Category: SCIENCE

THE SILENCE.

In my view this paper is not just an examination of a powerful poem about the mystical experience, it is also a valuable summary of science and academia’s current interest in the historical and contemporary experience of the Silence of the mystical experience of mysticism (MER).

The full text is available through Academia.net

Silence as Cognition in San Juan de la Cruz’ Coplas del Mismo Hechas Sobre Una Alta Extasis de Contemplación

By Michael Mcglynn, Professor at National University, Taiwan.

SUMMARY

“This essay is an expansive (non-reductive) treatment of one poem of the Early Modern Spanish mystic San Juan de SILENCE AND INEFFABILITY AS COGNITION IN SAN JUAN DE LA CRUZ’ “COPLAS DEL MISMO HECHAS SOBRE UN ÉXTASIS DE ALTA CONTEMPLACIÓN”

FORWARD

“This essay is an expansive (non-reductive) treatment of one poem of the Early Modern Spanish mystic San Juan de la Cruz, namely, Coplas del Mismo Hechas sobre un Éxtasis de Alta Contemplación.

“The refrain of this poem is a claim to transcend all knowledge through an ineffable experience. As disciplinary walls tumble. this ineffable experience bears re-evaluation with evidence from experts in pertinent fields, such as cognitive science. A case is made that Juan’s claim to know by unknowing is a feature of ordinary cognition, though perhaps his experience was an extreme case. As a corollary conclusion, it is observed that twentieth-century approaches to texts are quickly giving way to approaches that match the ‘holistic’, networked culture that characterizes contemporary society from Toledo to Taipei.

INTRODUCTION

“The sixteenth-century Spanish Carmelite priest Juan de la Cruz is famous for his poetry about the mystical union. The refrain of Juan de la Cruz’ 1578 poem about the mystical union, Coplas del Mismo Hechas sobre un Éxtasis de Alta Contemplación, expresses the ineffability of the mystical union with these words: y quédeme no sabiendo, / toda ciencia trascendiendo (2-3: ‘I remained unknowing while transcending all knowledge’).

“This ‘unknowing’, or ineffability, is a common trope in both European and World mystical traditions. The experience of transcendent divinity, whether one believes in divinity or not, is by definition beyond expression. As a poetic trope, the ineffability of such experience is not uncommon, even in secular poetry. San Juan’s more unique claim is that he came into practical knowledge directly by means of this ineffable experience.

“This is a handbook definition of cognition: ‘all the mental processes by which people become aware of and gain knowledge of the world’ (D.A. Statt, The concise dictionary of psychology, London-New York, Routledge, 1990). Juan uses the terms conociemiento, inteligencia and noticia.

READ THE FULL TEXT

mysticexperiences.net

TO A MYSTIC, NOTHING IS “MYSTICAL”

 

Mankind has a limited view of mysticism.

The common, vulgari understanding of the word “mysticism” implies an unattainable “mystery”, or “myth”, whereas in fact a mystic has experienced something that has always existed and always will exist. It is no mystery or myth. Hundreds of university departments around the world are studying and delivering courses on the subject.

Everything known and unknown already exists, is developing, is yet to be fully discovered, is not created by us – or any other species.

Scientists can’t invent this Reality. It exists in and of itself. Scientists and mystics just “discover” its attributes – the scientists by experiment, the mystics by experience.

Mystics experience a Reality that scientists merely “discover” piece by piece by scientific experimentation and comparative observation yet it is still not commonly or fully known and probably can’t be  because ordinary humans are not presently evolved enough to be able to know. But this doesn’t mean Reality is forever “mystical”, “mysterious” unknown or individually unattainable.

To understand the human condition it is important to know the  Reality in which we exist is true. This Reality just is and we are that. We humans arise out of Reality. We are made of Reality. Everything known and unknown is Reality. Earth itself is part of this greater Reality that is much bigger than anything conceived by humans or their “Gods” or gods …  Reality is not just about humans. It’s about everything, undeniable but indescribable.

As part of the process of Reality our physical earth fits us because we came from it physically. We are made of the same stuff. We come from the elements of the earth, are custom tailored by the earth. The earth is likewise customised to fit us. It’s the same with us and the greater Reality; we are compatible, synchronised; ever changing to match the exigencies of the greater Reality of the never ending, ever transitioning characteristics of the material and nonmaterial (spiritual?) cosmos of which everything is a part.

In this continuing process our minds appeared. The mind developed as a consequence of earth and humans being part of this creative, manipulative effect of the greater, non human environment of Reality.

