LAW OF THREE (74) Coronavirus and The Law of Three (4)

CORONAVIRUS AND THE LAW OF THREE (74)

"Without Faith in one's heart it is impossible to attain Hope, and without one or the other we can never attain Gnosis, the living knowledge that makes Love accessible. Faith, Hope and Knowledge (Gnosis) are consecutive stages in the progressive Revelation of Love." Boris Mouravieff 'Gnosis'

HOPE

In blogs 71 to 73 the evolving third force was: (71) Coronavirus; (72) Uncertainty; (73) the Unknowable.   Coronavirus has been a most challenging test for humanity which has lead us to the abyss of the Unknowable.  Where can we possibly go from that?  In the present blog I have chosen as a reconciling of Hope.

The Unknowable, the Absolute Nothingness, the Abyss or the Void, is the point toward which all contemplative traditions lead us.  It is the point of total surrender, where the fear of death of the sense of self is surrendered the Spirit. The death of Christ in the cross was the condition of resurrection and the entering of the Spirit; the Sufis understand that the secret of Love is in the death of self by way of humiliation and abandonment; the Void is expressed in the Buddhist doctrine of annihilation and liberation.

The total surrender of our 'selves' to the complete emptiness of the Unknowable is exemplified in the Christian teaching, when Jesus gave up even his Sonship with the words: My God, my God why have you forsaken me? (

FAITH-HOPE-LOVE

Hope is part of the triad faith-hope-love.  In this triad the three theological virtues come together.   

In Boris Mouravieff quotation there is a preceding triad to the arising of Love: Faith-Hope-Gnosis.  Boris three-fold configuration of love helps us to understand the Proverb: "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Proverbs 9:10

Facing the Unknowable (Lord) with Fear (Awe) is the beginning of Wisdom (Gnosis), three steps necessary to the Revelation of Love.

The resisting force of fear, if it prevails, prevents the arising of a new reconciling force. Julian of Norwich was struggling with fear of judgement, sin, and punishment, when she heard the comforting voice of Jesus: "It was necessary that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."  Julian's fear was transcended by love and hope, and the acceptance (wisdom) that "it was necessary that there should be sin"

LAW OF THREE(73) Coronavirus and The Law of Three (3)

LAW OF THREE (73)

CORONAVIRUS AND THE LAW OF THREE (3)

"I must admit that all ultimate questions cannot have final answers,

but that we can at least be aware of the problem we have presented.

I have touched the limits of my understanding and must stop here.

The Tree of Knowledge again and again tempts one at the cost of

neglecting the more important tree, the Tree of Life."

"How can human thinking grasp the destiny of life itself, when we are

not its owners"  

Ramon Panikkar, 4 September, 2009.

THE UNKNOWABLE

In the last two blogs I identified two reconciling forces:  "Coronavirus", in Blog 71, and "Uncertainty", in Blog 72.     In this blog,  the reconciling forces the "Unknown" or "Unknowable".  The three successive triads are leading us deeper into our Self. 

The Unknowable transcends or puts a stop to the permanent irreconcilable binary forces: certainty-uncertainty.   The urge for certainty feeds on uncertainty. Both forces must eventually face the Unknowable that transcends Certainty and Uncertainty.  

In this triad the urge to Certainty is active (+), and the resisting force is Uncertainty (-). Certainty and Uncertainty are two independent forces brought into a relationship by the reconciling power of the Unknowable (=).

Socrates refers to Certainty in Uncertainty and Uncertainty in Certainty: I know that I know nothing* A humbling and implicit recognition of our powerlessness and utter dependence on  a knowing beyond knowing.  

St. John of the Cross: "saber no sabiendo toda ciencia transcendiendo"  (to know without knowing, all science being transcended)

The overwhelming urge for certainty at the present time, equals, according to R. Panikkar,  to the addiction to the Tree of Knowledge at the expense of the Tree of Life. 

There is an oriental story in which an old sage who had spent all his life in a room surrounded by piles of books,  in a rare awakening at the end of his life,  he raised his gaze to look at the mirror in front of him. He saw the presence a beautiful woman standing behind him. 'Who are you,' he asked? 'I am your wife', she answered, 'I have been beside you during all your life. Who do you think that during all these years has been feeding, and caring for you?'

