Wednesday, December 24, 2008

On Becoming Transparent to Your Trans-Parent (1.20.12)

A word of caution:

"The rule of every serious esoterist should be to be silent -- often for a length of years -- concerning every new illumination or inspiration that he has, so as to give it the necessary time to mature, i.e., to acquire that certainty which results from its accordance with moral consciousness, moral logic, the totality of spiritual and ordinary experience -- that of friends and spiritual guides of the past and present -- as also with divine revelation, whose eternal dogmas are guiding constellations in the intellectual and moral heaven" (Meditations on the Tarot).

Even Jesus apparently spoke not a word of these matters until around age 30. Ironically, things are so much easier today that they can be more difficult, in that every unqualified yahoo has instant access to the most sublime wisdom.

But just because one can read, it hardly means one understands. Rather, it merely gives the illusion of understanding. Plenty of liberals have gone to law school, and yet, do not understand the point of the Constitution.

Nor do atheists understand religion, to which they stand as living proof. Only a kind of cosmic narcissism allows them to convert a disability into a virtue, to elevate a confession of ignorance to a witness of truth. It's incredibly childlike, really, for children are also unable to stand back from their immediate perceptions and appreciate their limitations.

Once detached from the vertical, one is in the "zone of mirages." Now, just because this zone isn't real, it doesn't mean it isn't "creative." It's just that it is a kind of worthless creativity (the world of "infertile eggheads") that bears on no eternal truth or beauty transcending itself. It is "art for art's sake," which is no better than "science for science's sake."

Liberals think that conservatives are "anti-science" because we understand that science must always converge on something higher than itself, at risk of becoming demonic. One can never derive values from science -- the ought from the is.

This is the monstrosity of reductionistic Darwinism: not that it is "true," but that it replaces the Truth of which it can only be a tiny reflection. For if Darwinism is the integral truth of man, dreadful consequences necessarily follow -- not the least of which being the impossibility of Truth. I won't even bother to catalogue them, for only a bona fide intellectual and spiritual cretin such as Queeg could be unaware of them.

That Darwinism can satisfy his barren intellect is a statement about his intellect, not about Truth. Such ingrates have no idea what religion has done for them, because it has all been done collectively and subliminally through a kind of cultural and historical osmosis. But to be unaware of the extraordinary spiritual sacrifices others have made in order to make your insignificant life possible is to live as a barbarian. Your whole miserable life is lived in borrowed -- no, stolen -- Light.

What is true will always be so. Scientific fads and fashions will come and go, but Man will always be in the image of the Creator, a meta-cosmic truth from which our rights, our duties, and our dignity flow. Only man can -- and therefore must! -- live by the light of eternity, so that all we do, say, write, create and think, can resonate with the Real and thus "pass the test of time": "Artists, like esoterists, are obliged to make their works pass the trial of time, so that the poisonous plants from the sphere of mirages can be uprooted, and there remains only the wheat -- pure and ripe."

When I write something, I want it to stay written. I am always writing from the standpoint of eternity, not because I am grandiose, but because it is the least one can do. Otherwise, there is no point whatsoever of putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, at least regarding the matters we discuss here. This is not a shopping list or editorial, much less something as trivial as an academic paper.

In order to properly do one's omwork, one's writing must be "objective," even while being "transparent," or perhaps "translucent," in that it must be both solid and capable of refracting the Light. Why? Because this is the way in which the Divine Spirit works.

To get the ego out of the way merely means to try to transcend all pettiness, all that is time-bound, all that refers back to oneself instead of pointing beyond. I must decrease so that He may increase: one "becomes poor, so as to be able to receive the wealth of the divine spirit..."

This is "the gesture of actualizing below that which is above," so that one's very life becomes a work of sacred art -- which is again to be transparent to that which transcends oneself.

Adieu, dear unknown friend.

102 comments:

Anonymous said...

Will read blog post later, just want to be first to comment and wish Bob and all you great coons here a Merry, Merry Christmas!

/Johan

julie said...

You beat me to it, Johan :) Although I think River said it even earlier at the end of yesterday's comments.
Merry Christmas, Raccoons! May the Mystery deepen, the light become brighter, and your empty vessels be filled with Holy grog. Or Nog.

Anonymous said...

bob wrote:

"For if Darwinism is the integral truth of man, dreadful consequences necessarily follow."

These might not be evident to everyone, so I'm going to take the liberty.

