Theontology:
our minds largely construct our apprehensions of reality;
everything imagined contains partial, distorted truth and points to cosmic oneness;
meditation on every aspect opens us to "'...direct apprehension of the divine.'" (p. 7)
A Catholic dogmatist once said to me, "Truth is one. Error is manifold." I replied, "Truth is one. Its expressions are manifold." Those are a classic Hegelian thesis and antithesis. What is the synthesis? That there is some truth in every error and some error in every expression of truth? I could live in the Theontological village, practicing Zen. I can participate in rituals provided that they do not demand an affirmation of faith in the literal existence of deities. I can accept food in a temple but not communion in a church.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I think it's more accurate to say our minds interpret, correctly or not, the data we perceive thru our senses.
And what the heck is "cosmic oneness"? At the most we can perceive that the universe, everything that is, are part of "all one universe," but not to directly "feel" it.
I too believe truth is one while errors are manifold. But I also believe errors are distortions or misunderstandings of a truth. Well, 2+2=5 can never but be an absolute error!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Our minds interpret. I was quoting Theontology at that point.
Mystics intuit oneness.
2+2=5 gets it right that the sum of 2+2 is a number greater than 2 and lower than 6. But we can think up false statements or equations that have even less truth in them.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
However beautiful and splendid the stars are my prosaic mind knows they are giant balls of flaming gas. It seems difficult to be mystical about that!
But then I recalled Psalm 8.4-5: "When I see thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established: what is man, that thou are mindful of him or the son of man, that thou art concerned about him?" So we should be awed and humbled before the splendor and beauty of the universe created by God.
Ad astra! Sean
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