Perennial Philosophy

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Nick_A
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Perennial Philosophy

Post by Nick_A »

Simone Weil wrote in a letter to a friend who wanted to know more about her since she had TB so was dying. She remembered when she was fourteen
"..........I did not mind having no visible successes, but what did grieve me was the idea of being excluded from that transcendent kingdom to which only the truly great have access and wherein truth abides. I preferred to die rather than live without that truth..........................."
I've read perennial philosophy defined as: "The science of the Absolute and the relative." The Absolute is ONE or no-thing while the relative is many or every-thing. How are they united?
“The divine Ground of all existence is a spiritual Absolute, ineffable in terms of discursive thought, but (in certain circumstances) susceptible of being directly experienced and realized by the human being. This Absolute is the God-without-form of Hindu and Christian mystical phraseology. The last end of man, the ultimate reason for human existence, is unitive knowledge of the divine Ground—the knowledge that can come only to those who are prepared to “Die to self” and so make room, as it were, for God.”
― Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy
Was Simone's life's quest doomed to failure and the return of dust to dust in the domain of opinions? We don't know. We know of one experience when near death:
I had the impression of being in the presence of an absolutely transparent soul which was ready to be reabsorbed into original light. I can still hear Simone Weil’s voice in the deserted streets of Marseilles as she took me back to my hotel in the early hours of the morning; she was speaking of the Gospel; her mouth uttered thoughts as a tree gives its fruit, her words did not express reality, they poured it into me in its naked totality; I felt myself to be transported beyond space and time and literally fed with light.
Gustav Thibon
Maybe some atoms of the Great Beast or society itself dwelling in Plato's Cave mature to become human and return home to their origin; who knows? We can contemplate if it is possible.

Obviously secularism and its denial of the ONE or the ineffable Absolute beyond the limitations of time and space will have no interest and is satisfied with arguing opinions. But if there are others out there who have studied the implications of Perennial philosophy, and why we are drawn to it much like a moth is drawn to the light, maybe we can discuss it.

What does it mean to become conscious Man, the individual, and experience conscious meaning and the ACTIONS associated with it supporting the structure of creation rather than the REACTIONS supporting the collective goal of survival of the fittest normal for collective animal life?
Nick_A
Posts: 6208
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:23 am

Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Nick_A »

Here is a good explanation for Perennial Philosophy:
From William Stoddart's introduction to Ye Shall Know the Truth: Christianity and the Perennial Philosophy. Stoddart writes:

The central idea of the perennial philosophy is that Divine Truth is one, timeless, and universal, and that the different religions are but different languages expressing that one Truth. The symbol most often used to convey this idea is that of the uncolored light and the many colors of the spectrum which are made visible only when the uncolored light is refracted. In the Renaissance, the term betokened the recognition of the fact that the philosophies of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus incontrovertibly expounded the same truth as lay at the heart of Christianity. Subsequently the meaning of the term was enlarged to cover the metaphysics and mysticisms of all of the great world religions, notably, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.

What is important to note here are two prominent characteristics of the Perennial Philosophy: First, its starting point is an Absolute. It proceeds from the notion that there is a God, which puts it at odds with most modern philosophies. Second, though resting on the principle of an Absolute Reality, it is non-sectarian. When writing of the Divine Truth, for example, Perennialists have no agenda due to their personal religious affiliations. They only search to express that Truth on its own terms, not on the terms of one or another of its earthly expressions. The Perennial Philosophy respects the theologies of the great religious traditions, but points out to us that these all are various "colors," to use Stoddart's image, derived from the same uncolored Source. It is this Source and its nature that is of primary importance to perennialists.
Perennial Philosophy must have limited appeal since it it begins with the Absolute or the ONE. The Divine truth opposes opposes the demands of personal Gods while being non sectarian, the most reasonable path to truth becomes science and materialism but it cannot satisfy the need for "Meaning"

In the educated world that now praises the diversity of opinions, it cannot appreciate the few who are drawn to the one DIVINE TRUTH which is the source of opinions. Can humanity as a whole become attracted to ponder the one Divine Truth as opposed to arguing opinions? Resistance is to be expected.
Nick_A
Posts: 6208
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:23 am

Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Nick_A »

The argument known as “Meno’s Paradox” introduced by Plato can be reformulated as follows:

If you know what you’re looking for, inquiry is unnecessary.
If you don’t know what you’re looking for, inquiry is impossible.
Therefore, inquiry is either unnecessary or impossible.


