Reflex
Active Member
I didn't know where I should post this. It's not for debate, but it doesn't seem to fit any of the discussion forums, either.
God, it is said, is the circle of infinity whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere. If true, every thing, every where, every when, and their every possibility are centered in me—right here, right now. The oddest thing about this idea is its plausibility: its realization in human consciousness is theoretically possible and it is consistent with claims associated with mystical experiences. I have not personally experienced what some call a “peak experience,” but I have nevertheless had experiences that give me reason not to doubt that those more intense experiences do indeed happen.
How do I know my own experiences and the experience of others is not due to some kind of brain-malfunction? I don't. But in life there are things to which we must commit ourselves 100% in spite of any lingering doubts. Even if we do not ultimately know what our destination is, we don't arrive by failing to get on board because we are not 100% sure we will arrive safely.
It is assumed by most that “faith” is belief in a body of unsubstantiated ideas. That's nonsense. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” Faith stands at the juncture of conceptual imagery, usually supported by evidence, and mystery. Continue down the path of evidence and conceptual imagery and it takes you to more of the same. Make an abrupt change in direction, a genuine leap into the unknown, and you end up somewhere completely different.
Understanding this, it is easy to see the madness of debating religious concepts. But if filling our heads with ideas doesn't serve religion's real aim, why play around with them at all? Because provided the reader or listener is eager and ready to begin the journey, reason leads to the point at which there is nothing left to do but give up, or leap the chasm between concept and Reality. What the great mystics throughout history point is right before our eyes, so close we are unable to see it, closer than our own breath. How immensely difficult it must be for one with a vision of divine reality to try to describe it to the spiritually blind, and how grateful we should be that they even try.
God, it is said, is the circle of infinity whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere. If true, every thing, every where, every when, and their every possibility are centered in me—right here, right now. The oddest thing about this idea is its plausibility: its realization in human consciousness is theoretically possible and it is consistent with claims associated with mystical experiences. I have not personally experienced what some call a “peak experience,” but I have nevertheless had experiences that give me reason not to doubt that those more intense experiences do indeed happen.
“We must not look, but must, as it were, close our eyes and exchange our faculty of vision for another. We must awaken this faculty which everyone possesses, but few people ever use.” (Plotinus)
“The eye in which I see God is the same eye in which God sees me. My eye and God’s eye are one eye and one seeing, one knowing and one loving.” (Meister Eckhart)
“The eye in which I see God is the same eye in which God sees me. My eye and God’s eye are one eye and one seeing, one knowing and one loving.” (Meister Eckhart)
How do I know my own experiences and the experience of others is not due to some kind of brain-malfunction? I don't. But in life there are things to which we must commit ourselves 100% in spite of any lingering doubts. Even if we do not ultimately know what our destination is, we don't arrive by failing to get on board because we are not 100% sure we will arrive safely.
It is assumed by most that “faith” is belief in a body of unsubstantiated ideas. That's nonsense. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” Faith stands at the juncture of conceptual imagery, usually supported by evidence, and mystery. Continue down the path of evidence and conceptual imagery and it takes you to more of the same. Make an abrupt change in direction, a genuine leap into the unknown, and you end up somewhere completely different.
“Religion is not about beliefs.” (Reflex)
“A person who wants to arrive at union with the Supreme Repose and Good in this life must climb all the steps, which are considerations, forms, and concepts, and leave them behind, since they are dissimilar and unproportioned to the goal toward which they lead. And this goal is God.” (St. John of the Cross)
“By love He may be gotten and holden; by thought, never.” (Anonymous)
“One must not make it [the One] two even for the sake of forming an idea of it.” (Plotinus)
“What is spiritual is spirit. Spirit forms matter but isn't part of matter. So Spirituality means leaving behind all physical sensations and thoughts of materiality.” (Plotinus)
“A person who wants to arrive at union with the Supreme Repose and Good in this life must climb all the steps, which are considerations, forms, and concepts, and leave them behind, since they are dissimilar and unproportioned to the goal toward which they lead. And this goal is God.” (St. John of the Cross)
“By love He may be gotten and holden; by thought, never.” (Anonymous)
“One must not make it [the One] two even for the sake of forming an idea of it.” (Plotinus)
“What is spiritual is spirit. Spirit forms matter but isn't part of matter. So Spirituality means leaving behind all physical sensations and thoughts of materiality.” (Plotinus)
Understanding this, it is easy to see the madness of debating religious concepts. But if filling our heads with ideas doesn't serve religion's real aim, why play around with them at all? Because provided the reader or listener is eager and ready to begin the journey, reason leads to the point at which there is nothing left to do but give up, or leap the chasm between concept and Reality. What the great mystics throughout history point is right before our eyes, so close we are unable to see it, closer than our own breath. How immensely difficult it must be for one with a vision of divine reality to try to describe it to the spiritually blind, and how grateful we should be that they even try.
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