Reality, for The Numinous Way, is postulated to be the
Cosmos, with this Cosmos
existing in both causal space-time, and in acausal space-time. Causal
space-time has three causal spatial dimensions and one causal
Time dimension, and acausal space-time has n number (a
currently undefined number) of
acausal dimensions (which are not spatial) and an acausal Time
dimension. Causal space-time can thus be considered to the phenomenal,
physical, universe we are aware of through our senses, and this
universe is governed by physical laws and contains physical, causal,
matter/energy.
There is thus a distinction between the knowing, the
perception, of causal being(s) and the knowing, the perception, of
acausal being(s) - with living beings (existing or being in the
causal physical universe) understood as a presencing of acausal being
(or energy) by the fact that they are alive. That is, because such
beings are such a presencing of
acausal energy (or acausal being) it is incorrect to apply lifeless,
causal, abstractions (and a causal denoting) to them. One of the
fundamental errors of former philosophies and of philosophers -
the fundamental philosophical error behind abstractionism - is to apply
causal perception and a causal denoting to living being(s). This error
results in a covering-up of the essence of such beings.
According to The Numinous Way, the faculty of empathy -
which is part of our consciousness, albeit
often an undeveloped part at present - is a means whereby we human
beings can discover and thus come to know the presencing of acausal
being and acausal beings
as those manifestations of Life are, in themselves. In essence, The
Numinous Way understands empathy as a manifestation, an awareness, of
our relation to acausality, and in particular as an awareness of the
related and dependant nature of those beings which express or manifest
or which presence acausal energy and which are thus described, in a
causal way, as possessing life. This dependant nature, of such acausal
beings or presencings, arises from the nature of the acausal itself,
which is not bound by that separation which is inherent in causal Space
and causal Time. Empathy often manifests itself, to us as human beings,
through and in a rational and sympathetic understanding of, or feeling
for, other living beings, and thus gives rise to compassion, which is a
practical manifestation of empathy.
Thus, The Numinous Way adds empathy to the faculties by which we can
perceive, know, and understand the Cosmos, and thus the Life of the
Cosmos. For The Numinous Way, empathy is an essential means to knowing
and understanding Life, which Life includes human beings, the other
life we share this planet with (and which we have already
observed/discovered) and the other life which most probably exists in
the Cosmos, which we have yet not physically observed or discovered.
That is, the Cosmic Being is manifest in us, because we are a nexion. Furthermore, we can aid this Being - contribute to its increase in consciousness, its awareness, its evolution - or we can in some ways harm this Being, for this Being is not perfect, or complete, or omnipotent. It is us - all life, everywhere in the Cosmos - existing, changing, being, evolving. We aid this Being when we access acausal energies through such things as honour, compassion, empathy - and especially when we change ourselves, when we become more self-aware, when we develope our understanding, our own consciousness, our reason. We harm this Being - and the evolution of the Cosmos, and the aspects of this Being presenced as individuals, as Nature, as other living-beings - when we contribute to suffering, or cause suffering, or do what is unethical and dishonourable, for such things remove acausal energy from us, or distance us from acausal energy.
Thus, there is an interaction here - an on-going creation and evolution, of which we all are a part, although many of us do not see or understand this, such is our lack of empathy with other living-beings, our lack of empathy with Nature, and our lack of empathy with the Cosmos itself. For the Cosmos is alive, just as much as Nature is alive, here on this planet which we call Earth.
However, the Cosmic Being - as mentioned in the chapter An Overview of The Numinous Way - is not perfect, nor omniscient, not God, not any human-manufactured abstraction. That is, it is instead a new kind of apprehension of Being: a Cosmic one, based upon empathy, and an apprehension which takes us far beyond conventional theology and ontology.