ROGER LEAPS IN ON MYSTIC EVIL AND COMPLEMENTARY VIEWS OF REALITY
I continue to be fascinated with the complementary mystic/intellectual split
on answering the evil question. I have taken the liberty to add a few
observations to some recent exchanges between Platt, Horse, Lithien and Clark.
To HORSE and PLATT:
Horse recently wrote:
Most people, including many on this
mailing list, still see Morality in terms of what they've been taught from
birth and fail to
see the potential of a new Quality-centred ethical system. This includes many
of the
recent posts regarding Good and Evil - rehashed old attitudes.
Roger now asks:
Could you be more specific? What observations do you have that others have
been missing?
Horse also wrote:
<<Good and Evil are Quality/Value
judgements. What is perceived as Good at one level may also be
simultaneously Evil at another - what's Good for Society may be Evil for
Biology. This is contextual not relative……..
The sense in which I meant the above was that the contextual
view is holistic, whereas the relative view is reductionist. An act of "evil"
should not be
seen in isolation and merely compared to another similar act. It must be seen
as part
of the overall environment in which it has been created. >>>>
Roger adds:
I agree that we can look at this both ways. In the holistic undifferentiated
way, there is only quality. From the differentiated intellectual level, evil
is an abstract concept to define conflicts of certain lower level quality
patterns. One aspect is mystic, based on pure experience. The other is
intellectual and based on subject/object division.
Platt wrote to Horse on holism:
<<Not to beat this into the ground but I wonder what limits, if any, one
places on the holistic "overall environment" view. Should one look all the
way back to the beginning of time and expand outward to include all of
space to the ends of the universe?>>
Roger:
Actually I would say all the terms you listed here are differentiated static
patterns. As long as there is a past, a future, an inside, and an outside,
we are not dealing with pure dynamic quality. But to answer your question , I
would say holistically or mystically that yes ALL is one. All is quality or
good. Switching to the intellectual level, evil clearly exists and IMHO is
necessary.
*****************
To CLARK AND LITHIEN
Clark wrote :
<<When sentient Quality came into being then Dynamic Quality came under the
influence of human sentience and became capable of generating either good
or evil depending on our individual interpretation of any given situation……
The possibility of evil had appeared……..
As I view Pirsig's concept, the collective path of sentient Quality is
self correcting and will eventually come into line with Universal Quality.
When this eventually occurs then the operation of Quality will produce all
good again.>>>
Roger:
I believe it is all good now. There will always be conflicting forces and
levels, and there will always be nothing but pure undifferentiated quality.
Both are necessary. One is DQ, the other is sq. Together they form the
quality event. Their interaction and dance create the reality called Lila.
The dance becomes more complex and dynamic and freer, but it is all quality
now, and it will be all quality tomorrow too.
Clark:
<>>
Roger:
Again, I believe the MOQ explains it both ways…..mystically and holistically
(undifferentiated), and divided and intellectually. The mystic view is the
most moral, but both are necessary.
Lithien wrote the following in response to Clark’s comments on the "sentient
quality coming into line with universal quality":
<<in a way, are we being guided?>>
Roger:
I think "guided " implies a distinct goal, and it implies a distinct dualistic
"guider". I would just say we are evolving.
Let me know your thoughts,
Rog
PS I just read Jonathan's complementary post(I added the term to my lead in
after reading it), and suspect I am trying to make a similar point. In fact, I
suspect that we are getting into the DQ/ sq split that creates the universe
through the quality event. There is something immense here that I sense, but
can't quite explain..........
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