Interesting..."Not one, not two"...but even expressing relative and absolute using different words falls short, in my view.
They are indeed inseparable - because they are both just perspectives of what is. The division appears because of our mechanisms of cognition. In fact, every lived experience finds its shape by being filtered through those processes...so, in its purest sense, we cannot escape the relative...our perception of the "absolute" is individual, and therefore "relative".
going back to my original awakening to the AND. it often isn't the one and not the other. two things can be true, even if they sort of might say the exact opposite. Or neither is, but the AND in between. There might be more truths then two, or even more ANDs. variations may be countless. i love this! it gives my searching aching mind relieve in almost physical ways. it relaxes things immensely without promising to solve any riddles. because the truth is IN the riddle. the riddle is the answer. wonderful
Hola ¡ el miracle del conill ànec ,, en el profund no hi ha dos però per jugar per disfrutar hi ha diversitat d'aquesta unitat
A mi lo de relatiu i absolut al mateix temps ,, que es veritat, però prefereixo jo Soc Això aquí així tal com soc. Sols hi ha aquest misteri que soc tal com soc ara aquí ,, així el misteri queda preservat ,, perquè cap descripció i desentranyar-ho ?
Anem anem de retir-ho cap a casa ,, on sestà millor? ,, no, no perdrem res ja que serem amb tota la intimitat del nostre misteri i, serem tot sense ser res i en tot lloc incluid l'inimaginable
Aquest misteri que us escriu ara des d'aquí que també es el aquí el lloc on esteu ,, però distint ,, per jugar per disfrutar. El misteri que sou com jo soc .
I loved reading this: "Some days this bodymind system is more evolved than on other days." It's comforting to know I am not alone. I very much appreciate at this point acknowledging my imperfect humanity as well as the great mystery. Yes, the absolute and the relative, Atman and Brahman, Father and son, form and emptiness. Thank you, as always, Joan.
Thank you so much, Joan 🙏 As always, your words produce a calming - “I am not alone”.
Darwin’s theory of evolution does not usually resonate, but your words today made me think again about something Iain McGilchrist said in a recent interview: just like water can take many forms, so does consciousness. Somehow this connects with evolution I think.
You wrote "Longing is perhaps a kind of evolutionary pull,..." Have you've given any thought to notions going back to the ancient Greeks, and currently espoused by writers like Iain McGilchrist and David Bentley Hart that the universe’s evolution/unfolding is not arbitrary or random, but is pulled in the direction of transcendental values like truth, beauty, and goodness - that values are an intrinsic aspect of reality, perhaps an alternate perspective/framing of unconditional love?
Hi David, Good to hear from you. I have a strong sense of what my friend Robert Saltzman calls epistemological humility. I feel I don't really know how the whole universe works or why it moves as it moves or does what it does. Darwin's theory applies to biology, and maybe it is dangerous to apply it to the spiritual, psychological, social or imaginal realms, I don't know. I've been playing with it more lately, and finding it in some way helpful, to frame or understand certain behaviors as less evolved rather than as moral failures or spiritual weaknesses.
I find it easier in general to reflect upon and speak about my own direct experience and what has been felt, seen and noticed here, rather than trying to explain the whole universe. And I notice that there are conflicting pulls here (e.g., the desire to indulge in an addiction and the desire to be free of it), and the one that feels to me like the deepest most wholesome truth is the pull toward love, beauty, goodness, freedom, kindness, and so on. The pulls in the other direction feel like old habitual off-the-mark reactions to pain or upset, or attempts to do something positive in a way that is not really working, or simply less evolved aspects of this being not yet able to do otherwise.
Yes, for certain, theorizing about the nature of the evolutionary "pull" (at either the universal or so-called individual level) is an exercise in cartography 🤣. Nevertheless, it does feel potentially meaningful/resonant when pulls in the opposite direction are experienced as "missing the mark" - a description I've noticed you using from time-to-time. I imagine you're aware that the literal English translation of the Hebrew word for "sin" is "missing the mark". Coincidence😳!!?? I think not...and yet...😉
Yes, I know that's the meaning (or at least one translation) of the Hebrew word for sin, and it feels like a good way to understand sin—a word which, in contemporary times at least, seems hopelessly tainted with associations of a judgmental god, fire and brimstone, original imperfection, hell, and right-wing morality (ie, sin is premarital sex, homosexuality, abortion, having a child out of wedlock, and so on, none of which I view as sinful).
My name was mentioned, and I was happy to see it in a text discussing "the pull toward love, beauty, goodness, freedom, kindness, and so on."
I don't know how it all works, but I do recognize that strong attraction to kindness and love which seems to exist in humans planet-wide and cross-culturally. In personal life, I enjoy that without asking how or why.
