(08-31-2009, 04:55 PM)Quantum Wrote: I am almost as confident that one would need to define it in much the same manner, and would be equally as curious as to how one would define it otherwise? What then is distortion, per se, this in the "unique context of the LOO", as suggested, and this without remotely utilizing any of the above words, or their similarity.
Your dictionary definition conveys a wrongness, an incorrectness. When I first read the Law of One back in the early 80s, before I ever met anyone else who had read them and so had no one to consult with, I never perceived Ra's use of the word distortion as conveying a sense of wrongness at all. That would be contrary to the Law of One message. While Ra did pronounce certain statements by Don as incorrect, it was to distinguish Don's understanding from Ra's intended message. Hence, proper use of the word incorrect. Distortion, however, was never used to convey incorrectness, but an alternate perspective; the perspective being a unit of the Whole; whereas only the Whole can be completely free of distortion.
This was my understanding back then. Many years later, I found that others understood the term the same way I did:
from Bob Childers/David Wilcock's study guide:
7. Distortion = anything that may erroneously be seen as a separate or individual unit, (since all is One,) including all philosophical ideas, teachings and concepts related to the Oneness as well as such things as the nature of light in the different densities, since there is only One Light that has “distorted” itself into an Octave. The frequent use of the word “distortion” has been a stumbling block for many readers of Ra, as it can apply to almost anything and is usually not considered to be a negative term. At times Ra refers to their own teachings being distortions, as they themselves have not fully penetrated the Octave and returned to Oneness.
Granted, this is Bob's and David's interpretation, and not necessarily authoritative, since no one is an authority on the Law of One. But I think they nailed it.
Note on their choice of the word erroneously: The error is in thinking that we are separate at all. However, being that we are at that level of spiritual development in which we do perceive separation, our understanding of any given concept is not erroneous at all, but to be expected, given our present state. In contrast to the dictionary definition of being incorrect from the perspective of separation (for the dictionary definition does not even remotely address the concept of Oneness).
The dictionary definition, as commonly used, denotes one unit of understanding from the perspective of separation as being correct while another unit of understanding from the perspective of separation as being incorrect, with the former being free from distortion and the latter being distorted. I contend that this is not at all what Ra intended; Ra attempted to convey that both perspectives are distortions, since neither is coming from a perspective of Oneness. No understanding that any of us (including Ra) ever has could ever be 100% free of distortion. Only the Creator perceives with zero distortion. Hence, everything Ra says, and everything we ever understand, has some degree of distortion. However, just as in mathematics you can never reach the point, so too do we ever reach for, but never truly reach, perfect distortion-free understanding. But still we reach.
This song comes to mind...I think Pink Floyd understood the concepts of Oneness/distortion, and distortion distorting (but never twisting, perverting or befouling) the Oneness:
Eclipse
(Waters)
All that you touch
All that you see
All that you taste
All you feel.
All that you love
All that you hate
All you distrust
All you save.
All that you give
All that you deal
All that you buy,
beg, borrow or steal.
All you create
All you destroy
All that you do
All that you say.
All that you eat
And everyone you meet
All that you slight
And everyone you fight.
All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come
and everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.
"There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it's all dark."
(just for fun...my own distortion/speculation of course!
)