Monday, September 04, 2006
R e g u l a r i t y
No, not that kind of regularity!
I'm not that old!
But sheesh, with all these abrupt changes, I look to something that is regular, unchanging, stable, solid, predictable.
Plato said this is the realm of the Forms, which transcends our sphere of Change.
It all starts with Imagination.
Dream, flights of fancies, whimsys, conjectures, nebulous thoughts from the unconscious that begin a motion, an activity at what I call the deepest center of the self, the inner 'I'.
Which graduates to Belief.
Common objects are observed. The Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Sky, the Trees, the Plants, the Rocks, these all begin to register as objects that can be observed and predicted.
On to Knowledge.
Abstract generalities are able to be put forth that generalize the principles of the objects of Belief. Rocks, when held, will fall when released. Leaves will fall from Trees. The Moon will fall from the Sky, so that Gravity is seen to be a principle that applies to all Objects, so that these Objects' behaviours may be predicted. The laws of Geometry, the point, the line, the circle, the triangle all can be projected on paper and are found in Nature.
Last is Gnosis.
How to use this abstract Knowledge for the betterment of Mankind. How to apply the Laws of Heaven to this mortal coil, so that Life points to the Good, without becoming impractical. The Laws of Gravity are taken into account when determining the static equilibrium of a Bridge to span an expanse. The Abstract is laddered to the Concrete to form something useful that points to the transcendant.
Then on to Virtue.
Wisdom is the Virtue of thought.
Courage is the Virtue of desire.
Temperance is the Virtue of action.
Justice is the Virtue of Society.
And on to Spirituality.
Love the Idea of the Transcendant, while appreciating the Immanent. Love the Lord God first, and then love your fellow man. So that Love is the keystone of Spirituality.
Appreciate the Flow in all Things.
The Sun slowly moves from it's eastern rise to it's zenith, rendering a smooth flow of time that is regular and continues on in the same regularity from it's zenith to it's fall in the western horizon, delicately winding it's way from morning to night.
Polaris, the North Star regularly assumes it's position in the night sky for 26,000 years, then changing off to Vega for the next 26,000 years, which in turn makes it's nod to Polaris. A flow that can be measured by the precession of the equinoxes.
The Moon casts it's beams, bended through Gravity, onto the waters it pulls, their tides being easily predicted by any meterologist worth his salt.
These are some of the things that are regular, unchanging in their change, predictable and rational, confidently manifesting themselves into a world of apparent chaos. When fraught with difficulties and dis-harmony throughout the day, these are things one can meditate on when looking for something that is not fickle in it's ways!
No, not that kind of regularity!
I'm not that old!
But sheesh, with all these abrupt changes, I look to something that is regular, unchanging, stable, solid, predictable.
Plato said this is the realm of the Forms, which transcends our sphere of Change.
It all starts with Imagination.
Dream, flights of fancies, whimsys, conjectures, nebulous thoughts from the unconscious that begin a motion, an activity at what I call the deepest center of the self, the inner 'I'.
Which graduates to Belief.
Common objects are observed. The Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Sky, the Trees, the Plants, the Rocks, these all begin to register as objects that can be observed and predicted.
On to Knowledge.
Abstract generalities are able to be put forth that generalize the principles of the objects of Belief. Rocks, when held, will fall when released. Leaves will fall from Trees. The Moon will fall from the Sky, so that Gravity is seen to be a principle that applies to all Objects, so that these Objects' behaviours may be predicted. The laws of Geometry, the point, the line, the circle, the triangle all can be projected on paper and are found in Nature.
Last is Gnosis.
How to use this abstract Knowledge for the betterment of Mankind. How to apply the Laws of Heaven to this mortal coil, so that Life points to the Good, without becoming impractical. The Laws of Gravity are taken into account when determining the static equilibrium of a Bridge to span an expanse. The Abstract is laddered to the Concrete to form something useful that points to the transcendant.
Then on to Virtue.
Wisdom is the Virtue of thought.
Courage is the Virtue of desire.
Temperance is the Virtue of action.
Justice is the Virtue of Society.
And on to Spirituality.
Love the Idea of the Transcendant, while appreciating the Immanent. Love the Lord God first, and then love your fellow man. So that Love is the keystone of Spirituality.
Appreciate the Flow in all Things.
The Sun slowly moves from it's eastern rise to it's zenith, rendering a smooth flow of time that is regular and continues on in the same regularity from it's zenith to it's fall in the western horizon, delicately winding it's way from morning to night.
Polaris, the North Star regularly assumes it's position in the night sky for 26,000 years, then changing off to Vega for the next 26,000 years, which in turn makes it's nod to Polaris. A flow that can be measured by the precession of the equinoxes.
The Moon casts it's beams, bended through Gravity, onto the waters it pulls, their tides being easily predicted by any meterologist worth his salt.
These are some of the things that are regular, unchanging in their change, predictable and rational, confidently manifesting themselves into a world of apparent chaos. When fraught with difficulties and dis-harmony throughout the day, these are things one can meditate on when looking for something that is not fickle in it's ways!
