I keep bumping into claims of transcendency, of a “higher plane”, or deeper thought, or… some intangible something that somehow is special. I grant that this state of being is somewhat rare, especially in the west, but there is nothing particularly special about it. I would suggest that what is this so-called “higher plane” is, to coin a phrase, "a “lower plane”. It is simply recognition of the flow of becoming, maturing, and returning to that flow and being an essential part of that experiencing. All else is content and commentary. There is nothing special about enlightenment nor those who would claim awakening.
The “special” state concerning enlightenment is not in WHAT is recognized by the conscious, but rather it is the attained state of agreement between the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious or at very least, the lack of disagreement. That state produces the famed “bliss” associated with Heaven; total, pure agreement through and through.
You cannot attain that state until you harmonize what you instinctively do, emotionally feel, and consciously (logically) think.
Yes it is a very, very special state that is very difficult for most people to achieve and nearly impossible for those who eat, breath, and sleep in the West.
I get quite transcendent after about 10 pints and whole pack of fags.
Bottom line: If a state of transcendency really held any advantage either physical or social, that outweighed the cost of its attainment, we’d all be taught it at school, and the early transcendent kids would be all making fun of the scruffy loafers who had yet to manage two-fingered push ups and levitation.
Ergo, its crap, self-delusion, or doesn’t exist. Or all of that.
Say for a second it is something real. It still sounds ominously like gameover “Player - you have attained transcendency - well done [roll credits]” Life is far too dynamic to sustain a static state POV for too long, and higher and lower seems awfully 2 dimensional.
I think that’s primarily the myth of the idea.
But spiritual transcendence that is much more tangible is along the concepts of what Tentative, James, and myself all have been discussing.
Well…in regards to brain state, I would agree that the super-human spectacle of such degrees as levitation haven’t really been founded, but there are studies that we’ve been recently doing that are quite compelling in regards to trance-meditation brain states.
One documentary on the subject that I was watching showed testing done on Buddhist monks (I don’t recall which group it was) where they were granted to hook them up to EEG’s and check brain activity during mediation practices and their findings were pretty interesting.
They found that the frontal lobe activity in these monks was no different than the normal activity of the frontal lobes for any average person going about their day.
This is remarkable because the average person you grab and tell to meditate (even with Buddhist practices) has an increase of activity in the frontal lobes by a large margin.
This is because their imagination rev’s up to engage the meditative trance.
However, in these monks, nothing changed at all the entire time.
In fact, if anything, it looked like they were more clear minded than normal as while the frontal lobes stayed the same as normal, the rest of the brain’s activity pretty much equalized over all.
Meaning, they weren’t using any one specific part of their brain, but instead seemingly balanced out throughout all of the processing areas of the brain while in the meditative state.
Even those individuals that don’t increase frontal lobe activity when asked to meditate don’t do this.
This is something they weren’t really expecting, as they expected that massive amounts of frontal lobe activity would be present, and further they really weren’t expecting near “perfect” equalized dispersement of brain activity.
While that’s not as visually impressive as say levitation, it is remarkably amazing because shifting how the brain processes information changes everything about how the brain and body work together neurologically and physiologically.
So, I would agree with you…the myth and legends literally aren’t really founded, but the impressiveness that those myths and legends convey seems to be founded at least.
I like the concept of transcendence, but it breaks down for me when pushed into reality. As an outsider I’m supposed to treat it with some sort of awe, something that my feeble mind will never grasp. That those who have reached it are part of a special club that is very strict on membership.
To me all it really does is show the depth of disconnect from the concious, every day mind of man, and the “enlightened” man who is somehow mentally aware of so much more. It reveals the animal state of our species and how hard and long one must work to actually break from that process. Which in turn helps to explain why our species is so good and destroying itself. It also seems to me to be almost of no value, given the amount of time and patience it takes to reach such a state of mind, it’s something that could not be actively be sustained for a greater good.
Being clairvoyant or otherwise psychic has advantages that are self-evident. That’s why it’s the (end) goal of all yogis and meditative practitioners. True enlightenment has functional advantages which can be proven, and demonstrated.
Sorry, but I never met a person who claimed trancendence that was devoid of “better than thou”; but I never met the Dalia Lama. And, for me, trancendance is a stupid myth. I agree with those who note that we evolve. Blame Plato, Paul, Kant, Emerson, et. al., for the transcendence BS.
Scientism? If you knew me well enough, you’d know I don’t adhere to any view of science that excludes the religious need. In agreeing that what we call trancendence is another “state of mind” I’m not negating the experience; I’m only putting it in the real world in which we exist. Let’s say I’m an American Native who uses peyote in religious ceremonies. Is my high trancendence or an experience of what minds can actually do? What I object to is the ethereal and abstract in speculations that separate body, mind and spirit in order to propagate religious dogma that simply does not apply universally; and universality is a religious claim. I sometimes experience synaesthesia, and I’m not on drugs. Is this transcedence or simply an excursion into the possibilites inherent in the human mind?
You are confusing the delusional feeling of transcendence with the actual state of real transcending the spiritual cause of normal delusion (misperception of reality). Drugs cannot cause actual transcendence. The IQ improving drugs allowed only to government people now, go in the right direction, but are a long way from causing transcendence. They merely raise the capability of the brain a little. They do not push it into rationality.
What you are calling the “real world” isn’t as real as you think. That is why they call it transcending the typical delusions. Perhaps watch “The Matrix” just to get the picture in hyperbole and metaphor.
Why can’t you explain the reality of the Internet to your cat?
It really takes the right type of intelligence capability along with the psychological understandings and experiences associated with it to either truly understand it or to experience it.
Such things are for creating the Socialist “casting”, a clear division between the nobles and their servants. It has been going on in varied forms for at at least 4000 years. Christianity and the USA used to stand against it all, but are now deeper into it than any has ever been.
