It seems to me that in this century, we in the west have managed to achieve a nearly complete disconnect between the numinous and the intellectual realms. Time and time again, I 've seen members of the intelligensia pooh pooh spiritual beliefs as being nothing less than childlike flights of fancy by believers who are a quart short in their critical thinking faculties. This is a sad development IMO, and unless we manage to reacheive some semblence of equilibrium, I have grave concerns for the future of our humanity.
My post was intended to point out that our intellectual emperor has no clothes. His virtual raiment is just that--virtual, and occupies no loftier a place than the humble garb of the monk.
The world of the numinous is accessed with a different organ than the mind. IMO the mind usually blocks spiritual perception. This apparent paradox seems odious to intellectually justified non-believers, and in their fear of surrendering to a reality their intellect can't apprehend, they become defensive and pull out their whipping stick--one wielded by the arm of empirical proofs and theorems, historical data . . . and it all sorely misses the point.
Like I said, I don't know Jack, and I'm rambling on . . .somewhere there's a point in this rant, but unfortunately I don't have the time this morning to make it any more clearly. Suffice it to say, Joan, I am not being critical of you or anyone on our thread in particular, but am just venting about a perception of our society that is occasionally confirmed in some of our on going discussions here. |
