more magi-philosophical whatnot
“Amen to the Thunderbolt in the Dark Void” - Gary Snyder’s translation of Om Mane Padme Hum, according to Kerouac
I like this translation
“Amen to the Black Thunderbolt in the Dark Void” is even better
~-~
Everything animate, inanimate, visible, and invisible has soul. Spiritus. Prana. Chi. Mana. Everything is just energy. Energy and idea.
Science used to have a nice solid idea of matter, and even atoms. But they found it was little more than a rule of thumb. Now we've got "up" quarks and "down" quarks and whatnot quarks that are ineffably uncertain and have no conceivable mass and pop in and out of existence on a whim.
The atom is an encryption of information, of idea. The physical properties of the matter it makes up are the expression of the idea & energy (or spirit) that is contained within
So you can say that medicine works because of chemistry, or you can say that it works because those pills contain healing spirits. Either way it's the same thing.
Of course, that's bad science.
but imagine that:
Matter is a metaphor. Physics is a metaphor. Logic is a metaphor. Science is just as magical as astrology, kabbalah, feng shui, walking down the street. Magic is a metaphor.
In a universe of metaphor, the symbol is the thing
...and if the math works, well...
speaking of the math working:
Einstein, however begrudgingly, dismantled Newton.
But Newton's math still works.
It doesn't work in cases where you have no business using it, but neither does anything else. An umbrella will not protect you from a tidal wave, and an ocean liner is useless in the Gobi Desert. ("The same shoe will not fit on every foot. Keep your idealism practical." -- fortune cookies tacked to Buck's door)
But Newton's math still works.
So it must be true.
The historickal evidence points to this:
The universe is infinitely more mysterious than we give it credit for.
Which is a terrifying and exhilarating thought, don't you think?
~-~
“But let the mind be aware, that though the flesh be bugged, the circumstances of existence are pretty glorious”
“Are we fallen angels who didn’t want to believe that nothing is nothing and so were born to lose our loved ones and dear friends one-by-one and finally our own life, to see it proved?”
Jack Kerouac quotes from The Dharma Bums
~-~
my model of "soul" is whatever it is that puts intents like gravitation, magnetism, inertia, spatiality, and everything else into effect. Science has a How for all of those things, but not a Why. We don't know Why gravitation happens, only How it does. The "soul" (really a bad word for it; people have spoiled the word) I'm talking about is an infinite super-existent something, something that encompasses and in fact Is the entire universe (space and whatnot being only one of countless expressions that this soul-energy has). The individual soul is a single cell, so to speak, among this infinite mass (for lack of a better word), but is in contact with all the rest of the mass, because they're all in the same place -- nowhere. The black thunderbolt in the dark void.
The main problem here is that there is no exact word for what I'm talking about. Spirit, soul, energy, none of them really point at exactly what I'm talking about.
But the fact of the matter is, certainty is a delusion (because: the universe is infinitely more mysterious than we give it credit for. No logic can argue against that point, the evidence is too strong). I don't *believe* any of this stuff I'm talking about. I can't afford to *believe* anything. I act as if I do, but I have to be ready to drop the shoe that doesn't fit as soon as it doesn't fit. I have to actively acquiesce but without believing. Which isn't to say that I always manage it. I'm not perfect. (but hopefully with work I can become exceptional)
Talking about right or wrong in regards to belief is useless, because certainty is delusion.
I'm not even certain about that.
I like this translation
“Amen to the Black Thunderbolt in the Dark Void” is even better
~-~
Everything animate, inanimate, visible, and invisible has soul. Spiritus. Prana. Chi. Mana. Everything is just energy. Energy and idea.
Science used to have a nice solid idea of matter, and even atoms. But they found it was little more than a rule of thumb. Now we've got "up" quarks and "down" quarks and whatnot quarks that are ineffably uncertain and have no conceivable mass and pop in and out of existence on a whim.
The atom is an encryption of information, of idea. The physical properties of the matter it makes up are the expression of the idea & energy (or spirit) that is contained within
So you can say that medicine works because of chemistry, or you can say that it works because those pills contain healing spirits. Either way it's the same thing.
Of course, that's bad science.
but imagine that:
Matter is a metaphor. Physics is a metaphor. Logic is a metaphor. Science is just as magical as astrology, kabbalah, feng shui, walking down the street. Magic is a metaphor.
In a universe of metaphor, the symbol is the thing
...and if the math works, well...
speaking of the math working:
Einstein, however begrudgingly, dismantled Newton.
But Newton's math still works.
It doesn't work in cases where you have no business using it, but neither does anything else. An umbrella will not protect you from a tidal wave, and an ocean liner is useless in the Gobi Desert. ("The same shoe will not fit on every foot. Keep your idealism practical." -- fortune cookies tacked to Buck's door)
But Newton's math still works.
So it must be true.
The historickal evidence points to this:
The universe is infinitely more mysterious than we give it credit for.
Which is a terrifying and exhilarating thought, don't you think?
~-~
“But let the mind be aware, that though the flesh be bugged, the circumstances of existence are pretty glorious”
“Are we fallen angels who didn’t want to believe that nothing is nothing and so were born to lose our loved ones and dear friends one-by-one and finally our own life, to see it proved?”
Jack Kerouac quotes from The Dharma Bums
~-~
my model of "soul" is whatever it is that puts intents like gravitation, magnetism, inertia, spatiality, and everything else into effect. Science has a How for all of those things, but not a Why. We don't know Why gravitation happens, only How it does. The "soul" (really a bad word for it; people have spoiled the word) I'm talking about is an infinite super-existent something, something that encompasses and in fact Is the entire universe (space and whatnot being only one of countless expressions that this soul-energy has). The individual soul is a single cell, so to speak, among this infinite mass (for lack of a better word), but is in contact with all the rest of the mass, because they're all in the same place -- nowhere. The black thunderbolt in the dark void.
The main problem here is that there is no exact word for what I'm talking about. Spirit, soul, energy, none of them really point at exactly what I'm talking about.
But the fact of the matter is, certainty is a delusion (because: the universe is infinitely more mysterious than we give it credit for. No logic can argue against that point, the evidence is too strong). I don't *believe* any of this stuff I'm talking about. I can't afford to *believe* anything. I act as if I do, but I have to be ready to drop the shoe that doesn't fit as soon as it doesn't fit. I have to actively acquiesce but without believing. Which isn't to say that I always manage it. I'm not perfect. (but hopefully with work I can become exceptional)
Talking about right or wrong in regards to belief is useless, because certainty is delusion.
I'm not even certain about that.