Kevin, Struan, David T & Phellow Filosophers: David - The cable analogy really worked for me and Pierce's relevance to the MOQ can hardly be overstated. Please keep it coming. Struan please don't drop out on me now, Informed disagreement is what I live for. I really wish you'd bring your credentials to the table in a meaningful way. Kevin says "love seems to be one of those cross level ideas"...and.. "Mysticism can be seen as the practice of loving reality" in an ever widening scope "from one person, to the world, and to the entire reality, the ultimate goal." Hopefully, I've captured Kevin's meaning and not distorted it. Can't say I disagree. But I'd like to throw in some notes and qualifiers, to whet Struan's appitite if nothing else. Mystic love poety and imagery was most prolific during the age of the trubador. You know, that time in European history when society was run by horny young men and romantic love was virtually invented. And its been demonstrated through historical records that the mystical experience is inevitably express in terms the culture of the mystic herself. The is even the case of an 11th century Italian woman who began to see Jesus during her mystical experiences only a few days after she, and everyone in her village, first saw a painted image of him. It only seems natural from a MOQ perspective. If the mystical experience is the abandonment of all static patterns and it is beyond words and concepts, the best one can hope for is some kind of interpetation. And since all we really have are words and concepts (social and intellectual static patterns), that is the language the experience get translated into. There's no where else to go. There's no other way to conceptualize the inconcieveable, except with analogies and images, poetry and art. Some of it is pretty effective too. Love does seem to go beyond mere symbolism, beyond mere reference and sign. It really does seem to permiate all levels of reality as if it were intertwined with DQ itself. I like to think that there is something inherently poetic about reality. It seems there are certain aspects of reality that are expressed over and over again, like variations on a theme, like some kind of cosmic jazz. Love is one of those... super-metaphors. The most unlikely voice to support mystical love over lesser forms? Jackson Browne? You bet. What became of the changes we waited for love to bring? Were they only the fitful dreams of some greater awakening? Or how about Zen country singer/songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore who sings about the ineffableable nature of the mystical experience.. I've seen crimson roses growing thru a chain link fence I've seen crystal visions, sometimes they don't make sense You can see the future, it don't make no difference Just don't talk about it babe, you know I love the suspense David B. MOQ Online Homepage - http://www.moq.org Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/ Unsubscribe - http://www.moq.org/md/index.html MD Queries - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
