Your essay paused my thoughts about what pet food is best for my fur kids. Words - an important topic, focused on what's going on these days as the wetiko runs rampant across our nation. It is a pathogen that only a collective awakening of our souls can banish. I hope I will live long enough to see this and be part of it.
This resonated with me because I think the sacred is not a property that certain places or moments possess independently. It emerges from the quality of our participation. When attention becomes whole, the ordinary begins to reveal extraordinary depth. In many esoteric traditions, the sacred is not something we create but something we uncover as the habitual filters of perception fall away. The world has always been radiant; it is our fragmented awareness that obscures it. Thank you for such a contemplative reminder that reverence begins not with belief, but with presence.
Thank you Vlad. I'm on a bit of a kick where I'm noticing words in their strictures. I think the words can be limiting factors in our capacity to see clearly. Maybe they're part of that fragmentation you're describing
I think you're pointing to something very important. Language is an extraordinary tool, but it also slices the seamless flow of experience into separate concepts, making us mistake the map for the territory. Many contemplative and esoteric traditions suggest that reality is fundamentally prior to conceptual thought, and that words are useful only insofar as they eventually lead us beyond themselves. Perhaps fragmentation begins the moment we become captivated by our descriptions rather than the living reality they attempt to indicate. The paradox is that we need language to invite one another toward silence, even though silence often reveals what language cannot.
yes, language can be used to point toward the errors made by others' misleading use of language. Our American Declaration of Independence is pointing toward truth. It is not the genesis of that truth. Some language, carefully used, shows us the futility of language or points to truths so obvious, like Dr King's words and oratories. They make further discussion obsolete.
I think "revelation" is exactly the right word. At its best, language doesn't manufacture truth. It discloses it. There are moments when a sentence doesn't persuade us so much as remove an obstruction, allowing us to recognize something that was already present but unseen. That's why certain texts and speeches continue to resonate across generations. Their power isn't merely rhetorical. They point beyond themselves to a reality that people can verify directly in their own experience. When language serves that revelatory function, it has fulfilled its highest purpose.
Your essay paused my thoughts about what pet food is best for my fur kids. Words - an important topic, focused on what's going on these days as the wetiko runs rampant across our nation. It is a pathogen that only a collective awakening of our souls can banish. I hope I will live long enough to see this and be part of it.
Thank you so much so nice hearing from you
This resonated with me because I think the sacred is not a property that certain places or moments possess independently. It emerges from the quality of our participation. When attention becomes whole, the ordinary begins to reveal extraordinary depth. In many esoteric traditions, the sacred is not something we create but something we uncover as the habitual filters of perception fall away. The world has always been radiant; it is our fragmented awareness that obscures it. Thank you for such a contemplative reminder that reverence begins not with belief, but with presence.
Thank you Vlad. I'm on a bit of a kick where I'm noticing words in their strictures. I think the words can be limiting factors in our capacity to see clearly. Maybe they're part of that fragmentation you're describing
I think you're pointing to something very important. Language is an extraordinary tool, but it also slices the seamless flow of experience into separate concepts, making us mistake the map for the territory. Many contemplative and esoteric traditions suggest that reality is fundamentally prior to conceptual thought, and that words are useful only insofar as they eventually lead us beyond themselves. Perhaps fragmentation begins the moment we become captivated by our descriptions rather than the living reality they attempt to indicate. The paradox is that we need language to invite one another toward silence, even though silence often reveals what language cannot.
yes, language can be used to point toward the errors made by others' misleading use of language. Our American Declaration of Independence is pointing toward truth. It is not the genesis of that truth. Some language, carefully used, shows us the futility of language or points to truths so obvious, like Dr King's words and oratories. They make further discussion obsolete.
I guess I'm speaking of revelation
I think "revelation" is exactly the right word. At its best, language doesn't manufacture truth. It discloses it. There are moments when a sentence doesn't persuade us so much as remove an obstruction, allowing us to recognize something that was already present but unseen. That's why certain texts and speeches continue to resonate across generations. Their power isn't merely rhetorical. They point beyond themselves to a reality that people can verify directly in their own experience. When language serves that revelatory function, it has fulfilled its highest purpose.
Yes even the declaration itself states it perfectly, " we hold these truths to be self-evident. "