Thursday, November 17, 2011

Falling Up With the Speed of Light & the Unbearable Heaviness of Non-Being


Letter XII, The Hanged Man, is another key archetype for us, as it speaks to the nonlocal happitat in which the Raccoon prefers to dwell -- or ne'er d'well, anyway -- which is suspended roughly halfway between -- how to put it without being immediately understood? -- between 〇 and ( ), or between the celestial and terrestrial planes.

[Recall from the book that ( ) stands for the world, which, in the absence of 〇, is broken, incomplete, empty, discontinuous and finally absurd; one might say that it is the exteriorization of Ø.]

unKnown Friend says that this card "plunges us into the heart of the problem of the relationship between man and gravitation, and the conflicts that this relationship entails."

Something analogous to gravity operates at all levels of the cosmos, all degrees of being, both interior and exterior, from the solar system, to culture, to politics, to personal relationships, to the self, and even to mind parasites. In each case there is an attractive force that simultaneously draws subjects and objects toward other subjects or objects and toward their own "center of gravity"; we might say that one is an exteriorizing force, the other interiorizing.

We are not so much interested in the attraction of objects -- which is in the realm of physics -- as of subjects, for this is where the real mystery lies.

For example, once one becomes aware of the true self, it will begin to attract the kinds of relationships and experiences it requires to grow. If one fails to live out of this interior center, then no matter what happens in life, it will be an incoherent stream of experiences with no possibility of synthesis into a higher unity. One can always paper over discontinuities, inconsistencies, holes, psychic envelopes, dead spots, unborns, etc., but there is a technical term for this: papering over.

Here again, this is why liberty is so critical to the articulation and development of the self. The self is something that pre-exists in the form of potential, but can only develop and be known through experience.

You might say that this implicate self must be exteriorized in order to be interiorized. It must be free to choose the objects, relationships, and experiences it requires in order to "be." This is why one man's paradise is another man's exile or prison -- even a living death. This is also why there can be no real spirituality in the absence of freedom, and in turn why leftism is intrinsically retrograde.

And when I say "real," I mean imbued with the fulness of being; in the spiritual realm it is not a matter of "to be or not to be." Rather, there is a continuum between 〇 and Ø. Vertically speaking, one might say that we live in the phase space between these two great attractors, which I symbolize in the book as 〇 and Ø. As such, there are two final causes that operate in us; you could even call them eros and thanatos, or love and death.

(A point of order: the 〇 <---> ( ) dialectic has to do with God and world, the latter of which is still "real," whereas the 〇 <---> Ø has slightly different implications, since the latter is "nothing," or absence of being; ( ) is concrete, Ø vacuous, like the difference between, say, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama, respectively.)

One way to look at it is to consider the fact that man only discovers himself -- i.e., acquires self-consciousness -- as a consequence of his alienation from Being, his separateness from the rest of creation (see Genesis for details). Being is divided between self and world.

Vaclav Havel writes that Man is "a being that has fallen out of Being and therefore continually reaches toward it, as the only entity by which and to which Being has revealed itself as a question [?!], as a secret and as meaning."

Again, we are suspended between the terms of Being, and can seek to heal this separation in two different (vertical) directions. Havel: Man's "drama unfolds in the rupture between his orientation 'upward' and 'backward' and a constant falling 'downward' into now.'"

Either way, the human subject "is continually stepping outside itself in order to return to itself once more and, through this 'circulation,' it inevitably matures -- becomes itself." It is a "permanent balancing act" between the recovery of Being vs. being dragged "down into the world of things, surfaces, frantic consumption and self-absorption" (ibid.).

On a more subtle level, man becomes a prisoner of his own mental productions instead of a gentleman slacker in the realm of Being.

As the death-stream draws us down to the terminal moraine of our lower nature, the life-stream pulls us in, up, and out, toward our nonlocal source above. Even the most cynical atheist cannot live -- not for a moment -- without this life-stream, for it is what pulls him toward truth, or love, or meaning -- even toward his hatred of God (since this hatred is usually rooted in a misgoaded attraction to truth instead of from it).

