but how do i pay my dues?
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
-- _How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later,_ by Philip K. Dick, 1978
earlier tonight at mojo's, i helped to instigate a conversation in which we were discussing (among other things) philip k. dick's 1974 beam of "pink light" VALIS-experience in terms of him possibly having, through this experience, "achieved knowledge and conversation of his holy guardian angel" or manifested his chosen ideal/genius/augoides/gnosis/bodhi/daimon/kundalini, for lack of better words? (also, q.v. The Holy Guardian Angel: a tricky little devil by Ed Richardson (via Phil Hine)
the trouble with talking about this stuff is that the straight materialist world certainly doesn't have a consensus view of this phenomenon, and even the weird worlds of spirituality and philosophy bicker horrendously about semiotics when it comes to transcendental topics like these. ideally, i tend to judge people by the merit of their work, and attempt to understand their experiences from their own perspective (i.e. by walking aroung in their shoes for a while... that was what areopagus was created for, not that most people grokked that). so, i still fall into the traps of aristotelian logic and the empirical/socratic method, which are ultimately not really effective in the supernal realm. although rational thought, reason, and dialectics are certainly useful in leading us up to the point where we are ready to let go of it all and finally embrace the infinite... hence, the aim of religion --- the method of science.
i am reminded of uncle bill's " Road to the Western Lands"
` ` The Road to the Western Lands is by definition the most dangerous road in the world, for it is a journey beyond Death, beyond the basic God standard of Fear and Danger.
It is the most heavily guarded road in the world, for it gives access to the gift that supersedes all other gifts: Immortality. The Road to the Western Lands is devious and unpredictable. Today's easy passage may be tomorrow's death trap. The obvious road is almost always a fool's road, and beware the middle Roads, the roads of moderation, common sense and careful planning. However, there is a time for planning, moderation and common sense. A dangerous road. Every pitfall, every error, every snare to which Everyman has been liable since the beginning, you are sure to meet on the road to the Western Lands.
To reach the Western Lands is to achieve freedom from fear. Do you free yourself from fear by cowering in your physical body for eternity? Your body is a boat to lay aside when you reach the far shore, or sell it if you can find a fool... it's full of holes... it's full of holes.
I want to reach the Western Lands - right in front of you, across the bubbling brook. It's a frozen sewer. It's known as the Duad, remember? All the filth and horror, fear, hate, disease and death of human history flows between you and the Western Lands. How long does it take a man to learn that he does not, cannot want what he "wants"? You have to be in hell to see heaven. Glimpses from the Land of the Dead, flashes of serene timeless joy, a Joy as old as suffering and despair. ' '
--
Curiously enough, this seems to lead us right into Lovecraftian/Cthhulhoid territory, doesn't it?
http://aethyrflux.livejournal.com/tag/death
--
Better make sure we have jumped through all of the proper hoops to prepare ourselves
http://aethyrflux.livejournal.com/192997.html?thread=1029349#t1029349
-- _How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later,_ by Philip K. Dick, 1978
earlier tonight at mojo's, i helped to instigate a conversation in which we were discussing (among other things) philip k. dick's 1974 beam of "pink light" VALIS-experience in terms of him possibly having, through this experience, "achieved knowledge and conversation of his holy guardian angel" or manifested his chosen ideal/genius/augoides/gnosis/bodhi/daimon/kundalini, for lack of better words? (also, q.v. The Holy Guardian Angel: a tricky little devil by Ed Richardson (via Phil Hine)
the trouble with talking about this stuff is that the straight materialist world certainly doesn't have a consensus view of this phenomenon, and even the weird worlds of spirituality and philosophy bicker horrendously about semiotics when it comes to transcendental topics like these. ideally, i tend to judge people by the merit of their work, and attempt to understand their experiences from their own perspective (i.e. by walking aroung in their shoes for a while... that was what areopagus was created for, not that most people grokked that). so, i still fall into the traps of aristotelian logic and the empirical/socratic method, which are ultimately not really effective in the supernal realm. although rational thought, reason, and dialectics are certainly useful in leading us up to the point where we are ready to let go of it all and finally embrace the infinite... hence, the aim of religion --- the method of science.
i am reminded of uncle bill's " Road to the Western Lands"
` ` The Road to the Western Lands is by definition the most dangerous road in the world, for it is a journey beyond Death, beyond the basic God standard of Fear and Danger.
It is the most heavily guarded road in the world, for it gives access to the gift that supersedes all other gifts: Immortality. The Road to the Western Lands is devious and unpredictable. Today's easy passage may be tomorrow's death trap. The obvious road is almost always a fool's road, and beware the middle Roads, the roads of moderation, common sense and careful planning. However, there is a time for planning, moderation and common sense. A dangerous road. Every pitfall, every error, every snare to which Everyman has been liable since the beginning, you are sure to meet on the road to the Western Lands.
To reach the Western Lands is to achieve freedom from fear. Do you free yourself from fear by cowering in your physical body for eternity? Your body is a boat to lay aside when you reach the far shore, or sell it if you can find a fool... it's full of holes... it's full of holes.
I want to reach the Western Lands - right in front of you, across the bubbling brook. It's a frozen sewer. It's known as the Duad, remember? All the filth and horror, fear, hate, disease and death of human history flows between you and the Western Lands. How long does it take a man to learn that he does not, cannot want what he "wants"? You have to be in hell to see heaven. Glimpses from the Land of the Dead, flashes of serene timeless joy, a Joy as old as suffering and despair. ' '
--
Curiously enough, this seems to lead us right into Lovecraftian/Cthhulhoid territory, doesn't it?
http://aethyrflux.livejournal.com/tag/death
--
Better make sure we have jumped through all of the proper hoops to prepare ourselves
http://aethyrflux.livejournal.com/192997.html?thread=1029349#t1029349