An implicit premise:

Either you know what you’re looking for or you don’t know what you’re looking for.

How can Perennial Philosophy reconcile this paradox if indeed it can?
Nick_A
Posts: 6208
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:23 am

Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Nick_A »

Imagine a college student having read Shakespeare's "All the World is a stage." It seems to imply a meaningless existence which disturbs him

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/ ... ds-a-stage

It concludes with possibly his own live concluding as: "Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

He decides to ask his prof if that is all there is for this apparent most intelligent species in our universe. The prof responds

"If you know what you’re looking for, inquiry is unnecessary." You are a believer. You have found what you are looking for and what you need. Yes but somehow it doesn't satisfy and to think I will end up without eyes, teeth, and taste, is faith only imaginary consolation? The prof responds

"If you don’t know what you’re looking for, inquiry is impossible." You admit you don't know so just have faith in the potential for our growing government that does know. It will take care of you and provide all the meaning you need. We can only conclude by saying:
"Therefore, inquiry is either unnecessary or impossible."
Just be normal and play with your remote and your future job while checking out that cute blond in the fourth row. If inquiry is either unnecessary or impossible don't bother with it. Your government has everything in hand so have faith in it.

The logical conclusion for modern education
Nick_A
Posts: 6208
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:23 am

Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Nick_A »

Our young student is becoming increasingly perplexed. He feel himself needing a quality of meaning those around him say is both unnecessary and impossible. To make matters worse, he remembers reading in Ecclesiastes 1:

The words of the Teacher,[a] son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”


His increasingly growing search for meaning in the world around him asserts it is not only unnecessary and impossible but meaningless as well. Is this his future; to become a soldier in this great meaningless war of opinions only decided by might makes right. There has got to be more to it; some kind of objective purpose in this world of opinions. He then promised after high school to see the world rather than attending college and its glorification of opinions. Some people must know something. He read of Simone Weil's need to find conscious humanity.
"..........I did not mind having no visible successes, but what did grieve me was the idea of being excluded from that transcendent kingdom to which only the truly great have access and wherein truth abides. I preferred to die rather than live without that truth..........................."
He needed to find others who valued truth over arguing and defending opinions in a meaningless existence in order to find "purpose".
Nick_A
Posts: 6208
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:23 am

Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Nick_A »

Our young student became depressed. He began to drink making matters worse. It seems life in the world is meaningless yet he feels there has got to be meaning. What must he learn that reveals the purpose for existence?

One night lying in bed he began to sob and cried out "I need help." He then fell asleep from the alcohol. The next day some strange man came to the door and gave him a message which read: "Why learn anything new, why not remember what you have forgotten?"

What could this mean? Then he remembered what Plato had written on anamnesis. He had learned of it in philosophy class but didn't take it seriously:

The word anamnesis is commonly translated as “recollection.” Anamnesis is a noun derived from the verb anamimneskein, which means “to be reminded.” According to Plato, what we call learning is actually recollection of facts which we possessed before incarnation into human form.

All of a sudden it clicked. He didn't have to learn any new facts but must learn to consciously contemplate in order to remember what was known in his origin; the level of reality illuminated by spiritual light above the visible world illuminated by the sun.

