Monday, March 08, 2010

Light and Vision, Truth and Intellect

Bob is still trying to catch up with his work, so this will be Bob's Unconscious taking the wheel of the cosmic bus for awhile. Also, I'll probably exercise a heavier hand in deleting the Moloch-worshipping leftists who go off topic in order to testify of their strange gods.

Also -- and this is between you and me -- I think Bob's brain has been getting clogged up by reading too much profane history lately, so I'm going to try to clear it out and get back to some fundamentals. Back to the ground floor, if you like; which, through the cosmic Law of Inversion, just happens to be an analogue of the top floor.

I might also add that I will be assisted by my good friend Frithjof, whose fearsome sword of gnosis is so adept at cutting through all those annoying layers of superfluous mayaplicity.

I'll bet Bob wishes he'd seen this quote by Schuon before finishing the Coonifesto, because it goes to the reasons for its formal circularity: God's vision proceeds from Him and ends in Him, like a circle which originates and closes upon itself.

That circle is everything, but it is up to us to see it. If it looks like a line, or a point, or random pattern, then we're missing something essential about the very nature of things -- about how the One deploys itself into the many and returns to itself like the prodigal sun rising again in the east after its night sea journey in its underweird.

As Huston "We Don't Have a Problem" Smith observes, "Beauty is the vehicle for this return: outward beauty which comes from God and leads back to him; and inward beauty -- virtue -- which is essential for human participation in the Divine Nature."

It seems that everything else in creation automatically participates in the Divine Nature; only man has the choice of rebelling against it. This is because man, being in the image of the Creator, is "central" on his own plane of being.

That being the case, other animals are "peripheral" in relation to Man -- which is why, for example, in Genesis, it is Adam who names the animals; or, as our Unknown Friend properly notes, in the real (i.e., principial, or vertical) world of essences, man does not descend from the animals. Rather, vice versa: the lower animals descend from Man (otherwise lower and descend have no meaning).

So, as Schuon writes, "a bird greeting the sunrise really and necessarily greets God; a plant turning to the light really turns toward Him." Now, is there a way for Man to live in the simple, spontaneous and innoccent manner of the bird or plant?

Why yes, of course. It all has to do with light and vision, only transposed to a higher key. For a virtuous -- or unspoiled -- man spontaneously turns to Truth in the same manner that the flower opens to the light and warmth of the sun (and please note that just as animals are descended from God, our central sun is a transposition or declension from the more subtle Divine Light).

Just as light can shine in an outhouse, a sewer, or the NBC news department without in any way sullying itself, the divine light is omnipresent without undergoing any change upon contact with creatures.

This is another way of saying that Truth is anterior to our knowledge of it. Or, as Schuon would say, it is "independent of any dialectic." It matters not whether truth "is expressed this way or that," for the expression is not the thing -- just as a beautiful painting is not Beauty itself, and yet, not other than Beauty.

Another critical point: intelligence is not something other than what it knows, or the knowledge is not real. Ultimately, this means that intelligence is a substance: the substance of Truth.

Think about your lower senses, say, touch. The reason you can touch something is because your fingers are of the same substance as that which they touch, i.e., matter.

And the reason why the intellect may touch the divine realm is because it too is of the same substance. That "spark of divinity" we all carry inside (or which carries us) really is just that. You might compare it to a ray of light emanating from the Sun. The light with which you see the world at this very moment is actually not other than the Sun.

Just so, the light with which you see higher truths is not other than the primordial Light that comes from God. Please note that when the light shines on a landscape -- either in this world or the one directly above -- it does not "create" but discovers. That is, it simply reveals what is already there. This is a critical point to bear in mind with regard to the higher worlds, since spiritual light simply activates truths that are present in the nature (or substance) of intelligence itself.

Again, truth and intelligence are of the same substance; furthermore, just as matter and sensation form a unity, truth and reality are two sides of a single cause, that cause being God. That this is the case ensures that truth is real, efficacious, reliable, universal, unchanging, luminous, and ultimately salvific.

