inspiration

[bollinger]

I first encountered Kastrup's books after googling several phrases related to the topics at hand, as I have done every so often for the past few years. I recently finished reading several of Kastrup's books (Idea of the World, Meaning in Absurdity, Decoding Jung's Metaphysics and Rationalist Spirituality). After reading Rationalist Spirituality, I was amazed at how Kastrup was articulating something that I had been trying for years to articulate to a friend - except far deeper and more coherently than I have ever succeeded in doing. I am shocked at how close his ideas are to what I attempted to describe in our conversations - except more fleshed out and with a deeper understanding. I was also struck by the fact that he has been drawn to many of the same topics I have when trying to understand my experiences (Jung, the unconscious, Patrick Harpur, Vallee).

When I was 14-17 (now 25) I had several experiences which led me to believe with absolute certainty that I shared a common consciousness with all those around me. I have spent years trying to explain to my best friend that the purpose of life is to accumulate 'experience' for a collective well of consciousness from which all else is constructed. I didn't know terms such as 'alters' or 'disassociation' before reading his work - but immediately recognised the concepts. I always used the water cycle as a clunky metaphor to describe what I meant - when one is born they are like a droplet (soul) that has been evaporated out of the full body of the ocean (mind at large/collective consciousness/God), whose mission was to accumulate experiences as a droplet and then to return to the ocean upon death, once more losing the structure of an individual droplet and becoming a formless part of the ocean once more - a deep well of all accumulated experience. I often spoke about a man punching another - after death the 'ocean of experience' [God] knows how it felt both to punch and to be punched - but also all of the life experiences that led to the punch, and all that followed. I believed this to be the purpose of life.

What I am really posting here to (anonymously) ask: could BK have had similar experiences to me which led to his insights? Has he ever shared any info about the original inspiration for his beliefs? He writes as if all of his beliefs have been a logical deduction, but sometimes I wonder if he once dissolved into the mind-at-large as I have in the past. His writings are of such striking similarity to my (meagre) understandings - except he clearly has a far superior capacity to process and understand the dynamics at play and to draw conclusions from them. I understand that he has experimented with active imagination and trance states, but has he ever talked about an initial experience that made this issue feel important to him? I have not had such an experience in many years now, but they have shaped my understanding of myself and the world around me - and I am always eager to learn more about the topic.

Thank you.

[Martin_]

I believe that the last sections of More than Allegory are to some extent autobiographical. (Essentially a trip report under controlled and legal conditions). He has also spoken about these experiences in verious online interviews; See his appearances on "new thinking allowed" if memory serves right. Considering you've read his other works, and that you've had some transformative experiences yourself, the book "More than Allegory" might be the "Missing Link" for you.

I'm not sure these experiences constitute "original inspiration" for his Idealiam though. If i recall correctly; he was working on (pseudo) artificial intelligence systems at CERN. This made him ponder things like artificial sentience / the hard problem on consciousness, and if memory serves right i believe he had an epiphany at some point, realising the materialist/physicalist onlology would never be able to explain consciousness. Something along those lines.

[bollinger]

This is exactly what I was looking for. It's really fascinating, thank you. I would love to participate in this Trilobite experiment.