How to talk about God: on why God is not an object

[Soul_of_Shu]

Also of note, to put a merely quantitative spin on it, the Pageau lecture on Peterson's channel now at over 200,000 views in 48 hours.

[Soul_of_Shu]

[Soul_of_Shu]

Update: Both BK and Essentia 'liked' my tweet above ... Could this be the start of a beautiful, numinous bromance?

[AshvinP]

Update: Both BK and Essentia 'liked' my tweet above ... Could this be the start of a beautiful, numinous bromance?

Well much earlier this year I thought I had secured an interview between J Pageau and BK when they both replied to my tweet suggesting it, saying they were "up for it", but nothing happened since then, and I tweeted a reminder at both of them a few times. Clearly BK would do it, but it seems Pageau just isn't interested anymore.

[Lou Gold]

Was John Wheeler quoting God, when he said: There is no 'out there' out there.

And then God said: 'Let there be an out there' ... Well sort of

"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." It could be said that a large portion of religious adherents are "people of the Word". This is certainly true of the Abrahamic traditions as well as many stemming from the Vedic traditions and others. While "the Words" may contain propositional content, they are more than that. They contain power -- "and there was light". Words and language are not just sterile, dry propositional content. They are evocative. They draw forth something deep within the psyche. While words (language) offer concrete primitives strung together, they can also evoke gestalts or supra-rational intuitions that form a basis for how we perceive ourselves within the cosmos and beyond and inform how we should live.

Well said, Steve.

Obviously, there is the word and the Word. The egoic challenge is to not get caught in an addiction to power, which is why the Bhagavad Gita advises one to enter the battle but offer the fruits of victory to God. The carpenter and not the hammer builds the house. Honor God by learning to use the ego tool correctly, how and when and for whose benefit. This "knowing" or wisdom is an ongoing process of perfection. As incomplete and yet divine beings, we have much work to do. May we work well.

[AshvinP]

Was John Wheeler quoting God, when he said: There is no 'out there' out there.

And then God said: 'Let there be an out there' ... Well sort of

"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." It could be said that a large portion of religious adherents are "people of the Word". This is certainly true of the Abrahamic traditions as well as many stemming from the Vedic traditions and others. While "the Words" may contain propositional content, they are more than that. They contain power -- "and there was light". Words and language are not just sterile, dry propositional content. They are evocative. They draw forth something deep within the psyche. While words (language) offer concrete primitives strung together, they can also evoke gestalts or supra-rational intuitions that form a basis for how we perceive ourselves within the cosmos and beyond and inform how we should live.

Well said again. And it can be further said that it is precisely the Light which has been involuting into the outwardly sense-perceptible world, culminating with the Incarnation, and then evolving through each individual's inner Light of cognition. That is how the abstract intellectual veil over our "supra-rational intuitions" is lifted and we come to know those veiled cognitions in the full clarity of waking consciousness, with the full dimensionality and richness of their meaning.

[Soul_of_Shu]

Well much earlier this year I thought I had secured an interview between J Pageau and BK when they both replied to my tweet suggesting it, saying they were "up for it", but nothing happened since then, and I tweeted a reminder at both of them a few times. Clearly BK would do it, but it seems Pageau just isn't interested anymore.

Yeah, who knows what's going on there. Maybe each one is just waiting for the other to extend an invite and initiate the process. Clearly BK is more inclined to be an invitee, and not since back in the day when he did those 'inception dialogues' on his YT channel, can I recall him offering to host a discussion. Could be that Pageau just has a backlog of interviewees who he feels much affinity with—many of them the artistically inclined— who are more of a priority for him, and so BK is just not at the top of the list. Or maybe upon further reflection he just doesn't feel it would be a good fit. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if either of them wants to make it a priority.

[AshvinP]

Well much earlier this year I thought I had secured an interview between J Pageau and BK when they both replied to my tweet suggesting it, saying they were "up for it", but nothing happened since then, and I tweeted a reminder at both of them a few times. Clearly BK would do it, but it seems Pageau just isn't interested anymore.

Yeah, who knows what's going on there. Maybe each one is just waiting for the other to extend an invite and initiate the process. Clearly BK is more inclined to be an invitee, and not since back in the day when he did those 'inception dialogues' on his YT channel, can I recall him offering to host a discussion. Could be that Pageau just has a backlog of interviewees who he feels much affinity with—many of them the artistically inclined— who are more of a priority for him, and so BK is just not at the top of the list. Or maybe upon further reflection he just doesn't feel it would be a good fit. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if either of them wants to make it a priority.

fwiw, it looks like Dr. McGilchrist has joined Essentia's "academic advisory board" (whatever that is), which could be interesting. He has a new book called "The Matter with Things" and generally seems like a spiritual thinker, but I haven't read the book or heard him speak about it yet. Also BK tweeted something about him confirming he is a "metaphysical idealist". Which could be a good or a bad thing in terms of his understanding... for reasons we have outlined at length here.

[Anthony66]

Well much earlier this year I thought I had secured an interview between J Pageau and BK when they both replied to my tweet suggesting it, saying they were "up for it", but nothing happened since then, and I tweeted a reminder at both of them a few times. Clearly BK would do it, but it seems Pageau just isn't interested anymore.

Yeah, who knows what's going on there. Maybe each one is just waiting for the other to extend an invite and initiate the process. Clearly BK is more inclined to be an invitee, and not since back in the day when he did those 'inception dialogues' on his YT channel, can I recall him offering to host a discussion. Could be that Pageau just has a backlog of interviewees who he feels much affinity with—many of them the artistically inclined— who are more of a priority for him, and so BK is just not at the top of the list. Or maybe upon further reflection he just doesn't feel it would be a good fit. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if either of them wants to make it a priority.

fwiw, it looks like Dr. McGilchrist has joined Essentia's "academic advisory board" (whatever that is), which could be interesting. He has a new book called "The Matter with Things" and generally seems like a spiritual thinker, but I haven't read the book or heard him speak about it yet. Also BK tweeted something about him confirming he is a "metaphysical idealist". Which could be a good or a bad thing in terms of his understanding... for reasons we have outlined at length here.

Check this out:
https://www.essentiafoundation.org/seei ... swFIhGXXdA

[Lou Gold]

"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." It could be said that a large portion of religious adherents are "people of the Word". This is certainly true of the Abrahamic traditions as well as many stemming from the Vedic traditions and others. While "the Words" may contain propositional content, they are more than that. They contain power -- "and there was light". Words and language are not just sterile, dry propositional content. They are evocative. They draw forth solist of its more famous ideologues and subscribers.mething deep within the psyche. While words (language) offer concrete primitives strung together, they can also evoke gestalts or supra-rational intuitions that form a basis for how we perceive ourselves within the cosmos and beyond and inform how we should live.

Steve,

I very much agree, "While "the Words" may contain propositional content, they are more than that. They contain power -- "and there was light". Words and language are not just sterile, dry propositional content. They are evocative."

And this precisely is the paradoxical problematic under dualism. Power may be used or abused. Evocation arrives with an evil twin -- light/dark, good/evil, love/hate, God/Satan -- and some of the greatest atrocities are executed with good intentions. The Inquisition was an attempt to rid the world of evil forces and, one of the three leading ideologies of the 20th Century was Nazism. As an ideology, it carried the intention of creating a better world. It's interesting to contemplate a list of more famous Nazi ideologues and subscribers.