So:
If Darwinism is the integral truth of man, then:

He who dies with the most toys "wins."

He who dies with the most offspring in existence, wins.

He who has the most pleasure before he dies, wins.

He who loses is a miserable loser who accomplishes nothing but being a pathetic source of laughter.

If you can take someone's woman, take her.

If you can take someone's property, take it.

If you can oppress and dominate people, do it.

Darwinism for Women:

She who has the most influence, wins.

She who has the largest wardrobe of fine clothing, wins.

She who can juggle the most secret lovers, wins.

She who can get out of bearing children so she can just enjoy herself, "wins" in a twisted sort of way.

She who bears the most offspring wins.

She who can enjoy drunkeness, sloth, avarice, greed, lechery and deception and get away with it, wins.

An obediant woman loses.

A barren women is the ultimate loser and object of derision. She is the most abjectly useless item in the cosmos.

Thank God Darwinism isn't true, is all that can be said.

walt said...

Once detached from the vertical, one is in the "zone of mirages." Seems like a lot of that going around.
(Interesting aside - just ran across a reference to something illusory being a fata morgana, the definition of which is "a mirage.")

"...to be unaware of the extraordinary spiritual sacrifices others have made in order to make your insignificant life possible is to live as a barbarian." Thus, we get Christmas-time messages about the Pope and his bigotry emanating from S.F. What a jolly crowd lives down there!

Bob, I've told you before, but I'm going to repeat myself:
Your daily posts and endless cross-references of spiritual influences are among the finest influences I've encountered. Always, they are on a higher level than what I encounter in ordinary life. In the attempt to study and learn, to get centered and balanced, and to sustain the effort, One Cosmos reflects the superior man that produces it. Thank you so much!

Here's wishing you and your family, and all the playful Raccoons, a Merry Christmas -- or, if you call it something else, I wish you that!

Anonymous said...

To my Raccoon family - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! Each of you, père Bob, Julie, Robin, Walt,Will, Van, Ben, Julie et al make the world a bit lighter every day for this baby raccoon... and for that I am grateful.

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good light. And, Bob, thanks for all that jazz...

Anonymous said...

"He who dies with the most toys "wins."

Merry Christmas

Anonymous said...

>> . . . to be unaware of the extraordinary spiritual sacrifices others have made in order to make your insignificant life possible is to live as a barbarian<<

In this holy season, a shoutout to all those spiritual warriors, known and not known, historical and contemporary, whose sacrifices literally maintain life on earth - they anchor the Light that we all might transcend.

That's one thing I always try to remind myself of during this season, and consequently all seasons. The simplest gestures, a smile on an elevator, a simple word of encouragement, the turning away of anger or petulance - these are acts that save the world and prepare the way for the Parousia.

Merry Christmas, all.

Joan of Argghh! said...

Merry Christmas, dear Raccoons!

May you get an engraved bowling ball, one of those lovely marbelized glittery kind.

May you have plenty of grog and nog.

May you have all the nuzzly goodness your loved ones can supply.

Peace to all. Even Anony's!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous wrote: Thank God Darwinism isn't true, is all that can be said.

The branch of science that explains the diversity of life is called evolutionary biology, not "Darwinism".

The basic facts of evolution are true, as true as any other scientific fact. The evidence for evolution is massive and powerful, and you're nuts if you think you can wish that evidence would go away.

One of the most interesting facts of biology is our close evolutionary relationship with chimpanzee apes. There is absolutely no question we are distant cousins of the chimps. Biologists now have the complete genome of both human apes and chimp apes, and they have been comparing DNA sequences of these two species for several years. They continue to repeatedly find undeniable evidence for the shared ancestry of these two ape species. Anyone who isn't lazy and willfully ignorant could look up and study this evidence.

To get started you can click my name to look at an excellent video that explains some of this evidence from molecular biology.

"Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs) are the relics of ancient viral infections preserved in our DNA. The odd thing is many ERVs are located in exactly the same position on our genome and the chimpanzee genome. There are two explanations for the perfectly matched ERV locations. Either it is an unbelievable coincidence that viruses just by chance inserted in exactly the same location in our genomes, or humans and chimps share a common ancestor. It was our common ancestor that was infected, and we both inherited the ERVs. ERVs provide the closest thing to a mathematical proof for evolution. And remember, ERVs are just one of the millions of FACTS that support the theory of evolution. Think about it."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUxLR9hdorI

Here's a quote from the wife of Carl Sagan:

"And I would celebrate Charles Darwin for having the most revolutionary concept in human history, the one idea that could completely dethrone the patriarchal chains that kept us from seeing who we really are and for his undoing of what is I think the most nefarious lie and that is that we were created separately from the
rest of nature."