UF agrees that "the domain of our freedom... shows the real and active presence of gravitation of a spiritual order." This is why people are attracted to God and religion to begin with, "for what is the phenomenon of religion if not the manifestation of spiritual gravitation towards God -- i.e., towards the centre of spiritual gravitation of the world?"

We cannot see gravity, any more than we can observe the wind. However, we can obviously feel the effects of gravity and wind. On the interior plane, these effects are subtle but nevertheless clear, especially as one learns to amplify them and to live within this attractor space. It's as clear as falling in love. No one teaches us how to do that, for it's not something we could ever learn.

Speaking of falling, UF situates mankind's fall within this space: "there is nothing against the conception of the Fall of Adam as the passage from a spiritual gravitation system, whose centre is God, to a terrestrial gravitational system, whose centre is the serpent."

That's certainly how it feels to me. Don't you feel those twin pulls? And don't you remember as a child, the first awareness of the pull into darkness? I remember it distinctly. I think it repeats itself in different forms at different stages of life -- assuming one actually grows through different developmental stages beyond the culturally conditioned ego. Each stage has a central "temptation" that is a fractal image of the first. In each case, we must choose the Light.

The Gospel designates the two attractors as "heaven" and "this world," or "the kingdom of God" and "the kingdom of the prince of this world." Or again, we could just call them O and Ø; or "slack" and "the conspiracy."

Likewise, this can be thought of as a sword that cuts mankind right down the middle, between the "children of this world" and "the children (or the sons) of light." Here again, standard issue cʘʘnvision -- so long as we haven't voided the warranty -- allows us to know in an instant when we are in the presence of the One or the Øther. It couldn't be more obvious now, could it? It is why the trolls despise us why we chuckle at them.

UF notes that there are actually three main categories, and I see that these correspond to the three gunas of Vedanta, which we won't get into. But there is the "carnal" (or vital) man who "lives in the grip of gravitation of 'this world' at the expense of the gravitation of 'heaven'; there is the "psychic man" who "lives in equilibrium between the two fields"; and then there is the spiritual or pneumatic man "who lives under the sway of the gravitation of 'heaven.'"

Frankly, I wouldn't really know where to begin in attempting to treat type #1. Nor do I have any interest in helping people better adapt to unreality -- which is what the great majority of people want, at least if you believe the OWSers.

Now, the Hanged Man "represents the condition of one in the life of whom gravitation from above has replaced that of below." In Raccoon terms, it is someone who has discovered his proper orientation, and sees the cosmos "inside out" and "upside down" relative to the normals. In reality, we have merely reverted things to their proper place. And we are irresistibly attracted by the top.

To be continued...

25 comments:

Van Harvey said...

"Something analogous to gravity operates at all levels of the cosmos, all degrees of being, both interior and exterior, from the solar system, to culture, to politics, to personal relationships, to the self, and even to mind parasites. In each case there is an attractive force that simultaneously draws subjects and objects toward other subjects or objects and toward their own "center of gravity"; we might say that one is an exteriorizing force, the other interiorizing."

And the better it is enabled to operate unobstructed, the deeper, denser and greater the gravitational pull, the more active it's event horizon, and the more planets, and asteroids, are drawn into its orbit.

Stars or black holes... puff yourself up too much... and poof! collapse.

julie said...

If one fails to live out of this interior center, then no matter what happens in life, it will be an incoherent stream of experiences with no possibility of synthesis into a higher unity.

Apropos, this quite from Belmont Club (via Gerard's sidebar):

"Whether you take the attitude of contempt, pity or sympathy, you’ve got to admit that these guys are bound to have a hard time in life. The individuals in these videos probably have a hard time understanding why the sun rises each morning, let alone comprehend why their life seems as bad as it is."

mushroom said...

This is also why there can be no real spirituality in the absence of freedom, and in turn why leftism is intrinsically retrograde.

"A slave is one who waits for someone else to come and set him free." That gets attributed to Ezra Pound, but I am pretty sure it originated long before Pound.

To be free is a choice immediately available to anyone, anywhere, any time, based on knowledge of the truth -- to know the truth "in a biblical sense".

Open Trench said...

