Hello Case,
> You are discussing a process here that can go on infinitely. Regardless of
> how small we set or measure these tolerances, there will always be a
> difference between the ideal and the real. My point is that early
> recognition of this led Plato to give the ideal a higher status than the
> real. This resulted in a view of the real world as depraved and evil at
> least in the western tradition. It is this central point that divided the
> rationalists and empiricists. It is at the core of the mind-body,
> subject-object duality. If the world we imagine was identical to the world
> as it is, this split would never have occurred to anyone.
Yes. And so are born the desires and struggles of life. Differences are
everywhere. Who can resist the temptation to reconcile them. I believe
this is precisely what Thomas Keating was speaking about when he said,
Step 1 - The beginning of the spiritual journey is the realization, a real
interior conviction, that there is a higher power, a God, an "Other"
(capital O)
Step 2- Try and become the "Other" (still capital O)
Step 3 - Finally the realization that there is no "Other". You and the
Other
are one, always have been, always will be. You just think you aren't.
Reconciling the differences is trying to become the Other. Everyone does it
And everyone falls short. Sure, some grand achievements have been realized,
e.g., predictable outcomes through the application of science and engineering.
But because the Other is not something "out there" it is not something that
one can become.
The greatest challenge of all, after failing at trying to become the Other, is
choosing to return to Step 0 or choosing to move on to Step 3.
It seems to me that a Step 3 perspective sees the reconciliation of all dualites
as Step 2 work, i.e., subject/object metaphysics. And in my opinion the MoQ
is just this kind of work. It's not bad. It's just not what it pretends to be.
Kevin
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