If there is a core element in the answer I have found to MyQuestionOfEvolutionarySpirituality, surely, it must be this: To Live Imagination.
This is an idea that I don’t fully understand yet. The ramifications are still unfolding for me. I have only made confused jabs at the subject, both intellectually, and in terms of actions (reads: “Spiriata.”)
But here is what I have so far…
The Native Americans lived imagination.
Perhaps they believed that the land was formed by crows, excreting the ground into existence.
Perhaps they believed that in the four directions, lived different Gods, that structured the directions, the seasons, and social organization.
Perhaps they believed that rituals take place at certain times in order to ensure that the sun goes up, the harvest is good, and so on.
Perhaps they sewed their baskets in ways that retold stories.
Perhaps their Totem Poles not only spoke to “nice art, dude,” but also to tell the histories of their people, the beginnings of times, the working of society, and so on.
What I am getting at is that they lived in their imaginations.
“Art” was not something “out there,” that they made for livelihood.
When they imagined something, it became part of who they were, and what they were doing.
We all know that a crow didn’t give birth to the world. There are stubborn hold-outs who insist that “we should be more OpenMinded” and not “be so self-righteous to believe” that not only that the universe as we know it is 13.7 billion years old, (see: ScienceWorks?,) but that we also don’t know that it didn’t come from a crow. Well, the hold-outs are wrong: We “have a pretty good idea” (severe understatement) that imagination divorced from experiment isn’t a good way of getting at reality, and that despite the best efforts of Native Americans to find what’s real, that in fact: The world did not come from a crow. (see: NaturalisticCommitments, WhyNaturalisticCommitments?.)
My point is: We can live imagination too.
The example of Native Americans (or pick just about any other indigenous culture) is good, but it’s not enough to really sink our teeth into.
We want to understand more– We want to understand how we too, even, in a fully naturalistic setting, with NaturalisticCommitments, can do so.
We’d like to live in these imaginative, creative, beautiful ways, but we don’t want to have to go crazy in order to do it.
That is, we’d like to not forget that the universe is 13.7 billion years old, we’d like to not forget that that “holy water” in the river Gangas is filled with pestilence and polution and will kill you, we’d like to not forget all these wonderful Truths that scientists have, over millenia, by hard exerted efforts, learned for us. (Science is the longest and most fruitful sustained inquiry into the nature of reality ever undertaken. It is something we should definitely keep a close touch on- lest we betray all the truth-seekers in the world.)
So to do this, we look at the characteristics of Living Imagination.
Here are some of them, off the top of my head:
Here’s a meandering exposition of those terms.
It’s Interwoven.
For example, the FederationOfDamanhur- it excellently demonstrates this “interwoven” quality. For example, at the FederationOfDamanhur, you look at the sacred signs in the ground, and they say a message. That message communicates something about Damanhurian philosophy, but it also references other myths, and other sacred signs. The signs themselves have structure, and that structure communicates meaning. Then the myths that were referenced have to do with what it is for a person to be in a new place, and what it means for a person, and for a society. And then the vision of the society relates to the vision of the human being, because a person is a society in Damanhurian thought. And then you look in another direction, and you see artwork reflecting all these themes as well, of ecology, the ecology within, of meaning in society, of the mission of Damanhur, and so on.
So everything is interwoven- it’s like a massive hypertext, with links going in all direction. Like this very wiki. Like a dictionary.
In our society, imagination is boxed. See BoxedImagination? for more on this, but very briefly– it is symbolized by the picture frame, or the edges of the stage. We have clear deliniation between, “This is real, this is imagination, and ne’er the twain shall meet.”
We do not ride a bus named Aslan to work; It’s rather, “Sound Transit Bus 522.”
If you learn the Anasazi tales, characters recur. I’m sure that, in their society, they were connected also with their masks, their dances, their rituals, and so on.
In some ways, I find the words “art” and “myth” insidious, because they are just as much part of this framing, this boxing, this segregation, of the imagination from our lives, as anything else – are we really to believe that the Native American’s called what they did “culture” …?! No, of course not! They called it “what we do,” or “our ways,” or “how we live.”
So we know: It’s interwoven.
We can also mention that it was free. I mean, even if you wanted to call the 522 bus “Aslan,” or “The Enterprise,” or any other of a number of names of characters or vessels in fiction– you couldn’t. You couldn’t, even wanting to. Because there’d be licensing questions, and you’d have to broker a deal with Disney or whomever, just to use the name alone.
