Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Eternal Life, While You Wait!

We shall start with another orthoparadoxical invOcation from the Meister. You may not understand it today, but you will hopefully undergo it by the end of this series, for it maketh perfect nonsense:

Distinction comes from Absolute Unity.... Absolute Unity is the distinction and the distinction is the unity. The greater the distinction, the greater the unity, for it is the distinction without distinction.

In Self and Spirit, Bolton relates the idea of the "philosopher's stone" to the eternal, uncreated, and uncreateable part of ourselves. In fact, he references Eckhart on the matter: "There is an agent in the soul such that if the soul were wholly this, it would be uncreated, and [furthermore], without the above-mentioned agent, God acts not at all. Whatever God gives, he gives through it...."

Thus, "it is only in the innermost realm of the human spirit that the image of God can be said to reside." Also -- and this is a key point -- "This is immovably part of us, so that failure to live in harmony with this divine principle must result in an ultimate inner conflict and self-contradiction" (emphasis mine).

This, don't you know, is why I would now find it virtually impossible to conduct psychotherapy with a fully and irredeemably secularized person. This is not because I am a bigot -- or only a bigot -- but because there would be no possibility of helping them identify with, actualize, and assimilate this divine principle (or at least I can't help them). Such a person is indeed condemned to live in ultimate conflict and self-contradiction, not to mention at the periphery of the cosmos, where I rarely hang out.

Meanwhile, Raccoons are only condemned to the Absolute, which is a much better thing to be condemned to. It's what gives us our passion for eternity, not to mention our susceptibility to ec-stasy -- which literally means to "stand outside." But this is how God stands inside. You might say that our ecstasy is His enstasy. Indeed, Eckhart said as much in his inimitable way: "I have often said, God's going-out is his going-in." (Bear in mind that Eckhart's language often directly bears the characteristic of ecstasy, in that it is beside itself with joy, or bubbling over with divine glee.)

According to McGinn, Eckhart conceived of this divine movement "as the fundamental law of reality taught by the Bible...." He variously described this primordial emanation and return as a "bursting-forth" or a "breaking-through" within the ground of existence; furthermore, "the pulse of this universal circle of activity provides a key for presenting the systematic perspective behind Eckhart's disparate works."

Perceptive and/or obsessive-compulsive readers will have noticed that the pulse of this universal circle is also a key to understanding Gagdad's desperate works, for if God isn't a cyclical rhythm, I don't know what he is.

Here, this explains it: "The first grace consists in a type of flowing out, a departure from God (↓); the second consists in a type of flowing back, a return to God himself (↑)" (Eckhart, minus the arrows). This circle proceeds vertically from Cosmogenesis to Cosmobliteration, hence the absurcular structure of my book -- which begins, by the way, with an Eckhart quote about the negation of negation that eternally precedes the creatio ex nihilo -- you know, the absolutely BLACK PAGE on p. 6. That BLACK PAGE is by far the most informative part of my book, for it is there that we meet in the muddle of the mount. Nobody's ever seen the face of God, and you're looking right at it!

The rivers return to the place from whence they flowed, so that they may flow again. Can I get a wetness? Or do you just need an adult diaper?

Now, Eckhart was far from alone in his perfect nonsense. Just yesterday evening I cooncidentally stumbled upon a passage by Balthasar in reference to the great Origen. It goes a little like this: "If 'spirit' is participation of the soul in God, then its ultimate essence is determined precisely by this participation. Only in orientation towards God is it immortal, only in derivation from God is it ever new in being, only through relationship to him is it good and blessedly happy.... Thus the soul must strive for this participation with the most absolute of commitments, and build its life on the foundation of this unmerited grace."

Therefore, it appears that immortality is optional, or, if not optional, then like that hole in your dashboard where the cigarette lighter used to go. It's still there, but nobody uses it anymore. No, wait, it's like the plastic exejesus for the darshan your vehicle, that's the crux of the master (Coonifesto, p. 255).

Ahem. Let's break this down a little father, son. Bolton notes that there is a "part" of us that mediates between God and creation. In my case, I call it "Bob," but you can call yours what you want. Now, it can equally be seen as the base or ground of our ascent to God, or "as the apex of an integrating movement in the natural order"; in other words, as a sort of crystalized kernel outside time (¶), or as a kind of integrative process within time [O-->(n)].

Each kernel is "unique," and yet, none other than a particular mode of the universal: "it exists in as many instances as there are persons, so that something qualitatively equivalent to the Whole exists in every being which forms part of the Whole, giving special meaning to the idea that 'all is one.' In this case, the Whole would in some sense be present in every part of the All...."

So at least we have that going for us.

