Theos-Talk Archives (January 1995 Message tl00258)

A Grand Unified Theory (GUT) of the physical universe so prized
by the physicists may no t be far off.  A different kind of
unification has been achieved from a spiritual point of view.  An
attempt will be made to point toward the synthesis begun in
distant history often call the "perennial philosophy", expounded
by BLavatsky in "The Secret Doctrine" and echoed recently by such
recent writers as Ken Wilber in his book "The Spectrum of
Consciousness" and referred to as transpersonal psychology.  The
names and times of the writers are different, but the keynotes
are the same.  The common elements include the hierarchical
nature of man and the cosmos and the assumption all things are
unified if Spirit, the Absolute, or Universal Mind which flows
from the beyond the stars, through man, descends into lowest
matter and disappears (but only from out view) only to rise again
back to its source.

Much of the problem in the past has been the a priori
qualification by inadequate definitions (semantics) and usages of
terms such as matter, mind, consciousness, the absolute and
spirit.  The discursive intellect's job is to cut and sepererate
like knife things and concepts through language into domains,
categories, antimonies and irreconcilable opposites.  Our
language has a built-in structure that does this automatically,
unconsciouslly by REQUIRING a subject and a predicate.  Actually
the opposites always appear as syzygies, that is always together,
never one without the other.  So it would be best to attempt to
start with as much clarity as possible by restating:

1) Spirit is primordial unity.  It creates a spectrum of
manifestation much as white light creates or contains a visible
colored spectrum.  The spectrum ranges from highest divinity
(beyond speculation).  through mind, to seemingly dense matter.

2) Spirit should not be confused with morality, the ethical or
our limited notions of the "good" confused by our cultural
heritages and religions which change in time and from place to
place.

3) Art is the purposive, creative, manifestation in time in form
by spirit.  When we speak of art we are actually referring to
man's spirit appearing in frozen form in works such as painting,
music literature etc.  , but by using this definition we could
easily speak of the universe as work of art filled with
intelligenc, beauty, wisdom and love.  Art bears the stamp of
intention even if it an object rouve like Duchamp's urinal.  It
is art because it is a conscious pointing to something beyond its
use as a urinal.  Art is like a mirror pointing at something
which is ultimately itself and something "more" or transcendent,
transcending the form.

4) All art is spiritual.  That does not mean that all art is
moral or religious.  Pornography is as spiritual as the paintings
in the Sistine Chapel and in fact the paintings were accused of
being pornographic (stimulating sexual desire) so the once nude
genetalia where painted over with discrete draperies.

5) Spirituality is not a goal.  It is a fact.  We don't have to
do anything to be spiritual because we are spirit on at least 7
levels.  The levels we wish to accentuate and those we wish to
deaccentuate is a matter of the most rigorous effort and may be a
goal for some.  The goal of the body builder and the saint are
the same, to develop certain vehicles to the fullest, but are on
opposite sides of the spectrum, but needless to say, the saint
has a body (perhaps emaciated) and the body builder has a spirit
(perhaps temporarily distorted toward sensless violence by
steroids) but they are both fully human.

Namaste

Keith Price