-- Ann Druyan

Gagdad Bob said...

Has anyone seen the film Cadillac Records? I'm pretty impressed by this Etta James impression by Beyonce.

Gagdad Bob said...

Or how about this.

julie said...

And a very merry Christmas to you, Bob Humbug. I think someone needs a nog drip, stat!
Seriously, though, whatever your state of belief or disbelief, may you find a little Lightness and Joy this day.

Gagdad Bob said...

Ann: Ray in drag?

julie said...

Yep, most likely. He just can't quit you.

Gagdad Bob said...

BTW, this is why I do not argue. Can you imagine the tedium of having to once again pick apart Ann's feeble and naive metaphysics? No thanks. Gaze.

Ephrem Antony Gray said...

reverse 'in drag' and you get 'dragon'.

Call St. George!

Gagdad Bob said...

BTW--

It's one thing for a man to be a reductionist Darwinist, being that they can be such emotional retards. But there is something actually monstrous about a woman who embraces it, for it is the absolute denial of the feminine.

Anonymous said...

Gagdad Bob wrote: BTW, this is why I do not argue. Can you imagine the tedium of having to once again pick apart Ann's feeble and naive metaphysics? No thanks.

I would rather you picked apart the ERV evidence in the video I recommended. Of course you can't deny this evidence unless you lie to yourself about it.

Evolution is a fact. The evolution deniers of the 21st century are just as wrong as the Galileo deniers of the 17th century. In the history of conflicts between science and religion, science has always won and science always will win.

Anonymous said...

Wrong website, moron. Evolution is the whole point of Bob's book and blog.

julie said...

Wow, he's got it bad.

Ephrem Antony Gray said...

Let's all remember this night and day, that when we see the nativity we do not look to 'emulate' the life of Christ in the sense of re-enacting it. So when we look at the nativity - as with all Christian things including the cycle of feasts and fasts, we recognize that the 'original' - which may be thought to be the life of Christ - is actually an icon of Reality. We do not re-enact or dramatize it, but internalize it so that the light which illumines it may also shine through us.

"When Mary conceived seedlessly she was registered in Bethlehem with the elder Joseph as being of the seed of David. The time for birth came and there was no room in the inn; the cave proved a fair palace for the Queen. Christ is born to raise up the image that of old had fallen."

Fr. Thomas Hopko writes:

This will be a definite departure from the interpretation of the Divine Liturgy which treats the service as if it were a drama enacted by the clergy and "attended" by the people, in which each part stands for some aspect of Christ's life and work. (e.g., the prothesis stands for Christ's birth, the small entrance for the beginning of his public ministry, the gospel for his preaching, the great entrance for Palm Sunday, etc.) This latter type of interpretation of the Divine Liturgy is an invention, which, although perhaps interesting and inspiring for some, is nevertheless completely alien to the genuine meaning and purpose of the Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Church.

This I think applies to all things, so with Christmas being about the birth of Christ is besides the point - the point being that the birth of Christ itself is pointing to something deeper. That is, "The light which comes into the world that the darkness has not understood."

If we spend too much time trying to 'put the Christ back in Christmas' we'll miss the fact that he's everywhere.

I think Walt had a bit about Metis, that is, having this inner stillness within that one through ascesis expands out like a circle, ever greater and greater.

The Cave is the World in it's solstice, The Virgin is us, and we are to bear Christ.

Dark night, bright light - cosmic surprise!

From the womb before the morning star have I begotten thee; the Lord has sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

And fer God's sake don't forget to 'bear' good cheer and lots of nog. Christmas is, if nothing else, an alien visitation - so the stranger you are to those you most need to visit, the better the Christmas will be.

OHM! That was my Christmas lights meditating - there's a bit of resistance to the exercise, I think.

Ho! (ho, ho!)

robinstarfish said...

When I write something, I want it to stay written.

On my heart. Thanks Bob for daily climbing the vertical and bringing back such tales of joy and possibility. A very Merry Christmas to you and Leslie and FL!

And to all Christmas Raccoons - Noel!

Van Harvey said...

Ha! Looks like the idea precedes me too, Johan.

