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. The three experiences are not exclusive to any particular section of humanity.  Coronavirus has been a most challenging test for humanity which has lead us to the presence of the Unknowable. Now we may stop and perhaps wait for a new arising. What could it possibly be?    In the present blog I have chosen Hope.

The encounter with The Unknowable, the Absolute Nothingness, the Abyss or the Void, is the point toward which all contemplative traditions are leading 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? ( Mat.27:46); followed by a complete trust in divine grace: Father in your hands I commend my Spirit (Luke 23:46).

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 of Norwich. 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 binary struggling forces between certainty-uncertainty.   The urge for certainty feeds on uncertainty.  Both forces need to accept the presence of the Unknown and Unknowable in the midst.  Both forces 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 (=) How? 

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

St. John of the Cross: "saber no sabiendo toda ciencia transcendiendo"  (knowing in not knowing, all science transcending.)

The overwhelming urge for certitud and security at the present time, is referred to by Panikkar as our addiction the Tree of Knowledge at the expense of the Tree of Life.  He asks: What do we know about life?

I recall the story of an old sage who had spent all his life in a room surrounded by many many books when in a rare moment 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 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 human attention is deeply engaged in trying to unlock the secrets workings of Nature.  

A vaccine has not yet been found.  The virus expands.  A global feeling of uncertainty unfolds.  Coronavirus is now an active force;  science is opposing and resisting it;  and the growing and expanding uncertainty is bringing both into a relationship.  Coronavirus (Nature) is the active force,  Science (Man) the resisting force, while Uncertainty (the Unknown) is the force that transcends and brings together Virus and Science. 

Uncertainty emphasises a dimension of ourselves which exposes our vulnerability to Universal Forces that we habitually ignore and the human illusion of power and control.  There is an uncomfortable threat to our freedoms and expectations.  We are all waiting together, friends and enemies.   A scientific miracle? A divine intervention?

The pandemic will naturally come to an end.  Will its present impact bring a significant shift in global human behaviour?  Or the same old shortsightedness will 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 in an evolving Triad. The virus can act in a triad as an active*. resisting**, or reconciling force***. 

At present, the coronavirus can be identified as a reconciling force in so far as the traditional culture of blame and confrontation within society and between nations is temporarily suspended  The conflicting forces in society are pausing and human attention is focused on an "invisible" third force that threatens to eliminate us all.

The unsuspected entrance of a largely ignored player (call it Nature), which a microscopic shift has temporarily been able to alter 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. But for how long?

The Coronavirus thread will be brought under control by the discovery of a vaccine  (New Knowledge or Third Force).  After the pandemic a new triadic configuration will arise.  The triad may adopt an ascending or evolutionary movement,  or a descending and involutionary one.  The most likely is that the old equilibrium is restored and things stay as they always are.

An involutionary triad I would equate to a descending movement from Democracy to Absolutism (restriction by governments of our freedoms) and an evolutionary triad as an ascending movement leading us to a global recognition ( a new perception or attitude) of the overwhelming needs of our sorrowful planet. The third option is that humanity learns nothing from the experience and we continue in our habitual way.

* Independent of Man's will

** Viewing of the virus as a negative or resisting force: "the battle against the virus" 

*** Viewing of the virus as corrective to human "mismanagement"; helping a wounded planet, etc t

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." Thomas Keating. From a secular perspective: By the very fact that we enter the world of time, 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,  which culminates in the death of the body or 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 and 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.

...