{"id":8587,"date":"2016-05-30T01:11:53","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T05:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gornahoor.net\/?p=8587"},"modified":"2018-05-30T05:38:05","modified_gmt":"2018-05-30T09:38:05","slug":"polymaths-and-self-creation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/?p=8587","title":{"rendered":"Polymaths and Self-Creation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nA way stands open into heaven, but none can enter the way except those who have heaven within them. ~ Emanuel Swedenborg<\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is very difficult to become an expert in one field. To become expert in two or more fields is extraordinary. Such a person is called a polymath and several polymaths have always intrigued me. The most obvious recent examples are Leonardo da Vinci<\/a> and Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Da Vinci\u2019s accomplishments in art, science, and technology are well known. Goethe was a dramatist and poet, while his scientific studies in fields like optics and biology have been neglected. A book recommended by Wolfgang Smith<\/strong>, The Wholeness of Nature<\/em> by Henri Bortoft<\/strong>, provides a good explanation of Goethe\u2019s science of conscious participation in nature. Bortoft\u2019s training in visualization provided the key to understand Goethe.<\/p>\n

Some will use a related term, the Renaissance Man<\/strong>, in place of polymath, although that is more like a well-rounded man, who does well in many disparate areas of his life, rather than as a specialist in a few. Baldesar Castiglione<\/strong>, in The Book of the Courtier<\/em>, describes this type, as we summarized in The Duty of the Wise Man<\/a>. Castiglione combines the duties of the courtier with the virtuous life. The goal is to consciously create a \u201csingle whole\u201d out of one\u2019s life, which in most men is fragmented, random, and factitious. There are some polymaths whose lives I have studied in some depth at different points in my life.<\/p>\n

Albert Schweitzer<\/strong> was a medical doctor who practiced as a medical missionary in Africa, much of which he documented. He made original contributions in theology, in philosophy through his ideal of Reverence for Life, and in the music of J S Bach. He was also an expert in church organs as well as a proficient instrumentalist.<\/p>\n

Alfred North Whitehead<\/strong> was an expert in logic, math, science, and philosophy. After a career as a mathematics professor, he switched to philosophy. He opposed the Cartesian theory of bifurcation, and integrated qualities and creativity into a scientific worldview. At that time, I was more interested in holism and evolutionistic views. Nevertheless, just as Arthur Lovejoy<\/strong> showed how the idea of the Great Chain of Being was flattened out into an evolutionary worldview in time, it may be possible to make Whitehead\u2019s metaphysics more hierarchical. You can see how this might look in our posts on how Providence works in relationship to Will and Destiny. At every moment, Providence offers us creative \u201cpossibilities of manifestation\u201d (Guenon\u2019s term), which we can integrate into our life. This does not require Whitehead\u2019s notion of a God in evolution.<\/p>\n

Swedenborg<\/h2>\n

Since we\u2019ve been discussing the role of \u201cimagination\u201d in our Monday Gnosis seminars, this is opportune to bring up another polymath, Emmanuel Swedenborg<\/strong>. He began as a scientist and engineer, making contributions to metallurgy, geometry, chemistry, physiology, and then became interested in philosophy. Late in life, he began to have visionary and clairvoyant experiences which he described in several books.<\/p>\n

His writings were important among Martinist and Hermetic groups, although Valentin Tomberg<\/strong> makes just a passing reference to him. Yet his ideas resonated beyond that. Curiously, the Zen Buddhist D T Suzuki<\/strong> wrote about Swedenborg, translated his books into Japanese, and referred to him as the \u201cBuddha of the North. I suppose this connection to Buddhism should not be surprising, as Swedenborg referred to some lost teachings among the Sages of Tibet and of Tartary. I learned this from Rene Guenon<\/strong><\/a>. This idea was confirmed by the Catholic mystic Anne Catherine Emmerich<\/strong>. In the Mountain of the Prophet<\/strong>, also in Tibet, she saw the holy books of all the Traditions revealed to mankind. The point is that \u201cMankind was not yet capable of receiving these gifts, another must first come.\u201d That led me to explore Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the writings of Alice Bailey<\/strong> and Nicholas Roerich<\/strong> to find those secret teachings. Perhaps I did not look hard enough and stopped too soon. It is an unfinished project, which I\u2019ve hinted at, to use Madhyamika philosophy to express the metaphysics of Tradition.<\/p>\n

Henry Corbin<\/strong>, the scholar of esoteric Islam, was also intensely interested in Swedenborg\u2019s ideas. He demonstrated a correspondence between Swedenborg\u2019s visions and mystical visions described in Islam. For them, there are three worlds: the sensory world, the world of the imagination, and the world of the intellect. The intermediate world of the imagination is the one described by the seers. A full review of those writings might be a good topic for the future. I know the interest will not be widespread, but it will be very intense for a few of us.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the American Sufi Charles Upton, pace<\/em> Corbin, writes this about Swedenborg:<\/p>\n