So, the word “mysticism” is just a very limited human word. It’s not big enough nowadays to describe even the little we now understand. The growing acceptance of the existence of mystical experience of reality (MER) has made our old understanding of mysticism obsolete. The word still has lingering, wrongful connotations of occultism, spiritism, primitive ignorance, magic, religions, ecstasies, superstitions, mythomanias and cultural/political mischiefs, etc. In Reality however, where all things are perfect and all is well, there are no names – everything just is, and we are that! Mystics don’t need names. Nothing is “mystical” – it’s all Reality.

Mankind’s limited view of the mystic experience of Reality is not new. As the biblical Jesus discovered at the temple, even there at that part of the early human attempt to grasp what human existence is all about, religion and monetisation were already vulgarising the evidence.

Mysticexperiences.net

NEUROSCIENCE READIES FOR A SHOWDOWN OVER CONSCIOUSNESS IDEAS | Quanta Magazine

by Philip Ball for Quanta Magazine

Some problems in science are so hard, we don’t really know what meaningful questions to ask about them — or whether they are even truly solvable by science. Consciousness is one of those: Some researchers think it is an illusion; others say it pervades everything. Some hope to see it reduced to the underlying biology of neurons firing; others say that it is an irreducibly holistic phenomenon.

The question of what kinds of physical systems are conscious “is one of the deepest, most fascinating problems in all of science,” wrote the computer scientist Scott Aaronson of the University of Texas at Austin. “I don’t know of any philosophical reason why [it] should be inherently unsolvable” — but “humans seem nowhere close to solving it.”

Now a new project currently under review hopes to close in on some answers.

READ MORE

Source: Quanta Magazine

 

 

THE TREND FROM RELIGIONS TO ‘INDIVIDUAL SPIRITUALITY’*

Is this seemingly spontaneous trend leaping out of the religious frying pan into the ‘human-spirit’ fire …?

Is it missing the phenomena of the mystic experience of Reality (MER) that drives human evolution?

Perhaps mysticism being hidden behind the secret password of ‘direct experience’ makes such oversight inevitable …

So perhaps the only solace in this current trend is its emphasis on the individual. Perhaps it’s the inevitable human flight from failed collectivism which is the antithesis of ultimately real human evolution.

Aren’t Ananias and Sapphira of the bible and today’s massively failed national attempts at collectivism a warning wreckage?

Individualism is the essence of my mystical experiences of Ultimate Reality.

So perhaps the current trend away from religions to individuality is significant enough, for now – a step along the way.

*See ‘Spiritual but not religious’ on Wikipedia for a comprehensive study of the trend.

Mysticexperiences.net

SCIENCE ON THE WAY OUT?

The thought occurred to me that science will eventually devolve into mere technology, possibly with fringe philosophical affiliations.

It will feel at home there where only matter can be experimented with, not spirit.

Spirit is exclusively represented by the mystical experience of Reality, MER, which is probably not even exclusive to humans, and anyway only accessible by experience not experiment.

Probably this is not a new revelation, though it’s not yet as mainstream as it will become.

Mysticalexperiences.net

THE REAL HARD QUESTION – for scientists and mystics?

 

From a mystic’s point of view the dung beetle, for instance, and human science are in the category of the micro phenomena of existence – whereas the mystical experience of Reality (MER), is the only phenomena in current human experience that is the macro category it occupies.

So the real hard question of science and mysticism is, how macro is Reality?

Does mysticism already know?  If not, which one will know first, science or mysticism?

(Answer: Mystics! – Reality has been giving mystics the answer to this one for thousands of years).

Mysticexperiences.net

A HUMBLE HEADS-UP FOR SEEKERS (In My Experience)

 

If you are involved as a spiritual Seeker in a religion, in science or other human inconsequentia, you are not a mystic, not yet.

If you are still in the morass of politics or other demanding human mythomanias you haven’t even got far with real evolvement, not even to Seeker stage.

But, if some Sufi tradition is right, then evolution will ensure you will move away from human distractions and such self identifications.

There is not much you can do about it when Reality calls to complete you. There are no failures in Ultimate Reality, however long it takes.

You probably think you are seeking Reality but you will come to realise that Reality is reaching out for its own, for you.

(Sufis ‘discovered’ this evolutionary process before Darwin. They recognised it went further than the physical limitations of his time).

Ironically, by the time you get to being a mystic it wont matter anyway – there are no names in Reality …

So, there are two things you can do to assuage your hunger and thirst for the truth of your being:

Let go. Be still. Keep letting go. Listen. You are being helped. Keep listening. Remain still.

Lust, anger, greed, your myriad human attachments, even your ego, will be lifted like invisible veils, almost without you noticing because you will be experiencing revelation

Or you can wait for religions, science, human stuff, to eventually release you as they wither away anyway. This could take time!

