Sunday, March 30, 2008

Reading the Sunday Timeless -- Live Tree Edition (3.21.10)

In water, resistance increases with the cube of speed. At a leisurely swim, it isn't bad at all, but if you enter the water from a great height, it is nearly like solid rock. Likewise, soil has its own resistance, which at our speed is very high, but roots at their deliberate speed easily find their way through the ground.

When the seeker awakens and begins moving with purpose, there is also a resistance from the "world," and it too increases proportionately with the speed. I'm not sure whether this is a design flaw or the work of a conscious enemy; perhaps it is a security device to keep the crazies from thrashing about too wildly. But it must be very frustrating for one who sees his goal clearly and tries to get there in the limited time given him.


If I were a lesser man, I would have immediately deleted this outstanding comment by Magnus and then claimed credit for it myself. At any rate, it is a fine example of a couple of symbolic "chords" with which the Raccoon may use as the basis of pneumatic improvisation.

Naturally, in discussing the transnatural, we must rely upon analogies and symbols from the ponderable world, such as "soil," "light," "speed," "height," "water," "resistance," and "asshole." This is not because spirit is a mere "projection" of these things, but rather, the converse; the "world" is the temporal manifestation of timeless principles that can be understood by the law of analogy. Thus, water flows like grace, the sun shines like Truth, and the lower gastrointestinal system "speaks" in the manner of the Cosmic Troll, or "anti-Bob."

As I was just mentioning to someone a couple of seconds ago, the reason why the world is so full of analogy, metaphor, and symbol, is that these aren't just literary devices but literal deivoices, i.e., the ethereal Word made fleshy, or earthereal. No matter how lo One gos, the logos goes two. And then three, as we shall see.

Thus, we shouldn't be surprised at the fractal and holographic nature of reality, meaning that we see the same patterns and principles repeat themselves at all levels. This is why the pneumanetwork of synchronicities in one's life can become so thick that you could cut them with the knife you "coincidentally" hold in your head.

In my own way, I guess I've always recognized this analogical cosmic structure, but it took a while to recognize what I was cognizing and to rerecognize it at a "meta" level. For example, as I've mentioned before, the topic of my doctoral dissertation was the parallels between psychoanalytic metapsychology, quantum physics, and non-linear, dissipative structures in biology.

In short, I saw clear "analogies" between the way the physicist looks at the subatomic world, the way the biologist looks at life systems, and the way the psychoanalyst conceptualizes the deep structure of mental functioning. "Seeing" is one thing, but seeing what you're seeing is another. And to see this is yet another. In fact, you could almost say that this is the trinitarian structure of transcendence: knowing, knowing that you know, and then knowing that you know you know.

So Spirit clearly meets with "resistance" in the herebelow. As for whether this is providential or demonic, let's consider the alternatives -- or whether there could actually be any on this side of manifestation. For example, if you want to create muscular beings with robust skeletons, you need to have gravity. If we had evolved on the moon, we couldn't have evolved, since there isn't enough gravity there to keep us down to earth.

Clearly, physical strength is a function of resistance. Could Spiritual strength function any differently? Isn't our character revealed and honed on the rocks of adversity and other cliches? Could there actually be any excellence in the world in the absence of resistance? To put it another way, could any useful thought be produced if we all lived in the friction-free land of the tenured?

I am reminded of the beauty of the competitive free market. One of the reasons the North evolved past the South is that in the case of the latter, physical toil was felt to be beneath the dignity of a proper man. Thus, physical labor was outsourced to slaves and other "undesirables." But it is only by struggling with recalcitrant matter that one begins to unlock its principles. Thus, the North leapt ahead of the South in discovery, invention, and creativity.

For certain non-Western cultures, a similar problem arose, in that the world was regarded as fundamentally illusory and changing, so that the evolved man sought out the timeless principles "behind" or "above" the world. Thus, these cultures produced bupkis.

Only in the logoistic Christian West was it recognized -- or at least practically realized -- that matter is a declension of spirit, so that the world necessarily veils and discloses the "mind of the Creator," so to speak, and is worthy in its own right. This is why "beauty is the splendor of the true," why truth is buried everywhere we look, both surrounding and penetrating us, why the human mind is a sonny mirrorcle of the Abbasolute, yada yada, etc., etc.

Not much time this morning, so let's wrap it up with a clear passage by Schuon and an Opeek one by Petey:

[T]here is no metaphysical or spiritual difference between a truth manifested by temporal facts and a truth expressed by other symbols, under a mythological form.... With God, truth lies above all in the symbol's effective power of enlightenment and not in its literalness....