♫ ♪ ♬ Merry Christmas!!!♪ ♬ ♫

Van Harvey said...

(Psst! Skully, pass the grog-nog)

Anonymous said...

Cousin Dupree wrote: "Wrong website, moron. Evolution is the whole point of Bob's book and blog."

You mean his book "One Cosmos Under The Magic Fairy"?

OK, so this is a pro-evolution blog. My mistake.

So why did Anonymous write "Thank God Darwinism isn't true, is all that can be said."?

That's sounds a lot like an evolution denier to me.

And why did Gagdad Bob criticize Ann Druyan's quote?

Her quote was ""And I would celebrate Charles Darwin for having the most revolutionary concept in human history, the one idea that could completely dethrone the patriarchal chains that kept us from seeing who we really are and for his undoing of what is I think the most nefarious lie and that is that we were created separately from the rest of nature."

What's wrong with that? I would think only an evolution denier would disagree with it.

But like you said, Cousin Dupree, I'm a moron, so how could I understand what Gagdad Bob really means?

Of course it would have been nice if Gagdad Bob explained what he meant when he said "Can you imagine the tedium of having to once again pick apart Ann's feeble and naive metaphysics?" but apparently he thinks it would be a waste of time to explain why he disagrees with the brilliant wife of Carl Sagan.

Anonymous said...

Oh great, a scientistic kook and a stalker. Like moths to the flame....

walt said...

One thing you can say for the Brain Police -- they're always on patrol!

Gagdad Bob said...

Yes, it would be hypocritical for the atheist fundamentalists to take off on Christmas, wouldn't it?

Anonymous said...

Cousin Dupree wrote: "Oh great, a scientistic kook and a stalker."

You called me a kook, but I appreciate the adjective scientistic.

I don't think asking honest questions is equivalent to stalking. I'll go away if you want me to, but I really am interested in why anyone would disagree with Ann Druyan's quote.

"And I would celebrate Charles Darwin for having the most revolutionary concept in human history, the one idea that could completely dethrone the patriarchal chains that kept us from seeing who we really are and for his undoing of what is I think the most nefarious lie and that is that we were created separately from the rest of nature."

Certainly she was correct to say we were NOT created separately from the rest of nature. That's a scientific fact. Sorry, but this is one of my favorite quotes and I just don't understand why an educated person would disagree with it.

Of course I'm a kook, a moron, and an atheist who loves evolutionary biology, so what do I know?

Anonymous said...

OMG, the wife of Carl Sagan has spoken!

Ho! Who's next, Al Gore's dog?

Anonymous said...

No, Elvis's chimp.

Anonymous said...

So, if Darwinism reveals who you really are, who are you, really?

Anonymous said...

Petey wrote: "So, if Darwinism reveals who you really are, who are you, really?"

You guys are not going to get rid of me if you ask excellent questions, and Petey's question was excellent.

Who am I? Perhaps you meant "who are the human apes?"

The human ape species is one small twig on the gigantic tree of life.

Anonymous said...

"Before she met Sagan, Druyan's interest in science stemmed in part from her interest in the philosophy of Karl Marx."

Gee, who'da thunk?

Anonymous said...

"In 2007 she was said to be working on an IMAX film on global warming as well as a sequel to Cosmos."

Ho! She is Al Gore's dog!

Anonymous said...

Global warming? Oh well, we all worship the same God.

Anonymous said...

And here's her sacrament:

"I have had a wonderful life, and part of that was due to the fact that I smoked marijuana since I was a young woman."

As Randy Newman sang, "it takes a whole lot of medicine to make me think I'm someone else."

Anonymous said...

Yes, billions and billions of joints. It's the only way I could get her to sleep with me. I call it "pot goggles."

Anonymous said...

What came first, truth or Darwinism?

Anonymous said...

You guys have a lot of good reasons to not think very highly of Ann Druyan, but her quote, which I will repeat below, makes sense, and you would have a difficult time finding a biologist who disagrees with it.

"And I would celebrate Charles Darwin for having the most revolutionary concept in human history, the one idea that could completely dethrone the patriarchal chains that kept us from seeing who we really are and for his undoing of what is I think the most nefarious lie and that is that we were created separately from the rest of nature."

Anonymous said...

Let's just stipulate that if Darwinism "shows what you are," there's not much to show. But we knew that already.

Anonymous said...

Petey repeated his excellent question even though I already answered it: Repeat: Since Darwinism showed what you really are, what are you?