\nThat a great deal of profound doctrines can be found in Swedenborg\u2019s writings is undeniable. But now that the scriptures and classic of the world religions and the writings of history\u2019s greatest sages are readily available, we no longer need to take him as uniquely inspired authorities since we can judge them in the light of their orthodox originals \u2026 there is no longer any reason to rely upon suspect sources. \u2026 Since such doctrines were not available to a Swedish Lutheran of the 18th<\/sup> century, it was necessary to reintroduce them via direct inspiration.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While it is true that we don\u2019t need to take Swedenborg as \u201cuniquely inspired\u201d, it is nevertheless still the case that his contributions to our understanding of the imaginal or astral realm has not been reintroduced into the mainstream of Western Tradition. E F Schumacher<\/strong> mentioned the visionaries Edgar Cayce<\/strong> and Jakob Lorber<\/strong> in The Guide for the Perplexed<\/em>, as guides to his fields of knowledge.<\/p>\n

Self-Creation<\/h2>\n

\"Cologero
\nWhen I was a young man, I realized my life as a mathematician was becoming detrimental to my social life. Time series differential equations or obscure issues in algebraic topology are conversation stoppers. So I resolved to become a latter day courtier, a Renaissance Man of sorts. I already has some expertise in mathematics and physics, I was more literary than most, and fortunately I was reasonably athletic. Although, as a proper Bostonian, I was taught ballroom dancing, I had to learn the Hustle, and later, Salsa, on my own.<\/p>\n

In order to take on certain qualities I thought I was missing in my life, I began an intense study of the works of Harold Robbins<\/strong> \u2013 certainly not great literature, but a good description of a world that was alien to me. But I always took literature personally. Earlier, I had read most of Jack Kerouac<\/strong>\u2019s works and then Henry Miller<\/strong> and Lawrence Durrell<\/strong>; I adopted what I read into my own life and self-image. I saw myself in Joseph Conrad\u2019s books. From Hesse, I decided I was a combination of Steppenwolf<\/strong> and Siddhartha<\/strong>; my life course has been close to both.<\/p>\n

This process took several years. I developed a solid workout program, I took creative writing classes, a Dale Carnegie course, seminars at the Florida Speaker\u2019s Association, and even acting classes. I was motivated by Nietzsche<\/strong>\u2019s injunction:<\/p>\n

\nTo \u201cgive style\u201d to one\u2019s character\u2013 a great and rare art! It is practiced by those who survey all the strengths and weaknesses of their nature and then fit them into an artistic plan until every one of them appears as art and reason and even weaknesses delight the eye. Here a large mass of second nature has been added; there a piece of original nature has been removed \u2014 both times through long practice and daily work at it. Here the ugly that could not be removed is concealed; there it has been reinterpreted and made sublime. Much that is vague and resisted shaping has been saved and exploited for distant views; it is meant to beckon toward the far and immeasurable. In the end, when the work is finished, it becomes evident how the constraint of a single taste governed and formed everything large and small. Whether this taste was good or bad is less important than one might suppose, if only it was a single taste!\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A human birth is too precious to let one\u2019s life be governed solely by chance. I learned the doctrinal basis for my task only later on. Of course, I had done an experiment recommended by Aleister Crowley as a way of freeing up one\u2019s personality; this was described in Aghori of the Mind<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tibetan Buddhism involves visualization practices. A common one is to see oneself in a mandala of the Buddha, gods, goddesses, and enlightened beings. I asked my guru what the purpose of that was. He explained that we are constantly creating a self-image subconsciously, without thought. We can create a new self-image as an enlightened being.<\/p>\n

In high school they used to draw a curtain across the gymnasium to separate the boys from the girls in physical education classes. I used to visualize a different education during those classes. But that sort of daydreaming is passive and a waste of our sexual energies. Visualizing myself as a sort of Renaissance Man, a \u201cman about town\u201d, successful in business and with women, did bring me a not insignificant degree of self-mastery, as I became able to overcome an inherent introversion in situations where it is not suitable.
\n\"Communion
\nUltimately, then, I could visualize myself in an icon of the communion of saints like the Buddhists do. Beyond that, there is the world of pure intellect, beyond all images and thoughts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A way stands open into heaven, but none can enter the way except those who have heaven within them. ~ Emanuel Swedenborg It is very difficult to become an expert in one field. To become expert in two or more fields is extraordinary. Such a person is called a polymath … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,38],"tags":[314,241,731],"class_list":["post-8587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings","category-personal","tag-albert-schweitzer","tag-anne-catherine-emmerich","tag-emmanuel-swedenborg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}