The Sword of the Mind

the sword of the mind jason blasso

the sword of the mind C H A RY B D I S P R E S S new york

Published by charybdis press

Some rights reserved Printed in the US of A 15 14 13 12 4 3 2 1 First Printing

t h e s w o rd o f t h e m i n d is set in Rockwell, News Gothic, Berkeley, and Whitman by Ken Lew. Book written and designed by Jason Blasso www.charybdispress.com

for the mentor sword

the sword of the mind

I The Sword of the Mind The Sword of the Mind is the Mind of the Child Undivided from the World. In the Furnace of the Child’s Mind, the elements of the Sword are gathered: The Ore of Ego, raw and unformed, is smelted in its Crucible, fueled by the Wood of Experience, and the breath from the Bellows of Learning.

Then, the Ore is heated and hammered, folded and forged, in the Fires of Knowledge. The Sword is then coated with clay and quenched in the Waters of Self-Awareness. Finally, the Sword is oiled and whetted with the Stone of Repetition.

When the Sword of the Mind is sharpened, it is ready to be unsheathed and tested on the Undivided Body of the World.

II The Sword of Severance The Sword of Severance is the Sword of the Mind of the Child Divided from the Undivided World. It is the state of the drawn Sword that cuts the child clean from the Umbilicus of the World Body. Separated, the Child, wholly its Self, divides the Body of the World into the Ten Thousand Things. Thus, the Sword of Severance is known by many names. It is called, at times, the Sword of Sentience, the Sword of Separation, or the Sword of Subtlety. It is Subtle because it has the Power to divide that which is divided, until the subdivisions of subdivisions have subdivisions. Its keen edge cleaves all substances no matter how elementary or fine.

III The Silver Slaying Sword The Silver Slaying Sword is the Sword of the Mind of the Adult Divided from the Undivided World. It is the Sword of Discrimination, which parcels out the Body of the World, passing judgment and imparting value to its divisions and subdivisions. It seeks to possess the richest and most precious divisions for its Self, and under the Banner of its Sword, it goes on the Offensive against the Other to increase its wealth and holdings. And through the Violence of its Sword, it gains more divisions and subdivisions to add to its stores, and sets up Fences and Fortifications, Police and Patrols, in Defense around the Borders of its Self and Property.

IIII The Sword That Cuts Both Ways The Sword That Cuts Both Ways is the Sword of the Mind of the Adult who realizes that they are Divided from the Undivided World. Standing apart from, yet remaining a part of, the Body of the Undivided World, the Sword changes the Defense of the Self into the Offense of the Self when the Other is recognized as the Same. The Sword then turns on its Self with Violence. And the Violence once perpetuated without is now perpetuated within. For the Sword desperately seeks the Source of its Separation; and its keen edge cleaves its Mind cleanly into divisions and subdivisions of subdivisions of subdivisions, until nothing but the Sword remains.

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The Swordless Sword The Swordless Sword is the Sword of the Mind of the Adult who realizes that they never were Divided from the Undivided World, that the Sword and the World are One. For the Mind, having committed great acts of Violence against the World, Others, and its Self, must slay its Self with its Self, by falling upon the Sword of the Self. Thus, the Sword of the Self enters back into the Undivided Body of the World where it is Sheathed. And all divisions are rejoined, and all opposites are reconciled, in the Knowledge of Indivisiblity and Atonement expressed through Love of the World, Compassion for Others, and Forgiveness of the Self.

The Unweapon of Love The Unweapon of Love is the Sheathed Sword of the Mind of the Adult wherein the Sword of the Mind of the Adult and the Sheath of the World are One. Here all differentiation is extinguished. The Unweapon of Love is the calm center of Undividedness, It is the immovable hub around which all Life turns. The Unweapon of Love accepts all things without discrimination because all things are Its Self. There is no place, no one, and no thing that It is not. Therefore, It gives of Itself without hesitation or calculation because It is the Source of endless abundance giving in Grace and Love for the World of which it is indivisibly a part.

the unweapon of love