Perhaps Plato was right in his description of the divided line. Meaning doesn't exist below the sun. Meaning for humanity requires human consciousness or the connection with our source above the divided line. Having become attached to the shadows on the wall in Plato's Cave it is forgotten. The connection between our higher and lower parts has been severed and filled with imagination

It became obvious to our hero that he must become capable of conscious contemplation and quit blindly reacting to the shadows on the wall. But how?
Age
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Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2018 8:17 am

Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Age »

Nick_A wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 6:47 pm Simone Weil wrote in a letter to a friend who wanted to know more about her since she had TB so was dying. She remembered when she was fourteen
"..........I did not mind having no visible successes, but what did grieve me was the idea of being excluded from that transcendent kingdom to which only the truly great have access and wherein truth abides. I preferred to die rather than live without that truth..........................."
I've read perennial philosophy defined as: "The science of the Absolute and the relative." The Absolute is ONE or no-thing while the relative is many or every-thing. How are they united?
“The divine Ground of all existence is a spiritual Absolute, ineffable in terms of discursive thought, but (in certain circumstances) susceptible of being directly experienced and realized by the human being. This Absolute is the God-without-form of Hindu and Christian mystical phraseology. The last end of man, the ultimate reason for human existence, is unitive knowledge of the divine Ground—the knowledge that can come only to those who are prepared to “Die to self” and so make room, as it were, for God.”
― Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy
Was Simone's life's quest doomed to failure and the return of dust to dust in the domain of opinions? We don't know. We know of one experience when near death:
I had the impression of being in the presence of an absolutely transparent soul which was ready to be reabsorbed into original light. I can still hear Simone Weil’s voice in the deserted streets of Marseilles as she took me back to my hotel in the early hours of the morning; she was speaking of the Gospel; her mouth uttered thoughts as a tree gives its fruit, her words did not express reality, they poured it into me in its naked totality; I felt myself to be transported beyond space and time and literally fed with light.
Gustav Thibon
Maybe some atoms of the Great Beast or society itself dwelling in Plato's Cave mature to become human and return home to their origin; who knows? We can contemplate if it is possible.

Obviously secularism and its denial of the ONE or the ineffable Absolute beyond the limitations of time and space will have no interest and is satisfied with arguing opinions. But if there are others out there who have studied the implications of Perennial philosophy, and why we are drawn to it much like a moth is drawn to the light, maybe we can discuss it.

What does it mean to become conscious Man, the individual, and experience conscious meaning and the ACTIONS associated with it supporting the structure of creation rather than the REACTIONS supporting the collective goal of survival of the fittest normal for collective animal life?
To just become Aware of the human 'self', and of thee One and ONLY True Self, that is all.
Age
Posts: 20205
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2018 8:17 am

Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Age »

Nick_A wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 1:29 am Here is a good explanation for Perennial Philosophy:
From William Stoddart's introduction to Ye Shall Know the Truth: Christianity and the Perennial Philosophy. Stoddart writes:

The central idea of the perennial philosophy is that Divine Truth is one, timeless, and universal, and that the different religions are but different languages expressing that one Truth. The symbol most often used to convey this idea is that of the uncolored light and the many colors of the spectrum which are made visible only when the uncolored light is refracted. In the Renaissance, the term betokened the recognition of the fact that the philosophies of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus incontrovertibly expounded the same truth as lay at the heart of Christianity. Subsequently the meaning of the term was enlarged to cover the metaphysics and mysticisms of all of the great world religions, notably, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.

What is important to note here are two prominent characteristics of the Perennial Philosophy: First, its starting point is an Absolute. It proceeds from the notion that there is a God, which puts it at odds with most modern philosophies. Second, though resting on the principle of an Absolute Reality, it is non-sectarian. When writing of the Divine Truth, for example, Perennialists have no agenda due to their personal religious affiliations. They only search to express that Truth on its own terms, not on the terms of one or another of its earthly expressions. The Perennial Philosophy respects the theologies of the great religious traditions, but points out to us that these all are various "colors," to use Stoddart's image, derived from the same uncolored Source. It is this Source and its nature that is of primary importance to perennialists.
Perennial Philosophy must have limited appeal since it it begins with the Absolute or the ONE. The Divine truth opposes opposes the demands of personal Gods while being non sectarian, the most reasonable path to truth becomes science and materialism but it cannot satisfy the need for "Meaning"

In the educated world that now praises the diversity of opinions, it cannot appreciate the few who are drawn to the one DIVINE TRUTH which is the source of opinions. Can humanity as a whole become attracted to ponder the one Divine Truth as opposed to arguing opinions? Resistance is to be expected.
Just come to KNOW thy Self, and the One and ONLY Divine Truth, naturally, becomes CRYSTAL CLEAR, and OBVIOUS.
Age
Posts: 20205
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2018 8:17 am

Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Age »

Nick_A wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 10:16 pm The argument known as “Meno’s Paradox” introduced by Plato can be reformulated as follows:

If you know what you’re looking for, inquiry is unnecessary.
If you don’t know what you’re looking for, inquiry is impossible.
Therefore, inquiry is either unnecessary or impossible.


