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

Speakers

Bernardo Kastrup

Analytic idealism

Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence).

As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV.

Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in Scientific American, the magazine of The Institute of Art and Ideas, the Blog of the American Philosophical Association and Big Think, among others. His most defining book is Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.

Explore Bernardo’s work →