wilson)
Class A Publication
Hermetic Order of the G ... D ...
1. This is the Book of the Opening of the Eye of Horus, of which the symbol in the profane world is the eye in the triangle, and of which the meaning is Illumination.
2. Thou who readest this doth not read; thou who seeketh not attain; thoe who understandeth doth not understand. For attainment and understanding cometh only when thou art not thou, yea, when thou art nothing1.
3. Once there was a monk, a disciple of that great Magus of our Order whom men name the Buddha which signifieth He Who Is Awake. For men asked the Lord Gotama, Are you a God? And he answered, NO. And they asked again, Are you a saint? And he answered again, No. And they asked him then, What are you? And he answered: I am awake. Thence is he known as the Buddha, the Awakened One.
4. And the monk, in order to awaken himself, practised the Art of Meditation as taught by Buddha, which in its original form before being distorted by False Imaginings and Elaborations of Theologians, was but this: To look upon all incidents and events and Remember to Say Unto Thine Soul of each: This is transitoy.
5. And the monk looked upon all incidents and events, Reminding himself always: This is transitory.
6. And the monk came close to Awakening, and therefore was he in great peril, for the Lord of the Abyss of Hallucinations, whom Buddhists call Mara, the Tempter, cometh quickly to one near Awakening, to hypnotize him again into the Sleep of Fools which is the ordinary consciousness of Men.
7. And Mara did sorely afflict the monk with death of offspring, and insanity of loved ones, and eye-troubles, and slander, and malice, and the great curse of Law Suits, and diverse sufferings; but the monk thought only: This is transitory. And he was closer to Awakening.
8. And Mara, the Lord of the Abyss of Hallucinations, then caused the monk to die and reincarnate as an almost mindless creature, a Parrot, which flitted from tree to tree deep in the jungle; and Mara thought, Now he has no chance of Awakening.
9. But a brother Monk of the Buddhist order came one day through the jungle, chanting the Teachings, and the Parrot heard, and repeated the one phrase over and over: This is transitory.
10. And Mental Activity began in the Parrot, and the memories of his past life came to him, and the meaning of the teaching, This is transitory; and Mara cursed horribly in frustration, and caused him to die again and reincarnate as an Elephant, even deeper in the jungle and further from the languages of men.
11. And many years passed, and there seemed no chance of Awakening for that soul; but the effects of good karma, like those of bad, continueth forever, and eventually Men came to the jungle, and took the Elephant captive, to sell him to a great Rajah.
12. And the Elephant lived in the courtyard of the Rajah, and many years passed.
13. And another monk of the Buddhist order came to Rajah, and taught in the courtyard, and his teaching was: This is transitory. And memories awoke in the Elephant, and meaning was understood in the memories, and Awakening again came close.
14. And Mara cursed wrathfully, and caused the Elephant to die; and this time Mara took good care that reincarnation would recur at the furthest possible remove from all chance of Awakening, for Mara caused the monk to be reborn as an American Evangelist.
15. And the Evangelist was of the Moral Majority bocca grande giganticus and he journeyed across the American Nation, North and South and East and West, preaching that all were in danger of hellfire, and that there was only One Path to Salvation, and that this Path lay in believing All he Said and doing All he Demanded.
16. And he enslaved many, who became mental Automatons, and these Automatons went about crying, Hallelujah, We Are Saved2.
17. And Mara was gleeful, for now the sould of the monk was furhter from Illumination than ever; for previously he had been a Subjectively Hopeless Idiotid est, one who is aware of his own hopeless idiocybut now he was an Objectively Hopeless Idiotid est, one who Thinks that he Knows when in fact he doth Know Nothing.
18. But the Evangelist met with others of the Clergy to discuss sending Missionaries to the Heathens of the East; and there One spoke of the superstitions of the Orient, and he mentioned the Buddhist teaching that All is transitory.
19. And Mental Activity began in the Evagenlist, and memories of Past Incarnations stirred; and Mara in bitter frustration, attempted the Last Trap of All, and caused the Evangelist to become Mahabrahma, Lord of Lords, God of all possible Universes.
20. And Mahabrahma abode in Divine Bliss for billions of billions of years, creating many lesser Brahmas who created Their own universes and were Gods to them; and Mahabrahma watched all this Activity and rejoiced in it with High Indifference; for Mahabrahma was Consciousness Without Desire.
21. And the monk now seemed at last cut off from Illumination forever.
22. But finally Mahabrahma observed, after watching many Gods come and go, and all Their universes grow and flourish and perish, that the great Law of Laws is that All is transitory.
23. And Mahabrahma realized that He, too, was transitory.
24. And Mahabrahma achieved Illumination.
25. And Mahabrahma came back to ordinary consciousness in the mind of the monk practising the Buddhist meditation of looking on all things and thinking, This is transitory.
26. And the monk did not know if he was a monk imagining he had been Mahabrahma or Mahabrahma playing at being a monk; and thus was his Illumination perfect.
DE FRATRIBUS NIGRIS, FILIIS INQUITATIS
Commentary
Notes:
(1) I believe this to be a reference to Samadhi, where individualism is only attained in death.
(2) No one ever said that Robert Anton Wilson was very respectful of other religions.
Needless to say, one can draw some fine life lessons from this work of art. For one, it helps the initiate to buddhism comprehend the concept of mantra, where one says the same thing over and over again in hopes that it may lurk into their subconcious. For all of the monks suffering, indeed all of it was transitory, and so he really hadn't worry about anything. I personally love this peice.