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Figure 6. Linking Center and Rim |
Stan McDaniel
Yogasayings
181. The addition of the "center" gives rise to new possibilities. [163]
182. We must now take into account three complementary pairs: Top-Bottom, Left-Right, Center-Rim; or Heaven-Hell, Love-Hate, and Equilibrium-?? [28], [75], [165]
183. A suggestive way of expressing these three pairs is given below. [79]
| CENTER The Law |
RIM The manifestation of the Law |
| LOVE Desire for knowledge of the Law |
HATE Fear of the Law |
| HEAVEN Knowledge of the Law |
HELL Ignorance of the Law |
184. In exoteric religious thought generally, humanity is destined to knowledge of the law (Heaven). ``MAN'' never identifies literally with God, but communicates with God through knowledge of the Law. Only God occupies the center.
185. But strict attention to the model provided in Figures 1-5 shows that it is impossible to come to rest anywhere but in the center. This is due to the nature of the poles, which are merely abstract potentials across which the energies of Love and Hate are discharged. No being on the rim can be at rest, for he or she is always subject to the attraction of the poles.
186. Being subject to this attraction is what defines ``being on the rim.'' Nothing on the rim is free.
187. Exoteric Christianity, therefore, generally avoids deep exploration of the circle as an emblem.
188. Esoteric tradition, on the other hand, asserts the connection between the rim and the center. [90]
189. This is expressed diagrammatically by adding a spiral to the figure, symbolizing increasing ``gravitation'' toward the center (Figure Six).
190. The spiral path links the center and the rim, and in a mathematically satisfying way asserts the fact of their relationship.
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Figure 6. Linking Center and Rim |
191. The existence of the spiral path indicates that the contrasts between Heaven and Hell can become increasingly less, until, at the point of ultimate sacrifice, one is released from both. [156]
192. Essential Dualism is the form of thought that denies the spiral path. It keeps the opposites forever separate.
193. From the point of view of dualistic Christianity, the spiral is the most pagan symbol of all. And we can see why, because the center appears to represent a point that is, perhaps, ``beyond good and evil,'' beyond morality. [187]
194. The spiral as a pagan symbol is the characteristic sign of pre-Christian Celtic Mysteries. Spirals are carved into the stones of Celtic passage-burials.
195. Fear of the center (dualism) is due to misunderstanding of the model, that is, incomplete grasp of Religious Language (Ignorance-Avidya). [127]
196. Essential Dualism, in order to account for the possibility of any relation between "MAN" and God, adopts a special sense of ``knowing.'' The experiencer and that which is experienced are thought of as metaphysically separate, yet the one is able to ``know'' the other.
197. This view of ``knowing'' is satirized by Nietszche as ``immaculate perception.'' It takes the knower as a passive mirror of the known, and was especially the view of the old empiricists. It assumes that the knower, the act of knowing, and the known are metaphysically separate. [176]
198. From the standpoint of Essential Dualism, ``immaculate perception'' is necessary to protect the boundaries of the individual ego-self, to maintain the objectivity of knowledge, and to allow freedom of the will. From the perspective of Religious Language, it is a radical misunderstanding of ``self,'' ``freedom,'' and ``objectivity.'' [195], [89]
199. Non-dualism or Transactional Philosophy affirms, with Heraclitus, that ``the path up and the path down are one and the same.'' There are no one-way relationships in all existence. Nothing merely interacts: everything transacts. the spiral path from ``MAN'' to God is also the path from God to ``MAN.''
200. Energy moves in both directions along the spiral path.
201. Diagrammatically this yields the double spiral (Figure Seven).
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Figure 7. Spiral of Transaction |
202. Which may also be drawn as shown in Figure Eight.
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Figure 8. Open Double Spiral |
203. Or a compound of the two (Figure Nine).
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Figure 9. Spiral of Infinity |
204. These symbols assert the unity of the knower, the act of knowing, and the known; the identity of the Law, the Lawgiver, and the Manifestation of the Law.
205. In the esoteric religious tradition, the meaning of the spiral takes the form of the Hermetic Maxim:
206. An eleventh-century Tibetan Buddhist text reads
For one of superior intellect, the best thing is to have thorough comprehension of the inseparableness of the knower, the object of knowledge, and the act of knowing.
