The World of Tradition

In  L i e u  o f  P r e f a c e

"But why is any of it is needed? Why search for one's "I", and then distress oneself with it?" It is a difficult question, indeed. And there is not any answer, either, because no one knows, "why". Why it happens to one man, but does not happen to another?

I have already explained, more than on one occasion what we mean when we say "spiritual society." All ideas that touch upon transformation are born by society's outcasts, that is, by the people who, for various reasons, were not made into a product under the name, "socially adapted person". On one hand, the reason for such a flaw may lie in the fact that the material media of our concsiousness - the brain, is unique and custom-made. On the other hand, no one can possibly predict and anticipate each and every "catasrophy" that will lead to a deviation in the process of socialization.

It is very important to remember that all spiritual ideas are born by outcasts. It is the best medicine from megalomania: "we are the saviours of humanity". "Ah,... spiritual society - the teachers of humanity...". Spirituality is a specific form of being in this world that is not needed by everyone. And this statement should be well remembered, too. Lest you should become megalomaniacs, or, even worse, cynics toward other people. A man that does not value human life cannot comprehend the spiritual world. Trespassing the inner law, you step on the path of self-destruction, instead of self-building.

I've worked with people for the last thirty years. Thirty years have passed since the moment, when I openly admitted that I belong to Tradition, and that I learn. And today I would like to share with you what has become more or less clear for me for these thirty years.

According to a classification, our Tradition is a Mystery Game. Once a reference book on Traditions, existing on the territory of USSR was published in Kiev. Such a good reference book. Complied by a knowledgeable people. And it was written in there: "Kalinauskas Tradition is a Mystery Game". A very precise definition from the point of view of an external observer. But ourselves, we preferred to accentuate the technological aspect of the Tradition and always said that our Tradition is transformational.

But what is "Mystery"? In this context it means only one thing: everything that happens in this Tradition, with this Tradition, on the level of any specific embodiement is a Mystery. One important characteristic of a Mystery - an absense of spectators. Thus the corollary: any person who has stepped under the Law of Tradition is a participant of the Mystery, irrespective of his own suspicions or speculations about it. Therefore, the life of every man since the moment of stepping under the Law, becomes the part of Mystery that is named Tradition.

The meaning of any Mystery is advancing toward recontact. A peculiarity of the Mystery of our Tradition is that it is carried out not in a Temple, as in a specially organized space, but on the bazaar of life. Therefore, we may say that "Life Bazaar" is not just a place where our Tradition realizes itself. It is indeed the name of the Mystery - "Life Bazaar".

And what follows from there? Your life, from the moment of steppling under the Law of Tradition becomes a misterial act. The meaning of misterial act lies in the spiritualization of reality. This very act contains that what is usually called the "Game of Gods". It means that our Mystery is led by a force that lies beyond our human comprehension. Passing through the Mystery is what is called a Transformational Path.

The second part of the definition, "the game", establishes Game as a principle of existance within the Mystery. However, the notion of game is used in so many contexts and has so many meanings that we need to specify it more precisely.

So then, Game:

• Game as a form of practical learning.
• Game as combat.
• Game as a form of disguise, pretence.
• Game as work.
• Game as realization of abundance of energy.
• Game as...

Let us immediately eliminate the items that clearly do not correspond to the notion of Game in Tradition:

• Game as a form of practical learning. It may exist to a certain extent, but it does not belong to Essence, anyway.
• Game as combat. Eliminated.
• Game as a form of disguise, pretence. Eliminated.
• Game as work. Eliminated.
• Game as realization of abundance of energy. Let me put it this way: this is a purely child's game, not a usual role-play, but a game that happens because of abundance of energy, because of desire to act. There is a certain process of opening up the reality in such a game, yet, the very core of such a game is that the man realizes his energy, motor, intellectual or emotional potential, because such potential was not required in his everyday life. We are accustomed to call it "Festival", because, in such a version of realization there is no responsibility. A good mood, a feeling of refreshment, of spilling out all that has been accumulated usually comes as a result of such a game.

But any of it does not fit into the term of Mistery Game Tradition. Although it fit well into a human life.

