Imagination is the magic wand of being: something comes into being where nothing existed before: a configuration is wafted out of the latent potential of non-existence: an idea. The power of idea to reconfigure reality has made the world as we know it. Unlike human beings; of themselves ideas are inanimate and amoral.
Imagination is perfectly described as a mythic wish-fullfilling demon. Mythic demons are not inherently good or evil, they are merely an extension of their master's ch'i. In Goethe's charming little tale an unenlightened being dons the sorcerer's cap and takes up the sorcerer's wand and sets in motion forces he can not control and that (barring intervention) will ultimately destroy him. This perfectly describes the situation of contemporary humanity.
The apprentice (identified with his limited consciousness) celebrates power and is unaware of his limitations. If his identity were in the awareness he would be conscious of his un-evolved state, and perhaps have some defense against the seductive sway of idea.
The guiding principle in meditation is for the apprentice to consult the master: for consciousness to consult awareness. Do not paper over awareness with ideas, rather let awareness be master of all. Imagination will then find it's proper place in making a better world as consciousness bends knee to awareness.
Imagination is perfectly described as a mythic wish-fullfilling demon. Mythic demons are not inherently good or evil, they are merely an extension of their master's ch'i. In Goethe's charming little tale an unenlightened being dons the sorcerer's cap and takes up the sorcerer's wand and sets in motion forces he can not control and that (barring intervention) will ultimately destroy him. This perfectly describes the situation of contemporary humanity.
The apprentice (identified with his limited consciousness) celebrates power and is unaware of his limitations. If his identity were in the awareness he would be conscious of his un-evolved state, and perhaps have some defense against the seductive sway of idea.
The guiding principle in meditation is for the apprentice to consult the master: for consciousness to consult awareness. Do not paper over awareness with ideas, rather let awareness be master of all. Imagination will then find it's proper place in making a better world as consciousness bends knee to awareness.
1 comment:
beautiful! simple and elegantly stated. thanks for your sharing.
this concept is also called "maya" in hindu literature, and has quite bit of mythology/stories around it.
i guess the humans swerved quite a bit, as necessitated by survival and evolutionary instincts. ("inertia")
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