But really, if we’re to be living imagination, it needs to be free, all of it. We need to be able to not just name the bus “Enterprise,” but give it the full outer decoration of the Enterprise. (There are conceptual problems with this as well- Star Trek is difficult to make holographic with our lives, valient efforts to the contrary acknowledged. But the point is: Everything imaginitive is jelously locked up in copyright and other intellectual property laws at the present time. To “live imagination,” it can only be free.)
We tend to think of “reality” as the cake, and “imagination” as the icing.
“I’ll tell you what’s real, and then you can frost it however you like.”
But this is a broken vision. For one, on a purely intellectual level, how we think about things affects reality. (This is very well understood, but if you want some lucid research: look up GeorgeLakoff?, or even better, KennethBurke, and the “TerministicScreen?.”)
But more deeply:
Imagination falls apart, if it’s not supported by the Real.
This is a crass example, (though, to be sure, feel free to read “PornIsSanity,”) but it’s the easiest way I know to put it:
The porn that “works” best, is the porn that is plausible. It needs to be something that could happen, somehow.
Perhaps that nice girl next door might be like that, or perhaps at the mall, the dressing room might really have these possibilities, …
Horror writers have known this for ages as well: Set the setting in the mundane, and then show how that cold water, or the blender switch, or whatever – can lead to disasterous entities, strange worlds, what have you.
The point is that imagination, in order to have any sort of draw, requires some degree of connection, of relevance, of relatability.
It can’t just be “random garble,” rendered freshly.
Yes, 90% of “the market” at any given time for imaginative stories is “random garble,” but I’m not talking about those stories; I’m talking about the stories that you cared about, those stories that had some special meaning for you.
I can tell you, absolutely, that the HarryPotter? books, for example, are deeply relatable, and deeply connected with the lives of not just the readers, but all of us. There are lessons in those books on racism and activism, on paradox, on the subjective inner life, on ambiguity, on society, on just about everything.
It’s not just “random stuff,” and if it were just random stuff, the books would not have “draw.”
There is a very deep and bidirectional relationship between imagination and reality, and we don’t have to break any NaturalisticCommitments to note it– the brain is complex enough as it is to hold to account.
“What’s the reality behind these imaginations?”
Virtues. Feelings. Ideals. Observations. Ideas, as living entities. The Heart.
Those with a mechanical perspective on the world see “Memes,” envisioned almost as hostile alien lifeforms grabbing people and ruthlessly competing to destroy one another. But this imagery (which they may deny, but do speak and live by) is bologna.
These stories live the reality of our own virtues. They reflect the virtues that live inside of us.
As the Damanhurians say, “We need Gods, and the Gods need us.”
This is explicitely not about social control; This is explicitely about human liberation.
It’s about the freedom to live a life of Virtue.
We all live according to some rule, or some principle. The articulation of these principles, the ability to talk about them, (requiring language, stories, code-points,) aid us in the quest to uphold them and live by them.
There is an unnamable God, the ineffable Tao, that we all serve at root. No formed expression can be sufficient. But it is creating forms that enables us to reach into the infinite, and to evolve the world towards greater expressions of the Spirit (see: WhatIsSpiritual?).
In proportion to the extent that we have hearts, the imagination reflects the Real.
Just because a thing is subjective does not mean that it is not Real. A person can never be wrong about their own feelings. If a person feels hurt, then it is unmistakable that the person feels hurt. And if a person feels joy, then it is unmistakable that a person feels joy.
If a person is on a quest for the Divine, then it is unmistakable that a person is on a quest for the Divine.
The unfolding of the Paradox is the unfolding of the World, and I have profound faith that the end of the Neverending Story is good.
Lived Imagination is nothing if it is not Lived. If it’s not lived, it’s just another picture on the wall.
A lived imagination guides decisions. We decide, “Here’s how I allocate my time,” and we now do it in accord with our imagination.
We do this as individuals, and when imagination is lived, we will do it even as societies.
Today we all live imagination in secret, but tomorrow we will all live imagination in public.
When the 1900’s deconstructionist walks along, and then challenges us: “Hey, why are you doing that?”, we’ll tell him, “We’re doing it because it’s what is in our hearts.”
And when he challenges us: “Hey, don’t you know that it’s not scientific to invoke fairies in magic circles,” we’ll say, “This is our imagination, and it sets our hearts aflame.”