Then what kind of Game do we mean when we say: one must be in the Game, when we say: we realize ourselves through the Game? Maybe, the most precise definition would be Game by oneself. When we speak about the necessity of a stable self-concsiousness, when we speak of de-identification with one's personification, of resonance between subjective and objective realities, all that can be expressed in the most lively manner by this definition, Game by oneself. In it, I can see the reason for an analogy that was made by many teachers and masters well known in the history of humanity. This is the analogy between the craft of scenic play and a play (or a game) as a way of living. An actor approaches many things in himself as an instrument on which he plays. He has a certain degree of de-identification, even a degree of phychological sacrilege. I will quote a big name in theatrical art, who said that "even when you stand over the grave of a loved one, experiencing all that, you must keep in yourself another one, the one who is making notes, the one who keeps it in memory, so that later you could use it in your acting."

But, all in all, an actor does it so that his acting would be seen, so that it would make an impression, so that it would be appreciated. He does it for the spectator. And, so, as it was well put by Stanislavsky when an actor plays death, torment, suffering, within himself, he feels a joy because of his good acting. And this is the source of his positive emotions. Another source is the yellings "Bravo!", applause, or, possibly the dead silence of the shaken audience. The actor is oriented for the audience.

But a participant of a mystery is not oriented for the audience. The source of his joy is the realization that he has passed through yet another chapter of the mystery, through a more difficult chapter, and through yet more difficult chapters. That he has obtained certain comprehension and certain transfiguration. For there are only two goals of passing through the mystery - comprehension and transfiguration. And, the participant of the mystery plays by oneself and for oneself only. Of course, there is an observer. But this observer or observers are placed above the situation, these are the very forces that lead the mystery. And thus, the only premium, the only currency that is accepted by many tradition is life, the life of man. Nothing else is accepted, only your life.

You lead yourself into the space of mystery. Each and every spiritual act of yours is needed only by you and by no one else. And, for that, we get back only ourselves and nothing else. Of course, there are variations, but the purity of the inner motivation is in this very formula. You do only what is needed by you and by no one else. You do not depend on any one else's needs. You do not expect any other result, but yourself.

When I speak of Tradition as of representation of a gambling approach, when I speak of a cunning man path, I speak about the outer part of the Tradition. And, of course, outer without inner will never opens up to its full meaning.

It is possible to establish the following positions within the Mystery:

• passive position - I am within the mystery, and the rest is the business of the forces that lead this mystery;
• intermediate position - a certain part of me is engaged into the game, and the rest of me is passive;
• active position - I am fully engaged and I become an active participant of the mystery to the fullest extent.

But no matter what position you chose, no matter what is the level of your realization in this Game by oneself, you are the participant of the mystery. It is that which we call being in the space of Tradition. As the space of Tradition is Mystery. And the fabric of this Game is the live fabric of Life itself - of life within the space of Mystery.

The plot of this Mystery is out of our control. Under our control is the ability to advance in realizations of its meanings, the ability to participate more and more actively, to move along on the Path of Comprehension and Transfiguration.

A man that stands under the law of Tradition must understand, see, and comprehend that since the moment of accepting the Law of Tradition above himself, his life has become life in the space of Mystery, and the Mystery that is called "Bazaar of Life". If he does not clearly see that, an adequate interpretation of his life events is not possible at all. Therefore your relation with the Tradition is your expressed position within the Mystery. One may get into the Mystery, and one may get out of it. But one cannot make the Mystery. It is made by other powers. We might say, that all the previous thirty years, since the moment when we had begun using the name "The School", it has been such a chapter within the Mystery, kind of an introductory chapter. For an open reality, this chapter has been finished. If we say it in full, the Tradition is the Mystery of the embodying Spirit.

I feel within myself the sound of a call to what leads our Tradition. The essential idea of it is that we should be capable of keeping this coupling of above and below, that we should realize to the fullest extent the principle "as above so is below, as below, so is above". For this thirty years, we have managed what we have managed, but we have paid the price of concealing the inner part, the most intimate part of the Tradition. It would not have worked otherwise. On one hand, it was the right thing to do, so that what has happened could have happened, and what has come about, could have come about. On the other hand, we have taken a tremendous risk, the risk of which I had been reminded from time to time, in this or other form, by my friends. This had been the risk of losing the innermost. And then, there would have been left only a shell, and then it would have been only a theatre. A mighty performance in a grand theatre indeed, with a grand stage, but not a Mystery.

I was waiting for the day when I could confide in you, and I was afraid of it.

Maybe, it is the Birthday of Tradition - June 14, 2002. And everything that was before that - only a long history of conception, nurture and labour.

From the book "Transfiguration" by I. Kalinauskas, 2006
Translation by I. Shpigelman and B. Macdonald, 2006, Jolly Insanes of Toronto