Recording: One journey. Many paths.

Before we could discuss The Western Path, Bernardo had to address a common objection. Might not dividing East from West contradict the very message of unity they both proclaim?

This is something Bernardo has wrestled with himself. At times he considered the Eastern mind superior, and Western culture lost. But recognising the rich diversity of how nature moves through us can engender mutual respect and self-acceptance.

When introducing this subject, I mentioned how mystics worldwide have concluded that duality is an illusion, but had starkly different intuitions regarding how to align their lives with this idea. In the Eastern cultures, the goal was often to transcend the illusory world. In the West, material forms were symbols for deeper truths, appearances to be revered for what they reveal.

There were further questions about how to navigate the Daimon - the impersonal natural forces that upend egoic intentions for our lives. Inspired by Schopenhauer's lame man riding a blind giant, Bernardo contends that Daimonic forces demand respect, but also moral guidance.

So we take responsibility for determining our lives, whilst accepting determinism? Yes. When you look back, accept determinism. When you look forward, ‘free will’ is the better metaphor. 

Bernardo offered several tentative statements that he acknowledged could not be justified with reason, but instead betray intuition and lived experience:

For example, a dangerous seminal thought that plants the seed of “primordial lack” that once seen, can never be forgotten. In the absence of suffering, it comes more into focus, and what was originally seen as irrelevant because of the monstrous hardship of our lives slowly "starts springing to the foreground."

The thought emerges out of the impossibility of full self-understanding. Although this thought is self-reflective it is not the same as “the separate self.” This cosmic itch is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. A template of being, and a formidable driver for action. Perhaps even integral to the Western Path itself.

We also discussed:

• Bernardo's new AI venture: https://www.euclyd.ai
• East / West are convenient terms
• All the traditions merge if you go back far enough
• Western individualism may be conducive to Daimonic life
• The astounding synchronicities of Daimonic life
• Happiness is beyond our control

Next week we meet to discuss Creativity, Expression and Art

16th Sept - Creativity, Expression & Art

“What we call imagination is actually a universal library of what’s real. You couldn’t imagine it if it weren’t real, somewhere, sometime.” - Terrence McKenna Thank you Olivier, Mia and Ravi for suggesting this topic, and Brian for providing the above quote. When we started this group,

Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles

Some resources shared by members in the chat:

• 'The Immortal Key' of Brian C. Murakesky
• John Scotus Etiugena
• Dr Justin Sledge Esoterica Channel on Youtube
• Quote from Christian poet Silesius: “The rose is without 'why'; it blooms simply because it blooms. It pays no attention to itself, nor does it ask whether anyone sees it.”
• The pollination scene from the movie Adaptation  - that movie is comic and complex but it seems to me to a direct exploration of the Daimonic in all its characters especially from a Western perspective  - leading to Chaos but also great insight in their own psychological struggles. https://youtu.be/C67d3tWgMFE?si=5kCNaZ2JdJNzKlaT

Time Stamps

Courtesy of Rita Conde

00:00:10 - The launch of Euclyd.ai, Bernardo's new AI venture
00:04:55 - This week’s theme
00:07:00 - Hebrew writing in alchemy and esoteric traditions
00:08:28 - Differences between Eastern and Western thought
00:10:20 - What do we mean by Western thought?
00:11:40 - Is Christianity the main influence in the Western path?
00:16:00 - The purpose of alchemy
00:17:33 - We are the stars
00:18:18 - Some important Christian thinkers
00:21:06 - Is there a fundamental division between East & West?
00:25:00 - There are no human races
00:30:00 - It’s hard to live every day grounded in absolute truths
00:33:30 - Each one of us is a doing of nature
00:34:34 - Buddhist perspective: Not better, not worse, not the same
00:37:17 - Bernardo has always been a seeker
00:40:40 - Allow what nature wants to do through you
00:42:35 - We are not tabula rasa
00:43:30 - The archetypes according to Jung
00:45:00 - Are there collective Daimons?
00:47:30 - The apple blossom’s infinite becoming
00:49:40 - The West is more predisposed to follow the flow of the impersonal
00:55:50 - Is it possible to get in the way of the Daimon?
00:58:20 - The ego is a function of nature
01:02:20 - Resisting the Daimon is sometimes necessary
01:06:58 - God doesn’t know what our next step will be
01:09:08 - The danger of not supervising the Daimon
01:12:19 - We no longer know what is natural in us
01:13:38 - Our lives are not about us
01:17:35 - How to achieve harmony with the Daimon
01:20:00 - Schopenhauer’s definition of ego
01:21:55 - The ego’s ethical oversight of the Daimon, and then its surrender (in Bernardo’s book)
01:28:00 - Controlling your emotional impulses while staying faithful to the Daimon
01:30:40 - Hitler’s Daimon
01:35:00 - The primordial lack
01:37:47 - The universe is consciousness
01:38:58 - Only states of lack can allow for dynamism in nature
01:40:57 - The West is more vulnerable to the primordial lack
01:42:50 - The contentment of the mind
01:44:40 - There is no going back once you have been exposed to the primordial lack
01:47:00 - The Palace of the Mind
01:49:00 - The emergence of hope after unbearable suffering
01:53:30 - The West is more open to Daimonic influence
01:56:00 - Japanese Zen teachings
01:58:00 - Buddha’s daimon
01:59:00 - The magic mountain of Bernardo’s childhood
02:04:00 - Next week’s theme
02:11:45 - Is there a historical force behind the Daimonic influence in the West?

Recording