Now, incarnation and ascension are the penultimate examples of (↓) and (↑), respectively -- the ultimate examples again being Cosmogenesis and Cosmobliteration, Creation and Apocalypse. Furthermore, this incarnation and ascension are not just God's business but our isness, insofar as we are true to our microcosmic deustiny.

And with that, I think I'll just patiently wait for this year to O-bliterate before my very I.

In ether worlds, just like any other day.

40 comments:

Buttercup said...

"it is only in the innermost realm of the human spirit that the image of God can be said to reside."
[...]
...failure to live in harmony with this divine principle must result in an ultimate inner conflict and self-contradiction"

This is why, IMHO, psycho-therapy results so frequently in long-term management of problems rather than eliminate of them. To my mind all mental illness is related in some degree to this failure to know God and to recognize your own unique dividity while in union with the Great Divide.

But I think I still need that cup of coffee to think gooder.

Van Harvey said...

"Distinction comes from Absolute Unity.... Absolute Unity is the distinction and the distinction is the unity. The greater the distinction, the greater the unity, for it is the distinction without distinction.
...Bolton relates the idea of the "philosopher's stone" to the eternal, uncreated, and uncreateable part of ourselves. In fact, he references Eckhart on the matter: "There is an agent in the soul such that if the soul were wholly this, it would be uncreated, and [furthermore], without the above-mentioned agent, God acts not at all. Whatever God gives, he gives through it...."
Thus, "it is only in the innermost realm of the human spirit that the image of God can be said to reside." Also -- and this is a key point -- "This is immovably part of us, so that failure to live in harmony with this divine principle must result in an ultimate inner conflict and self-contradiction" (emphasis mine)."

Ooh I like that One... unclear as a bell -

(ok, not to OD on wv, but this one is priceless,
wv:artome
!)

Van Harvey said...

"And with that, I think I'll just patiently wait for this year to O-bliterate before my very I.

In ether worlds, just like any other day."

Happy O-bliteration to all!

NoMo said...

That God would create our essence in His image - not to mention all of creation in its seeming infinite distinction - is One thing; to follow it up by “creating” Himself in our physical, mortal image, and then freely giving up the very blood that gives it earthly life – to make possible our unity with Him (eternal life) – well…

Although I know this to be True and life-changing (it certainly continues to change mine!), if it were to ever hit me with its full force all at once, I would be obliterated. Just gazing on it from the fringe and growing into it over time is about all the exhilaration I can stand.

"Eternal Life, While You Wait"

Flat-out, knock-down, drag-out post today, Bob. Punch drunk without the bubbly. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Too much Bobbly?

Anonymous said...

I actually just popped over to say congratulations on being a finalist in the Best Religion category of the Weblog awards, but your post got me thinking :) If I can be so bold, but the directional approach you have talked about here, reminds me of the Qur'anic ayah: "We have indeed created man in the best of moulds, then We render him the lowest of the low." It is then through a spiritual evolution that man is reunited with the Divine.

Anyway, congrats and Merry Christmas :)

Rick said...

Yes. It seems to me the first creation was love. He thought of it, which created it, the beginning of the end. The first and never to be topped, tippity-top of all ideas. As the immortal Dr Scarecrow once unsaid, “Beautiful. What an echo!”

What an ending, Bob…what a beginning!

Happy New Year to you and all my fine fellowed friends.
Onward!

Ka-BLEWY!

Paul Griffin said...

You know, I read yesterday's post in a hurry, but it really resonated easily. I felt like I knew exactly what you were talking about, but I just re-read it today and now it's clear as mud...

I gotta start carrying a notepad everywhere I go. I'll try to write until I remember:

The Bible constantly uses the image of marriage in describing our relationship with God, I think it's the closest immediately tangible analogue we have for "not-two". I remember always being a bit worried about that whole "the two shall become one" thing, but I have come to find that it was only a selfish impulse, a dread of unity at the cost of 'me', when that unity really represents part of the process of becoming myself. We truly are becoming one, but not at the expense of our selves. Rather, we are becoming more and more wonderfully ourselves in the course of our increasing 'not-two-ness'.

As far as the alternative is concerned, I am reminded of C.S. Lewis' imagery of hell in 'The Screwtape Letters', wherein hell represents a sort of unity, but it is a unity of absorption, where all creatures seek unity by the consumption of all others. I suppose in that sense, hell represents the apex (well, nadir) of 'all is one', a place where that phrase is literal, and there is no possibility of self or truth.

So, we are united with Christ as brides, or else united with satan as food. All colors distinct but united into the glorious light of white at the peak of the upper cone, or else all colors crushed, indistinguishable, and absorbed into the awful black at the bottom of the lower cone.

