There was a post a couple of months ago about Cougina the A--hole. For those of you who sometimes wonder about his lack of saintliness (and we all do or have done), I have come across this description in Franz Bardon's The Key to the True Qabalah which may be of interest. This is from pp. 14-15 of the version which I downloaded free online. "I should like to point out once again the difference between a perfect initiate and a saint... A perfect human being adheres to all universal laws, duly takes them into consideration in the macrocosm as well as in the material, astral and mental plane and lives by them, whereas the saint is only interested in a particular religious system, translating the same into reality by following its dogmas and regulations, but is not keeping equal pace everywhere, i.e., in every sphere. The person only striving after saintliness usually neglects the body and the material world, regarding both as maya, a delusion, and realizes, after relevant training, within himself only very few aspects of the universal laws. Such people do attain a climax in the aspects they have put before themselves as their goal, be it the divine aspect of charity, mercy, kindness, etc., which they realize within themselves. These people then see the universal laws only from the angle of their mental training, but are not able to comprehend the complete image of the universal legality, nor can they interpret them. From the point of view of hermetics, such a way is not regarded as a perfect one and is termed "the path of saintliness". A true initiate, a quabbalist, on the other hand, will seek to acknowledge all divine aspects equally and to realize them gradually. This way, of course, is longer and more arduous, and, usually, one incarnation is not enough to complete it. The most important thing for him is his being aware that he is proceeding along the right track.
On the way to perfection there should not be any haste. Everything takes time and needs the necessary maturity for its perfection. From the hermetic point of view there are actually only two ways: the way to "saintliness" and the way to "perfection". The way to saintliness has as many systems as there are religions on this earth. He who chooses the way to saintliness has decided to realize within himself only one or a few divine aspects and is usually regarded as symbolizing the relevant divine idea. With only a few exceptions, his saintliness then even becomes a hindrance on his way, considering the world or the less mature human beings, for because of the devotion of his disciples, worshipers, followers, etc., he is often impeded in his mission, task and rise.
I do not want to deal here with such human beings who consciously decorate themselves with an aureola, in order to be respected, adored, worshiped, etc. Unfortunately, there exist a great number of such people in this world. A
true saint retires to solitude, whereas a hypocrite will show off with his halo. But he who follows the course to perfection will never seek solitude; he will abide by the place which Divine Providence has allocated to him and will continue working at his personal development without attracting the attention of his environment. He will not do the least to show his state of maturity to the external world. On the contrary, he may even try to disguise it to be unmolested by curious and immature people. This goes to show that there is also a great difference in the attitude and behavior of a saint and a perfect human being. The saint will lose his individuality as soon as he has reached his goal; but this is not the case with the perfect human being. Not the individuality as a person is at stake, but the individuality as God incarnate."
Blessed be,
Aggie