This post delineates between two classes of people, one who has proper orientation, and another which does not.

This is true but raises questions of relationship--

How does the Raccoon feel about the class of normal people?

Does the Raccoon love the normals?
Does the Raccoon hate the normals?
Does the Raccoon feel neutral towards the normals?

How does the Raccoon act towards the normals?

Does the Raccoon help the normals?
Does the Raccoon harm the normals?
Does the Racccon ignore the normals?

Does each Raccoon differ in their feelings and actions towards the normals?

Does the issue of relationship matter?

Why or why not?

The post was brilliant and this line of enquiry is to engender deeper probing.

julie said...

People are people, Trench. Take each one as he comes.

John Lien said...

Are you saying that depending upon your choice between good or evil once you have made the choice the appropriate relationships and experiences will be had to get you closer to your chosen attractor? Either direction? Also, if you really aren't making a choice, then you will just kind of bumble along a meaningless path?

That's a sobering thought.

Open Trench said...

Julie: of course you are right, take each person as they come. That is a compassionate viewpoint.

The Lord has suspended us all upside down, tied by the foot; I admit parts of me are angry at the Lord for imposing these conditions of participation here.

If I understood what gains this sacrifice bought then I could be at peace.

Or I could be at peace anyway; its a choice after all.

julie said...

John, that's a good question. On evil, I can't really say from personal experience, but if you take the example of people who tend toward abusive relationships, it often seems as though a diabolical attractor brings the chronic victims and victimizers together.

On the flip side, from my own experience I know that once I consciously chose to seek out Truth, it was almost like following the yellow-brick road. However, until that point I was mired in uncertainty, battling depression and disillusionment, and generally just playing with fire. Figuratively, unfortunately - literally playing with fire would probably have been safer in terms of long-term well-being. "Bumbling along a meaningless path" actually describes it quite well, although in truth if we aren't trying to reach higher, then we're still falling at 32'/sec². No matter how much it feels like floating.

Open Trench said...

Julie, tell us more about how you played with fire figuratively please.

julie said...

No. Suffice it to say I was drunk on the progressive feminist kool-aid.

mushroom said...

Also, if you really aren't making a choice, then you will just kind of bumble along a meaningless path

Hey, I resemble that remark.

John Lien said...

Concerning MOTT. I'm officially, hopelessly behind now. Still a captivating read though.

Has anyone else out there had some "original", private, odd theological hunch and then have UF discuss it in great detail? Sort of cool/weird.

julie said...

Has anyone else out there had some "original", private, odd theological hunch and then have UF discuss it in great detail?

Yes, not just with MOTT, and at times it goes beyond weird to positively hair-raising. Fortunately, those times are few and far between.

Don't worry about keeping up. Often times, being out-of-synch is the best way to be in sync.

Open Trench said...

Van, I'd like to hear about your escapades. What kind of playing with fire did you do?

Christina M said...

I remember at least three instances of “that pull into darkness” right now. In the first two instances, I actually was standing in darkness and had to make a choice. It’s only years later, in looking back, that I see I was being asked to choose something significant and that I had made the right choice. The third instance I remember occurred as I was driving the long distance between the hospital and my home. I was leaving one son at the hospital with my husband and was traveling home to take care of the other son. On that long drive home, I suddenly noticed that there was a voice in my head that was telling me all the bad things that were going to happen to my son in the hospital, now that I was not there. I recognized the voice. I realized I had been hearing it all my life and that it was always negative. It never had anything good to say and always predicted the worst possible outcomes in any situation. And then I noticed a quieter voice, distinct from the other voice, and it was fighting for me. I realized that quieter voice had always been there too. I wish I remembered that more often.

mushroom said...

Chris: I recognized the voice. I realized I had been hearing it all my life and that it was always negative.

That sounds familiar. I think we might have a mutual acquaintance.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

The ESV's "crafty" doesn't quite get it -- sounds too much like Wile E. Coyote. The sibilant 'subtle' is the right word, like the KJV, kind of seductive.

Peyton said...

