Synthesized answer
Lowell suggests that "loss of self" is the "necessary price" for an "instant part in the kingdom of heaven" because, in this context, the self is something that can be gained or lost [1]. When a person is "not much himself at most," they find it easier to "become some one else on occasion" [5]. This implies that a diminished sense of self allows for a greater receptiveness to divine influence or possession, facilitating immediate participation in a spiritual realm [1, 5].
The spiritual or psychological benefit conferred by such a "loss" is the ability to be "possessed" by divine entities or to experience "incarnations" [1, 2]. This state allows for a "practical medium of exchange between the human spirit and the divine" [1]. The passages indicate that a lesser degree of "self" makes a person more susceptible to possession, suggesting that a less defined or occupied self is more easily entered by other spiritual forces [5].
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
nd, are the objects the pious promoters have in view. Not so the incarnations. They too, indeed, serve a double purpose. But whereas they are, like the miracles, measures of the value of the purity of the man, they are also practical mediums of exchange between the human spirit and the divine. Foregone for directly profitable ends, loss of self is the necessary price of an instant part in the kingdom of heaven. Perhaps the most startling thing about these Japanese divine possessions is their number; unless it be that being so numerous they should have remained so long unknown. But it is to be…
← Miracles Occult Japan by Percival Lowell Incarnations Pilgrimages and the Pilgrim Clubs → 2400321 Occult Japan — Incarnations Percival Lowell INCARNATIONS. I. FTER the miracles, or possessions of things, follow, in order of esoteric ascension, the incarnations, or possessions of people. The miracles, as I have hinted, are performed largely with an eye, at least one eye, to the public. To drench one's self with scalding water or to saunter unconcernedly across several yards of scorching coals are not in themselves feats that lead particularly to heaven, difficult as they may be to do.…
olishness and impersonality a stage in development from which we are emerging, not one into which we shall ever relapse. As a dogma it is unfortunate, doing its devotee in the deeper sense no good, but it becomes positively faulty when it leads to practical ignoring of the mine and thine, and does other people harm.
; certainly all those who are trying their best to-day to make of woman an inferior kind of man may be trusted to do so. But woman is altogether too valuable as she is to be thus disposed of, and it is precisely in her relative lack of self that her value lies. This it is that makes er the almost unmitigated blessing she is. For it is in her direct relations with man that this quality of hers comes out conspicuous, first as wife, and then as mother. To how many men, I wonder, did it ever occur what an upsetting sensation it would be to change one's name at marriage. To be known by one name,…
at we saw to be relatively so impersonal. Personality, then, appears to be the opposite pole to proneness to possession. Spirits of this world and of the next would seem to have a reciprocatory action in their possession of the human body; the more man the less god. This suggests that the qualitative difference between selves is in some sort a quantitative one. Self would appear to be a something capable of more or less; inasmuch as a man who is not much himself at most finds it more facile to become some one else on occasion; an instance of the general principle that it is easier to…
More questions about this book
- How does Lowell distinguish between "miracles" and "incarnations" in terms of their purpose, the nature of the "possession," and their intended audience or spiritual significance?
- Lowell suggests "miracles" are performed "largely with an eye... to the public." What does this imply about his perception of the practitioners' motivations, and how does this contrast with his description of "incarnations" as a "loss of self"?
- The text describes "miracles" as "tests of the proficiency already attained in the Way of the Gods." What specific qualities or spiritual advancements would these "feats," such as walking on coals, demonstrate to both the practitioner and the public?
- Considering Lowell's descriptions of both "miracles" and "incarnations," what larger understanding does he present about the "Way of the Gods" itself, particularly regarding the relationship between human effort, divine connection, and public demonstration?