Reality unspoken

I have a world view that is rooted in my genes and in my early childhood conditioning. And it is coloured by the facts that (a) I speak English rather than Chinese or Inuit and (b) that I have three scientific university degrees. I have been encultured to have this world view rather than that one.

There are many world views to choose from and none have a monopoly on the truth about reality. Although it might be argued that the present scientific world view rooted in evolution, is (a) close to being independent of any particular parochial culture and (b) acceptable to clear thinking individuals from most traditional cultures.

There have been clear thinking wise men and mystics in ancient times who ‘saw’ the relativity problem. The ancient Chinese ‘Tao teh Ching’ begins with an uncompromising statement, “The reality that can be described is not the real reality.” There is an appreciation of the limitations of language. The book does not mince its words – “Those who know do not speak, those who speak do not know.” They are not saying that the reality is unknowable but they realise that language cannot do justice to the perpetual churn that characterises the Oneness and all its manifestations.

The wise men of the Christian era also had views about this. John 3:8 notes that “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” This suggests that there is no clarity about agency or about where we came from and where we might be going. (NB the wind = the perpetual churn).

The theme is taken up in Ecclesiastes 11:5 “Just as you don’t know the path of the wind, or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.” But science has moved on. Meteorology can now predict the path of the wind and embryology has charted the development of baby bones during pregnancy. With every increase in scientific knowledge there is a decrease in the need for God/Spirit as an intentional but puzzling force. God works in mysterious ways - engineers don’t.

Ecclesiastes 8:17 comes over as almost defeatist.  “I observed all the work of God and concluded that man is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a man labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if the wise man claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.” That is an example of a pre-scientific world view. The clever people in white lab coats have cast light on many things in the last 2000 years.

The contribution of today’s wise-men (and women) remains problematic but arguably there are more of them claiming to know, and able to discover, the work that is done under the sun.

Especially in the industrialised West there has been a rapid acceptance of ‘mindfulness’ amongst people at large as well as amongst intellectuals, academics and health professionals.

This demonstrates a popular acceptance of the ancient Greek injunction to ‘know your self”. But this has two variations

(1) therapeutic – to establish a normal or supernormal and robust self and
(2) spiritual – to transcend the notion of an abiding self and to know the peace that (a) comes with embracing the not-self and (b) passes all understanding - but cannot be spoken.