Okay, my head's about to pop from the overflow... suffice to say, it all makes sense!

(wv: resting - well, slacking, anyway)

Joan of Argghh! said...

Thus the soul must strive for this participation with the most absolute of commitments, and build its life on the foundation of this unmerited grace."

That's possibly the most clear-cut explanation of "working out your salvation in fear and trembling" I've seen so far. Happy, frightful paradox of the ages, and a good meditation for renewed resolutions and rejected resignations.

Yes, we can.

Happy Knew Year! to those of you living ahead of the curve.

:o)

wv:feingl =feigned or finagled, either way, I'm sincere. Sweet, sweet word veri!

Joan of Argghh! said...

Whoa. 'Coon and Kit both posting at the same moment, hundreds of miles apart.

Scary little cult ya got here, Mr. Godwin!

:o)

Anonymous said...

It's the great Raccoon Attractor. The posts are just Coon bait.

julie said...

Joan - eery!

There's not much I can add to the larger conversation at the moment without taking something away, so I'll stick with wishing my siblings under the pelt (knOwn and unknOwn) a very blessed (but only as much as you can handle!) new year!

I love you guys - thanks for another year of helping expand my consciousness: a growth in micrometers, representing an infinite difference. Thank you.

Now where's the bubbly?

Anonymous said...

Bob wrote:

"Now, incarnation and ascension are the penultimate examples of (↓) and (↑), respectively."

Does ascension here refer to death?

Another question is, what are the "Jesus Willies" referred to in yesterday's thread?

Thanks. This is one of your regular trolls. Or should I say, f@#$%^& trolls?

julie said...

The Jesus Willies are what happens when one is so disturbed/ irritated/ dumbfounded by the behavior of Christians and/ or churches one has had contact with that one's reflexive response towards Christianity in general is distaste or even revulsion.

mushroom said...

Happy New Year.

One more in a long line of posts to appreciate. OC and raccoondom have been a huge blessing to me this past year. Honestly, Bob, and ringtailed friends, I don't think I could have made it without you all.

Thank you.

NoMo said...

Well put, Julie. There are poor representatives of even the most profound truths. However, the real problem is when "Jesus willies" become "Jesus won't-ies" - or one's excuse for not looking past the poor reps to judge the Source for oneself.

wv: myling

"When you're myling, the whole world myles with you..."

walt said...

"philosopher's stone"
What is sought.

...only in the innermost realm of the human spirit that the image of God can be said to reside.
Location, location!

"...failure to live in harmony with this divine principle must result in an ultimate inner conflict and self-contradiction..."
Then "success" in this would, I presume, result in "coherence and congruence."

"...it can equally be seen as the base or ground of our ascent to God, or "as the apex of an integrating movement in the natural order"; in other words, as a sort of crystalized kernel outside time..."
Isn't this the exact center of the Cross, symbolically?

Hey Bob, thanks for all you do! What a trip! Such help! So useful! Happy New Year to you, and to all the Cult members!

robinstarfish said...

You may not understand it today, but you will hopefully undergo it by the end of this series, for it maketh perfect nonsense...

i can roll with that
a cup of Tea™ to savor
with my ringtailed friends

Happy Whew Year, Bob! Thanks for Gnothing!

Anonymous said...

Julie: Thank you for that. While I (jealously) claim credit for coining the phrase "Jesus willies", your defintion succinctly put the nail in the bulleye, and hit the arrow right on the head.
I coined it for my own reaction to religion which was saturated with a distasteful mix of cloying K-6 Sunday school lessons at a Methodist church, and long church services afterward. And all stuffed into unbearably uncomfortable wool suits and ties. Add to that in later years the heavy handed proselytizing, and insufferable sanctimony from all the old space brothers who suddenly went Jesus freak back in the day, and who suddenly delighted in that "Saved from the fires of Hell" brand of religion. And somewhere under all of it- no matter how vigorously you poo-poo it, denigrate it, mock it, and assert loudly your low opinion of it. Despite the impenetrable fortress of logic that you build aroung your gut to protect your self from it-
Something in that God thang, and worse- that Jesus thang still manges to shoot right through all of it, and skewer something way down in there in there where you live. So you redouble your efforts. Read some reassuring books. Enjoy your freedom form oppressive church commandments about- uh, well adultery anyway for a start, although some of the others are pretty lame too. But it never works forever. You hear someone speak sincerely about Christ, and Salvation, and it just plain creeps your ass out. Worse, it sticks in your craw, and you can't swallow it, or spit it out. Who was the metaphysical poet who wrote "Hound of Heaven?" Van would know. I'm on a roll here and I'm not goint to stop to get all scholarly.
This blog, along with some inspiration from other people I've met on line, caused me to break through that. It was illusion. Distortion. Dragons at the gate.

