[Ron]
[The philosopher's stone is a] metaphor for spiritual transformation
in the Hermetic tradition.
[Arlo]
Manly P. Hall wrote a fascinating and comprehensive overview of
Hermetic (esoteric) thinking throughout the ages. Titled "The Secret
Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic,
Qabbalistic & Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy" (the full text of
which can be found at http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/), it opens
with a very MOQish (in my opinion) premise, "Man's status in the
natural world is determined, therefore, by the quality of his
thinking." (Introduction)
Hall's sentiment continues, with my MOQish pointers added, "He whose
mind is enslaved to his bestial instincts (Biological Quality) is
philosophically not superior to the brute-, he whose rational
faculties ponder human affairs (Social Quality) is a man; and he
whose intellect is elevated to the consideration of divine realities
(Intellectual Quality) is already a demigod, for his being partakes
of the luminosity (Dynamic Quality) with which his reason has brought
him into proximity." (Introduction)
Consider, too, his last word there "proximity". There is a
foundational theme in Hall's narrative that mirror's Pirsig's "All
this is just an analogy" sentiment. The Tao, the Godhead, can only
ever be "approached", orbited, seen out of the corner of one's eyes,
expressed only "proximally" via art, music, activity, metaphor. It
can never be "reached" or "held" or even captured "literally". Great
esoteric philosophies always "point" (to the moon), but they can
never articulate a path (let alone the One True Path).
For Hall, all religion/scripture/theology/theosophy is always both
exoteric and esoteric. The exoteric, the "literal stories", are what
(to Hall) "small minds" latch onto, as they are incapable of grasping
the deeper, profound, esoteric meanings. The role of the
priest(ess)/shaman/druid is to guide one from an exoteric to an
esoteric understanding, and THIS is (again for Hall) the moment of
Enlightenment, the moment when the human mind sees,suddenly, the
esoteric metaphor hidden beneath the Word. Hall, a self-described
"Neo-Platonist", points to the collapse of Esoteric Traditions as a
point-of-collapse in Western Culture, a malady that has led to the
debasement of man and the reign of materialism.
There are few who seek the "philosopher's stone". And when you
consider that the most powerful "religious" organization in America
draws its power not only from an un-esoteric view but an aggressively
anti-esoteric view of "Faith" (an organization with power to arrange
its own "morality session" with Presidential candidates), one wonders
what chance any philosophy has that draws from a mystic, undefined,
central "Void".
While for Hall this modern malady is one where "exoteric" views are
the dominant paradigm, I think it maps well onto Pirsig's criticisms
of the modern malady being one where "SOM" views are the dominant
paradigm. (To note, Joseph Campbell's notion that the modern malady
is one where "amythological" views are the dominant paradigm also,
for me, maps onto this well.) If for no other reason than it seems
that "literalism", "subject-object duality" and a decay of
mythological narrative all seem to go hand-in-hand.
I encourage you to read Hall's introduction, if only as an
"esotericist's" overview of philosophy's history
(http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/sta03.htm).
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