(Essay) And They Shall Be One Flesh: 12 Signs That We Are Dualists

[Lou Gold]

Here's a legend that I truly love about what is named as the "Child Jesus of Prague." This story plays a large role in my life.

At one time Santa Teresa de Avila sent an ornate small statue of the Child Jesus to a rich patron of the Catholic Church in Prague. It was given to the church and installed in its own altar. It exhibited some healing powers and gained a following. Later, during one of the religious wars associated with the Reformation, the church was badly damaged, the altar was destroyed and the statue vanished. A priest who loved the image dug through the rubble for weeks and finally found the image, which had lost its right hand, the hand of agency and blessing, the hand of spiritual power. The priest was sad because he couldn't fix it. He thought of hiding it. Then a voice "of God" said, "No don't hide it. Place it in full view at the front of the church and pray to the Holy Mother for help", which he did. The next day a passing craftsman saw and took it, returning in a few days with it fully repaired. He and the priest then built a new altar and installed the image which soon exhibited many times more healing power and today is still venerated as a major iconic miracle-producing image.

Honestly, my first thought is that it is pointing to idolatry. I am not talking about someone holding to a different view than my own as "idolatry". Rather, I am saying it is placing the "healing power" and veneration in an external object which then serves to mask the reality of our own inner spiritual activity as that which heals. And that is precisely what you are pointing to below:

The archetypal lesson is that societal childhood trauma must be revealed so it can be healed, become creative and release even more power. In an emerging modern psychological/medical/engineering model, it would be called by someone like Gabor Maté, "The Wisdom of Trauma."

And from where else does revelation come in the modern age than from our own Thinking? Perhaps you will say doses of this or that psychotropic substance is the key, in which case I am no longer naive enough to think I can argue otherwise. I will just say, I disagree.

Well, perhaps idolatry, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. The idolatry is to mistake the symbol for the essence and this can be as true for the word as for the image. Of course, I do not argue for a "key." Need I emphasize that more?

Reporting, solely from a personal non-psychotropic-enhanced condition, I can report that I have walked down an urban street repeating, as a mantra, "Everything I see is a symbol of consciousness" and witnessed as the entire visual scene transformed as powerfully as on any psychotropic substance. Using a common lingo, perhaps I would say this was an example of increased intuitive perception. And, NO, I've not mastered to consistently stabilize that kind of awareness. However, as an old guy gratefully still full of curiosity and enthusiasm, I simple continue to revere and explore The Great Mysteriousness, which I find as lovely, indeed!

[AshvinP]

Here's a legend that I truly love about what is named as the "Child Jesus of Prague." This story plays a large role in my life.

At one time Santa Teresa de Avila sent an ornate small statue of the Child Jesus to a rich patron of the Catholic Church in Prague. It was given to the church and installed in its own altar. It exhibited some healing powers and gained a following. Later, during one of the religious wars associated with the Reformation, the church was badly damaged, the altar was destroyed and the statue vanished. A priest who loved the image dug through the rubble for weeks and finally found the image, which had lost its right hand, the hand of agency and blessing, the hand of spiritual power. The priest was sad because he couldn't fix it. He thought of hiding it. Then a voice "of God" said, "No don't hide it. Place it in full view at the front of the church and pray to the Holy Mother for help", which he did. The next day a passing craftsman saw and took it, returning in a few days with it fully repaired. He and the priest then built a new altar and installed the image which soon exhibited many times more healing power and today is still venerated as a major iconic miracle-producing image.

Honestly, my first thought is that it is pointing to idolatry. I am not talking about someone holding to a different view than my own as "idolatry". Rather, I am saying it is placing the "healing power" and veneration in an external object which then serves to mask the reality of our own inner spiritual activity as that which heals. And that is precisely what you are pointing to below:

The archetypal lesson is that societal childhood trauma must be revealed so it can be healed, become creative and release even more power. In an emerging modern psychological/medical/engineering model, it would be called by someone like Gabor Maté, "The Wisdom of Trauma."

And from where else does revelation come in the modern age than from our own Thinking? Perhaps you will say doses of this or that psychotropic substance is the key, in which case I am no longer naive enough to think I can argue otherwise. I will just say, I disagree.

Well, perhaps idolatry, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. The idolatry is to mistake the symbol for the essence and this can be as true for the word as for the image. Of course, I do not argue for a "key." Need I emphasize that more?

Reporting, solely from a personal non-psychotropic-enhanced condition, I can report that I have walked down an urban street repeating, as a mantra, "Everything I see is a symbol of consciousness" and witnessed as the entire visual scene transformed as powerfully as on any psychotropic substance. Using a common lingo, perhaps I would say this was an example of increased intuitive perception. And, NO, I've not mastered to consistently stabilize that kind of awareness. However, as an old guy gratefully still full of curiosity and enthusiasm, I simple continue to revere and explore The Great Mysteriousness, which I find as lovely, indeed!

Fair enough. But then I have no idea what the original criticism of the essay was. I am just suggesting another path which may possibly lead to more stabilizing power of spiritual perception through our own Thinking, if we decide to ever give it a try.

[Lou Gold]

Honestly, my first thought is that it is pointing to idolatry. I am not talking about someone holding to a different view than my own as "idolatry". Rather, I am saying it is placing the "healing power" and veneration in an external object which then serves to mask the reality of our own inner spiritual activity as that which heals. And that is precisely what you are pointing to below:





And from where else does revelation come in the modern age than from our own Thinking? Perhaps you will say doses of this or that psychotropic substance is the key, in which case I am no longer naive enough to think I can argue otherwise. I will just say, I disagree.

Well, perhaps idolatry, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. The idolatry is to mistake the symbol for the essence and this can be as true for the word as for the image. Of course, I do not argue for a "key." Need I emphasize that more?

Reporting, solely from a personal non-psychotropic-enhanced condition, I can report that I have walked down an urban street repeating, as a mantra, "Everything I see is a symbol of consciousness" and witnessed as the entire visual scene transformed as powerfully as on any psychotropic substance. Using a common lingo, perhaps I would say this was an example of increased intuitive perception. And, NO, I've not mastered to consistently stabilize that kind of awareness. However, as an old guy gratefully still full of curiosity and enthusiasm, I simple continue to revere and explore The Great Mysteriousness, which I find as lovely, indeed!

Fair enough. But then I have no idea what the original criticism of the essay was. I am just suggesting another path which may possibly lead to more stabilizing power of spiritual perception through our own Thinking, if we decide to ever give it a try.

Well, surely, thought is highly significant as the effectiveness of both placebos and nocebos regularly demonstrate in medical and pharmacological research.

I confess that I have little interest in overcoming the power of faith.

Here's another documentary on the incredible power of faith in the building of Familia Sagrada ...