All Is Well.

Mysticexperiences.net

REALITY, CONSCIOUSNESS, NOT PHYSICAL OR MATERIAL !?

 

“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.” — Nikola Tesla

 

“I incline to the idealistic theory that consciousness is fundamental, and that the material universe is derivative from consciousness, not consciousness from the material universe… In general the universe seems to me to be nearer to a great thought than to a great machine. It may well be, it seems to me, that each individual consciousness ought to be compared to a brain-cell in a universal mind.” — Sir James Jeans

Mysticexperiences.net

CONSCIOUSNESS WILL REMAIN A MYSTERY?

“I think consciousness will remain a mystery. I tend to think that the workings of the conscious brain will be elucidated to a large extent.

“Biologists and perhaps physicists will understand much better how the brain works. But why something that we call consciousness goes with those workings, I think that will remain mysterious.”

— Edward Witten

Edward Witten is an American theoretical physicist and professor of mathematical physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. (Source: Wikipedia)

THE QUESTION OF SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY

By Acharya Prashant

Acharya Prashant is a sannyasi, an ascetic Hindu monk. He has a vision to bring the wisdom of ancient scriptures, words of saints and the rigour of modern science to the help of mankind. Email: requests@prashantadvait.com

Question: Acharya Ji, how is the knowledge of the scriptures different from the knowledge of science?

Acharya Prashant: No scripture ever offers you knowledge. There is a great difference between knowing Science, and Spirituality. Science is knowledge. Science is incremental. A certain fellow does something, and the next fellow takes it forward from there. It’s like a relay race.

Spirituality – everyone has to start afresh. It doesn’t matter, how much your father, your ancestors, your predecessors knew. You will still have to start from where you are. Einstein didn’t have to start from zero. Newton said, “He could see so far, because he was standing on the shoulders of giants.” In Spirituality, you cannot stand on somebody else’s shoulders. You have to stand on your own. So, knowledge cannot help.

In Science, the more knowledge, the better.

In Spirituality, the more your freedom from knowledge, the better.

It has become a trend over the last few decades, to conflate these two – science and spirituality. In fact, certain authors think that it is a mark of their scholarship, if they use scientific terms in the spiritual domain. They would try to bring in quantum physics in Spirituality. There can be nothing more foolish than this. It only shows that you know no Spirituality and you are also revealing that you know no Science. If you know Science, then you would not conflate it with Spirituality. And had you been spiritual, why would you bring in Science?

Science is such a small petty subset of Spirituality. Science is about trying to look at objects, objectively. That’s what Science is – Look at the objects, without prejudice, objectively. That is Science.

Spirituality is about looking at the subject and object together. And hence, a third kicks in, that which you know by the name of witness. When the subject and the object are together, then that togetherness, is a very special thing. Science would never look at these two together. You may have fever, you are still observing a physical phenomenon. You might be in love, you are still observing a physical phenomenon. Your observation, will remain the same. If you are in a laboratory, the reading will not change, if you have fallen in love, or would it?

You are observing a physical phenomenon outside of you. You might be the greediest man ever born. Still, your readings would be the same. In spirituality, that does not happen. In Spirituality, everything depends on “Who you are?”

Science is oblivious to who you are. Science cares only about wening outside of you, in the physical objective world. You might be about to commit suicide, you might be totally depressed, yet the time period of that pendulum won’t change for you. The efficiency of the engine does not depend on your mental refinement, or does it? You may keep blood in your refrigerator, or you may keep liquor, or you may keep some water or some juice. The machine operates the same way.

In life it is not so.

Spirituality looks at the totality of life, which includes that (Object), this (Subject), the observation, and the witness.

Mysticexperiences.net

THE SPIRITUAL NATURE?

“By the formal, rational, rules of science, which have worked so well in understanding the physical world, human beings occasionally have experienced and show certain behaviours that cannot be reduced to materialistic explanations and that look like fundamental aspects of a spiritual nature.”

Dr. Charles T. Tart, The End of Materialism

mysticexperiences.net

 

profile_charles_tartDr. Charles T. Tart is internationally known for his more than 50 years of research on the nature of consciousness, altered states of consciousness (ASCs) and parapsychology, and is one of the founders of the field of Transpersonal (spiritual) Psychology. His and other scientists’ work convinced him that there is a real and vitally important sense in which we are spiritual beings, but the too dominant, scientistic, materialist philosophy of our times, “masquerading as genuine science, dogmatically denies any possible reality to the spiritual.” He says this hurts people, it pressures them to reject vital aspects of their being.