Yeah, the second article hits exactly my real question, which is, "what's the point?" Is it spiritual illumination, or a political project? If it's the former, no amount of definitions will help you; if it's the latter, no amount of divinity will. And the author's pretty clear that his goal is the latter.
But I think of the likes of Thomas Aquinas, here: a man who devoutly spent his life codifying and upholding Christian dogma, but when he finally had a mystical experience of God, he went into seclusion and never wrote again. Or, there's old Laozi: "Those who know don't talk, those who talk don't know." Or Plotinus, "When speaking of the Absolute, it is perhaps better not to speak at all."
Basho tells us, "seek not the path of the ancients; seek that which the ancients sought," and so I think worrying overmuch about other people maybe did is a bit like a dog chasing it's tail. Why not chase something real, instead?
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branchandroot
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Date: 2024-03-18 03:54 pm (UTC)But I think of the likes of Thomas Aquinas, here: a man who devoutly spent his life codifying and upholding Christian dogma, but when he finally had a mystical experience of God, he went into seclusion and never wrote again. Or, there's old Laozi: "Those who know don't talk, those who talk don't know." Or Plotinus, "When speaking of the Absolute, it is perhaps better not to speak at all."
Basho tells us, "seek not the path of the ancients; seek that which the ancients sought," and so I think worrying overmuch about other people maybe did is a bit like a dog chasing it's tail. Why not chase something real, instead?