 |
All through history experiences of deep structures of consciousness have been reported by some of the greatest thinkers and artists in each age. Despite their repeated occurrence, these reports have usually been discarded by the modern scientific tradition that focuses on experiences that are common. In contrast to this scientific view, the cultures of the East have emphasized them, and held them to be at the basis of their culture. |
|
Jonathan Shear begins his work by focusing on how these experiences of the deep structures of consciousness are contained in Plato's Republic. For hundreds of years Plato's works have given direction to Western society. Despite the fact that his influence is profound, many of his statements remain unclear. When Plato talks about the highest form of knowledge, his universal archetypes or "Forms", he is speaking of a level that is poorly understood. Plato also discusses a means of gaining knowledge that is clearly different from the "dialogues" that comprise so much of his work. He describes this method of understanding to be comprised of: |
| |
Modern scientists generally avoid discussions of subjective means of gaining knowledge because they consider them to be unreliable. However, all human knowledge is subjective because it exists inside our minds. Somewhere deep inside us are mental structures that govern reliable knowledge. By turning awareness inward through meditation techniques the ancients discovered a method to allow the excitations of the mind to settle down so they could see the silent structures of the mind. Once the excitations of thought settles, the seers could watch the first excitations of the mind begin to arise, and it was by probing these fine excitations that they mapped out the structures of the mind. |
| |
Jonathan Shear begins his work by focusing on how these experiences of the deep structures of consciousness are contained in Plato's Republic. For hundreds of years Plato's works have given direction to Western society. Despite the fact that his influence is profound, many of his statements remain unclear. When Plato talks about the highest form of knowledge, his universal archetypes or "Forms", he is speaking of a level that is poorly understood. Plato also discusses a means of gaining knowledge that is clearly different from the "dialogues" that comprise so much of his work. He describes this method of understanding to be comprised of: |
| |
a) turning the mind in the opposite direction |
| |
b) employing a different faculty |
| |
c) having different objects |
| |
d) producing a different kind of knowledge |
| |
This description of the dialectic is central to Plato's understanding of the world. Many of Plato's discussions of the Good and pure Being are based on these experiences in the dialectic. |
| |
Plato is not the only thinker to describe these experiences, and Shear's book describes how experiences similar to Plato's dialectic appear in almost every culture. They are especially prevalent in the far East where meditative experiences are deliberately cultured by religious seekers. For example in the Vedic tradition, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras stand out as one of the primary textbooks on such experiences. Patanjali goes on to describe how there are threads of consciousness that can be developed by specific meditation practices. These threads, or sidhis, are designed to enliven all the different characteristics of mind and body. There are sidhis to develop the mind, the intellect, the heart, mind-body coordination, and to gain knowledge about the structure of the environment. |
| |
Know thyself was a refrain that was picked up by Descartes as well as by Hume and Kant. It has formed one of the central themes of western philosophy. Shear's work brings out and illuminates these different threads in philosophy. One of his contributions is to show how each of these thinkers were describing the same reality. |
| |
One of the theoretical backdrops that Shear's work arose from was his own personal experience. Shear learned the Transcendental Meditation technique, and directly experienced what these great thinkers had been describing in his own experience. On that basis he was able to integrate these different ideas in philosophy. For anyone who is interested in exploring the roots of modern philosophy this book is must reading. |
Journal Main Page 
Responses to Authors
Contents 
Make comments about article to be considered for online publication
