The Ivory Tower and the pursuit of knowledge

[kevn]

Intellectually one can extrapolate what a tesseract is. Einstein probably would have made a thought experiment to do so, but he certainly would have tried to get out of our box of 3D limitations. And he probably would have prefaced with a scene from Flatland.

I agree that experiencing 4D would certainly be different than trying to intellectually understand it. Flatland gives us an interesting take on this idea when A. Sphere pulls A. Square out of his 2-dimensional world into the 3-dimensional world, and still A. Square did not understand, though it changed him. I think the same could be said of meditation, when one gets a feeling of being beyond 3D—but we are really too bogged down here I think to really understand movement in higher existences.

As long as humans separate things, and deny the part each aspect of existence plays, there will be nonunderstanding. Ego has its place and plays an important role in 3D. 3D is not something to do while waiting for 4D. Its a layered experience, so each layer is important. It's more about balance. One doesn't want ego to take over, but I don't think it's wise to discard it either. Just as I don't think it's wise to say we are "not bodies, we are spirits." We are bodies too, while we are here experiencing 3D.

It's more about inclusion in my opinion, of everything. Instead of throwing parts out as nonessential, just keep adding things in. The parts that don't serve will naturally recede or fall away.

Thanks for the reading suggestion

I was using the tesseract example because the sound of one hand clapping example didn't seem to work! In both cases, it's just to show that the mind cannot adequatly represent the whole truth of reality, especially when using symbols as poor as words.

There's an apple. You can call it an apple. You can picture the apple in your mind. You can calculate the weight of the apple. You can draw the apple. None of that comes remotely close to the truth of the apple. And the only thing that has the whole truth about the apple is the apple. Truth outside representation.

About adding things, well, that's one way to try. I think that not everyone here is the same, not everyone has the same goals, not everyone needs to learn the same things, not everyone wants the same, not everyone understands the same. In that perspective, I sometimes wonder if we should really strive to all go in the same direction. What's true for someone might not be true for someone else. I'm not saying route #1 is better or worse than route #2. I'm saying someone might need to go on route #1, while the next person needs to try route #2.

And even for the same person, the best road to take at age 20 is probably not the best road to take at age 30, 40, 60...

From the tao-te-ching:

"In pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped."

Lao-Tsu is not saying that practicing the Tao is better or worse than pursuing knowledge. He's showing the difference between the two, that's all. 2 very different routes. I have the feeling the first one goes in circles...