An implicit premise:

Either you know what you’re looking for or you don’t know what you’re looking for.

How can Perennial Philosophy reconcile this paradox if indeed it can?
Just STOP looking, or not looking, for 'other' things, and instead just START being Truly Honest, while seriously seeking, or looking, to change, for the better, then ALL the answers that have been sought, by "others", just, naturally, come to light, and FLOW.
Age
Posts: 20205
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2018 8:17 am

Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Age »

Nick_A wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 4:29 am Imagine a college student having read Shakespeare's "All the World is a stage." It seems to imply a meaningless existence which disturbs him

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/ ... ds-a-stage

It concludes with possibly his own live concluding as: "Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

He decides to ask his prof if that is all there is for this apparent most intelligent species in our universe. The prof responds

"If you know what you’re looking for, inquiry is unnecessary." You are a believer. You have found what you are looking for and what you need. Yes but somehow it doesn't satisfy and to think I will end up without eyes, teeth, and taste, is faith only imaginary consolation? The prof responds

"If you don’t know what you’re looking for, inquiry is impossible." You admit you don't know so just have faith in the potential for our growing government that does know. It will take care of you and provide all the meaning you need. We can only conclude by saying:
"Therefore, inquiry is either unnecessary or impossible."
Just be normal and play with your remote and your future job while checking out that cute blond in the fourth row. If inquiry is either unnecessary or impossible don't bother with it. Your government has everything in hand so have faith in it.

The logical conclusion for modern education
The current 'education', in the days when this is being written, is the VERY OPPOSITE of what the word 'education', once meant.
Age
Posts: 20205
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2018 8:17 am

Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Age »

Nick_A wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:04 pm Our young student is becoming increasingly perplexed. He feel himself needing a quality of meaning those around him say is both unnecessary and impossible. To make matters worse, he remembers reading in Ecclesiastes 1:

The words of the Teacher,[a] son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”


His increasingly growing search for meaning in the world around him asserts it is not only unnecessary and impossible but meaningless as well.
Searching for 'meaning', itself, besides just doing it the proper AND correct way, has NEVER worked for 'you', human beings. Human history has PROVED this True.

But, just becoming another one with thee One, then 'meaning' becomes OBVIOUS and just FLOWS FREELY, to 'you'.

'Meaning' finds 'you'. 'you' do NOT find 'meaning', even by searching for 'it'.
Nick_A wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:04 pm Is this his future; to become a soldier in this great meaningless war of opinions only decided by might makes right.
'Might' NEVER necessarily 'makes right'. This is just ANOTHER DISTORTED view and/or BELIEF of those of 'you' who live in and create that 'war', or "great beast" as you call 'it', which 'you' have found "yourselves" trapped and STUCK within.
Nick_A wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:04 pm There has got to be more to it; some kind of objective purpose in this world of opinions.
There is, and once you UNCOVER WHY 'you' could NOT YET SEE the 'objective purpose', previously, things become exponentially MUCH MORE CLEARER.
Nick_A wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:04 pm He then promised after high school to see the world rather than attending college and its glorification of opinions. Some people must know something. He read of Simone Weil's need to find conscious humanity.
"..........I did not mind having no visible successes, but what did grieve me was the idea of being excluded from that transcendent kingdom to which only the truly great have access and wherein truth abides. I preferred to die rather than live without that truth..........................."
The MAIN reason WHY 'you', adult human beings, where so-called 'excluded' was because of your OWN making. That is; because of your OWN Dishonesty.