But when he challenges us, “Hey, don’t drink that, it has dangerous bacteria in it,” we’ll say, “Thanks for the tip,” and make sure to microwave it (or whatever else would kill or remove harmful bacteria,) before using it in a ritual.
We can live imagination!
There are no laws against it, whether in the law books, the philosophy books, or even in the science books. That is, there is no law of Chemistry that says, “adults shalt not live by imagination.”
There is no dastardly law of economics saying, “Thou shalt not live imagination, lest I make ye homeless.”
Look- here’s my promise-
…Here’s the premise…
-Here’s why you’d want to do this:
Once you “figure this out,” and then, further, start doing it, you’ll find yourself in a dramatically different place.
You’ll find yourself in a place of heart, of love, of valor, of adventure, of liveliness.
You will have accomplished what others thought impossible --
It turns out that we do not require ignorance and superstition, that “life’s most marvelous, wonderful, delightful feeling” is in fact fully accessible to the person with NaturalisticCommitments.
It just requires a smattering of lived imagination, and a change in thinking.
It opens up not just pleasant feelings for the person working in this frame, but the distinct possibility of a dramatically happier world, a thriving world, a living planet, a universe of exuberance.
In fact, when I look back from the future, and look back on these dark and troubled times, we ask ourselves: “How did people think that Science could lead to anything but the greatest joys of the world, the deeper awakening of God, the unfolding of the Universe?”
We will see clearly how “Dissillusionment” led to a new illusionment of the Universe as a dark, cold, and uncaring place- a view that failed to note our own participation in the universe, the emergence of the subjective sphere, the NooSphere?, and with it, the divinization of the Universe.
But these are stories for another day.
I’ve verified all this at the FederationOf? Damanhur, which is, uniquely, a pillar of light in the world.
You don’t have to believe that synchronic lines are materially real, in order to see that they have ways of getting the message of life anew out to the world; It is clear to me that they have hit the psychic techtonic plate edges squarly on the edge with the strongest hammers available, and triggered an outpouring of the spirit.
(Or have they? Only time will tell. But in my own life, I have felt the impact.)
What I am saying is that I have been to the Federation of Damanhur, NaturalisticCommitments fully intact, and been deeply moved by the experience.
I have to confess, I did not want to come back. But I know that my mission in life is to connect what I have learned there with what I know from my engineering science background, and, with those souls who are in a similar situation- who are pure naturalists, but also completely and thoroughly dedicated to the Spirit of life, to further the development of the Primeval Divinity, Humankind.
Know clearly and lucidly that I am not talking about anything super-natural, or not existent, disproven by science, and so on and so forth.
Rather, I am communicating with the full power of language and spirit about sacred matters.
Consider deeply.
To live imagination is going to require other people.
It is intrinsicly socially mediated.
Phil and I did an experiment at Damanhur, where we attempted to find the boundry point of Damanhur.
What I mean is: You can “feel” Damanhur at Damanhur.
A comparison that is more clear: When you’re at the movie theater, watching a movie, you can feel the movie.
Sometimes, after we walk out of the movie theater, we still “feel” the movie: If the movie had an exuberant theme or feeling to it, then we walk around continuing to feel the exuberance that “rubs off” from the movie.
Do you know what I mean?
Well, you’ll just have to take it on faith, until you make your pilgrimage, but merely walking around the Federation of Damanhur develops in a person powerful feeling.
This is not an accident. At least, I can’t conceive of how it could be an accident: Damanhurians are very precise in everything they do. They work quite consciously, (as far as I know,) in their drawings, in their statues, in their drawing of lines, in their construction of buildings, in their painting, in their choice of words, in their philosophy, in their everything, always asking themselves, “What feeling does this produce? What thoughts does this inspire?”
And when you are on the premesis, what Damanhurians call the Territory, you actually feel all of these things.
And it does have an effect; It has a dramatic effect! Damanhurians are, as far as I have seen, the happiest people on Earth. Not only that- well, – you wouldn’t believe me if I told you about them. But they are just amazing people.
And there is no reason that all of society cannot attain what they have attained.
And when we ask them, “What is your mission statement?”, the very first item in the DamanhurConstitution is: “the freedom and re-awakening of the Human Being as a divine, spiritual, and material principle.”
They take this aim very seriously. This is why they are doing this- so that we, you and I, can reawaken into freedom, into the divine, spiritual, and material life.
