A Third Kind of Goal
| After many lives, we tire of the show. The dancing
Light which is Maya fails to amuse. Component entities are transitory; we begin to seek something which is permanent. Component entities don't really exist below the level of their components; we begin to seek the truly Existent, the Real. Component entities contain a measure of pain and are unsatisfying, at least partially; we begin to seek That which is perfectly fulfilling. Tired of perceiving the individual qualities of various thoughts, emotions, and physical objects, we seek to experience their Isness. Knowing component entities can never satisfy our thirst for the Eternal, we seek to transcend dualistic perception, to undo the flip that occurred in Eden. We wish to behold the One, the Source, the Ultimate Ground of Existence. We seek return to the Kingdom of Heaven, the Pure Land, Eden. Now, desire has been born for experience of the One, the Eternal, the Ultimate Ground of Existence. Now, longing has begun for God, for religion in the root meaning of the word - re-joining or re-fastening. Now, [t]he race is precisely the flight from creatures to union with the uncreated. ([M11],89). For [n]o man shall ever know what is true blessedness Till oneness overwhelm and swallow separateness. ([S13],53). Thus, [t]he wise have one wish left: to know the Whole, the Absolute. The foolish lose themselves in fragments and ignore the root. ([B05],51), Desire for Unchanging Reality Achieving gnosis means transcending duality. Until duality is transcended and at-one-ment realized, Enlightenment cannot be attained. ([T06],206). Knowing the One implies recovering unitary vision. So, someone with a pure love of the Unchanging might wish to transcend duality because it's an obstacle. If you dare call Him "Father" and live this in reality You must become a newborn child and overcome duality. ([B05],139). In this case, both goal and motivation are still transcendental; escaping duality is a means, not an end. Sometimes, however, the desire is not so much to gain the Eternal as to be rid of duality, with it's pain and imperfections, it's fleeing entities with only relative existence. Like shifting sands and ocean waves, everything around us changes. It's transitory; it passes away. Moreover, the entities possessing relative existence which compose our world lack a real identity. Their very existence is dependent, precarious, and temporary. In fact, they don't exist at all below the level of their components. Lay not up your treasures where rust corrupts and thieves steal, advised (Mt6:19) Jesus. Don't build your house on shifting sands, he (Mt7:24-7) said, but on rock. As someone lost too long in the desert will desperately seek an oasis, someone lost too long in Maya will seek the pure Light of the Real. As someone lost at sea desperately reaches out for a boat, or a piece of wood, someone afloat in a world of fleeting, changing entities will reach out for the Eternal. When escaping duality, when escaping an endless round of existence which is less than perfectly fulfilling, is the main goal then the goal is grounded in this world and is, therefore, less than purely transcendental. Nonetheless, since escape from duality necessarily implies perception of the One, such a goal will inescapably lead to gnosis. Escape from Suffering Often, however, the goal is escape not from both yang and yin, but merely from yin, from the disagreeable, from suffering. People are usually quite willing to be rid of the painful, the disagreeable, the annoying. Giving up the pleasurable, the agreeable, the pleasing, is quite another matter. But yang and yin are inseparable and their perception - dualistic perception - is the root cause of suffering. The conception of duality is the root of all suffering; its only cure is the perception of the unreality of all objects and the realisation of myself as One, pure Intelligence and Bliss. (II,16,[A10],8). We ignore the One and, as a direct consequence, live in the world of duality, a world where suffering is inevitable. The Bhagavad-Gita describes a person who has achieved such desirelessness as close to gnosis. He neither longs for one thing Nor loathes its opposite; The chains of his delusion Are soon cast off. ([S18],56-7). Universal Love The ancient Greek language distinguished ([M07],975-6) four different types of love: epithemia, eros, philia, and agape. In contrast, English uses the single word "love" for essentially different things. Writes Huxley: . . . love, unfortunately, stands for everything from what happens when, on the screen, two close-ups rapturously collide to . . . when a John Woolman or a Peter Claver feels a concern about Negro slaves, because they are temples of the Holy Spirit - from . . . when crowds shout and sing and wave flags . . . to . . . when a solitary contemplative becomes absorbed in the prayer of simple regard. ([H11],83). Let's examine a few types of love. First, there is the "love" of objects which please us, which give us pleasure. A child loves chocolate ice cream, a man loves to watch sports, a woman loves a dress. In this love, the thing is loved not for its own sake, but only for the pleasure it brings. Should the dress become torn or soiled, it's discarded. Second, there's affection between people, the love found in friendship. This love also depends on pleasure; people usually become friends because they enjoy each other's company or have common interest. Yet it doesn't depend entirely on pleasure; sometimes friends argue and cause each other pain but remain friends nevertheless. Third, there's the love between parent and child, or between very close friends. This love depends even less on pleasure. It's more self-sacrificing and can withstand much trial. A parent may care for a disabled or mental-disturbed child for years. A son or daughter may tend an elderly, senile parent who doesn't even recognize them. In this love, someone may care more for the welfare of the other than for their own comfort or welfare. In an extreme case, they may even give their life for the sake of the other. Erotic love can have elements of all three kinds of love. When it's mostly the first kind of love, the kind based solely on pleasure, it's more lust than love. In fact, many people wouldn't call it love at all. For them, erotic "love" needs an element of friendship, at least, to be genuine love. Of course, erotic love may go beyond friendship and reach the closeness of the third type of love. The lower forms of love are based on pleasure derived from the object or person. The higher forms of love are not, but are still based on the other person. That is, the other person is loved because of who they are. All people in general aren't loved equally, regardless of their characteristics. Universal love is love which is independent of not only pleasure but person, too. It's love which shines like the sun, on everyone, universally, depending upon nothing. It's disinterested, not in that there's no interest in the other person but in that nothing the other person is or does will diminish it. Huxley calls ([H11],81) disinterested love charity and writes: . . . "charity" has come, in modern English, to be synonymous with "almsgiving," and is almost never used in its original sense, as signifying the highest and most divine form of love. . . . [C]harity is disinterested, seeking no reward, nor allowing itself to be diminished by any return of evil . . . [S]ince charity is disinterested, it must of necessity be universal. ([H11],82-3). The founder of a medieval religious order advocated such love when she recommended [t]he sisters should not have particular friendships but should include all in their love for one another . . . ([B04],131). How can someone develop charity, that is, universal, disinterested love? One method is to . . . take the whole universe as the expression of the one Self. Then only our love flows to all beings and creatures in the world equally. ([P12],610). That is, if we love the Eternal and if we see all persons as It's manifestations, then we'll naturally love all people; we'll love them for the Root which is their basis. How can we develop love of the eternal? By directly experiencing It, by gnosis. As Nicholson writes: Gnosis and love are spiritually identical; they teach the same truths in different language. ([N11],101). |
Summary We've examined various goals in this chapter, with emphasis on the goal of gnosis and various other goals which lead to it. The next chapter discusses various principles and values, ethics and morals which someone might adopt who has the goal of gnosis. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The above text is part of the online book "Science Without Bounds: A Synthesis of Science, Religion and Mysticism" which is available at http://www.voicenet.com/~dadamo/swb.html. Copyright 1989-1997 by Arthur J. D'Adamo Electronic Mail Addresses: Internet: dadamo@voicenet.com Internet: 72371.1673@compuserve.com Internet: dadama01@imsint.com CompuServe: 72371,1673 The Copyright Holder grants the right to copy and distribute paper or electronic copies of "Science Without Bounds: A Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Mysticism" provided the copies are verbatim. Copies must include copyright notices and this statement, and may not be edited in any way, or undergo addition or deletion.contents