In his critique of rationalism, Schuon notes that the rationalist places reason above Truth, the result being that he places himself in the absurd position of only believing things that he can prove (or thinks he can prove) with his reason.

This is to place a means to truth above truth; and not only that, for in order for to use reason, something other than reason must select the premises to be used for the proof. This thing is again intelligence, which transcends reason and is the very substance of the truth it wishes to prove. Sadly, in order to live as a rationalist, one must make intelligence less than what it is, and ultimately make the assimilation of Truth impossible.

Furthermore, to limit intelligence to reason soon enough leads to the denial of reason, for the same intelligence that affirms reason can just as readily deny it -- as do all materialists, relativists, multiculturalists, deconstructionists, and the rest of the leftist rabble.

That is all. Good day.

Standing in the Light of God's bouncy house: what comes down, must go up.

21 comments:

Warren said...

>> Huston "We Don't Have a Problem" Smith

Now, that's inspired!

Lisa said...

Hello friends! Hope everyone is doing well...

Is it safe to say that a circle with dimension or breath becomes a spiral? We can see evidence of this in all living things DNA, muscles, fascia, micro/macro, etc.

Here is some comic relief for all the bad news lately and also explains Obama's existence...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

Stephen Macdonald said...

I love it when Bob's Unconscious takes us back to the beginning of the trail. Amazing thing is we never seem to take exactly the same pathway to reach the summit, yet there it is every time. Very jazz-like.

walt said...

Hi Lisa! Long time no... etc., etc. Still teaching, I hope.

Bob's U wrote:
"It all has to do with light and vision, only transposed to a higher key."

Working with plants, their relationship to all aspects of light is obvious. It was a short step to notice that the same was true with humans, from the simple examples like day length and temperature preferences, on up to impulses to truth and virtue. A good meditation on the subject in this post!

Nicely, you explain it more correctly, the other way 'round, from the Top, so to speak.

Also:
"Sadly, in order to live as a rationalist, one must make intelligence less than what it is..."

Trolls trawling for *action* try that here quite a bit. But they suffer mightily >>blap!<< from the Sword of Gnosis!

Stephen Macdonald said...

Hi Lisa!

Haven't seen Julie for a while either. She's getting closer to the big day (as are my wife and I).

Rick said...

This piece from Och today goes well with yours, Bob, I think: on theological addictions and reading less, usual ochlophobic ephemera...

"...There is such a thing as an addiction to theology as 'subject,' and it is ugly, turning the sufferer into a wraith..."

Rick said...

Hi Lisa!

BTW, Julie is reading, just not commenting..until after Lent. (I hope that's okay to say, Julie)

So the den is still strong..

Rick said...

One other thing… on topic, I think, if we are talking about getting back to the ground floor. Same here lately, BTW, Bob.
I mentioned this audio version of the KJ Bible awhile back -- for iPod touch and iPhone. So far I've listened to the whole NT and it is well done. One narrator for the whole thing (OT & NT) - and a professional, I think - his voice reminds me of the narrator of the Ten Commandments movie (Cecil B.?) not too dramatic -- just right. Anyway, it's free KJV
Definitely different (in a good way) than reading alone. Although you can also read along with it. And it autoscrolls. The guy put a lot of hard work into this app.

Van Harvey said...

"In his critique of rationalism, Schuon notes that the rationalist places reason above Truth, the result being that he places himself in the absurd position of only believing things that he can prove (or thinks he can prove) with his reason.

This is to place a means to truth above truth; and not only that, for in order for to use reason, something other than reason must select the premises to be used for the proof."

Yes, and made even more ridiculous when you keep in mind that the logical process which determines "Proof" is itself only a tool of Reason, and one which is only suitable is some areas (math, chemistry, some areas of philosophy when premises can be clearly defined), and inappropriate to use with others (poetry, most art, etc)... so such people are reduced to being guided by 3rd level tools which they foolishly put in positions where they are inadequate to be used as tools... the best such people can hope for is an inconsistent sort of logic chopping... and their conception of what is 'true' is reduced to mincemeat.

Van Harvey said...

Hi Lisa!

Tigtog said...