Nomo: Thank you as well, for what you wrote is very much what I feel happening in myself.But as of yet the crack is just open. It's like something that is slowly coming into focus. Like realizing that this is pond here, is a very, very deep body of water indeed.
Finally, I've got to jump on the humility wagon, and say that I don't grasp it better that you don't grasp it, so since I'm slower, I have, like way better humility, too.;)
All goofing aside, Often I feel like I'm all proud because I just got out of my Elementary Algebra 56 class with an A, and then realizing that this semester I'm sitting in on senior level Calculus.
Still counting on my fingers from time to time- still, every once in a while, I see a little deeper.
wv: ateall.
dammit I was hungry!

JWM

Van Harvey said...

Anonymous said "Another question is, what are the "Jesus Willies" referred to in yesterday's thread?...This is one of your regular trolls. Or should I say, f@#$%^& trolls?"

Can't be that regular if you don't recognize the infamous "Jesus Willies'... might I recoonmend some metamOOsOul?

Happy New Year anyway

(Did we get the premium upgrade for WV?
wv:hipsit
Huh.
)

julie said...

JWM, I like your description, too. It used to really stick in my craw when random strangers would say "Smile, Jesus loves you!" (happened a couple of times that I recall). My response them was to be polite, but inwardly I would seethe, questioning everything from the stranger's faith to ( most especially) how they could really have any knowledge of what Jesus actually thinks of me.

And of course, a good bit of that seething was the knowledge that the message was True, but I didn't feel even remotely worthy. Heh - still generally don't, for that matter. But at least now my head is out of my posterior, more or less, and I can better see the message for what it is, instead of getting hung up on the human messengers.

Anonymous said...

Now, incarnation and ascension are the penultimate examples of () and (), respectively."

Does ascension here refer to death?

As the incarnation is God being made man in Jesus the ascension refers to his body "ascending" into Heaven afer his death and resurection.

BTW: Francis Thompson the author of Hound of Heaven was an opium addict barely rescued. Facinating life.

Anonymous said...

If you have to ask, you'll never know.

Anonymous said...

This says Happy New Year in Latin:

"Felix sit annus novus"

There's something just wrong about that, isn't there?!?!?

Happy New Year to all you regulars... and irregulars!

David R. Graham said...

The underlying geometry in this discussion appears to be not circle but parabola, and, more precisely, two cones joined at their apexes and communicating whilst in indeterminate but teleological motion.

Cosmology/Cosmogony/Christology. Dance of Siva.

JMW, bottom of yesterday's comments, reply to your query.

Van Harvey said...

Hey JWM, I see Martin T. filled in for my tardiness, release the hounds

"
The Hound of Heaven
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.

But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat -- and a voice beat
More instant than the Feet --
"All things betray thee, who betrayest Me."..."

Hmm... who would have guessed an Opium problem?

Van Harvey said...

Alan said "This says Happy New Year in Latin: "Felix sit annus novus" There's something just wrong about that, isn't there?!?!?"


Actually speaking as one newly unemployed for 4 hours now... seems rather appropriate!

(Skully! Where'd you hide the extra grog?)

;-)

(Happy Novus Annus!

ohhh... I like that!)

David R. Graham said...

My bad, JWM, not JMW.

Van Harvey said...

However, if we are speaking of Hounds, my favorite is the Irish Hound of Culann, Cúchulainn, I can't seem to find my favorite link that puts the tale to verse, but if you like Myth which uses fiction to put Truth into blazing relief... search this one out, it is ... rich.

Anonymous said...

"You may not understand it today, but you will hopefully undergo it by the end of this series, for it maketh perfect nonsense"
a Coonish blessing


Thank you Bob, and all, for making OC an oasis of perfect nonsense.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

****************

Without further ado, a poem that seem fitting, somehow:


The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright --
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done --
'It's very rude of him.' she said,
'To come and spoil the fun!'

The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead --
There were no birds to fly.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand:
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
'If this were only cleared away,'
They said, 'it would be grand.'

'If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year,
Do you suppose,' the Walrus said,
'That they could get it clear?'
'l doubt it,' said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

'O Oysters, come and walk with us!
The Walrus did beseech.
'A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each.'

The eldest Oyster looked at him,
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head --
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.

Out four young Oysters hurried up.
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat --
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn't any feet.

Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more --
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.

'The time has come,' the Walrus said,
'To talk of many things:
Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing wax --
Of cabbages -- and kings --
And why the sea is boiling hot --
And whether pigs have wings.'