THE LAW OF THREE (72) Coronavirus and The Law of Three (2)

LAW OF THREE (72)

CORONAVIRUS AND THE LAW OF THREE (2)

"Unto this Darkness which is beyond Light we pray

that we may come,

and through loss of sight and knowledge

may we see and know That Which

transcends sight and knowledge,

by the very fact of not seeing and knowing;

for this is real sight and knowledge."

Dionysius (c.500 AD), Mystical Theology

UNCERTAINTY.

In the previous blog (71) I identified Coronavirus as a reconciling force in so far as the Nations culture of blame and confrontation (man divided) is temporarily suspended, while the human family is deeply engaged in defending itself from a common threat. 

A vaccine has not yet been found.  The virus expands.  A global feeling of uncertainty unfolds.  Coronavirus is now an active force;  science research resisting force i;  and prevailing climate of uncertainty is bringing both forces into a relationship.  

The urge for certainty exposes our own vulnerability to Universal Forces which we habitually ignore as it challenges the human illusion of power and control over our programs for happiness. 

The pandemic will naturally come to an end.  The question is, will its present impact bring a significant shift in global human behaviour?  Will the same old shortsightedness prevail?

THE LAW OF THREE (71) Coronavirus and The Law of Three (1)

THE LAW OF THREE (71)

CORONAVIRUS AND THE LAW OF THREE (1)

Every phenomenon in creation is the work of three independent forces. When we see the presence and action of three independent forces in every event in creation, we see the world as it really is. We can see he presence of the active and the resisting force in every event or phenomenon very easily. But very rarely are we are aware of the presence and action of a third relating or reconciling force.

Law of Three (Blog 1)

Coronavirus has all the qualities of being one of the three independent but mutually necessary forces of an evolving Triad.

The coronavirus can be identified as a reconciling force in so far as the traditional culture of blame and confrontation within society and nations is temporary halted and global attention is focused on a thread coming from a dimension beyond man's control.

Nature with a microscopic shift is altering entrenched patterns of behaviour in a most undemocratic way.  Stock exchange markets have been ruffled, the arrogance of power humbled, and the polluted skies of China cleared.  For how long?

The Coronavirus thread will eventually be brought under control by the discovery of a vaccine.  New Knowledge will arise and a new triad will emerge  The new triad may manifest as an evolutionary or involutionary one,  depending on the nature of the neutralising force.

An involutionary triad could lead us from Democracy to Absolutism; that is, reinforcing patterns of behaviour imposed by outside ourselves (the dominant rulers)  An evolutionary triad could lead us to recognise the overwhelming needs of our sorrowful planet and move us to patterns of  behaviour governed from within ourselves(free individuals).The third possibility is that humanity learns nothing from the experience and we continue in our habitual way.

LAW OF THREE (70) Time and The Unchanging

LAW OF THREE (70)

TIME AND THE UNCHANGING

Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present in time future

And time future contained in time past

T.S. Elliot, Four Quartets

1 The changing and the unchanging co-exist in our inner experience of life.

2 The unchanging tends to be associated with God in all names and the changing with the outer movements of Creation.

3 Similarly, the unchanging is an attribute of Eternity and the changing, of Time.

4 Our Individual role in the spiritual or transformational way could be considered as playing the part of the reconciling force between God and Cosmos.  Neither being identified with the unchanging, nor with the changing.  In christian terms: entering the way of transformation into the fullness of Man in Christ.

5 "Just by the very nature of our birth, we are on the spiritual journey." T. Keating. By the very fact that we enter the manifesting world, we enter the way of transformation.

6 Time-events provide the friction necessary in the transformation of our being, We suffer every stage of the transformative process in the guise of attachment or detachment to the 'changing' scene,  culminating in the death of the body and the release from all attachments.

7 Drawing on Thomas Keating´ spiritual journey, the unfolding stages of our experience of time are presented in the model of the four consents: i. Consent to the basic goodness of nature with all its parts. ii. Consent to the full development of our being. iii. Consent to accept the fact of our non-being (being nothing) or diminution of Self. iv. Consent to be transformed.

8 In addition to this model, I would suggest that an even earlier consent takes place: The Consent to be conceived.

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