I wonder why you call evolutionary biology "Darwinism".

I'm an ape. That's my answer. What answer were you looking for? Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I knew it!

Anonymous said...

Well, I thought I saw Petey repeating his question, but now that comment has disappeared, or maybe I'm going blind.

Anonymous said...

I can relate to Mrs. Sagan. I know what it's like to be a stoned ape. I just never assumed that I had access to truth. I mean, I know my place in the cosmos and the Presley household.

Anonymous said...

I'm an ape, you're an ape... You told Brant already, yes?!

I suppose this resolves with finality the old conundrum about monkeys, typewriters, infinity and Shakespeare. And Scatter, this means that you really can create great art using your favorite medium...

Anonymous said...

Courvoisier and poop?

Anonymous said...

Bobxxx, a long and tedious war of words was already played out here; all you are getting are echoes of that acrimonous flame war, between the regulars here and a scientist named Ray.

You might as well scoot; this is a burned over battlefield; the minds here are like corpses or if alive are in the field hospital.

walt said...

During the MOTT Series, the Darwinian argument sort of branched out, reached up for the Light, and unfolded in unexpected beauty.

But, no sooner than you say "Adieu..."

Anonymous said...

Scatter- exactly.

Anonymous, if only that were the case; then you'd have no reason to linger, and we could resume dying in peace.

Anonymous said...

If Darwinism "liberated" us from patriarchy, how in the hell was that good for me, and how do I get it back?

Anonymous said...

To MR. BXxx

I am the anonymous poster who wrote "Thank God Darwinism isn't true."

To clarify what I meant was that all of the molecular, biological, and material aspects of evolution that you mentioned are of course true. Chimps 'n people; no problem there.

I like and agree with the Ann Druyan quote also. It is sensible.

"Darwinism" a I meant it refers to the attitude of taking the above to be significant. They are not that significant. If they are the end all and be all, then of course I would have to go on a lusty binge of indiscriminate mating.

It would be the only sensible thing to do under the tenets of biology. This is irrefutable.

The body and mind are here taken as the springboard for further evolution, not its endpoint.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, thanks for your clarification, and I'm sorry I misunderstood you.

Gagdad Bob said...

...no sooner than you say "Adieu..."


It's a Festivus miracle!

Gecko said...

Merry Christmas Goofballs, I am forever thankful for the daily sacrament you provide,Gagdad, and for all the raccoon presents under the One Cosmos tree.

Gecko said...

Oh, and what Will said.:^)

Anonymous said...

I'm a humape, but you already gnew that

Anonymous said...

The problem with the “evolutionists” today is that they are only focusing on the biological part of it if they are biologist. If they are specialized in some other branch they will focus only on that. Never mind the psychological, cultural, personal and spiritual branches…

“So why did Anonymous write "Thank God Darwinism isn't true, is all that can be said."?”

Because evolution and Darwinism is not the same thing, you fool.

“You called me a kook, but I appreciate the adjective scientistic.”

“Of course I'm a kook, a moron, and an atheist who loves evolutionary biology, so what do I know?”

And there you go…

If you really are a scientist, why are you so far away from seeking knowledge? Are you sure you are not just another Ray of un-lightenment? Didn’t you read the post? The very first sentence was about being silent; to listen, in order to be able of learning that you do not know about, from people that actually knows. You storm in here like another chimp, throwing bananas and feces around you. I think you read it, but you did not get it.

This is supposed to be a silent and a holy night. Now, be silent. Try to be holy, at least just for a while.

And btw, great Christmas gifts from parents and little brother this year (after some hints of course). A lot of reading to do – Bolton “the order of the ages” and Bailie “Violence unveiled”… sweet!

walt said...

Johan, you are an inspiration.

Anonymous said...

A very proper Merry Christmas to all!

I am currently in Gstaad learning to ski, which is not as easy as it sounds when you are in your late 70's. In case you are reading this: my most sincere apology to the gentleman who I hospitalized yesterday.

Van Harvey said...

beforex said "I'm an ape. That's my answer. "

Telling. Petey asked who you were, and you answered what you were. Pretty much sums it all up.

Idea of an impressive quote from beforex's 'site':

"Intelligence is awareness of ignorance. Stupidity is ignorance of ignorance. Think about it."

What do you think of ignorance of awareness?

(Skully, up for a Grog-nog run with me?)

Anonymous said...

Edith, I know for a fact that WFB will not be wintering in Gstaad this year. So did you break in, or just "bribe" Manuel?

