Lysander wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 6:31 am
I'm noticing another theme here which is the emphasis on Cleric and Ashvin's 'approach' being argued as revealing or yielding the further-est insight insofar as Thinking goes, such as, the higher-order cognition of man's local body and its relation to the Cosmic Body, and mineral kingdom's relationship to cosmic mineral kingdoms and whatnot. However, I see Ashvin stating that Thinking is one-third aspect, so to speak, of Reality, with counterparts of Willing and Feeling. But I don't see any emphasis on the significance of Willing and Feeling. As if, they're only discernable through Thinking in which case I don't see how we could mention them as being different.
And this matters because I read classic mysticism of all traditions as not being Thinking-based, but a pre-verbal Feeling (maybe even Willing). So I am confused about T-W-F. Next, I also see that Cleric is highlighting some kind of perspectival shift as a result of Thinking. It really seems that the definition of special definition of Thinking that's offered with a capital T is problematic to many lurkers. Because, as I understand it, you use it to encapsulate all conceivable mental faculties, basically any state or mode of consciousness is Thinking. So what do Willing and Feeling have to do with it? And shouldn't be a recognition or path or discipline for Willing and Feeling, as well?
All of this talk about "truly hard and dedicated work" about Thinking is another point of 'sectarianism' that Eugene was implying, if I am to give credit to the spirit of the back-and-forth embodied in his comments. The Anthroposphic method, if that we might call it, seems heavily Thinking based whereas other 'insight traditions' (esoteric mysticism) would be devotional or Feeling-based (can I put it that way?). Would you (anyone) agree, in accordance with their own traditions, they also yield a perspective shift? If so, then the kind of reconciliation I proposed earlier would be along the lines of different paths of authentic inquiry (depending on sincerity) for different types or dispositions of human personality.
Lysander,
this confusion can be cleared when we deepen our understanding of Spiritual Activity in general. Problems arise when we imagine T-F-W as laid down before the eye of Consciousness, similarly to the way we have, for example, left and right hands (if we imagine that we have three hands with slightly different attributes). Such a view presumes that somehow our conscious perspective is already fully objective and it's all a matter of refining, filtering, elucidating phenomena that lie before the eye of the One Consciousness:
When spiritual life is deepened then we find out that relations are more complicated. It's more like the Spiritual Activity of the One Consciousness is differentiated in layers which interfere with each other:
So ultimately, there's only Spirit and its Activity (where the lines merge). In the course involution, this activity becomes delaminated, so to speak. We can see here analogy with the way science imagines that the four fundamental forces were united before the Big Bang and in the process of cooling down of the Universe, the forces became differentiated one by one and assumed their distinct character. The Spirit leaves part of its activity behind, which serves as 'carrier waves' for the more convoluted forms of activity. These left behind strata of spiritual activity are no longer experienced as clear creative and meaningful activity but are understood as contexts from the perspective of the convoluted one.
We can observe this quite easily in ourselves. Thinking is the kind of activity where we feel creatively involved and where we find our immediate reflection. Think about it: if Thinking is taken away can we even speak of consciousness? Can a floating feeling of joy in the Cosmos even be called consciousness if there's no experience of
knowing that this feeling is being felt? The same holds about willing (quite clearly with Schopenhauer). On the contrary, it's quite easy to imagine the reverse - we can imagine that our will is paralyzed, that we feel nothing but even if we're left only with pure thought we're still fully conscious. In Thinking we have something of all three - a thought is known, felt and willed. But when we try to extract only feeling and willing, they become unconscious if there isn't also knowing.
The reason Western esoterism begins with Thinking is precisely this. If we have put on several layers of clothes, we undress them in the reverse order, don't we? Thinking is the last form of spiritual activity to come to the scene. It will also be the first to be transformed into the higher forms of spiritual activity. Like LIFO buffer (for the computer geeks) - Last In, First Out.
In this sense Feeling and Willing have more primordial origin but we must be perfectly clear that what we experience as Feeling and Willing from our human perspective
is not what these forms of Spiritual Activity are when experienced from
within. What we know as feelings is only a
dream shadow of the spiritual processes that can only become conscious when Thinking transforms itself into the higher forms of cognition - Imagination, Inspiration, Intuition.
I guess most here have heard the words 'Thinking of the Heart'. Very sadly these words are misinterpreted in the most grotesque way in our age. People understand them as 'the way of the heart' or in other words, abolishing any trust in thinking and instead living by wherever the desires of our heart take us. Anyone can see where a life let to be run by blind desires leads, when these heart impulses are not being imbued with lucid understanding. If this lucid understanding was sought, everyone would see the difference between a pure heart and a heart that is simply torn by the most conflicting and destructive (usually in the long run) desires. Yet many people prefer the convenience of not thinking, being afraid that it'll take away something of the spontaneity and freedom of their desires.
Thinking of the Heart refers to actual higher form of spiritual activity. We get there when we pass through Thinking and rise its cognitive element into the world of Feeling. Then Feeling, is experienced in a completely different way than the nebulous sympathies and antipathies of the ordinary state. We have fluid spiritual activity, which no longer reflects the World in abstract thoughts but the spiritual force
concealed in ordinary thinking is
liberated and becomes transformative spiritual power that Imaginatively metamorphoses our organism and environment.
We discover that sympathies and antipathies are only the dream shadows of a higher World where everything is lucidly meaningful. For example, our sympathy towards given profession is seen as intrinsic part of our personality (some even take pride in it). Yet from the perspective of the Soul World, this sympathy is only a shadow of fully conscious, higher order spiritual activity of beings. These are actually the workings of Destiny. We don't understand it on the intellectual surface, but our soul is very complex spiritual organism, which goes through continuous development. For the Higher Self (in which I include multitude of beings) the soul is like a precious stone that is being carefully polished, in order to refract properly the Light of the Spirit - thus the One Consciousness can have more and more faithful perception of the Whole, as it experiences the Cosmos through the complicated lens system of that particular soul. We're not aware of this grandiose Cosmic work, so we simply take pride in whatever we do, while in reality higher order processes have led us to this life situation in order to develop the qualities and virtues that will further our development.
This process is not supposed to remain disconnected in this way. We can only build the bridge if we comprehend that the Spirit passes through the layers of W-F-T and is currently awake only at the tip of the iceberg. As it transforms its sheaths, it gradually elucidates the deeper layers where they metamorphose in higher forms of spiritual activity.
Of course this doesn't mean that we must neglect F and W and work entirely with T. Not for a second this has been suggested anywhere, neither here, nor in any genuine book on Initiation. It's quite the contrary - we must bring into complete harmony these three forces. Yet this can only happen if we have the High Ideal within our Thinking, which gives us the the direction of how this harmonization should happen and what goals it should serve. We must understand our High Ideal (T), we must Love our High Ideal (F), we must turn our High Ideal into virtuous deeds of Love (W). This is something that anyone must undertake in their Earthly life. Whether one will rise within this lifetime to the higher forms of cognition, where the true nature of F and W is revealed, is of secondary importance. Unless we work on this harmonization according to the High Ideal, the higher cognition won't come neither in this, nor in the next lifetime.
I am tempted to give Adur a pass here, because it seems he is a super busy guy and doesn't follow any of the other threads and has not read my essays on these things, and I presume he has not really looked into Steiner or Barfield yet. That being said, I am going to paste my comment to Justin here (who actually read Saving the Appearances and still grossly misrepresented Barfield) and I really hope Adur will reflect on it and therefore, equipped with more insight from people who are clearly more familiar with Barfield, stop misrepresenting the "spiritual evolution" Barfield, Cleric, and myself (and Scott when he comments) are all speaking of.
