Nuit as Prajnaparamita

[strider]

Hello friends,
This is my first post, but I've been a lurker for a while on this forum and am pretty sure someone here might have some ideas about this. My question is pretty broad and suitable for a wide range of responses, both purely speculative and "academic". Sam Webster, in his book about Tantric Thelema (I think that's the title too) equates Nuit with Prajnaparamita. I find this idea intriguing and rather helpful, since the most convenient point of metaphysical reference for me tends to be the Mahayana doctrines. Since I'm just starting to delve into Grant's work (The Magical Revival, to be precise), I am curious if he makes this connection at all himself in any of his written corpus?

Otherwise, I'd also like to hear from board members in general about how the Thelemic pantheon--Nuit, Hadit, Horus, Babalon, et al--might be viewed from a Mahayana perspective. I could see Nuit, perhaps, as the Dharmakaya, but Hadit and Horus are more difficult. Perhaps there really isn't a correspondence for these. All reflections are welcome!

[Gregory Peters]

I don't remember if Kenneth Grant explicitly makes the connection between Prajnaparamita and Nuit. It is rather deeply hinted at, probably one of the most direct references is from Outer Gateways in the chapter 'The Madhyamaka & Crowley' with the discussion of the "the supreme triad" LALAAL.

[strider]

Thanks for your reply, Gregory! The tip on where to look in Grant is most helpful. It actually seems like a synchronicity to "bump into" you on this forum, as the day after I posted my query--almost as if in direct response--I read in your excellent book (the only other one besides Webster's that I'm aware of that touches on these things), in Ch. 4:

'At the heart of Thelema is the idea of sunyata, emptiness, or the Void. This is represented in the imagery of Nuit, the Goddess of Infinite Space and Infinite Stars. Sunyata is, again, a label for something that is really beyond words, because anything that is expressed in words is an expression of the split mind—it’s not nihilism, and it’s not eternalism. Hui Neng, the sixth patriarch of Ch’an Buddhism, writes of the Void in the Platform Sutra as of the nature of everything, luminous and clear, “containing all dharmas”....'

This really helps to clarify the connection for me, and confirms my own sense of the material. Many wonderful vistas are opened. I look forward, hopefully, to contemplating these mysteries more deeply as time goes on....

[Gregory Peters]

Thats great strider, glad that the book has helped in your own work. Kenneth Grant's books are filled with examples of the deep currents running underneath Thelema, all of which point towards a rich core of advaida.

If you have not read them already, these essays by Michael Staley were some of the inspirations that got me moving down this path:

The Heart of Thelema
Going Beyond

[strider]

Thanks, Gregory! I've read "The Heart of Thelema," but not "Going Beyond" yet. This is a good reminder....

[N0T 2]

Great intro strider.

Imo, the best thing Grant ever did was to transcend the existing tools and reformulate them in his own gnosis, formally presented in Outer Gateways as The Wisdom of S'lba, but really the context for everything he did. It is related to the inheritance but is itself a new subjective presentation, if not a new dispensation. You may also find things going on in the first part of Nightside of Eden.

[strider]

Thanks NOT2 (sorry for the late reply--I didn't see your post until now.) I'm having a great time reading Grant, though I think it will take me quite some time to "digest" and understand him deeply enough to properly consider what role his work will play in my own development. I find the metaphysical perspective of the Mahayana to be particularly convenient, and so considering--even if not dogmatically--Nuit as a figure of Shunyata helps to bridge the gap between the different mythologies involved.

[baphy93]

May 29, 2018 6:14:40 GMT strider said:

Otherwise, I'd also like to hear from board members in general about how the Thelemic pantheon--Nuit, Hadit, Horus, Babalon, et al--might be viewed from a Mahayana perspective. I could see Nuit, perhaps, as the Dharmakaya, but Hadit and Horus are more difficult. Perhaps there really isn't a correspondence for these. All reflections are welcome!

I like your attribution for Nuit, I think Hadit fits perfectly the sambhogakaya, being the individual perspective and the enjoyer, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit for nirmanakaya since Ra-Hoor-Khuit rules the kingdom.