Month: October 2011

The following is an excerpt from Franklin Merrell-Wolff‘s record of Transformation in the volume Experience and Philosophy. Franklin Merrell-Wolff studied for approximately 25 years before he attained Realization, in 1936. For me,  his writing from the time of his Transition is extremely powerful, intellectually challenging and compassionate. It has helped me very, very much. Today, I feel inspired by this passage:

“Again and again I found the statement that, if a man would attain the transcendent  realization, he must renounce all, and not merely part, of what he personally is. I did not find this an easy step to consummate. For years I resisted it, offering part of myself, yet holding back a certain reserve. During all this time, I realized only imperfect and unsatisfactory results, and often regretted the experiment. But it was not long before I found that I had gone too far to turn back. I had realized enough to render forever barren the old pastures, and yet not enough to know either peace or satisfaction. For some years, I rested in this position of indecision, without achieving much visible progress. Yet meanwhile, as time rolled on, progressive exhaustion of the world-desire developed, while concomitantly there grew a greater willingness to abandon all that had been reserved and so complete the experiment.”

– Franklin Merrell-Wolff. from “A Mystical Unfoldment” in Experience and Philosophy. 1994. p. 253