{"id":8057,"date":"2015-04-21T23:27:25","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T03:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gornahoor.net\/?p=8057"},"modified":"2021-05-06T21:22:23","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T01:22:23","slug":"i-sleep-but-the-heart-is-awake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/?p=8057","title":{"rendered":"I Sleep, but the Heart is Awake"},"content":{"rendered":"

I sleep, but my heart is awake<\/em>. ~ Song of Solomon 5:2<\/p>\n

Please consider the four states of consciousness mentioned by Bede Griffiths<\/strong> in The Cosmic Mystery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We are accustomed to consider the sleeping, dreaming, and waking states as distinct states of consciousness, which follow each other consecutively. However, most of us have noticed that, rather than sequential, they interpenetrate each other. Our presumed waking state is mostly a series of semi-dreams: i.e., thoughts, imaginations, little stories, and so on. Then there is something deeper, beyond conscious awareness, in operation, affecting our postures, movements, attention and so on.<\/p>\n

Among those dreams is the dream of awakening. That \u201cI\u201d, the subject of that dream, will \u201csnap us out of it\u201d from time to time. That I needs to be nourished until the whole heart is awake.<\/p>\n

Theology of the Body<\/h2>\n

A delay was caused by some new information on the Theology of the Body<\/a> (H\/T Perennial) that I came across as I was writing the introduction to the chapters on Sintesi that relate the sexes to race. Surprisingly, Evola\u2019s ideas have some things in common with Pope John Paul II<\/strong>\u2019s conceptions. Perhaps that is so, given the influence of German idealism and the philosophy of personalism on both of them.<\/p>\n

For Scholasticism, the mind, or intellectual soul, is the image of God. The mind is without qualities, neither male nor female. For JPII and Evola, on the other hand, the body is the outward expression of spirit, hence either masculinity or femininity permeates the whole being. The Scholastic approach easily devolves to a Cartesian dualism of body and mind.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the Scholastic definition of the person is too abstract: an individual substance of a rational nature<\/em>. It does not mention Will, I, Freedom, Consciousness. Then there is Guenon\u2019s objection that it focuses on Being to the exclusion of non-Being. Specifically, it is too static, not making the distinction between the virtual and the actual. The actualization of a person is something else. Will must be developed, consciousness expanded, freedom\/liberation must be achieved as it is not simply a given. \u201cTruth shall set you free.\u201d For the Scholasitics, there can be no development of the person. However, for JPII and Evola one of hallmarks of the person is self-possession, which requires a development.<\/p>\n

Also, speculative theology does not make a clear distinction between soul and spirit. Mystical theology, on the other hand, does. St John of the Cross<\/strong>, for example, distinguishes between psychic experiences and truly spiritual experience. St John of the Cross<\/strong> is one of the influences on the Theology of the Body.<\/p>\n

Sex and the Body<\/h2>\n

These are some of the main points of the Theology of the Body. When the Evola translations come out, we can see better how they relate.<\/p>\n