Today the talk is about monism which is the view that everything either is derived from a single thing, or identical to that single thing. Many forms of metaphysical thought actually qualify as monistic in structure. Some examples from the east being Taoism and Wuxing.
Well, I suppose from the view of monism all metaphysical thought derives from or is monistic in structure. Actually, not necessarily so. There are distinctly dualistic views, even pluralistic. Most schools of Gnostic thought are actually dualistic, viewing material reality as being an entirely different thing than the soul and spiritual reality. So perhaps of use would be this question, how are your personal views classified in this sense?
I ponder Manichean philosophy. Ah, that would be an example of dualism.
I consider myself to be a monist.
My own view is trans-monistic in nature, pluralistic/monistic.
I suppose the idea that there is both good and evil would be dualistic. Indeed, it is dualistic, especially if you view them as having equal relative substance as some traditions indeed did. An example of pluralistic belief would be in shamanism.
Though the idea of karma, that everything good and bad serves to teach us, might be monistic. Indeed karma is monistic as is the essence of Buddhism which concerns itself more with the issue of the absolute reality than notions of good and evil.
And animism? Yes, animism is pluralistic.
According to monism, everything is monistic. Ah, indeed.
An example of something closer to my own beliefs would be the system of heka, that everything has an individual essence, indeed multiple essences, but also a shared unifying quality.
Like a common denominator? Or substrate? Yes, being roughly translated as breath in the Egyptian system I mentioned.
Alchemy itself came to be viewed from a monistic point of view, seeing everything as trying to return to it’s original ideal state, the prima materia, but that is not how it was originally viewed. Originally, it was a system of transformation and transference of the shared essence present in all things.
I ponder relationship between “breath” and “spirit.” They would be identical even in the Egyptian system. Ruach to the Hebrew. Qabalism is in fact monistic in nature. The tree of life being a graph of how god differentiated through various stages of creation or existence down to the point of our own level, and at one point also including the sphere of Gehenna which was parallel to ours.
E=mc^2 is monistic … matter = energy. Indeed, that theory is monistic and all encompassing if you subscribe to positivism which is the predominant philosophy (if you could call it that) in scientific circles. Everything is matter to positivism. Mental events are dismissed as irrelevant, unreal. It’s a strange blank spot to leave, I feel, even with the budding spirituality that is being found in modern atheism.
That’s why they have such trouble with spirituality.
Including our experiences of matter … all material.
Awareness is material?
Awareness is energy = matter.
Yes. What you call ” awareness” is merely the interactions of brain matter — emphasis on matter (material).
Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.
Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~