Post by david on Oct 7, 2020 15:16:06 GMT
Dear friends,
Is there a state beyond knowing? The reputed wise say there is but such a state cannot be proved because only the knowable can be proved. We are justified in asking how they know but there is another point which is also overlooked. Spiritual development is a striving for perfection and we cannot accept that anything is impossible even if it is by definition impossible. Let us see what we can do.
We exist by means of our consciousness. If nothing impinges on our senses all is oblivion which is non-existence. Ultimate existence then requires the highest state of consciousness possible. Consciousness requires something to be conscious of which means something to be known. We cannot know without being conscious of knowing, therefore knowledge requires existence.
To go beyond knowledge is therefore to go beyond existence. Now where does existence come from? If you take away existence you have nothing and this is the only unknowable state. Nothing cannot exist because existence is something. Now if existence is knowable the origin of existence must be knowable but only something can be knowable. Can we conclude that the unknowable is also knowable? That means nothing can be something.
If nothing was before existence how can existence come into existence? In order for a thing to exist it must be possible, therefore each thing must come into existence from its own possibility. When all existence is taken away possibility remains. Existence requires possibility but since the possibility of each thing is its own origin from nothing each existing thing contains its origin from nothing.
This state contains no differentiation into things and therefore contains no logical pattern. It also means it cannot be comprehended by any non-rational means. There is just nothing to understand. The use of this state to justify anti-rationalism, while not being entirely false, is only partly true. The nature of this state is that it is the background against which existence stands forth. The closest we get to it is perfect existence which is attained by perfect knowledge. Once we know that we know the basis of possibility from which all things come. We know every state between nothing and everything and every stage between possibility
and its unfolding into actuality.
We can now begin to understand how perfect existence can be lost. To possess pure consciousness is to be in a state where every idea that we conceive is actualised. To be aware of non-existence is therefore to actualise non-existence so that we cease to exist.
The psychologist R. D. Laing says in The Divided Self that some people feel that since they exist they can be destroyed and their defence is to try not to exist. Other authors on psychology give the impression they are explaining how a computer programmed on the principles of psychotherapy can go insane. Laing explains how a human being can go insane.
Things have a tendency to be reabsorbed into the nothingness from which they came. Since light and dark are opposites how can there be any relationship between them? Since an idea cannot be actualised without having a possibility there must be a movement from the dark to the light. Air flows towards and into fire without which there can be no fire. Fire reproduces itself and the life giving power of the sun makes it a perfect symbol of the Mother of All Creation.
It is a curious thing about fire that it moves upwards proving that the higher place is the right place for it but in order to move up it must start from a lower place. When we make a fire we put the lightest materials at the bottom. The air is drawn in at the lowest place and rises up through the fire. Fire turns matter upside down.
Everything moves in cycles. The fire creates convection currents. Burnt air returns via plant life to substance again. The light and the dark are two different aspects of the Mother principle. They are two poles of Creation. Greek chariot races did not race round a circuit but backwards and forwards round two posts. To change direction you have to reverse yourself.
When everything is taken from you what have you left? You have endurance. When there is nothing that you can do what do you do? You accept. You approach the dark pole through the suffering of fate. You can anticipate fate by austerity but there is a less painful way. You can be humble. It is easier to suffer but some people can do it the hard way. Spiritual development is the path to perfection which means that at some stage you become better than other people. When you know you have reached that stage you become worse than other people. Spiritual development is like a convection current. The solution - you have to do it
one day - is humility. We have to be careful about applying this symbolism to the races because things are not that simple. A dark outer appearance may be the result of a veiled light which makes the light more intense.
The Tao Te Ching is the teaching which comes closest to living on the dark pole. It is abstruse because it is about the stage before differentiation. The nameless uncarved block is unformed substance. Desire comes from the excitement of the bright pole. To be honest the meek life does get boring and tends to lower vitality. The purpose of Taoism is to curb excess of the opposite. The balancing comes from movement between the two. The I Ching starts with the two extremes and goes through every possible combination. The solution is not to achieve a final state but to move when it is time to move. Fate ends when every possible state can be conceived at once. A state of perfect consciousness must conceive of every possible state of existence.
We see in this view no room for the belief that either artistic creativity or Hermetic symbolism belong to the dark pole. Spiritual development provides no excuse for acting without thinking - or painting pictures without thinking either. Logic is an end in itself and a spiritual exercise. It is, in fact, indispensable and leads to all things. We have seen that even when investigating the most abstruse aspect of spiritual philosophy it is possible to be logical about it. There is no excuse for talking round the point or making points indirectly.
The application of this symbolism to chess makes it possible to use either colour to represent good against evil. You are either using the path of light to dispel darkness and dissolution or the path of humility to curb arrogance and overbearing tyranny. Each side represents the correct use of archetypes against incorrect with the necessity of sacrifice to achieve the higher purpose.
This philosophy should console people of limited talent. You must in some past life have been more talented than other people and shall be again - the sooner if you make the right decisions. If you are talented remember the reverse principle and why.
