Sunday, December 4, 2011

The physical, the spiritual, and the tertium non datur


What is the point of having neurobiology and psi?  If one can theoretically experience everything in a state of pure consciousness, then why bother with a nervous system and body?

Living at this physical level of reality for awhile must serve an evolutionary purpose for the individual and the whole.  Also, interaction between those in the body and those in spirit may also serve an evolutionary purpose.

Jung used “tertium non datur” to describe the situation where two powerfully opposed realities are held in consciousness together until there arises an unpredictable, “irrational,” transcendent, new way of living.

David Sunfellow wrote recently on his NHNE-pulse site:  "The purpose of life is not to leave this world by entering higher states of consciousness, but to get more fully immersed in the world and bring higher states of consciousness into the created universe."

Rob Breszny wrote in his book Pronoia (2005):  “... that despite superficial appearances to the contrary, all of creation is on our side; that the very structure of reality ensures our eventual liberation from suffering; that life is a divine conspiracy to awaken us to our god-like nature and become co-administrators of the divine plan for evolution. (p. 18)”

Every level of reality closes some doors and opens others, in order to foster our development to greater consciousness and love – for ourselves and for others.  This physical level of reality seems to make greater the likelihood of forgetting our essential nature as consciousness / spirit, so there must be unique benefits to re-integrating that awareness.

A friend of mine recently wrote:  “I believe that our greatest discoveries are usually never in the obvious range but rather, are come upon, unexpectedly..... .......unanticipated and when they do reveal, it is a life altering experience….As you know, our greatest struggles push us into places we would never go otherwise and we usually enter those places with great fear which takes great courage but usually results in great clarity, discovering parts of ourself that we never knew existed. Great empowerment comes from such and thus, greater freedom from the past as well as a great respect and love for oneself and towards others.”

So, while, theoretically, one could experience anything in a state of pure consciousness, would we?  First of all, change and growth are hard; familiarity is very addictive.  But, also, how can you choose to work on parts of yourself that you don’t even know are there?  To some extent, this must be thrust upon you by coming up against another consciousness.

So, why bother with a nervous system and a body?  At first glance, it looks like life with a physical brain limits our capacity to be conscious and we must live within those limitations while here in the body.  But, another friend Barbara questions this, and thinks it may turn out that we are not limited by the brain at all – we know there is so much we still don’t know about the brain.

Re-integrating the physical with the spiritual despite the challenges of physical life serves an evolutionary path to greater consciousness and love; is a prime exercise in discovering parts of ourselves we never knew existed; and creates a third thing that has never existed before.

David Sunfellow also wrote:  "Finally, while classic enlightenment experiences lead one to believe that there is nothing new under the sun — that the Ground of Being is all there really is and It is eternal and  unchanging — I’ve also come to believe that brand new experiences, on all levels, are actually unfolding as we (and the created universe) evolve. While this is plainly obvious on the physical level, I think it is also true on the spiritual level."

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.  :)


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