Anonymous said...

The Darwinist is starstruck by the discovery that the wheels on this bus do not turn by themselves, but have been theorized to be connected to a transmission of some sort.
Problem is, he won't believe there's an engine, a driver, or a busmaker.

JWM

Anonymous said...

...not to mention a destination, and a map.

JWM

Anonymous said...

Beaglehole, you sot. The solemn fact is that WFB is most certainly wintering in Gstaad . . . in a beyond-the-veil manner, to be sure. Indeed, I conversed with him yesterday, shortly after my unfortunate collision. He remembers you as the pickled chap "who skied down an entire slope on his own face."

Anonymous said...

And Merry Christmas, you worthless old goat.

Van Harvey said...

To go with With Will's first comment, someone who was an actual warrior,Maj. Andy Olmstead, and I think the spiritual goes right along with it.

Unfortunately the immediate sense is in no way Merry, but in the deeper sense (the Who, rather than the what), the fact that these people exist is cause for celebration of a very Merry Christmas.

Look for the link back to his Posthumous last post.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Merry Christmas y'all!!!

Skully is busy makin' more egg grog but he'll be by later...preferably before he whips out the traditional Christmas plank which he walks on the way to the Christmas mast.

Anonymous said...

"The rule of every serious esoterist should be to be silent ..."

Exo 14:14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Johan said:
"Are you sure you are not just another Ray of un-lightenment?"

Ha ha! Good one, Johan! I cooncur wholeheartedly!

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Hi ho, Van!
Aye, the egg grog nog is runnin' short this year so I hadta switch to grogaritas when I ran out.
I'm currently lookin' fer my lost shaker of salt...

See salt. Ho!

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Why am I not surprised that the darweenie admires a commie feminazi?

Anonymous said...

The nuclear winter effect from the gulf war fires will happen any minute now.

Any...minute...

Anonymous said...

Hey it worked on paper. The problem wasn't with my math, the problem was with reality.

Anonymous said...

Complexity theory handed you your ass, Carl.
You always were a pompous fool.

Anonymous said...

I'm a scientist and I have written several books. You aren't qualified to question my sound scientific judgement, Michael.

Anonymous said...

Oh right. Your books. Could you have been any more boring and tedious?
I'd rather read a tech manual than your drivel.
Your works put me to sleep faster than Isaac Asimov.
It's as if the words remotely interesting never occured to you.

Anonymous said...

"Whatever I feel like I wanna do! Gosh! "

and who could forget...

"Tina, you fat lard, come and get some dinner!"

and of course...

"Pedro, just listen to your heart, that's what I do."


Merry Christmas, ya sick twisted freaks.

Anonymous said...

Napoleon, you're just jealous that I've been out makin' some sweet moola with Uncle Rico.

Anonymous said...

I guess some of you don't understand that you are apes, it's not a question of evolution, that's what you are today, whether you believe you evolved from another ape or not, you are still classified as an ape. You'll have a hard time knocking somebody for admitting it because mocking them for it is just ignorant.

julie said...

Namaste, dude.

julie said...

Apropos blessings and Christmas, one of my gifts contains this unintentionally esoteric passage on the origin of the word "bless:"

"When we bless someone, we wish for their well-being. We want the best for them, and the last thing we'd think about is for them to be bloodied, but that's the origin of the word. That hidden blood becomes visible in the Old English form of the word: bledsian. Consecrating something involved smearing sacrificial blood over it.

In French, the word "blesser" still means "to wound."

Mizz E said...

Christmas greetings all!

Science, our servant, shows us a glimpse of Beautiful: Fox Fur, a Unicorn, and a Christmas Tree

and

From a saint, a blessing:

"We may yet hereafter in Heaven merrily all meet together, to our everlasting salvation."

Sir Thomas More

CGHill said...

Just to divert the thread for a moment:

"Art for art's sake makes no more sense than gin for gin's sake." - W. Somerset Maugham

Van Harvey said...

aninnymouse said "I guess some of you don't understand that you are apes"

That's Great Ape, to you bub.

(Isn't it cute when they think their facts are anything more than just factual?)

Poor 'ninny... s'matter, nothing but coal?

Van Harvey said...

Grog-nog's all gone, the spirits still burning bright, but the eyelids are coming together, hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

"That's Great Ape, to you bub."

A great ape is still an ape... Great Ape just happens to be one of two families of homonoids...