As an analyst of the human situation, I propose that we humans are first and foremost biological systems. Biological systems seek stability. The ones that did persisted, the ones that did not perished. The stability of the shared social space requires effective inter-system communication to enable shared effort and avoid misunderstandings. And civility, kindness, and love offer the best signal-to-noise ratio for that communication.
Hi Robert...That certainly makes sense as one possible explanation. I remain agnostic as to whether we are "first and foremost biological systems." I don't deny or ignore biology, but we certainly seem to transcend that dimension in many ways that "lower" life forms do not. I also don't know whether mind or matter is fundamental, or whether they are even different "things." ❤️
Biological systems, yes by definition, but interestingly, apparently unique in being aware that we are aware (at least in the extent to which many are capable of being aware of being aware). What is illuminated when the light of self-awareness flickers on and discernment between what hits the mark and what misses it begins to happen?
I certainly don't have the answer, but I suspect it's related to the buzz-kill that ousted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden ;-)
I had to laugh a little when I read this post, as I have been listening and often struggling to grasp the nuances of the 11-hour audio book "Lights On" by Annaka Harris, which if you aren't familiar, is a deep dive into the origins of Consciousness. She is essentially exploring whether consciousness is an emergent property of complexity or rather a fundamental property in the universe. (To her great credit, she doesn't pretend to arrive at a definitive answer.) I laughed because your articulation of the two inseparable truths very closely mirrors (I think?) what she arrives at after speaking to a wide range of experts from meditation teachers to physicists to neurobiologists. Maybe it was BECAUSE I have been listening to the audio book that I found your post so exquisitely and clearly described. But maybe also you just have such an incredible way of articulating the ineffable. At any rate, something clicked in my brain, so thank you. I am a big fan ever since reading "Death: The End of Self Improvement". I also would like to formally rate the title of that book one of the best ever conceived.
Thank you for your comment and your high praise of DTEOSI—I'm so happy it resonated! I heard one talk on YouTube by Annaka some time ago, but haven't otherwise explored her work. After hearing several interviews with him about it, I've just ordered Michael Pollan's new book, A World Appears, also an open exploration of consciousness with no definitive conclusion, and I'm looking forward to reading that. 🙏
Joan, you said that you believe awareness is unconditioned. This is so simple and I also feel, sense and believe this to be so. The one great teacher. Directly through to here, with the sacred messenger, one’s conscience.
Interesting..."Not one, not two"...but even expressing relative and absolute using different words falls short, in my view.
They are indeed inseparable - because they are both just perspectives of what is. The division appears because of our mechanisms of cognition. In fact, every lived experience finds its shape by being filtered through those processes...so, in its purest sense, we cannot escape the relative...our perception of the "absolute" is individual, and therefore "relative".
I think it's time for my meds...😂🫶🈚️
Good idea. 😎
😂😂
going back to my original awakening to the AND. it often isn't the one and not the other. two things can be true, even if they sort of might say the exact opposite. Or neither is, but the AND in between. There might be more truths then two, or even more ANDs. variations may be countless. i love this! it gives my searching aching mind relieve in almost physical ways. it relaxes things immensely without promising to solve any riddles. because the truth is IN the riddle. the riddle is the answer. wonderful
Hola ¡ el miracle del conill ànec ,, en el profund no hi ha dos però per jugar per disfrutar hi ha diversitat d'aquesta unitat
A mi lo de relatiu i absolut al mateix temps ,, que es veritat, però prefereixo jo Soc Això aquí així tal com soc. Sols hi ha aquest misteri que soc tal com soc ara aquí ,, així el misteri queda preservat ,, perquè cap descripció i desentranyar-ho ?
Anem anem de retir-ho cap a casa ,, on sestà millor? ,, no, no perdrem res ja que serem amb tota la intimitat del nostre misteri i, serem tot sense ser res i en tot lloc incluid l'inimaginable
Aquest misteri que us escriu ara des d'aquí que també es el aquí el lloc on esteu ,, però distint ,, per jugar per disfrutar. El misteri que sou com jo soc .
Sempre Visca la Vida Visca l'Amor
I love “Emptiness is the relinquishing of all views” ‼️🥰
So, so beautiful and articulate an expression of just this. Thank you.
I loved reading this: "Some days this bodymind system is more evolved than on other days." It's comforting to know I am not alone. I very much appreciate at this point acknowledging my imperfect humanity as well as the great mystery. Yes, the absolute and the relative, Atman and Brahman, Father and son, form and emptiness. Thank you, as always, Joan.
LOVE the video of the zen centre. It was fantastic. Thank you Joan.
Thank you so much, Joan 🙏 As always, your words produce a calming - “I am not alone”.
Darwin’s theory of evolution does not usually resonate, but your words today made me think again about something Iain McGilchrist said in a recent interview: just like water can take many forms, so does consciousness. Somehow this connects with evolution I think.