So, back to where I was--
Since you can feel what it is to be in a Territory of Damanhur, we wanted to know, “Where does the boundary terminate?”
And we found one; Right near the Crea, even. There is a wall of trees at the edge, next to the School of Meditation. And Phil walked past the wall of trees, and said, “Hey Lion! You’ve got to see this! It’s wild!”
And as I walked past, I saw exactly what he meant--
Beyond the trees, was Italy. Just ordinary, plain, Italy. There were houses, with racket courts in the back, and ordinary cars lined up in ordinary ways.
It was mundane.
It was clearly valueless, ordinary, Italy.
No sacred script. No statues. (Or rather, the statues reserved for “historic” places – places that once lived, but live no longer.)
It was just secular Italy. Same old same old.
And I felt it. It felt just like walking downtown here in Seattle, or most anywhere else. Sure, there are subtle differences, and we could train ourselves in taking pleasures in the differences, but “baseline consciousness” quickly restored to my mind.
I crossed back into Damanhur, and – It wasn’t the same.
I kept walking back and forth, trying to figure out: “Where does Damanhur come back?”
And try as I might, I couldn’t find a line that, once crossed, could bring it “back.”
It was if I was carrying a small “bubble of the outside” with me now, around Damanhur.
I stank!
I could just feel it!
Ordinarily, just walking around Damanhur, – it feels as if there is energy coming out of the ground itself, life swirling around, joy and exuberance everywhere --
And here I’m walking around, feeling like a stink, with the mundane world floating around me.
…
Fortunately, it all disappeared in about 10 minutes. The power of the Damanhurian Arts is so incredibly powerful; It’s more powerful than a movie even, because it is around you all the time.
And here is where I get to my point:
It’s not about the buildings. I mean, in a way, it is about the buildings, the art, the grounds, and these are all very important things.
But more deeply than that, it’s about the people.
The power of the people harmonized and connected and working together and linking ideas, that then create the arts, … But more than that: Anywhere you go, you are interacting with people. And people “rub off.”
Hang around with a person gripped by negativity for a long time, and you will know what I’m talking about. It has nothign to do with atoms or molecules; Science is very unimportant in this respect– here’s a science experiment to try: Live with depressed people for a while, and see what happens to you.
Or you could do the science experiment we’re all doing out here: Live in a society of depressed people for a while, and see what happens to you, and to everybody. Live in a whole country of depressed people, and see what happens. People who can’t clearly articulate why they’re alive, what the point of life is, why they should be alive, and so on, and so forth.
This is what it is to be spiritually impovrished- the society of the meaningless. (see: WhatIsSpiritual?)
I actually do entertain that spiritual impovrishment is the root of our problems: individually, economically, socially, environmentally, militarally, and all-the-other -allys.
But back to my point:
I’m saying– to live imagination, we need to work with others.
We need to imagine with others.
And we need to work to bring life and reality to the reality we imagine, the reality of the Heart.
So:
Search your heart. Imagine.
Understand what I’m saying. Make it clear in your head.
Discard what I’m saying that’s useless, and not in a language that makes sense for you. But get what is clear to you from what I’m writing, and work it. Knead it. Massage it in your mind.
Don’t drop your NaturalisticCommitment, just because “it’d be easier that way” – take the challenge: Really live Science. Know quarks, atoms, molecules, cells. If you have a supernatural experience, question it, with skepticism. Don’t lose touch with Reality, just because it’d be more “fun” that way- believe me, ignorance is not fun: It kills people, it does all sorts of horrible things. In truth, Science is the greatest connector on the Planet, because anybody can perform the experiments, and verify everything for themselves. What better basis for establishing reality?
But work that imagination. Make the Truest imaginings that you can imagine. Draw diagrams, live into metaphors of worlds and questions and quests. Don’t just philosophize, draw.
Paint.
And then completely remake your house around divine principles and spiritual messages.
And then pull others into the activities.
Figure out how to remake your lives in the images of Divinity.
Keep changing, keep evolving; Don’t get static. Remake everything.
Like the Damanhurians say: “There is no aspect of life that we cannot reinterpret through the lens of Damanhur!”
That’s why they remade their money, that’s why they remade their language, that’s why they’ve reinvisioned building and relationships and electricity production, – this extends to every single aspect of life.
This is the path of Enlightenment. Living Science is just part of the show--
Now: Live Imagination!