So, Van, explain to me how I was wrong?

Anonymous said...

And the whole point of it was in rebuttal to the mocking response that somebody would admit they're an ape. It may be "cute" that facts are nothing more than factual, but it's downright adorable that you think admitting to those facts is a good foundation for an assault.

I could imagine the wonderfully childish conversations:

"Haha, you admitted you're a human!"

"Ermm... I am..."

"Haha, that's 'cute', because you correctly referred to yourself using facts and facts are just factual and I don't really have anything to come back to that but if I say it in a mocking tone maybe somebody will think that it's because what you said is actually worth mocking..."

Anonymous said...

Despite accidental similarities, a human is as different from an ape as life is from matter or existence from non-existence. That the differences are literally infinite -- as infinite as the gap between truth and falsehood -- only underscores the irrelevance of DNA to explain it.

It's not too late to actualize your humanness. Just drop the moronic and misguided ontology. But if you want to spend your life pretending you're an infrahuman, no one here will try to stop you. We did not seek you out, you sought us out.

Anonymous said...

Petey! how dare you. Some of my best offspring were apes!

Anonymous said...

Anon of 5:45AM, forgive me. I’m confused…but please explain why an ape should have to explain anything.
I mean, it should be quite obvious, even to apes like you, that my programming only goes so far..

Rick said...

Petey,
If you keep picking on anon I’m going to call the SPCA.

Anonymous said...

Petey, I’m with you. Some I’ve found will simply refuse to evolve. Those were the easiest to catch too I might add.

Anonymous said...

I just place something shiny inside the cage and they fall for it every time.

Anonymous said...

The problem seems to be that you're taking the clear definitive classification and arguing it beyond what was stated.

I understand there are differences between animals and man, but that doesn't change that man is still classified as an ape, and I'm a little confused as to how that's too complicated for you grasp. I'm not arguing the differences, because that wasn't the argument in the first place.

Somebody was mocked for admitting they're an ape, to which you hardly mock without mocking yourselves.

Gagdad Bob said...

I don't disagree that Darwinists classify man as an ape. What is your point?

Anonymous said...

You should ask your community what the point is in mocking somebody for that. My point was it's kinda ridiculous.

You seem to imply you have a problem with calling humans apes(or why else mention that "Darwinists" do that) but I doubt you have a problem accepting that humans are vertebrates. But for some reason "ape" is offensive when in reality it's just as much a term as much as chordata.

The point is Godwin that your entire community is up in arms over the fact that I pointed out that it's ridiculous to make fun of a ape for being an ape. And somehow, even though they were the ones mocking the individual(at a level of absurdity one would find on a playground) they got offended that I was comparing humans to apes, when all I said was humans are apes, I wasn't giving a comparison on any spiritual or hierarchical level. And it isn't my fault that your community, and you it seems, took it to that level and took offense to a meaning that wasn't even implied.

If you accept that humans are vertebrates, you can no more deny that humans are apes, because that is a conflict. You'll accept science only to a degree that does not conflict with your personal beliefs.

I believe there was a claim that I have a fear of religion, but I never once stated my religious stance. What is very apparent it that your community is afraid of science, even on terms of just accepting definitions without inserting their own personal beliefs or rejecting the terms flat out. What exactly is the problem with classifying humans in the same class as animals with the most similar traits?

Gagdad Bob said...

The problem arises from confusing human essence with biological existence and conflating radically different levels of being, which you show no signs of being capable of comprehending, otherwise you wouldn't say such banal and/or moronic things.

Anonymous said...

"The problem arises from confusing human essence with biological existence and conflating radically different levels of being, which you show no signs of being capable of comprehending, otherwise you wouldn't say such banal and/or moronic things."

Let me quote myself for the answer:
"I wasn't giving a comparison on any spiritual or hierarchical level."
"And it isn't my fault that your community, and you it seems, took it to that level and took offense to a meaning that wasn't even implied."

Now you're not even listening.

Anonymous said...

"The problem arises from confusing human essence with biological existence and conflating radically different levels of being"

The problem is I'm not the one confused by it. I did not imply that. That has always been on you and your community. You took offense to something you assumed, not something I said.

Unknown said...

Welcome! all Wonders in one sight!
Eternity shut in a span.
Summer in winter, day in night,
Heaven in earth, and God in man.
Great little one! whose all-embracing birth
Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heav'n to earth!

Richard Crashaw (1613-1649)

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