glove (glove@indianvalley.com)
Mon, 17 Aug 1998 10:38:53 +0100
hello Donny and squad,
Donny wrote:
So to return to my origuinal point: You refered to th universe
creating itself "in a SOM-ish sense." Going by either of those
definitions, I don't know what the universe creating itself has to do w/
SOM. Either you have some other way of using the term "SOM" I'm not privy
too, or else you have some amazing logical insights about how "the
ontalogical dichotomy of S and O" means that the universe created itself.
Or else (as I suspect) "som" is in danger of becoming a label we slap on
something in order not to deal w/ it.
Are you seeing my point now? It doesn't help to communicate the
MoQ to people and broaden pirsig's audience by throwing around terms in
ways that don't appear to make a hell of a lot of sense. So, again, maybe
it's just me, but when you refer to the "SOM-ish" the universe might or
might not go about creating itself... that has no meaning for me. I don't
know what you're refering too.
Donny, there are actually several classifications of subject/object
metaphysics (i am sure you know that already), four of which i have outlined
in my website on the MOQ. when i refer to SOM in general, i am referring to
dualistic thinking, separation of the self from the rest of the universe,
something all SOM has in common as far as i can see.
i find logic to be a tremendous tool for understanding, yet it has its
limitations. in going from point A to point B, or A and not A, there is no
actual movement involved although we perceive movement due to our dualistic
thinking brought about by subject/object perceptions. at a very deep level
of the self, this separation creates reality (the universe of movement) as
we perceive it, but it is only a description of reality, and not reality
itself.
is it logical to say there is really no movement in the universe? i cannot
think of any way to logically say 'yes' to that question. yet the
entanglement factor contained within the universe confirms that space/time
are merely descriptions of the perceptions self makes to thereby turn the
actual non-movement within the universe into perceived movement taking place
all around self and separate from self...in other words, the self creates
reality by forming agreements which are not agreements with reality itself,
but rather agreements with the self's perceptions of reality.
the MOQ seems to do away with this dualistic approach, in that Quality
becomes the 'one' of unity, which mystics attempt to see reality as, whether
its done via vision quests, yoga, meditation or the practice of zazen. yet
to do away with subjectively seeing objects as separate from self requires a
shifting of individual reality into what might be termed universal
reality... i AM the child starving to death in africa, i AM the old man
dying all alone in a shabby one room apartment, i AM the millionaire driving
past the misery in my mercedes, caring only about money, i AM the cat asleep
on the window sill soaking up the morning sun, i AM the forest that i walk
thru. i AM the rock which waits patiently for me to sit quietly with my back
against it.
none of this is logical, i realize that. yet that is what reality 'really'
is. reality is awareness and awareness contains all things of value in the
universe, whether we know the value as value or not. reality can be said to
be unity, wholeness, inseparably linked to our awareness of it but always
separated from us by the manner in which we must perceive it, or rather, in
how we chose to perceive it. since we are taught from birth to perceive the
universe as separate from ourselves, we normally perceive it in an SOM type
of way, a dualistic separation at a very deep level of the self, accessable
only by deep meditation or zazen over many years, or a helpful push from
hallucinogens, guided properly by an enlightened person who knows how to
bend reality by bending awareness...a 'brujo' if you will.
if you are looking for amazingly logical insights, you will not find them in
my writings, for i see no logical way of describing what reality 'really'
is, as logic is itself a child of subject/object thinking.
best wishes to all,
glove
-- homepage - http://www.moq.org/lilasquad unsubscribe/queries - mailto:lilasquad@moq.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Thu May 13 1999 - 16:43:38 CEST