Thanks for this post. Your comments are a refreshment of both mind and spirit. Being, and being in balance, is not that hard to do, but it seems we forget to let it happen. We become so involved in making things happen, we forget ourselves. Nice to pause, reflect and say thank you - one could call this prayer. We have much to be grateful for.

Jack said...

RR-

Thank you for the link. I am definitely the type who is easily seduced by words and theories. The finger rather than the moon. Thankfully life has a way of smacking me upside the head and reminding me of this whenever I begin to think I actually understand far more than I do.

Rick said...

You're welcome, Jack.

Mizz E said...

Hi Lisa, Hope you had a sweet honeymoon.

Mizz E said...

And the wind blew the echoes of long-faded voices - And they would sing me a song that the old cowboys sang - And I didn't know what the words meant or anything - I was just singing - Saint Mother Maria watch over us please - As we wonder around in this dangerous world.

Susannah said...

Ricky, I just saw this item recommended at The Corner: http://www.amazon.com/Pen-Iron-American-Prose-James/dp/0691128812

Mizz E said...

The Infinite a sudden Guest
Has been assumed to be –
But how can that stupendous come
Which never went away?


The Tension of the Metaxy in Emily Dickinson’s Poetry, Glenn Hughes

Dickinson is a brilliant poetic explicator of what it means to live in the anxious openness of what Voegelin  calls the tension of the “In-Between,” or metaxy―that is, in the unrestful, inescapable, and  irresolvable tension of existence in between ignorance and knowledge, despair and hope, time and  timelessness, world and transcendence.

Link
here to a sublime explication.

Lisa said...

Hi All,

Good to be back in the coon fold! Great to hear about Julie's and Northern Bandit's new additions! That is terrific. Can't wait to see pics. I can't believe how big future leader has gotten. He is quite the little man now! Does he have his own blog yet?

Still engaged and may just stay that way, so no honeymoon yet, but isn't every day one? haha!

Still teaching, I have found a new love called CoreAlign. I have just become a master trainer and am excited to start teaching teachers. CoreAlign is like Pilates but better. It is more vertical which is more practical for everyday living. It focuses on harmonious movement in all directions returning to a neutral mid-line posture of the body. It will be the next big thing in the fitness world. Fits right into the One Cosmos vision, as do all true modalities. The creator is a physical therapist from Israel. How that country can turn out so much talent and innovation under constant duress amazes me. Check out some of the demos on youtube.

Fun to see the swiftness of the troll takedown these days! Surprising they are still hanging around...although one can hardly blame them! This is a fun spot in the blogosphere.

Cheers! xoxo

Rick said...

Thanks, Susannah. That looks interesting.

Ilíon said...

"In his critique of rationalism, Schuon notes that the rationalist places reason above Truth, the result being that he places himself in the absurd position of only believing things that he can prove (or thinks he can prove) with his reason.

This is to place a means to truth above truth; and not only that, for in order for to use reason, something other than reason must select the premises to be used for the proof. ...
"

To paraphrase CS Lewis (and any number of other thinkers): "All proofs come to an end" -- all rational proofs depend upon some prior truth-claim statement or statements to be used as the premise(s) of the proof's argument, which truth-claims may themselves be the conclusion(s) of some logically prior rational argument(s). But, soon or late, this chain of proof-and-logically-prior-proof comes to an end; which is to say, we arrive at the beginning of the whole process of our rational reasoning.

And at this beginning/foundation of our rational reasoning, we find one or more truth-claim statements which cannot be rationally proven -- if these foundational statements are indeed true, then our knowledge that they are true is not a rationally-derived knowledge, but is rather a non-rational knowledge (i.e. intuitive knowledge): we know it is true because we know it is true.

Thus, *all* the rational knowledge we posses, and all that we can ever hope to possess, sits upon a foundation of non-rational, intuitive knowledge.

Thus, reason cannot be superior to truth; and, as G'Bob points out, the attempt to place reason superior to truth must, ultimately, result in the denial of reason itself.

Gagdad Bob said...

And that is indeed what Godel thought his proofs had proved....

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