No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were
any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee. ~ John Donne

Our Collective Body

The great sage, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (founder of the Hari Krishna movement), once said “there is no love but self-love.” He certainly doesn’t mean “self-love” as the popular, ego-centered existence, would have you create. It is an entirely different notion of the “self,” one that regards all sentient beings as part of one’s self-hood.

Like many of the great thinkers throughout history, Srila Prabhupada realized that we are all intimately joined with a great body of energy that forms the basis all beings in the myriad of dimensions that make up our existence.

Indeed the thoughts that comprise the very fiber of our being are made of energy, not atoms and molecules. Still today, however, the scientists are mystified by the psychic world, as they have not yet devised a method by which psychic forces can be measured and understood with material instruments.
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I am starting to wonder if the western world, once the center of innovation, cultural and technological change, can remain at the high level of prosperity that it has enjoyed for the past few decades.

The people of the western world need to become resourceful if they are to survive and prosper in the coming age. I believe that it will take much more resourcefulness than this people currently possesses.

The talents of the intelligentsia of Eastern nations such as China and India vastly eclipse the talents of the intelligentsia of the United States and Europe. Only the brightest among the westerners will be able to keep up with the staggering amount of information that is being generated on a daily basis, as this information will continue to be generated at an ever-greater rate as time progresses. Read the rest of this entry »

The masters of old attained unity with the Tao. Heaven attained unity and became pure. The earth attained unity and found peace. The spirits attained unity so they could minister. The valleys attained unity that they might be full. Humanity attained unity that they might flourish. Their leaders attained unity that they might set the example. This is the power of unity.

Without unity, the sky becomes filthy. Without unity, the earth becomes unstable. Without unity, the spirits become unresponsive and disappear. Without unity, the valleys become dry as a desert. Without unity, human kind can’t reproduce and becomes extinct. Without unity, our leaders become corrupt and fall.

The great view the small as their source, and the high takes the low as their foundation. Their greatest asset becomes their humility. They speak of themselves as orphans and widows, thus they truly seek humility. Do not shine like the precious gem, but be as dull as a common stone.

~tao te ching

What is the Principle of Correspondence?

I often think of the principle of correspondence at length when thinking of our place in the universe. This principle states, “As above, so below; as below, so above.”

A simmilar phrase can be found in a most excellent Tool song called Parabola. In this song the principle was used in the phrase, “as below so above and beyond I imagine, drawn beyond the lines of reason.” This ancient saying has universal implications when one considers it in all of its fullness.

What can one learn from this?

The law seems to be alluding to the fractal-like nature of the mental/physical universe. If the universe has the qualities of a fractal, then there are repeated structures on all scales ad infinitum. This brings about the question, “If the very structure of the Universe is a fractal, what does this tell us about ourselves?”

This principle of correspondence tells us that the mere observation of our own consciousness can give us insight into other forms of consciousness; having the simmilarity that each element of a fractal has, our consciousness is similar to all of the others.

If you move away from the image of a fractal, one finds that the elements, when observed on the small scale, appear large and seemingly separate, when observed on the larger scale, however, they are merely pieces of the larger scale elements and are, indeed, inseperable from one another.

What about the daily life of a man relates to the divine?

The use of agriculture to grow and nurture new plant life and to enrich the soil for future lives can be referred to as that which is below; that which we can understand in our level of existence. Agriculture, properly done, enriches the whole biosphere and brings forth a nutritious bounty to be enjoyed by Man and all other forms of animal. This is the fundamental sustainer of our life and is the most important life-sustaining activity. It is almost as if, through the consumption of vegetables, the spirit and vitality of plant and man become one.

If the principle is correct in stating that what is below gives us insight into what is above, then we can step out of our level of existence and see that our mind/body/spirit complexes may be somewhat like plants to higher forms of being; entities which exist on a level barely describable in our three-dimensional, linear conception of reality.

These advanced entities, like ourselves in relation to the plants, receive nourishment from our very presence; they carefully watch over us and our planet in order to assure that we eventually reach maturity and are able to, by our own free will, become one with them. Is this really any different from a plant, who, without animals to eat it and spread its seed will not flourish as a species?

The Seven Great Egyptian Hermetic Principles

1. The Principle of Mentalism – “The all is mind: the universe is mental.”
2. The Principle of Correspondence – “As above, so below; as below, so above.”
3. The Principle of Vibration – “Nothing rests: everything moves: everything vibrates.”
4. The Principle of Polarity – “Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.”
5. The Principle of Rhythm – “Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulum swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.”
6. The Principle of Cause and Effect – “Every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause; everything happens according to the law; chance is but a name for law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the law.”
7. The Principle of Gender – “Gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles; gender manifests on all planes.