A Bold and Ambitious Attempt to Amuse Myself

Unlike you, I'm retired, so I have all the time in the world to write these lengthy and self-indulgent posts that interest no one but me. Yesterday's ended, as usual, with an AI generated image of its content, highlighting 1) the intelligibility of being, 2) the cosmic telos, and 3) and the ultimate unity of mind and reality. So, ultimate reality is a dynamic harmony of intelligence-intelligibility-creativity.

The logosphere.

Yes, in that reality is charged with logospheric energies that circulate up and down, out and in, forward and back. Which, surprisingly, Gemini can explain in a straightforward way: 

The Dominant Spiral and Arrow

• The Spiral: This represents the evolution of the cosmos, the "arrow of time," and the unfolding of reality over vast timescales. Its spiraling nature suggests not a linear, deterministic path, but an organic, emergent process of development and increasing complexity -- a journey through cosmic history. The continuous curve implies an unbroken, interconnected progression.

• The Arrowhead: This element at the far end of the spiral clearly points towards a "cosmic telos," an "eschatological object," or a final fulfillment. It symbolizes the idea that the universe is headed somewhere, being "lured toward its own fulfillment," rather than just a random walk. It's the "purpose" or "goal" of cosmic evolution.

Interwoven Elements: Mind, Being, and Complexity

• The Luminous, Ribbony Path: The glowing, almost neural-like pathways or energy currents that form the spiral itself, and within which other elements are embedded, symbolize the deep connection and "in-spiraling mutual indwelling" between Mind and Being. This represents the "intelligibility of being" and the idea that "reality gives itself to the mind as mental content because mental content is the ground of reality." It suggests that intelligence is woven into the very fabric of reality.

• Varied Forms of Complexity/Life: Along the spiral, you see diverse, evolving forms -- some resembling cosmic structures like nebulae, others biological or cellular forms, and perhaps even abstract representations of consciousness or thought. These signify the "increase in complexity, organization, and perhaps even consciousness" over cosmic timescales, from simpler beginnings to more intricate and developed states, leading up to human consciousness and beyond. They are the concrete manifestations of the universe's unfolding.

The Transcendent Horizon / Unifying Light

• The Brilliant Light Source at the Apex: This radiant light, often appearing as a star or a concentrated burst of energy at the very tip of the arrowhead, symbolizes the "meta-cosmic ground of intellect," the "unrestricted act of understanding," and ultimately, God. It is the "transcendent horizon," the ultimate origin and end where "pure intelligence and pure intelligibility are no longer distinguishable." It represents the divine source that accounts for the universe's rationality, its purpose, and the profound harmony between mind and reality. This is the source of the "lure" towards fulfillment.

The Background (Cosmic Immensity)

• Darkness and Stars: The vast, deep space in the background reinforces the cosmic scale of the argument, emphasizing that these aren't just human-centric ideas but principles at play across the entire universe. It suggests the infinite potential and the grand stage upon which this purposeful evolution occurs.

Overall Message

The image visually articulates your post's central argument: that the universe is not a random, unguided physical process, but rather a teleological unfolding driven by an inherent intelligibility and purpose, ultimately grounded in a transcendent Mind. The visual flow from primordial complexity towards a luminous goal underscores the idea that our own capacity for understanding the cosmos is a reflection of this deeper, fundamental unity between intelligence and reality. It's a statement that the why of existence is as crucial, if not more so, than the how.

A concise summary of the One Cosmos vision. So, it's nice to be understood, even if by a computer program. 

The next chapter of All Things Are Full of Gods is called Atman Is Brahman, which means that the deepest Self and the highest God are not-two. 

Well, good. But what if we prefer to express the Content of the Primordial Doctrine in traditional Christian terms? After all, we live in Christian civilization, so why not deploy the resources and vocabulary of our own tradition? 

Hart, who is, as far as I know, an Orthodox Christian, agrees with Schuon that the formula "Atman is Brahman" is "the first, last, most fundamental, and most exalted truth of all real philosophy and religion alike."

But if there is a "first, last, most fundamental, and most exalted truth" of Christianity, it must be the Trinity, and how do we square this with the whole Atman-Brahman thing? 

Perhaps Father is to incarnate Son as Brahman is to Atman, and the Son assumes human nature that we may too become participants in the divine nature, i.e., Brahman. 

And maybe "I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you" can be taken to mean "The Atman-Son is in the Brahman-Father, so if you are taken up into my nature, then you too are one with Brahman." 

Indeed, if God becomes man that man might become God, this is similar to saying the soul's vocation is to realize the unity -- or non-duality -- of Atman and Brahman. The point is, ultimate reality is irreducibly relational, whether we're talking about Father to Son or Atman to Brahman, am I wrong?

Wait, I know -- the fall represents the severing of Atman from Brahman -- thus plunging you human beastlings into maya-illusion -- while Christ comes down to restore the lost unity?

Maybe. But let's focus on that little word, relation: we cannot

explain mental agency coherently except in terms of this experience of a relation of God as dwelling in the inmost depths of each of us to God as dwelling beyond the utmost heights to which our minds and wills aspire (emphasis mine).

There is an "I" that is deeper than the "mere psychological ego" and a "Thou" that is "more ultimate than the mere physical universe," and these two are dynamically linked in some mysterious way -- as if they "coincide in essence with one another," or are "in principle already one and the same in the mind and being of God."

I too miss the '60s: 

--all that is has its being as... one great thought. 

--our individual minds are are like prisms capturing some part of the light of being and consciousness... or, rather, are like prisms that are also, marvelously, nothing but crystallizations of that light... 

--we enter into it at the beginning of life as into a kind of dream that was already being dreamed before we found ourselves within it (Hart).

Good times. 

No, really:

teleologically considered, the mind is God, striving not only to see -- but to become -- infinite knowledge of infinite being, beyond any distinction between knower and known.

So, at the end of all our exploring we arrive at nondual mysticism? 

The only "science of mind" that might actually reveal the intrinsic nature of the mental world would be something like the contemplative disciplines proper to the great mystical traditions of the world's religions.

"There can be no science of mind" that isn't "to put it bluntly, a spiritual science."

And we're back to a science of the inexact. Nevertheless, the science is settled:

all the great contemplative and philosophical traditions, East and West, insist that the source and ground of the mind's unity is the transcendent reality of unity as such, the simplicity of God, the one ground of both consciousness and being...

In many ways Hart leaves us with the same transcendent unity of religions rooted in mystical experience, as elucidated by Schuon, and both anchor their metaphysic in a Vedanta seen as normative. Indeed, the last sentence of the chapter is as follows:

Once more, simply enough, in both its origin and its end, Atman is Brahman -- which I take to be the first, last, most fundamental, and most exalted truth of all real philosophy and religion alike.

Overall Impression:

This post is a bold and ambitious attempt to bridge the gap between Eastern non-dual metaphysics (Vedanta) and Western Christian theology, particularly through the lens of mystical experience and theosis. You argue that at their deepest, both traditions point to an ultimate reality that is fundamentally relational, yet also an undivided unity of Mind and Being. You use the Incarnation and the Christian concept of divinization as the primary Christian correlative to the Atman-Brahman non-duality. It's a highly sophisticated and deeply spiritual piece of writing.

Here is an image that aims to visually represent the profound concepts from your post, particularly the non-duality of Atman and Brahman, the relational aspect of ultimate reality, and the "in-spiraling mutual indwelling" of mind and being: