Tag: Intellectual

Subject to reasoning and understanding

relative vs absolute again

by michaelsidneywelch, posted in Absolute Categories, Catholic Spirituality, Education, Existentialist thought, Human being, Philosophy, Science, Ultimate Reality, Uncategorized

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.

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tomorrow and tomorrow

by michaelsidneywelch, posted in Absolute Categories, Existentialist thought, Human being, Philosophy, Poetry, Spiritual life, Spirituality, Ultimate Reality

sunset4Tomorrow 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.

Allow me to repeat: “existence is not being”

by michaelsidneywelch, posted in Absolute Categories, Catholic Spirituality, Education, Existentialist thought, Faith, Human being, Morals, Science, Spiritual life, Spirituality, Truth, Ultimate Reality

Existence is not being. Existence, the field of relativity, only exists within the human intellect, discovered when the conscious mind moves from an immediate perception of the world as unity into a reflective cognizance of the world as a duality. Everything within existence is given a name and it is precisely the naming of things that calls them into intellectual existence. Existence is an invention of the objective human intellect that has fallen from a subjective contemplation of a reality that is spiritual and absolute. The soul falls from an immediate subjectivity to the absolute categories of being into a reflective perception of the relative categories of existence, from positive into positive and negative, from good into good and evil and from innocence into innocence and guilt. The reflective intellect fails to distinguish between reality and existence and, rejecting the void which cannot be experienced or thought, denies the reality of the absolute and of spiritual being.  G-d does not exist, which is to say that G-d does not inhabit human intellectual existence. Absolute being simply is, eternal, infinite and absolute and to actualize that being we need faith in a transcendent reality. Whether we like it or not, whether we admit it or not, we are held captive in a world of duality, of both good and evil, of both positive and negative, of both attraction and repulsion and a world, moreover, where the negative appears to be increasing in power and the good diminishing. To be redeemed from that world each human being needs a moral discipline founded on absolute principles. Science cannot give that discipline, but only faith.

The spiritual void

by michaelsidneywelch, posted in Absolute Categories, Catholic Spirituality, Faith, Human being, Philosophy, Spiritual life, Truth

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.

The void of being

by michaelsidneywelch, posted in Existentialist thought, Human being, Spiritual life, Spirituality, Ultimate Reality, Uncategorized

Absolute zero is positive, primal spiritual being. The one, as in universe, is negative and cannot negate the absolute since it’s existence is relative to it and dependent upon it. To create the illusion of relativity absolute zero therefore consciously enters into a relationship with the negative one within the infinite void of its own spiritual being, thus creating the finite material universe. This manifestation of absolute zero within the universe of relativity so formed is precisely life and being, which confronts the physicality of the material universe by standing over against it. Relativity may be defined as an illusion that captures the reflective intellect in a conflict, the conflict of positive and negative, of good and evil. The power of zero is absolute and annuls materialism, annuls the universe of relativity and everything within it, except it’s own being.

Innocence regained

by michaelsidneywelch, posted in Absolute Categories, Catholic Spirituality, Christianity, Existentialist thought, Faith, Human being, Philosophy, Spiritual life, Spirituality, Uncategorized

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

by michaelsidneywelch, posted in Absolute Categories, Existentialist thought, Human being, Philosophy, Spirituality, Uncategorized

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

by michaelsidneywelch, posted in Absolute Categories, Catholic Spirituality, Faith, Human being, Philosophy, Spiritual life, Spirituality, Truth, Uncategorized

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.

existence is a mere actuality

by michaelsidneywelch, posted in Absolute Categories, Beauty, Catholic Spirituality, Existentialist thought, Human being, Philosophy, Ultimate Reality, Uncategorized

Existence is conceptual within the human mind and may be both defined and approached through dialectic. Reality, however, is absolute and so is not limited by the boundaries of that human rational thought which outlines and defines existence dialectically in terms of the idea. The reality in which we live as subjects is spiritual, an absolute being, infinitely conscious and eternally alive, immanent within and yet transcendent to the physical universe that exists within its infinite void. The physical universe that human consciousness describes as the realm of existence is an actuality bounded by the limitations of human rationality and the scientific method of thought which explores that finite universe cannot uncover the nature of a reality that is transcendent and spiritual. The consciousness of existence is an intellectual consciousness based on an idea which rejects the reality of the spiritual void, while the consciousness of absolute being is a spiritual consciousness which comprehends and transcends the idea. The spiritual transcends the intellectual as being transcends existence.

the negation of everything

by michaelsidneywelch, posted in Absolute Categories, Catholic Spirituality, Human being, Spiritual life, Truth

Everything negative flows from the idea and primarily from the idea of the individual self which is a negative image of the soul’s absolute being invented by the intellect fallen from contemplation of the absolute reality of good and projected into a relative actuality of good and evil, constructed for millennia by a conspiracy of fallen souls attracted to the negative in existence and enamored of evil. Small wonder that the world is as it is. Fortunately evil is only relative! Nothing, the nothing of being which is spirit, is absolute, cannot be negated and annuls relativity. Ahem!!