The Reality of Being:
The Numinous Way posits that there are two types of being,
differentiated by whether or not they possess, or manifest, acausal
energy, and that we can only correctly know a manifestation of acausal
energy, an acausal being, through the faculty of empathy.
Reality, for The Numinous Way, is postulated to be the
Cosmos, with this Cosmos
existing in both causal space-time, and in acausal space-time. Causal
space-time has three causal spatial dimensions and one causal
Time dimension, and acausal space-time has n number (a
currently undefined number) of
acausal dimensions (which are not spatial) and an acausal Time
dimension. Causal space-time can thus be considered to the phenomenal,
physical, universe we are aware of through our senses, and this
universe is governed by physical laws and contains physical, causal,
matter/energy.
There is thus a distinction between the knowing, the
perception, of causal being(s) and the knowing, the perception, of
acausal being(s) - with living beings (existing or being in the
causal physical universe) understood as a presencing of acausal being
(or energy) by the fact that they are alive. That is, because such
beings are such a presencing of
acausal energy (or acausal being) it is incorrect to apply lifeless,
causal, abstractions (and a causal denoting) to them. One of the
fundamental errors of former philosophies and of philosophers -
the fundamental philosophical error behind abstractionism - is to apply
causal perception and a causal denoting to living being(s). This error
results in a covering-up of the essence of such beings.
According to The Numinous Way, the faculty of empathy -
which is part of our consciousness, albeit
often an undeveloped part at present - is a means whereby we human
beings can discover and thus come to know the presencing of acausal
being and acausal beings
as those manifestations of Life are, in themselves. In essence, The
Numinous Way understands empathy as a manifestation, an awareness, of
our relation to acausality, and in particular as an awareness of the
related and dependant nature of those beings which express or manifest
or which presence acausal energy and which are thus described, in a
causal way, as possessing life. This dependant nature, of such acausal
beings or presencings, arises from the nature of the acausal itself,
which is not bound by that separation which is inherent in causal Space
and causal Time. Empathy often manifests itself, to us as human beings,
through and in a rational and sympathetic understanding of, or feeling
for, other living beings, and thus gives rise to compassion, which is a
practical manifestation of empathy.
Thus, The Numinous Way adds empathy to the faculties by which we can
perceive, know, and understand the Cosmos, and thus the Life of the
Cosmos. For The Numinous Way, empathy is an essential means to knowing
and understanding Life, which Life includes human beings, the other
life we share this planet with (and which we have already
observed/discovered) and the other life which most probably exists in
the Cosmos, which we have yet not physically observed or discovered.
Ethics and the Dependant Nature of Being:
The faculty of empathy - and the conscious understanding of the nature
of Reality - leads to a knowing, an understanding, of suffering. Part
of suffering is that covering-up which occurs when a causal denoting is
applied to living beings, and especially to human beings, which
denoting implies a judgement (a pre-judgement) of such life according
to
some abstract construct or abstract value, so that the "worth" or
"value" of a living-being is often incorrectly judged by such abstract
constructs or abstract values.
For The Numinous Way, truth begins with a knowing of the reality of
being and Being - part of which is a knowing of the dependant nature of
living beings. Thus, for human beings, part of truth is empathy and
thus compassion - a knowing of the suffering, the causes of suffering,
and a knowing of the means to alleviate suffering. Hence, the
value of living-beings resides in their being a part of the matrix of
Life which is part of Being - in their dependency, as parts of, as
manifestations of, that Unity, that wholeness, which is the Cosmos,
which itself, as causal and acausal, is Being, which exists independent
of our causal being (our physical body) and our acausal energy (the
life that animates our causal being).
Thus, the ethics of The Numinous Way derive from empathy and from that
Cosmic perspective which empathy provides us with. Compassion is thus a
central part of these ethics, as is the understanding that we, because
we are thinking beings, have the ability - the faculty - to change
ourselves. That is, we can consciously decide to develope empathy and
consciously decide to alleviate suffering; we can act upon empathy, or
we can ignore empathy.
Honour is a practical manifestation of empathy - of how we can act in
accord with empathy. That is, honour provides us with a set of
practical guidelines for our own behaviour. Part of honour is having
"good manners" - that, striving to relate to other human beings in a
dignified, rational, polite way, and thus as we ourselves would wish to
be treated. Another part of honour is striving not to judge
individuals until we have personal, direct, knowledge of them and can
thus inter-act with them, one living being to another - that is, part
of honour is refraining from a pre-judgement based upon some
abstraction, or based upon the judgement of some other individual or
individuals, whether personally known to us or not.
What is good is thus what manifests or increases empathy, and honour -
and that which alleviates suffering or contributes to the cessation of
suffering. What is bad is thus what covers-up, or undermines, or
destroys, empathy and honour - and that which causes suffering to
living-beings, whether intentional or un-intentional.
David Myatt
JD2454172.953