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Balance: The Key to Joy By Richard Kieninger The main thesis of Lemurian
Philosophy is balance—which involves the taking of all things into account
and assigning to them proper values in one's quest for Egoic growth and
control of self and environment. Other philosophies of life are usually
constructed around one of two mainstreams of thought—the Rational and the
Cosmic. These two contrasting views are also referred to as Western and
Eastern; Apollonian and Dionysian; Pfree and Katholi. The adherents of each
of these two views traditionally regard them as mutually incompatible, and
two divergent camps have thus arisen. Either view when carried to the extreme
is proof to its opponents of the very real horrors lurking in the other
system; so any part of the opposite view must be vigorously cast out of one's
own philosophy. But both views are correct and are essential to human
balance. The genuine searcher for
Truth must take both views into account to find the path to sanity and
reality. There are brilliantly intelligent men who are firm adherents of the
scientific method and yet they also deeply believe in God. Different forms of
thinking—all valid—are available to us for perceiving reality in its many
forms. Indeed, the two hemispheres of each person's cerebral cortex divide it
into two functions: the left side specializes in reason, logic, analysis, and
language; whereas the right side specializes in intuition, imagination,
spatial relationships, and holistic synthesis. The concrete and the abstract,
the practical and the artistic, the rational and the fantastic, and physical
and spiritual percepts may all be simultaneously real. For a person to be a whole human being, he
must touch upon the whole Universe. His brain and body are creating tools,
but they are also sensitive receivers of all the messages streaming from the
far corners of Creation as well as from life near at hand. Certainly we must
look to outer space for information, but perception of our own body's inner
space will reveal great wonders also. The following paragraphs
compare Apollonian and Dionysian views by devoting the first half of each
paragraph to the former view and the second half to the Dionysian. These
names are derived from two gods of the Greek pantheon: Apollo—the god of
reason, order, light, and boundaries; and Dionysus—the god of wine, excess,
fantasy, and metamorphosis. It may be divisive to describe the opposing
values of two different world views and line them up into two camps; yet
analysis is valuable to see the patterns and tendencies of our own ideas.
Remember, however, that both views are right, and the sage incorporates both
views concurrently within himself. The two views were never meant to be
separated. Practical, idealistic, and mental attributes, when blended into a
balanced whole, are symbolized by the equilateral triangle of the Initiate in
the Brotherhoods. The history of a people,
the nature of their natural environment, and their mode of competition with
others all influence their philosophy and mythology. Greek influence or
Christian thought emphasized separation between God and the world, spirit and
flesh, mind and matter, and higher value was placed on spirit and mind as
sacred aspects of man which were at odds with his physical needs. Man, therefore, is seen as divided with
himself separated from God (by sin), and in contention with Nature, which
threatens to overwhelm him. The Rationalist regards the Universe as a chaos
of random physical forces held in check by one another. Human society is
formed by a social contract to control man's natural aggression and
territorial instincts which otherwise would tend toward total warfare. ***Eastern
philosophies see unity in human mind and body, and God exists in every aspect
of His Creation. Unity underlies the appearances of plurality, continuity
exists between all life forms, and the Cosmos is an integration of
intelligent life in graduated planes. The Universe is order, and things occur
in it by intelligent design. Human community is a single, organic whole, and
the various functions of social structure are a harmonious outworking of the fulfilling
of man's needs. Western man sees himself as
an intelligent force bringing rationality and order to the world. He molds
his environment and exploits it for his own purposes. He makes valuable and useful
objects out of raw matter, and he finds dignity in work, seriousness, realism
intellectualism, devising good laws, and imposing boundaries that keep
disorder from over- whelming the culture. ***Eastern man regards himself as
but another cog in the great wheel of life. His individuality is apparent,
but he is merged like a drop in the cosmic ocean of life. Every entity is a
manifestation of the free play of a single divine substance. Man is supposed
to partake of and enjoy the caprices of life. Work is a matter of necessity.
