Dialoguing - A Neo-Buddhist and a Symbiotic Panentheist

Clyde G. is a respected thinker and Neo-Buddhist who has been acknowledged for his ability to ask questions going to the heart of issues regarding metaphysical models of reality.

Separation through Inclusion

[050610 cg] I am uncertain as to how to understand your diagram 050605.

I expect that where there are figures within larger figures that it indicates that the larger figure includes the smaller figure.  …

[050611 djs] Correct

[050610 cg continues] … For example, if I draw a circle labeled "animals" and then I draw a smaller circles within that circle and label one "reptiles" and the other "mammals", that diagram would represent that the category animals includes sub-categories reptiles and mammals, that reptiles and mammals possess features in common with (all) animals, and that reptiles and mammals possess other features that can be differentiated.

You have, for example, the largest rectangle labeled "The Unmanifested", but it contains smaller figures of categories that are manifested, such as "individual entities of consciousness", The Physical, etc.  Are you suggesting that the manifested is included in The Unmanifested?  …

[050611 djs] Correct

[050610 cg continues] … How so?

[050611 djs] The process is identified by the phrase ‘separation through inclusion’ as opposed to religious, philosophical, and scientific process identified by the phrase ‘separation through exclusion’.

[050610 cg continues] … You have, as another example, a large rectangle labeled "Total Consciousness" and a smaller circle labeled "The Physical" within that rectangle.  Are you suggesting that The Physical is included in Total Consciousness? 

[050611 djs] Yes

[050610 cg continues] … How so? What common features does The Physical possess with Total Consciousness? 

[050611 djs] The physical is experienced by discrete entities journeying through the physical. These discrete entities of consciousness later (time is only found as an element of the universal fabric of the physical) merge with the totality of consciousness while retaining their unique individuality, thus nothing is lost.

[050610 cg continues] … As the circles of both The Physical and "individual entities of knowing" are within the rectangle of Total Consciousness what common features do they share?

[050611 djs] None, however, the one – individuated entities of knowing (the types we are familiar with, namely: human) ‘use’ the physical body as a medium through which they experience the physical.