Hi David B., David T. and Group:
On Mar. 2 David Buchanan wrote:
> But there is something to hang on to. At the heart of mysticism,
> East and West, there is a common belief that there is something more
> real than ordinary reality. There is a common view that people who see
> normal, everyday consciousness hides the true nature of reality and of
> one's own being and that the trick is to shatter the illusion. The
> illusion has been called many things, simply "the world" or "the veil of
> tears" in the West or in the East its called the Maya or "the world of
> the ten thousand things". The mystic may not be able to say exactly what
> it is that lies behind the illusion, but he sees how empty the illusion
> is. (static and Dynamic) Instead of privileged, esoteric knowledge the
> mystical experience usually gets you a huge belly laugh.
>
I agree with this and much of what you wrote in response to my claim
that the mystic experience is nothing out of the ordinary. You view,
explained so well, is completely understandable and no doubt more true
than not. I couldn't help but think after weighing your arguments against
mine that perhaps the mystic experience is both ordinary and
extraordinary simultaneously, like the duality of wave/particle, two sides
of same coin.
In any case, I expect this subject will come up again sometime as it's a
integral part of the MOQ. We've built a strong foundation for future
discussions I think. At the moment I have nothing more to add except to
reflect on your next to last paragraph:
> But then there really is the idea that you already knew it all
> along, but had fogotten or failed to fully appreciate what you thought
> you knew. There is a realization that it is really not all that exotic
> or supernatural or whatever other wizard of Oz spectacle one may have
> expected. People are amazed at the simplicity revealed in a mystical
> experience.
You know, that's a good description of how I felt when I had finished
reading LILA the first time around. Some "I knew it all along."
Thanks for an enlightening exchange.
Platt
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