CHANGE 'that', then you can ONLY live WITH 'that truth', above here.
Nick_A wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:04 pm He needed to find others who valued truth over arguing and defending opinions in a meaningless existence in order to find "purpose".
"finding" 'truth' is like "looking for" 'meaning', it just does NOT happen like that.

To obtain 'truth' AND 'meaning' one just has to be Truthful, and just seriously Want to change for the better.

If one Truly values 'truth', then I am more than willing AND ready to have a Truly 'truthful' discussion. I ALREADY KNOW thee 'purpose' AND thee 'meaning' to Life. But the reason WHY I do NOT voluntarily express these views, BEFORE CLARIFICATION is sought, is because it ONLY ends up in 'arguing', in the fighting and defending sense, with 'you', human beings.
Nick_A
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Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:23 am

Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Nick_A »

Nick_A wrote: Sat Dec 11, 2021 5:08 am Our young student became depressed. He began to drink making matters worse. It seems life in the world is meaningless yet he feels there has got to be meaning. What must he learn that reveals the purpose for existence?

One night lying in bed he began to sob and cried out "I need help." He then fell asleep from the alcohol. The next day some strange man came to the door and gave him a message which read: "Why learn anything new, why not remember what you have forgotten?"

What could this mean? Then he remembered what Plato had written on anamnesis. He had learned of it in philosophy class but didn't take it seriously:

The word anamnesis is commonly translated as “recollection.” Anamnesis is a noun derived from the verb anamimneskein, which means “to be reminded.” According to Plato, what we call learning is actually recollection of facts which we possessed before incarnation into human form.

All of a sudden it clicked. He didn't have to learn any new facts but must learn to consciously contemplate in order to remember what was known in his origin; the level of reality illuminated by spiritual light above the visible world illuminated by the sun.

Perhaps Plato was right in his description of the divided line. Meaning doesn't exist below the sun. Meaning for humanity requires human consciousness or the connection with our source above the divided line. Having become attached to the shadows on the wall in Plato's Cave it is forgotten. The connection between our higher and lower parts has been severed and filled with imagination

It became obvious to our hero that he must become capable of conscious contemplation and quit blindly reacting to the shadows on the wall. But how?
Our young student filled with hope then tried to consciously contemplate rather than analyze. He found it impossible to do. His attempts at contemplation quickly devolved into the results of analysis so found nothing. St. Paul explained his problem perfectly in Romans 7:
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
He thought: I may want to contemplate but do I need to contemplate sufficiently to warrant an answer? It became clear he didn't know who or what he is. Socrates said "I know nothing" and advised me to "Know Thyself." But how? He needed to begin with the most essential philosophical/psychological question: "Who Am I" and awareness of the reality of the human condition. What prevents this quality of knowledge?
Nick_A
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Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Nick_A »

Age
If one Truly values 'truth', then I am more than willing AND ready to have a Truly 'truthful' discussion. I ALREADY KNOW thee 'purpose' AND thee 'meaning' to Life. But the reason WHY I do NOT voluntarily express these views, BEFORE CLARIFICATION is sought, is because it ONLY ends up in 'arguing', in the fighting and defending sense, with 'you', human beings.
I may be wrong here but my gut feeling is that you got your self into the New Age movement which asserts that we are God but don't know it. If that is the case and often the result of drugs, I can only advise you to get out of it. It is much more realistic to come to the conclusion Socrates did when he said "I know nothing"

Rather than claiming we are God, why not begin with the premise that we are not in the image of our source. That is a distant potential. At least reason why it is so. Our young student will soon learn of the human condition and why we are as we are.

Why society doesn't know what Christianity is and argues Christendom or man made interpretation is a question the seeker of truth must come to if he is drawn to "The science of the Absolute and the relative." Christendom is a variety of man made interpretations in society at the exoteric level or the domain of Plato's cave. Common sense should tell you that Christianity, initiating with a conscious source, must devolve into Christendom so the task is to re-discover Christianity. Kierkegaard had it right.
People who perhaps never once enter a church, never think about God, never mention his name except in oaths! People upon whom it has never dawned that they might have any obligation to God, people who either regard it as a maximum to be guiltless of transgressing criminal law, or do not count even this quite necessary! Yet all these people, even those who assert that no God exists, are all of them Christians, call themselves Christians, are recognized as Christians by the State, are buried as Christians by the Church, are certified as Christians for eternity.

