Leaving the unconscious Ron behind, Harry and Hermione
enter a room where they are trapped by fire and can
neither go forwards nor backwards until they solve a
logic puzzle. Obviously it is Hermione who solves the
puzzle, as she personifies the renewed mind.

My interpretation of this symbolism is that an
apprentice alchemist must act with intelligence if
progress is to be made. Although the heart, the centre
of the new soul, always takes the initiative on the
Path, the head must ensure the candidate takes logical
and intelligent actions. Together they succeed.

I just want to digress slightly and ask you all a
question. This is a short extract from the book:
'Hermione's lip trembled, and she suddenly dashed at
Harry and threw her arms around him.
"Hermione!"
"Harry -- you're a great wizard, you know."
"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very
embarrassed, as she let go of him.
"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are
more important things -- friendship and bravery and --
oh Harry -- be careful!"'

As you can see above, Hermione says, "Friendship and
bravery and --" And what? Ever since the first time I
read this I've thought that she was going to say,
"love", but was too embarrassed to say it. I thought
it was obvious, in fact, that everyone else would
think the same. After some years now I've found that
no one else has this thought at all. My question to
you is, what do you think is the missing word?

Back to Harry. There is only one draft of the magic
potion to get into the next room, so Harry goes in
alone. The new soul has to face this trial alone.
Whenever the soul is facing a be all and end all
situation, it has to act on its own inner strength.

When Harry enters the next room he meets a man with
two faces - one in front and one behind. I believe
this is to indicate that the higher self (microcosmic
self) is both good and evil. This is why the man says,
"There is no good and evil, there is only power, and
those too weak to seek it...." As I said in my
discussion of Voldemort, the microcosmic self is
impersonal and knows no good or evil, just power.

Harry is able to take the stone out of the Mirror of
Erised because he doesn't want to use the stone. I
believe this symbolises the liberation of the soul
from ATTACHMENT to the physical plane. The stone can
make gold and the elixir of life. In other words, the
owner of the stone can live an unending life in
perfect health, with all the luxury he wants.

I have written the word "attachment" in capital
letters because there could be some misunderstanding
about what I said. Brianna said, "In many spiritual
traditions, the physical world is considered good."
And Alison said, "I find HP tremendously life
affirming - *this* physical life affirming." I don't
mind people disagreeing with me (6 000 000 000 people
disagree with me), but let's make sure we disagree
about the right thing. I didn't say there was anything
wrong with the physical plane. I said that Harry
overcomes his ATTACHMENT to it. In other words, he is
not its slave, but has become its master. He is not
subject to desires that shackle him to the physical
world.

I have never said there's anything wrong with the
physical plane. What I have said is this:

The seventh cosmic plane in its present state has
fallen below the vibration rate of the original
sevenfold House of God, due to the Fall (or, if you
like, the descent) of man. This whole universe is
therefore "kindled in wrath" as Jacob Boehme puts it.
This whole universe, including the physical, the
etheric, the astral, the mental, and the three planes
of the consciousness are all situated outside of the
Divine Plan. Tao is not in them. Nirvana is outside of
them. The Kingdom of Heaven is not in here. Our
purpose is to LEAVE all the seven sub-planes of the
seventh cosmic plane and re-enter the Divine Universe,
the Sixth Cosmic Plane. That, in my humble opinion, is
what Harry Potter is telling us. This is what I've
been trying to tell the world and I haven't finished
yet.

As I have said several times in earlier posts, the
human being is bound to this universe with seven
chains. One chain is to the physical plane, one to the
etheric plane, one to the astral, and so on. I have
been saying constantly that each book successively
shows Harry's liberation from one of the seven chains.
In my series of posts on Harry I will show (once
again) how Harry liberates himself from another chain
each time.

I can quite understand that many people don't agree
that this universe is fallen. As I said before, I
guess some 6 billion people disagree with me, and I'm
fine with that. No problem. However I do want the
members of this group to understand that I don't have
any objection to the physical plane above the others.

To experience this world as a fallen one is not a
mental experience but a deeply felt spiritual
experience in the heart. For in the heart lies buried
an infinitesimally small spark of Tao. And this little
Tao longs for the Living Water as a stag longs for the
water streams.

