Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) · 137 of 225 · tr. Nicholas Bessaraboff and Claude Bragdon
Chapter XVII (part 10)
By ourselves we are simply out of relation with each other, for we are both of us there, and different from each other, which is a positive relation.
What we are without knowing, it knows that we are.
It is as if the total universe of inner life had a sort of grain or direction, a sort of valvular structure, permitting knowledge to flow in one way only, so that the wider might always have the narrower under observation, but never the narrower the wider.
Fechner likens our individual persons on the earth unto so many sense-organs of the earth-soul.
We add to its perceptive life.
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.
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It absorbs our perceptions into its larger sphere of knowledge, and combines them with the other data there.
The memories and conceptual relations that have spun themselves round the perceptions of a certain p.
212 person remain in the larger earth-life as distinct as ever, and form new relations.
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." Fechner's ideas are expounded in his book, Zendavesta .
I have made such a lengthy quotation from Prof.
James' book in order to show that the ideas of the animism and of the rationality of the world are neither new nor paradoxical.
It is a natural and logical necessity, resulting from a broader view of the world than that which we usually permit ourselves to hold.
Logically we must either recognize life and rationality in everything, in all "dead nature," or deny them completely, even IN OURSELVES.
Footnotes 208:1 "The Great Initiates," by E.
Schure.
Themes
◆Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The passage argues for recognizing life and rationality in everything, including dead nature, implying a living universe.
All passages →◆Mechanical Humanityanthropology
Gurdjieff and Ouspensky's claim that ordinary human beings live in a state of waking sleep, reacting mechanically without unified will or consciousness, and that the spiritual path begins with recognising this condition.
Implies humans operate in a state of not knowing what they are, consistent with Ouspensky's concept of waking sleep.
All passages →◆Microcosm Macrocosmcosmology
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
Fechner's analogy explicitly likens individual persons to sense-organs of the earth-soul, mirroring the larger whole.
All passages →◆Paradox As Teachingethics
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
Presents a logical dilemma requiring recognition of life in all nature or denial even within ourselves.
All passages →◆Separation From Sourcesoteriology
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
States that by ourselves we are simply out of relation with each other and the wider whole.
All passages →◆Unity Of Beingtheology
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
Describes a total universe of inner life where individual perceptions are absorbed into a larger sphere of knowledge.
All passages →Related passages · 8 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 2, Section 1h
“Even so if any one says that Very Life lives, or that Very Light is enlightened, he will be wrong (according to my view) unless, perchance, he were to use these terms in a different sense from the ordinary one to mean that the qualities of…”
Both passages explore the relationship between individual consciousness and a broader, encompassing reality. Passage A discusses the idea of individual perceptions contributing to a larger, universal consciousness, while Passage B describes the relationship between the divine and created things, emphasizing the interconnectedness and the transcendent nature of the divine.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 7, Section 1b
“(2) Wisdom as a whole = Wisdom embodied in the universe as a whole.
(3) Wisdom in each individual instance = Wisdom as shown in the structure of some particular plant or animal, or part of a plant or animal.
(1) Is an Emanation; (2) and (…”
Both passages discuss the idea of a higher, unified consciousness or wisdom that encompasses individual perceptions and knowledge. Passage A describes individual persons as sense-organs of a larger earth-soul, while Passage B discusses the emanation of wisdom from a divine source that is perceived by angelic minds and human souls.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 9, Section 1b
“Dante passes outwards through the concentric spheres of space to the Empyrean which is beyond space and encloses it.
There he sees the Empyrean as a point and his whole journey from sphere to sphere as a journey inwards instead of outwards…”
Both passages discuss the interconnectedness of individual consciousness with a larger, encompassing reality. Passage A describes individual perceptions being absorbed into a larger earth-life, while Passage B describes God as the underlying reality of all things, including individual personalities.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 275 (part 1)
“Section 9 9.
Clearly a Being of this nature is not the primal existent; there must exist that which transcends it, that Being [the Absolute], to which all our discussion has been leading.
In the first place, Plurality is later than Unity.…”
Both passages explore the idea of a higher, unifying principle that encompasses and integrates individual experiences and knowledge. Passage A discusses the concept of an earth-soul that absorbs individual perceptions, while Passage B describes the Intellectual-Principle where the Knower and Known are unified.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 355 (part 1)
“Section 35 35.
But we must give some explanation of these powers.
The matter requires a more definite handling.
How can there be a difference of power between one triangular configuration and another?
How can there be the exercise of po…”
Both passages discuss the idea of a universal living being or soul that encompasses all individual lives and perceptions. They describe a hierarchical structure where individual experiences contribute to a larger, unified consciousness.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 378 (part 1)
“Section 3 3.
With this prologue we come to our discussion of Memory.
That the soul, or mind, having taken no imprint, yet achieves perception of what it in no way contains need not surprise us; or rather, surprising though it is, we canno…”
Both passages explore the idea of a larger, unified consciousness or life form that encompasses individual entities. They discuss the relationship between the individual and the whole, suggesting that individual perceptions are absorbed into a broader, more comprehensive awareness.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 424
“Section 8 8. This is the explanation of Plato's Triplicity, in the passage where he names as the Primals the Beings gathered about the King of All, and establishes a Secondary containing the Secondaries, and a Third containing the Tertiarie…”
Both passages discuss the interconnectedness of all things and the idea of a higher, unifying intelligence or consciousness that encompasses individual perceptions and experiences. Passage A from Ouspensky's Tertium Organum and Passage B from Plotinus' Select Works both explore the concept of a broader, more encompassing reality that integrates individual entities and their experiences into a greater whole.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|INTRODUCTIONi
“The life of man is more than an experience or trial; it is an effort, a struggle to reproduce and represent upon earth some of that goodness, beauty, and truth which are diffused over the universe and constitute its harmony.
Long, slow, an…”
Both passages explore the interconnectedness of all things and the idea of a larger, encompassing consciousness or soul. Passage A discusses the concept of an earth-soul that absorbs individual perceptions, while Passage B talks about the unity of spirit and matter and the transformation of souls, reflecting a similar theme of universal interconnectedness.