"The unseen presence fell silent..." (p. 140)
Is a silent unseen presence always with us? If it is silent and unseen, then how does anyone know that it is there? Because it is sensed or felt:
"And I have felt
"A presence that disturbs me with the joy
"Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
"Of something far more deeply interfused,
"Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
"And the round ocean and the living air,
"And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;
"A motion and a spirit, that impels
"All thinking things, all objects of all thought
"And rolls through all things."
-William Wordsworth, here.
Religious experience is visionary, numinous or mystical. Mystical experience is of oneness whereas numinous experience is of awesome transcendence. No doubt reality is both.
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Usually, when I think of poetically experienced expressions of transcendence, it's Dante's DIVINE COMEDY that comes to mind. I am not, alas, as familiar with Wordsworth as any truly educated person should be.
I hope this paragraph won't offend you. I recall you expressing doubt that God or any gods can exist. So I am a bit surprised at what seems to be an aspiration on your part to experience the numinous or transcendent. I would have thought people who disbelieved in or doubted the supernatural, any kind of supernatural, would not believe they would experience any kind of "transcendence."
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Reality is one. Transcendence is natural. Solids transcend flat surfaces. Consciousness transcends unconsciousness. Human transcends animal consciousness. Concrete experience transcends abstraction. Materialism need not be reductionism.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I can agree on that much: things like solids transcending flat surfaces, self awareness transcending unconsciousness, etc. I just have my doubts about that making much sense if some, with views like yours, also don't believe in consciousness surviving bodily death.
No offense meant!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
But why should consciousness survive? Consciousness transcends (goes beyond) unconsciousness while it, consciousness, exists, whether or not it continues to exist indefinitely.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Because I don't think it makes much sense to seek after the transcendent if you don't believe consciousness survives bodily death. If that is all you believe will happen, then you won't even know you had existed at all. Or sought the transcendent.
But, I admit to having a very different POV from yours!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Then there is no point in enjoying Poul Anderson's works because, after we have died, we will not know that we existed. There is no point in learning or achieving anything... But that is obviously not the case. Appreciating fiction and literature makes sense now.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Of course I agree with you in the value of appreciating the works of Anderson and those of other writers. Even tho we have to agree to disagree about other matters.
Ad astra! Sean
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