The absolute is nothing, the infinite void, and the void is the only absolute. The void is spirit, immaterial, the source and being of every living entity within the material universe. The only infinite possibility within the universe is the possibility for human consciousness to grasp the infinite void. To be conscious of being nothing is the highest realization of consciousness, the highest achievement of human life.
Category: Philosophy
relative vs absolute again
Existence, the sensually apprehended and intellectually conceived four dimensional space/time continuum, can be defined as a physical universe of relativity while the true vacuum of the absolute void into which this universe is expanding is a spiritually transcendent presence that cannot be sensually apprehended or intellectually known. The human conception of the relative universe of existence is striving to expand into the absolute presence of being, in order to comprehend an ultimate reality in an intellectual, unified theory and become absolute, the finite desiring to become infinite, the temporal to become eternal. This, of course, can never be achieved.
Reality is transcendent to every actuality, as the absolute is transcendent to existence. Reality is spiritual, encompassing the void and the physical universe within the void. The universe is a universe of relativity in which the only presence of the absolute is the presence of the void at the center of each living being. Within the relative actualities there can be no absolutes. These relative actualities are limited by the boundaries of rational thought, and it is precisely faith that introduces the absolute into the actual universe, not as idea but as transcendent reality. Faith instructs us that there is a reality beyond the actuality of intellectual existence. This reality is transcendent and absolute while existence is intellectual and relative.
tomorrow and tomorrow
Tomorrow is another day! They say! But it is so only relatively. We measure everything according to local observation from the earth we inhabit, which is spinning on its axis orbiting a star which is itself orbiting within one of an uncountable number of galaxies. We measure and we collectively name objects, bringing them into a common intellectual domain, an illusion of objectivity. Yet subjectively tomorrow is the same day, the one day in which we all live transcendently, together in a unity it is foolish to deny. Perhaps we are here, within this universe, to discover our unity.
existence is not reality !
We apparently live in an expanding material universe within which everything is conceived as relative by the rational, human mind, a universe that began with the first appearance of space and time. Since this universe of relativity had a beginning it must also have an ending. Before the beginning there was nothing and after the end there will also be nothing. It is within this nothing, this void, that the physical universe is expanding its space and time. Viewed from within the universe of relativity the absolute is nothing, it does not exist, it simply is, inconceivable to the rational, human mind. Faith informs us that the void is spiritual; absolute, infinite and eternal, while the rational, human mind informs us that the physical universe is relative, finite and temporal. Only the relative universe exists, forming space and time, and it came into existence at its beginning within the absolute void, within a true vacuum in which there is not even a presentiment of materialism. The spiritual void is the ultimate reality and existence is not reality but a delusion of the rational, human mind.
The spiritual void
All anxiety is anxiety about nothing, the absolute nothingness of the void, the spiritual presence at the core of every living being. Filling this void with sensual baggage distracts us from its reality and places us within the illusion of relativity, the physical universe of time and space. Anxiety leads to despair, the condition of the soul that has lost its connection with its true being, and despair leads to death, the ultimate expression of the negative in existence.
The void, which is the ground of each human soul, is the same void within which the physical universe is expanding, an infinite, spiritual, emptiness. The soul which is consciously grounded in this emptiness is at one with its own transcendent being, absolute being. On the other hand, the soul which spurns the spiritual void and seeks fulfillment within the universe loses its connection to the eternal and wastes its lifetime filling the void at the center of its being with things of only relative value.
Double movements in consciousness
There is no evolutionary benchmark for the development of agriculture. It arrived in human consciousness some other way than through the evolutionary process. According to my thesis, the spread of farming began at the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, conceptually coincidental with an aboriginal catastrophe, the fall of human beings from an immediate apprehension of the absolute reality of being into a reflective conception of the relative actuality of existence. To conceive is to grasp objectively, and the history of modern man is the history of fallen humanity’s projection of an objective conceptual actuality into the reality of nature, which must be apprehended subjectively if humankind is to re-enter reality.
Languages also developed from a common root and a common center. The spread of farming into Europe appears to be coincidental with the spread of the Indo-European language group from Anatolia and Mesopotamia after a great flood, and it is precisely farming with the ability to provide food for large groupings of people that makes possible the growth of the urban centers of civilization which make up the modern world. These huge population centers, which the earth suffers to sustain, may be seen as the fulfillment of the biblical curse placed upon the earth through Adam and the second biblical curse placed upon Cain’s descendants following his killing of his brother Abel which represent a double fall of consciousness from the contemplation of absolute being into a reflective and conceptual actuality of existence. This fall can only be remedied by a opposing double movement of consciousness, acknowledgment of and turning away from the negative self in material existence and a leap of faith back into the reality of the human soul’s spiritual being.
Same old same old
Reality is transcendent to every actuality, as the absolute is transcendent to the relative. Reality is spiritual, encompassing the void and the physical universe within the void. The universe is a universe of relativity in which the only presence of the absolute is the presence of the void at the center of each living being. Within the relative actualities there can be no absolutes. These relative actualities are limited by the boundaries of rational thought, and it is precisely faith that introduces the absolute into the actual universe, not as idea but as transcendent reality. Faith instructs us that there is a reality beyond the actuality of intellectual existence. This reality is transcendent and absolute while existence is intellectual and relative.
Innocence regained
Upon entering the world the soul of the human being is innocent and the relationship of this innocent soul with the world is one of of immediacy. Everything appears good and absolute, indeed, is good and absolute to the innocent soul. Confined in time and space, the soul eventually makes contact with the negative in existence, the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and reflecting from this negative the soul loses immediacy and innocence and now, in the reflective relationship with the world of relativity is tempted by the negative and becomes guilty. In order to regain lost innocence the soul must discover the presence of absolute good within the world of relativity and reflect once more to discover the redemptive power of this absolute good. With faith in this power the soul can rediscover its innocent relationship with the world, free from the illusory power of the negative. Only the paradoxical presence of the absolute within the world of relativity can trigger this double reflection, the necessary precursor to faith.
infinite possibilities
The idea is not infinite. If it were infinite it would not be possible. There are no infinite possibilities. The possibilities imaged in the idea are finite and cannot grasp what is real or distinguish between the real and the actual. Existence, the actualized possibility, is only a negative image of a reality which cannot be known by those reflective processes of rational thought that discover the idea, the ground of possibility. The actualities in which we each exist, the actualized possibilities, are only related coincidentally and impartially to the infinite reality of being.
The Fall into the illusion of duality
Modern man, alone on the earth, perhaps alone in the universe, has a three-dimensional consciousness, a consciousness that is sensual, emotional, and intellectual. Intellectual consciousness is a reflective consciousness that forms the idea, a negative image of the world of immediate experience, in the imagination. The entire reflective thought process is thus based on the discovery of the negative, the possibility of the idea formed in the imagination. The actualization of this idea negates subjective immediacy and projects an objective possibility into existence. Reflection annuls immediate consciousness and the reflective soul, leaving the reality of being and forming the idea of the individuality of the self in the imagination, enters into an intellectual existence, breaking the bonds of immediacy and subjectivity and establishing its own objective actuality. It is precisely the projection of various negative images of individuality into the intellectual actuality of existence that annuls innocence and the immediate relationship with the absolute and veils the instinctive and intuitive consciousness of human being. The existential understanding of the unity of being, the good, is surrendered to the discovery of the duality of existence, good and evil.
" Serious mind, serious life" 