207. This is also a fundamental postulate of modern pragmatic naturalism (Transactional Philosophy). John Dewey writes
Knowings and knowns are to be taken together as aspects of one event.
208. Philosopher Abraham Kaplan, discussing Popper's view that no distinction can be made between ``phenomenal language'' and ``theoretical language,'' points out how this echoes Dewey's view that there is a functional correlativity between ``perceptual and conceptual materials'' such that ``theories are as much involved in the determination of fact as facts are in establishing a theory.''
209. Echoes of Kant: The known object (percept) and the activities of the knower (concept) are inseparable correlates.
210. But this is the same as denial of division between the subject and object.
211. Denial of the subject-object dichotomy is esoteric in the highest sense. To exoteric understanding it is ``subjective idealism,'' but to esoteric understanding it is science. [148-149]
212. That Science, to remain Science, depends upon a continuity between experience and nature, is a key theme of Transactional Philosophy. Dewey writes,
The investigator assumes as a matter of course that experience reaches down into nature and expands without limit throughout it.
213. By ``without limit,'' Dewey implies the unrestricted application of the Hermetic Maxim. The essential meaning of the spiral path appears in Dewey's ``Postulate of Continuity.''
The processes of living are enacted by the environment as truly as by the organism; for they are an integration.
214. This Transactional postulate constitutes the esoteric meaning of the Tibetan dorje emblem (vajra), the double-ended diamond sceptre: [202-203]
Its center is a sphere which represents the seed or germ of the universe; its potential force is indicated by a spiral issuing from the center of the sphere; the vajra is an abstract double-mandala, the duality of which expresses the polarity, the relative dualism, in the structure of consciousness and the world, and postulates at the same time the ``unity of opposites,'' i.e., their inner relationship.
215. Science, just as ancient esotericism, accepts the meaning of the spiral-dorje, just to the extent that it is required to incorporate the nature of ``MAN'' into its fabric. But it must incorporate the nature of ``MAN'' completely into its fabric. [97]
216. Here we are not engaged in an effort to prove that this is so. [172]
217. In Figure Seven, the spiral form draws attention to the space between the center and the rim, adding a new dimension to our understanding of the figure. [181]
218. We now obtain a threefold division: rim, center, and the area between.
219. This area is the path of the double spiral. Our simplified representation conceals the fact that the double spiral covers the entire area.
220. But any system that turns back upon itself can be represented, for obvious reasons, by a circle. Therefore the double spiral, the spiral that turns back on itself, can be so represented (Figure 10).
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Figure 10. Spiral Beyond Infinity |
221. Figure 10 must be studied carefully, in order to understand its relationship to Figure 1. It is a step above Figure 1.
222. What is the nature of the energy that moves along the arrows of Figure 10? [30-31]
223. If the maxim AS ABOVE, SO BELOW, applied to Figure 1, generates a spiral toward its center and out again (imagine a whirlpool), then does the same axiom applied to Figure 10 generate another spiral to its center, and so on to infinity?
224. And if the center of the circle in Figure 1 represents Equilibrium, what do the centers of this infinite number of other circles represent?
225. But the basic circular figure can represent any of these circles; and better still, it can represent all of them at once, because it can represent the very process of their generation, which results from unlimited application of the Hermetic Maxim -- since this maxim also ``turns back upon itself.''
226. This is the basis for the notion that the circle as a symbol represents any infinitely expanding (or contracting) system. [212]
227. But such an infinite system, as an entirety, must also turn back upon itself. It can, therefore, represent itself through the original circular emblem. This is the Ouroboros, the serpent with its tail in its mouth, traditionally the Mother of the Universe. [97]
228. Now we must ask ourselves ``What is the center of this infinite system of double spirals, and what is the nature of the energy that moves to and fro within it?'' [32]
229. In order to understand this, it is necessary to achieve a certain measure of visualization of the movement in the system.
