Kevin, Struan, David T & Phellow Filosophers:
David - The cable analogy really worked for me and Pierce's relevance to
the MOQ can hardly be overstated. Please keep it coming.
Struan please don't drop out on me now, Informed disagreement is what I
live for. I really wish you'd bring your credentials to the table in a
meaningful way.
Kevin says "love seems to be one of those cross level ideas"...and..
"Mysticism can be seen as the practice of loving reality" in an ever
widening scope "from one person, to the world, and to the entire
reality, the ultimate goal."
Hopefully, I've captured Kevin's meaning and not distorted it. Can't say
I disagree. But I'd like to throw in some notes and qualifiers, to whet
Struan's appitite if nothing else.
Mystic love poety and imagery was most prolific during the age of the
trubador. You know, that time in European history when society was run
by horny young men and romantic love was virtually invented. And its
been demonstrated through historical records that the mystical
experience is inevitably express in terms the culture of the mystic
herself. The is even the case of an 11th century Italian woman who began
to see Jesus during her mystical experiences only a few days after she,
and everyone in her village, first saw a painted image of him.
It only seems natural from a MOQ perspective. If the mystical experience
is the abandonment of all static patterns and it is beyond words and
concepts, the best one can hope for is some kind of interpetation. And
since all we really have are words and concepts (social and intellectual
static patterns), that is the language the experience get translated
into. There's no where else to go. There's no other way to conceptualize
the inconcieveable, except with analogies and images, poetry and art.
Some of it is pretty effective too. Love does seem to go beyond mere
symbolism, beyond mere reference and sign. It really does seem to
permiate all levels of reality as if it were intertwined with DQ itself.
I like to think that there is something inherently poetic about reality.
It seems there are certain aspects of reality that are expressed over
and over again, like variations on a theme, like some kind of cosmic
jazz. Love is one of those... super-metaphors.
The most unlikely voice to support mystical love over lesser forms?
Jackson Browne? You bet.
What became of the changes we waited for love to bring?
Were they only the fitful dreams of some greater awakening?
Or how about Zen country singer/songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore who sings
about the ineffableable nature of the mystical experience..
I've seen crimson roses growing thru a chain link fence
I've seen crystal visions, sometimes they don't make sense
You can see the future, it don't make no difference
Just don't talk about it babe, you know I love the suspense
David B.
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