Hi there,
You wrote "Longing is perhaps a kind of evolutionary pull,..." Have you've given any thought to notions going back to the ancient Greeks, and currently espoused by writers like Iain McGilchrist and David Bentley Hart that the universe’s evolution/unfolding is not arbitrary or random, but is pulled in the direction of transcendental values like truth, beauty, and goodness - that values are an intrinsic aspect of reality, perhaps an alternate perspective/framing of unconditional love?
Hi David, Good to hear from you. I have a strong sense of what my friend Robert Saltzman calls epistemological humility. I feel I don't really know how the whole universe works or why it moves as it moves or does what it does. Darwin's theory applies to biology, and maybe it is dangerous to apply it to the spiritual, psychological, social or imaginal realms, I don't know. I've been playing with it more lately, and finding it in some way helpful, to frame or understand certain behaviors as less evolved rather than as moral failures or spiritual weaknesses.
I find it easier in general to reflect upon and speak about my own direct experience and what has been felt, seen and noticed here, rather than trying to explain the whole universe. And I notice that there are conflicting pulls here (e.g., the desire to indulge in an addiction and the desire to be free of it), and the one that feels to me like the deepest most wholesome truth is the pull toward love, beauty, goodness, freedom, kindness, and so on. The pulls in the other direction feel like old habitual off-the-mark reactions to pain or upset, or attempts to do something positive in a way that is not really working, or simply less evolved aspects of this being not yet able to do otherwise.
But ultimately, I don't know how it all works.
Yes, for certain, theorizing about the nature of the evolutionary "pull" (at either the universal or so-called individual level) is an exercise in cartography 🤣. Nevertheless, it does feel potentially meaningful/resonant when pulls in the opposite direction are experienced as "missing the mark" - a description I've noticed you using from time-to-time. I imagine you're aware that the literal English translation of the Hebrew word for "sin" is "missing the mark". Coincidence😳!!?? I think not...and yet...😉
Yes, I know that's the meaning (or at least one translation) of the Hebrew word for sin, and it feels like a good way to understand sin—a word which, in contemporary times at least, seems hopelessly tainted with associations of a judgmental god, fire and brimstone, original imperfection, hell, and right-wing morality (ie, sin is premarital sex, homosexuality, abortion, having a child out of wedlock, and so on, none of which I view as sinful).
My name was mentioned, and I was happy to see it in a text discussing "the pull toward love, beauty, goodness, freedom, kindness, and so on."
I don't know how it all works, but I do recognize that strong attraction to kindness and love which seems to exist in humans planet-wide and cross-culturally. In personal life, I enjoy that without asking how or why.
As an analyst of the human situation, I propose that we humans are first and foremost biological systems. Biological systems seek stability. The ones that did persisted, the ones that did not perished. The stability of the shared social space requires effective inter-system communication to enable shared effort and avoid misunderstandings. And civility, kindness, and love offer the best signal-to-noise ratio for that communication.
Hi Robert...That certainly makes sense as one possible explanation. I remain agnostic as to whether we are "first and foremost biological systems." I don't deny or ignore biology, but we certainly seem to transcend that dimension in many ways that "lower" life forms do not. I also don't know whether mind or matter is fundamental, or whether they are even different "things." ❤️
Biological systems, yes by definition, but interestingly, apparently unique in being aware that we are aware (at least in the extent to which many are capable of being aware of being aware). What is illuminated when the light of self-awareness flickers on and discernment between what hits the mark and what misses it begins to happen?
I certainly don't have the answer, but I suspect it's related to the buzz-kill that ousted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden ;-)
I had to laugh a little when I read this post, as I have been listening and often struggling to grasp the nuances of the 11-hour audio book "Lights On" by Annaka Harris, which if you aren't familiar, is a deep dive into the origins of Consciousness. She is essentially exploring whether consciousness is an emergent property of complexity or rather a fundamental property in the universe. (To her great credit, she doesn't pretend to arrive at a definitive answer.) I laughed because your articulation of the two inseparable truths very closely mirrors (I think?) what she arrives at after speaking to a wide range of experts from meditation teachers to physicists to neurobiologists. Maybe it was BECAUSE I have been listening to the audio book that I found your post so exquisitely and clearly described. But maybe also you just have such an incredible way of articulating the ineffable. At any rate, something clicked in my brain, so thank you. I am a big fan ever since reading "Death: The End of Self Improvement". I also would like to formally rate the title of that book one of the best ever conceived.
Thank you for your comment and your high praise of DTEOSI—I'm so happy it resonated! I heard one talk on YouTube by Annaka some time ago, but haven't otherwise explored her work. After hearing several interviews with him about it, I've just ordered Michael Pollan's new book, A World Appears, also an open exploration of consciousness with no definitive conclusion, and I'm looking forward to reading that. 🙏
Joan, you said that you believe awareness is unconditioned. This is so simple and I also feel, sense and believe this to be so. The one great teacher. Directly through to here, with the sacred messenger, one’s conscience.