'But wait a bit,' the Oysters cried,
'Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!'
'No hurry!' said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.

'A loaf of bread,' the Walrus said,
'Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed --
Now, if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.'

'But not on us!' the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
'After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!'
'The night is fine,' the Walrus said,
'Do you admire the view?'

'It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!'
The Carpenter said nothing but
'Cut us another slice-
I wish you were not quite so deaf-
I've had to ask you twice!'

'It seems a shame,' the Walrus said,
'To play them such a trick.
After we've brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!'
The Carpenter said nothing but
'The butter's spread too thick!'

'I weep for you,'the Walrus said:
'I deeply sympathize.'
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.

'O Oysters,' said the Carpenter,
'You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none --
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.

David R. Graham said...

During the 1960s a newspaper theologian and Presbyterian clergyman named Robert L. Short published The Gospel According To Peanuts and other titles describing Snoopy as the Hound of Heaven and Peanuts in general as Christian parable.

This was after the assassination that depressed the world beyond description (and I do not mean RFK or MLK, both small potatoes).

During the same period a bathhouse theologian and ECUSA ordinary named Malcolm Boyd published, without "coming out," Are You Running With Me Jesus. His favorite line in public discourse was "Jesus had a penis."

Early in the decade a self-promoting entertainer and American Baptist cleric named Harvey G. Cox published The Secular City.

At the cap of the decade an heretical theologian and aerial sybarite named Richard D. Bach published Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

And over/under all, drugs, free association of the sexes and step parents.

To include the sloven theologian and ECUSA consecratee James A. Pike, a fellow Union man, who finally deigned to scribble (well past promised time and at the stern insistence of the Diocesan Secretary, my aunt, who labored to make sense of the manuscript) what became A Time For Christian Candor.

And then came Spong.

And any wonder some few want the truth? It was maliciously buried fifty years ago. God help us!

Anonymous said...

A happy New Year to you all.

Zoltan: Yes, I saw your responses earlier today. Still digesting. Thank you very much.
My best hopes and prayers for the new year to Bob, Leslie, Future Leader, and: (let's see how many I can pull off the top of my head...)
To: Julie, Van, Ben, Skully, Nomo, James, Ricky, Ximeze, River, Joan, Robin, Hoarhey, Will, Dilys, Sal.. and anyone my coffee adled memory forgot- My hopes and prayers go with you all as well. You folks are part of my day.

and best wishes to Ray, if he checks in, and finally- to the several trolls under the One Cosmos bridge. (at least the one or two who can occasionally be clever, while poking a well-aimed jibe.)

JWM

julie said...

JWM, I'll drink to all that!

And for my OC New Year's resolution: I will try very hard not to be #%&*ing unDude.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Merry Gnew Year y'all!
Skully will be by later after imbibing the 2008 supply of grog (he wants to begin 2009 with some fresh grog so it's necessary to finish off the 08 stuff.
Skully was muttering somethin' about new wineskins, so maybe he learnt somethin' in 2008).

As always great post, Bob!
And also, as always, and I truly hope I never take Bob's posts or the outstanding (for the most part) comments here for granted, 'cause they are precious beyond belief!

Thanks to all my brothers n' sisters under the pelt for the laughs, tears, intrigue, mythteries, slackamania, teachin', learnin', and just plain fun!
I can no longer imagine my life without y'all, nor would I try. :^)

Van Harvey said...

What JWM & Ben said, you all are better than acquaintences, you play active parts in shaping how I think & do... Happy New Year's guys!

julie said...

One last toast (or rather, the first toast of the new year): May Frank be proven correct, that the best is indeed yet to come.

'Mornin, raccoons; time now for bed.

Anonymous said...

G'night Julie!
Excellent toast, which I shall drink to forthwith.

That and Eternal Life While I Wait!
Sometimes it's a long wait, and sometimes it's a short wait, but it's not a heavy weight.

Less than my grog, I'd say and infinitely funner (and funnier) than a wait at the DMV.

WV- horkhelb
I may need a professional WV psychic to figger that one out.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

"Rather, we are becoming more and more wonderfully ourselves in the course of our increasing 'not-two-ness'."

Well said, Paul!
I used to have the same problem, not understanding at the time that God doesn't want to make us Borg, but to realize our Otential.

WV: lituard
Okay, I admit it, but I'm larnin'.

phil g said...

Happy New Year fellow coons. Thanks everyone who regularly coontribute to this site. Thanks Bob and Petey for this little coon den. Every day starts here.

Cheers!!!

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year, all.

And Zoltan - you might add Vatican 2 to that list.

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