Historical reality is less "real" than the profound truth it expresses, and which myths likewise express; a mythological symbolism is infinitely more "true" than a fact deprived of symbolism....

The uncreated Word shatters speech while at the same time directing it toward concrete and saving truth.


In coonclusion, God is not so much a rigid mathematician as a playful mythsemantician.

19 comments:

Van Harvey said...

Sheesh.

Finally got a post out of my system and onto my site (starting in on Liberal Fascism), and was looking forward to catching up on Friday's OC... and here I find there was a Saturday but a Sunday too! And no one here to play with!

Sheesh.

Print. Print. Print.

Read, read, read... back later....

Anonymous said...

reminds me of a passage from Tomberg's Covenant of the Heart where he describres matter as concentrated energy and energy as concentrated will. Thus the resurrected Christ was able to "pass through" doors. He is now master over matter simply by willing it to be.

pca

walt said...

Well, just so you don't think you're being ignored, I have a number of questions about what you wrote today -- but I know that the One Cosmos is not a question and answer session!

For instance, you wrote,
"...we shouldn't be surprised at the fractal and holographic nature of reality, meaning that we see the same patterns and principles repeat themselves at all levels..."

Okay - the Laws are everywhere the same. Terrific insight, but though the posts hit the High notes daily, when I try to organize in words exactly what those Laws are, I find myself stumbling. Is there a way to organize the holographic principle more specifically, or is that just stabbing at Reality with the left brain?

Also you wrote about,
"I saw clear "analogies" between the way the physicist looks at the subatomic world, the way the biologist looks at life systems, and the way the psychoanalyst conceptualizes the deep structure of mental functioning. "Seeing" is one thing, but seeing what you're seeing is another. And to see this is yet another. In fact, you could almost say that this is the trinitarian structure of transcendence: knowing, knowing that you know, and then knowing that you know you know."

I may have missed a post where this was discussed, or need to re-read OCUG -- but if you feel inclined, your insights from your dissertation might shine a light on the prior question.

Finally, here's proof about your statement that physical strength is a function of resistance!

Gagdad Bob said...

Regarding the Laws, I find them most clearly articulated in certain books by Schuon, for example, Survey of Metaphysics and Esoterism. Then, once you understand them, you can appreciate how they are instantiated in, for example, Christianity.

Regarding the analogies between matter, life, and mind, those are discussed in the dissertation and in the papers I published afterwards. Until today I don't think I ever discussed this in terms of the law of analogy, or "as above, so below."

walt said...

Thanks for the lead, Bob - I should have guessed that Schuon might be a part of it!

A recent example from yesterday was PCAs comment:
Father = Cosmos= Maker of all things, seen and unseen
Son = Scripture = Word
Spirit = Intellect = Spirit of Truth

Also, Magnus' illustrative comment was great.

Just now, you mentioned "As above, so below."

In all three cases, my understanding (?) seems to go beyond my remembering -- so the "words" help me re-collect. I know the real danger is to get tangled up in words. And of course no "list" of Laws will make a difference.

As always, trying to colonize parts of my brain!

Anonymous said...

It seems that once a person is aware of the "analogies" that are woven into all of creation, one should be surprised if one does NOT see the parallels. Ever since I've understood these different "languages" as saying the same truth but through a different media, I have encouraged others to do the same through their special field, knowledge base, etc.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to have to agree with Freud and say that, in response to Bob's talk of resistance, sexual tension creates one of the main sources of resistance to spirit.

Truly, without the sexual drive, what would be left to do here? One could become purely selfless and helpful like Mother Teresa and reach lofty spiritual goals in one lifetime.

The onus of mating, reproduction, and the resultant complications are the main diversion from the spiritual "superhighway." Very few choose the straight and narrow. Now why is that? Is that the will of God?

What gives? I say, in response to the challenges of spiritual development, humanity should find a real "off button" for the sex drive, which would allow people, for the first time, a real choice in the matter. Perhaps a pill could be developed to knock out the drive?

More and more people could take the celibate route, causing a welcome drop in our turgid populations and producing a healthy crop of uber-spiritual Divine helpers, selfless and expendable.

This could be the an option for the eventual spiritualizing of the human species.

Anonymous said...

"More and more people could take the celibate route, causing a welcome drop in our turgid populations and producing a healthy crop of uber-spiritual Divine helpers, selfless and expendable."