'Either way, the human subject "is continually stepping outside itself in order to return to itself once more and, through this 'circulation,' it inevitably matures -- becomes itself." '

That sounds like T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding.

julie said...

Chris, when you put it that way I guess it's pretty familiar after all. And what Mushroom said™.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Vaclav Havel writes that Man is "a being that has fallen out of Being and therefore continually reaches toward it, as the only entity by which and to which Being has revealed itself as a question [?!], as a secret and as meaning."

That's purty deep!

I've noticed as I have aged that I enjoy more often the "Being has revealed itself as a question [?!], as a secret and as meaning."

Particularly the question and secret (or mystery) which enhances the meaning.

Skully said...

Like my own homemade grog it's an acquired taste.

Cond0011 said...

"And don't you remember as a child, the first awareness of the pull into darkness?"

Yea. Power. Not power over the enviroment (which is our right - from the beginning), but power over others so that they become an extension of yourself.

...and this power over the enviroment has its responsibilites too. Thats where the greenies get all bunged up that our playpen is getting polluted. They have a point, but as usual, they get it all wrong and become useless idiots to further the agenda of those who want 'power over others'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg-v2A-KtDI (not funny, again - sorry)

"Here again, standard issue cʘʘnvision -- so long as we haven't voided the warranty -- allows us to know in an instant when we are in the presence of the One or the Øther."

Still trying to get my goggles fixed, Bob. The granularity of friend/foe within various people leaves me confused and taking risks. But one thing that keeps popping up is this constant: When I come across someone who I instinctually say 'This man is sophisticated', I find out eventually that s(he) has one racket or another for taking advantage of the people around them (and eventually me). IOW, beware the 'sophisticated' person (whatever that means when my intuition tells me they are such...). They are NOT your friend.

My latest endeavor is trying to identify and diffuse the Passive-Aggressive and their rackets (The term 'Minnesota Nice' comes from this type of person). Identifying them is the hard part - by definiton. After identification, diffusing their racket can be quite difficult - if not impossible. Ah well...

"To be continued... "

I can hardly wait.

Cond0011 said...

"My latest endeavor is trying to identify and diffuse the Passive-Aggressive and their rackets ..."

btw... I had a recent breakthrough in identifying this type and have a Swiss Army knife thought picture for you to carry with you for your own identification of said type:

1. They are 'Stepford Wives' (Stepford people). Choreographed personalities and actions. There is a whiff of 'plastic' when they interact with you (ie fake).

2. You really don't _know_ them. They are friendly and approachable and will discuss subjects of _your_ interest. May tell you of an activity or two of their own, but nothing beyond that.

3. The silence from them is 'deafening'. Hard to explain that one. But when you are in a group of people with a variety of interaction, you feel it (and no, they are not the wall flowers. Wall flowers speak alot by being merely wallflowers)

I could go on, but I'm only scratching the surface of this type and I ... frankly... haven't sorted things out beyond identifying them. Still... it IS important to sort out as their very subtle racket allows them to prosper at the expense of the people around them - and to have those same people love them for it, too. Grrrr....

Serious stuff, since it gives 'nice' a VERY bad name.

Gagdad Bob said...

Often the things you find funny -- or not -- reveals All. Or at least all you need to know.

Cond0011 said...

Well... it was a good video, even though it was rather... fringe.

Though I am not big into conspiracy theories, the video was capable of combing a few leftist macros into a 'big picture'.

For all I know, the Agenda 21 crowd may be just a bunch of Liberal Intellectuals with a big wish list and with lots of money (and little chance of application beyond their garden parties and steering the MSM and education system over the proverbial cliff of truth)

Open Trench said...

Chris:

The negative voice is in all of us, instilled in childhood. No one gets out unscathed. Some are scathed worse than others.

The heavily damaged ones become the manipulative or aggressive folk we complain about.

When we get spirit, we rise above the whole fracas and look with compassion on all of the players as they deal with the nasty ordeal of being human.

We hate the action, not the actor, when we have unity consciousness.

We all have been very nasty but we forgive ourselves and others. We fogive our tresspasses and those who tresspass against us.

You all know this already but a constant remembrance helps keep love in the heart.

Theme Song

Theme Song