Thursday, October 28, 2004
Science, Transcendent
As mentioned in my last post on this blog, the Science/Transcendence relationship presents our first challenge to understanding the nature of the ontological perspective I am trying to unfold. In order to move our understanding forward, it is necessary to introduce another triplet.
First, an aside. Previously, I used the term triumvirate to describe these related concepts. I must now apologize, as that word selection was intended only to avoid the need to introduce two terms from diametrically opposed religious perspectives in a single post. The word isn't very satisfying, since it has overtones of governance that don't seem appropriate in this context. The word I would prefer these triplets to be referred to as is trinity. Henceforth, this will be my term of choice.
Now I believe introductions are in order.
Our third trinity is that of Body, Mind, and Spirit. This introduction is somewhat isomorphically pleasing. If there is to be some guiding principle that allows us to unite our ontological disjoint, then a metatrinity seems just the thing. Aesthetics aside, this trinity is necessary in order to make sense of the relationships already discussed, as well as to prescribe the solution to the problem posed..
The very nature of Science deals with the underlying principles of the physical world in which we live. Attempts to introduce more abstract belief systems into science are categorically met with ridicule and outright derision: it is unlikely that you will see a glowing review of The Physics of Immortality in a scientific journal. From the perspective of Science, it would be perfectly fair to say that it has transcended the Spirit. Spirits, after all, are the ultimate chimerical concept, remaining by definition undetectable and immeasurable (despite the claims of some proponents in the field of Kirlian Photography).
Examining the relationship of Science to this latest trinity, the most obvious correlation is with the concept of Mind; after all, the Mind is the primary tool through which Science is advanced. However, this observation misses an important point: the "Mind", while less chimerical than the Spirit, is still shrouded in a cloud of Science whose basis is often questionable, and certainly not subject, in toto, to rigorous scientific examination. Science, it would seem, is ground firmly in the realm of the Body, whose physical nature is both unique and perfectly suited to scientific scrutiny. This, I believe, is the root of the problem.
As a species, we are uniquely qualified to reason at a level that allows us to derogate critical aspects of our existence; even those aspects directly responsible for this ability are subject to this capacity. Science, in extremis, relegates our existence to a complex collection of chemical reactions: nothing more, nothing less. It is this perspective that destroys both Religion and Magick. It is this perspective that must change.
Hopefully I have set the framework upon which the rest of the posts in this series will be based. We will, in turn, examine the two remaining relationships (Magick/Infancy and Religion/Ego), and their interactions with this final trinity. Armed with the knowledge we gain, we will then move on to the ultimate goal: a reconciling perspective that allows us to see all these relationships through a single, unified perspective.