How does that jive with be fruitful and multiply? Just today headlines are announing that Muslims now outnumber Catholics, though I doubt all Christians. The point is he/she who mates is the winner. It doesn't take much imagination to see what Europe will look like in 50-100 years given the birth rates of the Muslims relative to the native Europeans.

Anonymous said...

Funny. Just today I was thinking to myself that asceticism involves the path of lust resistance.

Anonymous said...

Anon,
It's not just the DNA that seeks to reproduce, it's also the memes that propagate around the world at the speed of thought. There is a cosmic battle between the Judeo-Christian "kingdom of God" meme (apologies for squeezing such a rich theme into a four letter word) versus an assorted rabble of jihadists and marxist weirdoes who find reality unthinkable and strive to impose their psychosocial disorder on the rest of us.

And I have a funny feeling that the reality-challenged memes will disintegrate in the face of Truth. (If I may be excused for using such such bigoted non-inclusive terminology q-: )

Van Harvey said...

"...the reason why the world is so full of analogy, metaphor, and symbol, is that these aren't just literary devices but literal deivoices, i.e., the ethereal Word made fleshy, or earthereal. No matter how lo One gos, the logos goes two. And then three, as we shall see."

Once again, the price of admission here is repaid ten fold...an hundred fold ... oh heck, no need for any fold... or spindle or mutilate... print it to a mobius strip, deposit in the Klein bottle piggy bank, and watch your gnosis investment return infinite interest....

wv:begbbaki ... no veri, you missed the point, gno need to beg bor... oh... the heck with it.

Van Harvey said...

And there's a point where the body politic has become so flacid and out of shape, unable to resist at all, and the locusts come in. Europe's gone dark at least twice before... wonder if Fitna will be a wake up call, or a snooze button?

Van Harvey said...

Anonymous said "Very few choose the straight and narrow. Now why is that? Is that the will of God?"

The will of God is the straight and narrow, and the path is there for Man to choose to follow - or not - but it is the only path to the deistination - you can focus and follow it, or nod at the weil and vear off into the weeds - that's up to the will of Man... and that is the will of God.

julie said...

'The onus of mating, reproduction, and the resultant complications are the main diversion from the spiritual "superhighway."'

Riiight. No particular reason for the whole "it is not good that Man should be alone" schtick.

Sorry, anon, but if O wanted humans to be asexual, there are lots of ways it could have been done without the whole marriage, two sexes and no adultery bit. In point of fact, within the context of a good marriage spirituality can actually be enhanced, not repressed. Obviously, you haven't experienced that kind of relationship (for which I pity you, deeply). Which is not to say that everyone is cut out for marriage, either.

There are many paths to a deeper spirituality.

A blanket moratorium on sexuality would not make more of the human population spiritual, it would simply divert their attention (and obsessions) to other things. And there are so very many other horizontal things to focus on that it would be decidedly naive to think they'd automatically go vertical without a sex drive.

If you want to be non-sexual, go for it - nobody here is stopping you, and for some people it is the right path. If you think that is the only or best on-ramp to the "spiritual superhighway," however, you are sadly mistaken.

Anonymous said...

Anon said,

"More and more people could take the celibate route, causing a welcome drop in our turgid populations and producing a healthy crop of uber-spiritual Divine helpers, selfless and expendable."

Hmmmm, dress it up in spirituality and it still comes out smelling control freak eco/marxist, especially the "uber" and "expendable" parts.
Why don't you go first, just to show the rest how it's done?

Magnus Itland said...

I am all for the anti-viagra, and have in fact for years occasionally wondered in public why the more affluent churches haven't invested heavily in such research for the benefit of their monks, missionaries etc.

However! There is a lot more to "the Resistance" than merely our sex drive. Some people I know have a naturally low sex drive, or one reduced as a side effect of antidepressiva. This translates directly into more time for playing World of Warcraft.

There will always be an excuse for not having time for God (or Dharma, the Light etc).

The reason why an anti-viagra would be a good thing is that if it existed, people would be forced to admit that they really don't want it.

walt said...

The late Art Hoppe wrote a column about the anti-viagra when the blue pill was first introduced -- for those folks who are just not very interested in the whole "scene" (Hoppe was in S.F.).

He suggested it be called "Fergeddit."

walt said...

I guess that should be "Fergeddit™."

Anonymous said...

We basically had the same thesis.

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