May She be with you,
David.
Is there a state beyond knowing? The reputed wise say there is but such a state cannot be proved because only the knowable can be proved. We are justified in asking how they know but there is another point which is also overlooked. Spiritual development is a striving for perfection and we cannot accept that anything is impossible even if it is by definition impossible. Let us see what we can do.
We exist by means of our consciousness. If nothing impinges on our senses all is oblivion which is non-existence. Ultimate existence then requires the highest state of consciousness possible. Consciousness requires something to be conscious of which means something to be known. We cannot know without being conscious of knowing, therefore knowledge requires existence.
To go beyond knowledge is therefore to go beyond existence. Now where does existence come from? If you take away existence you have nothing and this is the only unknowable state. Nothing cannot exist because existence is something. Now if existence is knowable the origin of existence must be knowable but only something can be knowable. Can we conclude that the unknowable is also knowable? That means nothing can be something.
If nothing was before existence how can existence come into existence? In order for a thing to exist it must be possible, therefore each thing must come into existence from its own possibility. When all existence is taken away possibility remains. Existence requires possibility but since the possibility of each thing is its own origin from nothing each existing thing contains its origin from nothing.
This state contains no differentiation into things and therefore contains no logical pattern. It also means it cannot be comprehended by any non-rational means. There is just nothing to understand. The use of this state to justify anti-rationalism, while not being entirely false, is only partly true. The nature of this state is that it is the background against which existence stands forth. The closest we get to it is perfect existence which is attained by perfect knowledge. Once we know that we know the basis of possibility from which all things come. We know every state between nothing and everything and every stage between possibility
and its unfolding into actuality.
We can now begin to understand how perfect existence can be lost. To possess pure consciousness is to be in a state where every idea that we conceive is actualised. To be aware of non-existence is therefore to actualise non-existence so that we cease to exist.
The psychologist R. D. Laing says in The Divided Self that some people feel that since they exist they can be destroyed and their defence is to try not to exist. Other authors on psychology give the impression they are explaining how a computer programmed on the principles of psychotherapy can go insane. Laing explains how a human being can go insane.
Things have a tendency to be reabsorbed into the nothingness from which they came. Since light and dark are opposites how can there be any relationship between them? Since an idea cannot be actualised without having a possibility there must be a movement from the dark to the light. Air flows towards and into fire without which there can be no fire. Fire reproduces itself and the life giving power of the sun makes it a perfect symbol of the Mother of All Creation.
It is a curious thing about fire that it moves upwards proving that the higher place is the right place for it but in order to move up it must start from a lower place. When we make a fire we put the lightest materials at the bottom. The air is drawn in at the lowest place and rises up through the fire. Fire turns matter upside down.
Everything moves in cycles. The fire creates convection currents. Burnt air returns via plant life to substance again. The light and the dark are two different aspects of the Mother principle. They are two poles of Creation. Greek chariot races did not race round a circuit but backwards and forwards round two posts. To change direction you have to reverse yourself.
When everything is taken from you what have you left? You have endurance. When there is nothing that you can do what do you do? You accept. You approach the dark pole through the suffering of fate. You can anticipate fate by austerity but there is a less painful way. You can be humble. It is easier to suffer but some people can do it the hard way. Spiritual development is the path to perfection which means that at some stage you become better than other people. When you know you have reached that stage you become worse than other people. Spiritual development is like a convection current. The solution - you have to do it
one day - is humility. We have to be careful about applying this symbolism to the races because things are not that simple. A dark outer appearance may be the result of a veiled light which makes the light more intense.
The Tao Te Ching is the teaching which comes closest to living on the dark pole. It is abstruse because it is about the stage before differentiation. The nameless uncarved block is unformed substance. Desire comes from the excitement of the bright pole. To be honest the meek life does get boring and tends to lower vitality. The purpose of Taoism is to curb excess of the opposite. The balancing comes from movement between the two. The I Ching starts with the two extremes and goes through every possible combination. The solution is not to achieve a final state but to move when it is time to move. Fate ends when every possible state can be conceived at once. A state of perfect consciousness must conceive of every possible state of existence.
We see in this view no room for the belief that either artistic creativity or Hermetic symbolism belong to the dark pole. Spiritual development provides no excuse for acting without thinking - or painting pictures without thinking either. Logic is an end in itself and a spiritual exercise. It is, in fact, indispensable and leads to all things. We have seen that even when investigating the most abstruse aspect of spiritual philosophy it is possible to be logical about it. There is no excuse for talking round the point or making points indirectly.
The application of this symbolism to chess makes it possible to use either colour to represent good against evil. You are either using the path of light to dispel darkness and dissolution or the path of humility to curb arrogance and overbearing tyranny. Each side represents the correct use of archetypes against incorrect with the necessity of sacrifice to achieve the higher purpose.
This philosophy should console people of limited talent. You must in some past life have been more talented than other people and shall be again - the sooner if you make the right decisions. If you are talented remember the reverse principle and why.
May She be with you,
David.