Human dignity resides in humor, fantasy, love, play, and spontaneity. Western man glorifies
himself as a strong, aggressive, disciplined ego. Being able to cope is the
highest ideal. To force the body and the emotions under the total control of
reason is a lifelong aim. A mature person should be able to work and love,
but responsibility comes before love. The ambiguities between science and
faith are seen as a perpetual, tragic conflict; but to seek a life without
conflict is unrealistic and a flight from responsibility. Strong central
government is his political ideal. ***Eastern man shies from egocentricity.
He tries to purge his head of calculation and allow instinct and compassion
to govern him. Wondering awe and childlike innocence is his way to stay in
touch with God. Aggressiveness is vanity, and anyway, contradictions
eventually are resolved by higher synthesis. To force the head to dominate
the body is to subvert one's creative powers and to spawn insanity. Pure
democracy is his political ideal. In traditional Western
medicine, the physician acts as an objective, professional expert who takes
charge and intervenes with chemicals or surgery. ***In the East, the
therapist acts more like a guide with loving empathy than as a scientist. He searches for sources of imbalance, and
emphasis is placed on allowing the organism to naturally achieve a state of
harmony between mind, body, and cosmos. Intervention is minimal. Therapies
are designed to diminish the head's busy dominance and thereby return the
center of being to the body. Apollonian thinking
flourishes in male-dominated, pyramidally structured societies where
masculine traits (practicality, rationality, aggressiveness,
authoritarianism) permeate the culture. *** Dionysian thinking is native to
matriarchal societies and planting cultures where the cycle of the seasons
and the dependency on Mother Nature is the basis of existence. The feminine
virtues of surrender, trust, and nurturance are regarded highly. Within an Apollonian
culture, any activity which depends on surrender of personal control is
resisted. Play, leisure, mysticism, ESP, poetry, and fantasy tend to be
repressed because they are threatening to the work ethic. Such cultures
usually make their citizens ashamed to experience ecstasy and the sublime.
They find it difficult to see the humor of life. Apollonians must always be
doing and making and changing things. They have a hard time just being and
enjoying. *** The romantic imagination
of Dionysians makes it difficult for them to work, to decide, to recognize
the value of conflict and anger, to be efficient, and to deal with the
realities of evil and suffering. How to use power, plan social change, and
work within institutions are difficult for them. They find it easier to flow
along and to immerse themselves in emotions, fantasy, and mysticism. It seems
unnatural to them to make commitments, accept discipline, recognize limits,
and become responsible, individuated persons. The people who live out
their lives exclusively in accordance with either of the two world views
above are severely crippled by their one-sidedness. Moreover, they are
dangerous since both views tend toward fanaticism when separated from the
counterbalancing of the other view. Unfortunately, this imbalance applies to
almost everyone on the planet. It is important for members of Adelphi as
Americans to understand that their cultural preferences are the result of
their having been a part of Western Civilization. Several centuries ago
Europeans were agrarian people who worked closely with the land and were in
tune with the diurnal impulses of nature. We turned from that maternal,
life-giving emphasis of nature consciousness to materialism and ownership.
This was brought about by the rise of the merchant middle class followed by
the industrial revolution. Emphasis on boundaries and acquisition promoted
separateness and covetousness. The masculine militaristic and patriarchal
traditions of Western society came to the fore to organize and channel human energy
into disciplined nationalism. A closely integrated
economy is needed to play down individual ownership and acquisitiveness in
order to encourage restoration of a balance between practicality and
ideality. There is a basic human appetite to devote oneself to a worthy
effort transcending self-indulgence. Many satisfactions are derived from
working for the common good of many other people and coincidentally helping
to build something greater than oneself with which one can identify. The private enterprise profit motive is
still alive, but it has been acquiring a conscience. People willingly serve
within a large organization to effectively accomplish mutual goals without
personal monetary reward or acquisition of power being their prime spurs to
putting forth effort. This is being proven in Adelphi as well as in many
other organizations. If a person does not share the American immigrant's
hunger for ownership of real estate, he is not driven to exhaust himself
gathering possessions and fighting to get to the top income brackets. He can
then feel free to cooperate rather than compete with his fellows, and the
whole basic attitude of what is important to him begins to change. Efficiency and ecstasy are
both important in their related spheres of activity. Learning to combine them
in a balanced mix is a task of the next few generations The Nation of God
must be comprised of such men and women who are living the whole human
experience. |
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