Stranger wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 8:55 pm
As a solution to the problem of the subjective passage of time, J. W. Dunne proposed an infinite hierarchy of time dimensions, inhabited by a similar hierarchy of levels of consciousness. Dunne suggested that, in the context of a "block" spacetime as modelled by General Relativity, a second dimension of time was needed in order to measure the speed of one's progress along one's own timeline. This in turn required a level of the conscious self existing at the second level of time. But the same arguments then applied to this new level, requiring a third level, and so on in an infinite regress. At the end of the regress was a "superlative general observer" who existed in eternity.[12] He published his theory in relation to precognitive dreams in his 1927 book An Experiment with Time and went on to explore its relevance to contemporary physics in The Serial Universe (1934).
Thank you, Stranger, for your reference to Dunne. The historical development of the idea of hierarchical time contexts has always been interesting to me but so far I haven’t found much written about it (one of the more recent examples I know about is
https://www.academia.edu/245209/A_Fract ... _Cosmology). If you have other examples of authors that have explored these topics I’ll be happy to hear. As it should be clear already, my interest in this is not because I expect to find the ‘true’ theory of time in any of these writings but to approach an intimate experience of the way humanity’s cognitive process evolves.
Other than that, I hope you don’t find the discussion following your initial post, as a rude welcome to the forum, as if your effort is demeaned. In fact, the topics that you bring up are precisely the kind that can lead further and further. Most other less fruitful topics of the kind “What is alter?”, “Is MAL metacognitive?” and so on, never go further than empty abstract speculation. It is in this context that you should see the responses from Federica and Ashvin. We should really try to find the living bridge between thinking in concepts and higher intuition if humanity is not to remain torn between the sensory spectrum coupled with intellect and the higher worlds. Humanity’s survival in the most literal sense depends on consciousness growing into the depth of reality. There are so many things that should be worked upon but the transformation of thinking, even though not remotely enough in itself, is vital if higher realities are to be grasped with clear cognition, instead of becoming sources of fantasy.
It is in this light that the responses here should be seen, even though it might have looked like nitpicking. Our thought forms should increasingly become faithful expressions of inner reality. We must become increasingly careful when we throw around concepts like dimensions, energies, hierarchies and so on. Every concept should feel as capturing some definite inner ‘geometry’ of our intuitive being. If you don’t mind, I’ll give one more illustration of this.
In our intellectual life we more or less carelessly patch together concepts, especially in the metaphysical domain, which stand as floating thought structure in our consciousness. Let’s use a metaphor:
The expanded state of the toy above can be taken to correspond to our intellectual ego that tries to build a mental picture of reality. If we are to trace the depth nature of thinking, it is as if we have to find a way to implode the intellectual forces towards their spiritual source. This is symbolized in the image above as the folding of the sphere. Alas, for the average person conditioned in our present civilization, this is quite impossible. Not only technically but one will even hardly understand what is here being spoken of. The reason is that the expanded sphere has taken a quite irregular form. And is this surprising? The average consciousness of man today consists of a tasteless patchwork of concepts loosely tied together, barely staying intact. It is an accumulation of things seen, heard, read. Especially in our age where we’re drowning in an ocean of information, this patchwork assumes the most wildly improbable configurations. Imagine that you take the expanded sphere in the image and randomize the links. Then if you try to fold it, linkages will start to bend, crack and fly all over the place. It is similar in today’s intellectual life. As long as we casually surf along the linkages of our patchwork we get a sense that we more or less have an encompassing grasp over reality. But the moment we try to implode this structure towards its spiritual kernel (which implies that we need to gain panoramic and holistic grasp over our intellectual life), it shatters in pieces. We see how our beliefs and world conceptions are built of contradictions upon contradictions.
It is interesting to note that many people have strong intuition about the deeper nature of man, yet their intellectual ego remains inflated over the irregular conceptual structure. This is why modern non-dual teachings are eagerly welcomed, since they convince the ego that it is enough for one to simply close their eyes for the irregular structure and rest in the nebulous feeling of their inner nature. Clearly this produces irreconcilable dichotomy between the inflated intellect and the deeper spiritual nature. One simply decides that this is how things are on Earth and carries the inflated patchwork through life as an unavoidable appendage, only taking temporary breaks now and then in mystical rest within their inexplicable deeper nature. Likewise, accepting that this dichotomy is in principle irreconcilable, practically gives the intellect green light to build whatever metaphysical patchworks it likes, since it knows that it will never have to implode and test them against living spiritual reality. This produces the Kantian divide.
So in this metaphor we need slow and patient work for the transformation of our intellectual patchwork such that it becomes
resonant with the spiritual kernel of our higher being. Only in this way it becomes possible for the intellect to be breathed in (through meditative concentration of spiritual activity) and out. In contrast to Eastern meditation, this doesn’t leave us in an inexplicable state, completely opaque to the intellectual. Instead, we are fully conscious and active within deeper strata of our being and our activity there can be musically expanded into the intellectual sphere, where it crystalizes into concepts and images.
Another thing to note is that the ability to fold the geometry of the intellectual self is not only a matter of rectifying our purely mental nature. In fact, even greater obstacles are to be found in our soul nature, which can be metaphorically imagined as pressure, as magnetic repulsion that opposes the folding of the sphere. So we should be clear that the folding of even properly ordered conceptual sphere, may still be resisted by deeper forces in our soul. Most commonly these are of the nature of pride, fear, shame.
Basically we can use this metaphor as a
map of where the conversations in this forum are
located. A lot of them are simply patchworks over the expanded cognitive sphere, which simply has no chance of folding without breaking in pieces. In this sense, looking at that map, the responses of Federica and Ashvin should be taken as pointing attention to the folding process. They are not impulsive opposition (even if it may have looked like this to you) but attempt to lead the concepts into this folding process and
test what can survive the implosion and what not. We should always remember that these attempts do not aim to build some finished and packaged theory of vertical cognition. This would be a gross misunderstanding of the whole endeavor. We’re merely learning to take our upright position and speak. In one way or another conceptual language should be developed through which we can freely breathe along the depth axis and share our discoveries in the same way we can speak about mathematics, pain or joy. The broad outlines of this language have been given by exceptional individualities that through the ages are always the heralds of new impulses that are to be accommodated in the evolution of humanity. Our humble job is to simply continue and refine that work, such that the intellect can breathe freely and spiritual reality can become to us a shared experience, just like we accept the sensory world to unite us in a shared experience.
It might be of interest for you to take a look at
something written a while ago. There a different metaphor is used – a ship and a vortex – but the idea is the same. It will be interesting to me to hear your thoughts.