(quoted in Protestant Thought in the 19th Century by Claude Welch p.294)

Christendom has done away with Christianity, without being quite aware of it. The consequence is that, if anything is to be done, one must try again to introduce Christianity into Christendom.

ibid p.295
In short; Christianity has been forgotten. It must be remembered through anamnesis. Do yourself a favor; if you are involved with this "I am God" concept, get out for the sake of your being and feel the value of humility.
Nick_A
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Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Nick_A »

Romans 7
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
This young student thought deeply about how St. Paul described himself as the wretched Man. He had always assumed that his being was one inclusive "I." St Paul now describes himself as the wretched man or a plurality at war with himself. After contemplating this premise our young student verified that it was the same with him. He had lofty goals about what humanity is and what it is capable of but also had another stronger side of his collective being that lived by acquired habits and was opposed to these lofty ideals. Under these conditions it was obvious that his life should be void of meaning and just turn in circles serving the animal needs of our earth to transform substances. As Yeats wrote in his poem: "Sailing to Byzantium"
O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.
Watta a way to go! Fastened to a dying animal?

But does the dying animal have to be dominant? Granted it is very strong and all my negativity and habits have helped create it. St. Paul Speaks of the efforts of the Christ to bring the Spirit into the world. Can this help in his need for meaning? But now he needs a rest so fixes himself a scotch and soda and goes to bed pondering this problem.
Nick_A
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Re: Perennial Philosophy

Post by Nick_A »

When our student woke up in the morning, he felt lighter as though experiencing something which changed his mind. He remembered what Huxley said:
“The divine Ground of all existence is a spiritual Absolute, ineffable in terms of discursive thought, but (in certain circumstances) susceptible of being directly experienced and realized by the human being. This Absolute is the God-without-form of Hindu and Christian mystical phraseology. The last end of man, the ultimate reason for human existence, is unitive knowledge of the divine Ground—the knowledge that can come only to those who are prepared to “Die to self” and so make room, as it were, for God.”
― Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy
Amazing he thought. His need enabled him to experience the inner vertical path leading to the goal of the Perennial tradition. He had experienced metanoia or the soul turning towards the light and not consumed by the shadows. Before this he only reasoned by dualism affirming or denying shadows. Christianity, Plato, and the Perennial Tradition all recognizes the divine truth and the needs of the soul to awaken to this triune perennial direction impossible for dualism

In order to profit from this revelation he had to repair his tripartite soul. As of now his understanding was the result of his sensual appetites dominating reason and justified by emotion. He was upside down. He had to become able to let reason be the boss supported by conscience and made possible in the world by the abilities of the body.

But this isn't so easy. For reason to dominate habits he needed sustained conscious attention. Once he loses it, his habits and conditioned reactions are dominant once again

He reasoned the goals of perennial philosophy are no longer possible for society but possible for an individual. They can become normal. Simone had described what it would take for society to become normal but it is clearly impossible for individual governed by appetites and opinions justifying them
The combination of these two facts — the longing in the depth of the heart for absolute good, and the power, though only latent, of directing attention and love to a reality beyond the world and of receiving good from it — constitutes a link which attaches every man without exception to that other reality.
Whoever recognizes that reality recognizes also that link. Because of it, he holds every human being without any exception as something sacred to which he is bound to show respect.
This is the only possible motive for universal respect towards all human beings. Whatever formulation of belief or disbelief a man may choose to make, if his heart inclines him to feel this respect, then he in fact also recognizes a reality other than this world's reality. Whoever in fact does not feel this respect is alien to that other reality also.
He thought to himself: forget about changing the world. It isn't wanted. The question is how to change himself to; become right side up and normal for human being in order to understand the meaning and purpose of our universe and Man within it. Instead of appetites dominating reason, reason is dominant over appetites He must become capable of self knowledge in order to be known and helped from above. Easier said than done. He thought: "how do I begin?"
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