230. It is the nature of the energy in the system that any movement ``upward'' also constitutes movement ``inward.''
231. This has been plain from the first: ``Heaven'' as the final state or ``goal'' of a subjectively separate ego can never be maintained, because as such it belongs to a dualistic scheme; while on the other hand each act of sacrifice is an ego-death toward the ``center'' and a remission of dualism. This point is one of the foundations of Buddhism. [185-186]
232. There is no path but the spiral path! [213-215]
233. Visualize the movement: an entity moving toward the ``top'' of Figure 1 is directed inward automatically by the nature of the acts required for movement upward. It is really traveling toward the top of Figure 10. But since Figure 10 also represents a polar system the entity will never reach its ``top'' either, but will spiral on toward its center ...
234. Now if we represent this entire infinite system of spirals by a single circle as suggested in section 225, its ``top'' will represent the theoretical center of the system, and its ``bottom'' will represent the theoretical rim of that system. What then can its center possibly represent?
235. It can only represent the unity of the center and the rim.
236. The rim is dualism; the center is nondualism. [186], [231]
237. Therefore this ``final'' center is a center that is not a center: it is no-center.
238. Strictly, Equilibrium is movement to the no-center. But since the center cannot be reached without traversing the entire infinite system, reaching one center entails reaching them all, that is, ``reaching the no-center.'' Our initial definition of Equilibrium is quite adequate. [165]
239. The ``distance'' from oneself to God is infinite: it can only be traversed by an infinite expansion of being.
240. That ``MAN'' is capable of infinite expansion of being is presupposed by the ``opening of the call system,'' the ability to synthesize concepts, or language itself, which can be neither denied nor defined. Equilibrium is as far beyond description as is the no-center. [135], [139], [145], [147], [11], [212-213]
241. But while it is beyond description it can be experienced and known. We can make empirical sense out of the idea of ``expansion and contraction of being.'' [14]
242. Contraction of being is pride. [61]
243. Expansion of being is humility, or loss of pride. [100]
244. Loss of pride means the Sacrifice of Sacrifice itself. [156]
245. Reaching this point requires an effort of perfect balance at the moment of sacrifice, not to take pride in the sacrifice, but to abandon even its fruits, even the desire for the desireless state.
246. This effort of balance is associated with the term sattwa in Hinduism, and with ``temperance'' in the west. Here we give the esoteric meaning of ``temperance.''
247. The resisting force is tamas or inertia. We may call it sloth.
248. The spiral path inward proceeds by means of temperance and humility.
249. The spiral path outward proceeds by means of pride and sloth.
250. Let us not assume, then, that we know the meaning of temperance, humility, sloth, and pride, independently of the knowledge of the qualitative changes that constitute the dynamic of the system. We do not define the dynamic by means of the words; the words are defined by the dynamic. This is very important: not to be led astray by the popular conception of these things. [89-91]
251. Movement inward means broadening of perspective. Movement outward means narrowing of perspective.
252. As perspective broadens, extremes diminish. As perspective narrows, extremes flourish. Walsh means the latter when he says ``the cognitive map is narrowed under the influence of intense motivation.''
253. Narrowing of perspective means that fewer things are experienced as part of oneself. Psychological projections increase (Maya).
254. Widening of perspective means that more things are experienced as part of oneself; projections decrease (Moksa).
255. ``Love thy neighbor as thyself'' describes a result of moral practice, not a cause; she who can do so has already moved far inward.
256. Widening of perspective is expansion of being. [116-117]
257. What are the dimensions of this expansion?
258. Direct experience of the dynamic of the spiral path provides the answer. [179]
259. In empirical terms, the psychoanalytic concept of making conscious that which is unconscious gives a clue.
260. The concept of the unconscious in psychoanalysis is connected with the direction of the expansion of being. This gives the esoteric meaning of ``the unconscious.'' [83]
261. Jung enlarged the meaning of the unconscious until, at last, he gave it infinite extent within the psychic dimension. By daring to conceive of it as reaching beyond the personal ego into a ``collective,'' he opened it. Yet he was careful not to consider this opening as expansion into a metaphysical dimension, but only into a broader psychic dimension.