I'm not writing fan fiction, dear friends. James the
stag is a symbol for The Ultimate Reality - the
longing of the captive inner Christ to return to the
Father's bosom. Those who have the stag know this as a
burning homesickness for a universe where our real
origins lie. By 'our' I mean our deepest spiritual,
immortal and eternal self, not the being of flesh and
blood, which will go the way of all flesh. Harry
Potter is calling those people who know this
homesickness. If you have ever been homesick you will
know that the present place you're in seems paler,
less vibrant, less satisfying than the place you're
homesick for. Here's a quote from the Buddha: "Even if
the earth were all that poets have dreamt of it, even
if all evil were abolished, even if every sorrow were
terminated, even if every joy were intensified, every
beauty sublimated, and even if everything in this
world were to be exalted to its utmost perfection, the
soul would yet be tired of all this, and, devoid of
every desire, would turn itself away. This earth has
become a prison for it, and, no matter how well
decorated the cell, the soul hankers for the free,
unrestricted atmosphere outside of the oppressive
walls. And the so called heavenly plane of the dead is
equally as unattractive as the physical plane. Of this
also it is weary. These heavenly joys have also lost
their attraction. Nor do the joys of one's own
emotions and intellectual pleasures offer the
slightest satisfaction, for they, too, come and go,
perishable as they are, just like the stimuli of the
senses, restricted, ephemeral and unsatisfying as they
are. The soul becomes tired of all these changes, and
out of weariness it calls aloud for liberation". (my
translation)

There may be people reading this who haven't the
slightest understanding of what I'm talking about.
That's OK. Lily is not interested in James. That time
will come.

If you feel Harry Potter shows that life on the
physical plane should be lived to the full and enjoyed
to the maximum: I have no worry about that. I invite
you with all my warmth and encouragement to show us.
If you think I'm wrong, show us! I'll give every
encouragement to every poster no matter what their
religious/moral/ethical/philosophical views.

The only thing I ask is courtesy, sensitivity etc, as
clearly displayed on the home page. Please also be
aware that politeness is not the same as courtesy. I
attach a very old fashioned meaning to that word! The
word "court" is there.

As I said to Brianna, please consider this forum a
marketplace for ideas about Harry Potter. Feel free to
display your opinions as wares for the public to
scrutinise, and let them make their own choices. But
we stallholders don't make derogatory comments about
each other. We respect each other with courtesy and
sensitivity.

SUICIDE
Finally I want to comment on Alison's remarks about
suicide. "The former view, taken to extremes, almost
makes suicide seem an attractive option - a short cut
out of the pit! The only drawback being in leaving
others behind to suffer."

I know this is getting away from Harry Potter, but if
I can do anything to prevent anyone ever letting this
idea enter their head, I'll do it no matter what.
Suicide is NOT A SHORTCUT OUT OF THE PIT!!! Some of
you may be highly incredulous, but this is what, in
the theory of liberation, happens when you destroy
your physical body with your own action: you go
through a gate in a wall and you think you've left
this world. Then you discover there's another wall
behind the first one. The gate you've gone through has
slammed shut and you're trapped between two walls.

What normally happens when you die naturally is that
when you've lost your physical body you go on living
in your etheric body for a while, and then in your
astral. However the suicide victim is trapped inside
his etheric body but is stuck to the physical plane.
He's like Nearly Headless Nick: he can't go on to
where the dead normally go.

In addition he is constantly confronted with the fact
of his self-murder and he experiences his act again
and again like a film loop. On top of that his etheric
body hankers after the physical body and the victim
feels a dull ache all over his body, like a tooth
ache. And to make matters worse he can see the
grieving friends and relatives without being able to
communicate with them.

He stays in that situation until he would have
normally died (the archetype stops vibrating) and then
immediately reincarnates to continue where he left
off.

I once had the ghastly experience of being rung by
someone who had taken an overdose. She wanted me to
pray while she died. I told her what she was doing was
very wrong and that she should give me her address.
She said, "God will forgive me". That may be so,
friends, but we still have to take the consequences.
If we plunge our arm into boiling water God may
forgive us, but we can't escape the consequences. I'm
afraid to my deep regret I was unable to persuade the
lady to change her mind. If I can stop this idea ever
entering anyone's head I'll be very grateful indeed.

Warm regards to all,
Hans



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