Consider that human consciousness has been on a journey from the pre-rational to the rational and now to the post-rational realm. Pre-rational consciousness is a two-dimensional “flatland” realm scarce conceivable to us who live in the three-dimensional world of rationality, of ratio logic. Physics has zoomed beyond the 3-dimensional ratio world into realms of four (and more) dimensions. Human consciousness is now opening beyond, but not jettisoning, ratio-nality. We are opening into a fourth dimension of reality.
We know that our sensory apparatus only “picks up” an extremely small portion of the gigantic energy field in which we live, of which we are a part. We bop and shop and drop within this small lit match flicker of consciousness that we call reality. It is reality, but is only one small room within a huge palatial mansion on vast grounds.
The fourth dimensional realm can be considered as a realm of creative imagination, of the Imaginal (Henry Corbin’s term). Our consciousness opens beyond the perspective enforced by 3-dimensional consciousness into an aperspectival realm (Jean Gebser’s term). One moves beyond the three-dimensional Wal-Mart world into a larger, more comprehensive energetic realm which does not negate the Wal-Mart world but incorporates it.
One can open to this larger energetic realm in one of two ways. One can be “seized” by it (“for many are called but few are chosen”) and/or one can open to it through prayer and meditation. The key is the placing of attention. Whatever we attend to is energized. Whatever we attend to, we become.
References:
Henry Corbin, Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi. (Princeton, Bollingen, 1998).
Jean Gebser, The Ever-Present Origin. (Athens, Ohio University Press, 1985).
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Homo sapiens have always lived in four dimensions. We invented time. Whether it was a good invention, we'll have to see. Now we have to get back to now. If we don't get back to now through prayer, meditation, and what-not, well, we may just give into our fears and set ourselves back another 2,000 years or worse. But it doesn't really matter. If we don't get it right, something or someone else will come along and get it right and replace us humans. I hope we get it right though.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Those Zen dudes recognized the spontaneous enlightenment and the practice-till-you-get-it enlightenment and formed two schools for each type.
"Homo sapiens have always lived in four dimensions." John, either we are in complete disagreement here or we are using words differently.
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