262. But Jung's ``collective'' cannot be so limited, because it is actually a reflection of the general Postulate of Continuity. Application of the dorje integrates the psychic with the non-psychic. The boundary Jung wished to draw cannot be drawn. [213]
263. Expansion occurs, then, in a dimension that is both psychic and non-psychic. [204]
264. Widening of perspective moves the ego away from local concerns toward broader systems of relationship. The family, the community, the country, all humanity, and all sentient beings, provide successive stages in this process. [116]
265. This movement is expansion beyond the individual body; one's deepest interests and energy are taken increasingly away from private gratification and are connected with wider concerns. (The pseudo-concept of "leaving the physical body" is a dualistic misunderstanding of this.) [170], [137]
266. At no-center, perspective is total. Consciousness embraces the entire system. It is both at rest and in motion, both collective and personal, flowing in and out, filling the circle and not filling it. [219]
267. Parmenides describes this paradoxical condition as a spherical plenum called ``It Is.'' [145]
268. Dualistic systems, which struggle to maintain breaks in the continuity of being, exclude attainment of complete perspective. [192]
269. But in the religious system there is the possibility of infinite continuation of self-correction, which can only come to rest in a paradoxical totality. [185]
270. In the east this is called ``neti, neti,'' not this, not that. [237]
271. Neither consciousness nor unconsciousness, it is ``God Consciousness.''
272. In the Mahayana it is called ``The Void.''
273. The direction of expansion is toward this perspectiveless perspective. [262]
274. From a dualistic viewpoint, the prospect of such a movement is terrifying . This is why the dorje is called ``the Thunderbolt'': continuity generates ultimacy. [213-215]
275. Essential Cynicism is the denial that any such state is possible. It results from fear. Here we give the esoteric meaning of ``cynicism.'' [109-111]
276. Movement ``beyond'' the body -- the direction of expansion -- defines the spiritual dimension. [263-265]
277. That which moves one through the spiritual dimension, toward the no-center, is the energy of sacrifice, temperance, and humility. [248], [119], [54]
278. This energy must be developed continuously in order to create continuous movement: such process is called yoga. [60], [76]
279. Yogic power (siddhi) is the power of movement in the spiritual dimension. Here we give the esoteric meaning of ``yogic power.'' [89], [91]
280. Because choice of movement in a given direction or its opposite constitutes the essential expression of energy in the religious system, that system is moral in essence. Here we give the esoteric meaning of ``moral.'' [193], [36]
281. Karma, the law of action, is the name for the directionalizing (moral) dynamic of the system seen as a causal network.
282. Equilibrium is action and no-action, direction and no-direction, moral and not-moral. [237]
283. From these examples it should be clear how religious language depends upon the central dynamic of the system. [17]
284. This is called a transactional system because all of its parts are functions of the whole, as are the parts of an organism. [23]
285. It follows that no term of Religious Language can be understood through description alone. This is true, of course, of language itself, and shows that the religious system is essentially empirical, or a matter of experience, just as language is. [11]
286. But since the entire system embraces all perspectives, section 284 guarantees that every term of religious language extends in meaning throughout all perspectives: the meaning of religious terms is inexhaustible.
287. Inexhaustible terms are called symbols.
288. It will be clear that no dualistic terms can be symbols.
289. Essential Cynicism denies that there are any such meanings. This is blasphemy: to say that there can be no symbols.
290. Religious Language, being transactionally a single unit, may be understood as a single symbol. This is ``The Great Symbol.'' We will call this the narrower sense of the expression ``Religious Language.'' [83]
291. The transactional unity among the terms of Religious Language within an infinitely self-correcting system explains the power of symbols.
292. Because all symbols extend in meaning through all perspectives, any attempt to understand a symbol must be endless.
293. We may call this ``unwinding'' the symbol.
294. Equilibrium ends the process of unwinding the symbol. It is unwinding and not-unwinding.
295. Meditation is the discovery and practice of the process that ends the process of unwinding the symbol. [55-56], [159]
296. It is possible to become lost in the Spiral Castle.
297. Because the symbol represents the process, and at the same time it is capable of producing that process in a person, it is unique in that its meaning, or logic, and its causal force, or dynamic, are the same.
298. The symbol participates dynamically in the very process it symbolizes conceptually.
299. Numinosity is the name given to this property of symbols.
