Q. and A. on A Mother's Death and Destinations of Rebirth
Q. I have another question to ask if I may.... my mother passed away, and this is why I like "rebirth" with the idea in mind that I'll see her again (hopefully if she is a angel in heaven!) What does Platonic metaphysics say of worlds like heavens? I remember asking another ("alleged") Platonist regarding I think the 32 realms found in Buddhism and he said something along the lines of "there are no planes, there is only wisdom and agnosis". I remember asking him about Plato when he talked of realms, asking if they were literal, he said he (talking of Plato) was literal. So now I'm puzzled.
A. I will try to answer your question according to my understanding, which I make no claim to be that of anyone else. Rebirth and reincarnation is, of course, quite literally true. There is, however, as I have tried to indicate in my previous replies, no independent physical world, only experience, only Mind, and, thus, no fixed 'geography' or 'topography' of places of rebirth. At this lowest level of individuated sensate existence in space-time, all manner of rebirths, within the limits of the laws of this level, are possible according to the karma of each individual soul. Some of these may bear some resemblance to the typologies given in various traditions and texts, but many are possible--all just relative individuated experiences at the level of soul, all just to be transcended. Your mother has no doubt been reborn with the experiential set of circumstances dictated by her karma and the Law of the All, but I can't say what that is. Whether you ever encounter her again sometime during the long weary round of rebirth throughout the long dark night of time depends on your mutual karmas, and again we can't say now. Even if you did somehow meet again, it probably isn't likely that you (or she) would know it or recognize each other in relation to the particular relationship of mother-son in this birth. In any case, it is not a goal to be wished for. I'm sorry that you are grieved at the loss of your mother, but, if I may gently and respectfully point out, the idea of spiritual practice and metaphysical understanding is not to assuage worldly grief or cater to worldly desires and attachments, but to gain a broader perspective on these things and free oneself from emotional attachment to the things of this world and, ultimately, from this world and the level of soul and individuated sensate existence in space-time altogether. You have had and have lost countless mothers in the past through countless rebirths--now is the time to start striving to get free of the whole mess altogether!
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Q. and A. on Beginning Meditation Practice
Q. I would like to start a meditation practice as you recommended. What are the steps?
A. It's great that you would like to start a meditation/contemplation practice. Again, please read carefully my essay THE PRACTICE OF CONTEMPLATION, also, there are a couple of preliminary meditations mentioned in MEDITATION FOR WORLDLINGS (though, of course, you are not a worldling!). Half an hour twice every day might be good to start--at regular times/on a regular schedule is best. The best time for meditation/contemplation practice, as universally agreed upon by all the contemplative ascetic systems, is upon arising very early in the morning. It is good to get into an 'early to bed, early to rise' regular routine, going to bed and getting up early to meditate at the same time every day. (From the time stamp of your emails, it looks like this might be a big change and reversal for you and could take a lot of getting used to, but I think you would eventually find it good and rewarding and good for discipline.) When you go to meditate, sit up straight on a firm/hard chair or, if you prefer, cross-legged on the floor. (I sit on the floor in the 'quarter-lotus' position, as I have for so many years. I get up, and have for more than thirty years, at 4:30 AM and meditate for two hours from about 5 to 7 AM. I also meditate for at least another hour later in the day--at a time depending on my work schedule. I go to sleep around 9:30 PM, but also take a nap at some point during the day, again depending on my work schedule.) Close your eyes and rest your hands either on your lap or on your knees. If you like, you could repeat one of your aphorisms mentally several times to settle down. Then, pick one Platonic Form/Idea and focus and concentrate and think on it continuously to the exclusion of all else--even though at first and probably for a very long time you won't be able to actually touch the Form itself. If one particular Form--such as beauty, sophrosune, dikaiosune, the ideal sage, or whatever--especially appeals to you, you may use that. Or, to start, you could just take the Form/Idea of 'triangle-in-itself'. Just try to continually think on/of and contact the Idea of triangle per se--not a visual or other sensory image, not any particular kind of triangle, but just the very intelligible notion of a triangle before any specific sensory experience of a triangle or any specific type of triangle, as all sensible triangles must be, but triangle-in-itself is not. Your mind and thoughts will almost immediately and constantly go off onto something else and into thinking about all sorts of things (not even necessarily wholesome!), but just keep continually gently bringing it back to the Idea/Form over and over again--you will do this countless times even just in half an hour! It is very difficult and takes a long time, so don't be discouraged, just keep going on and steadily working--it is most essential and rewarding, so just stick with it patiently whatever the difficulties or seeming lack of results.
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Q. and A. on Recollection
Q. Therefore intelligence does not depend upon sense perception, being independent from it, but sense perception does depend upon intelligence. This would be a rejection of scientism, which constantly says to man "Your mind is just a neurological process." I do not pretend to fully understand how knowledge can be remembrance. I would like your help understanding it
A. You are right that "intelligence does not depend on sense perception...but sense perception does depend on intelligence", and, with long and dedicated practice, you will experience and know this directly for yourself in the contemplation practice described above. This is indeed a complete rejection of scientism, which, unfortunately, is all around us in this darkest of times, even though it is the most deluded of views (to me, at least, it is quite scary being in such an environment, surrounded by mad beings going the exact opposite way from that in which we are going!). We could correspond about/discuss this more sometime, but, very briefly, the idea of empirical knowledge being recollection (or, actually, true non-empirical knowledge) is related to all this. In creating or experiencing sense perception and relative experience in space-time, the soul creates and organizes its experience based on its true knowledge of the Forms/Ideas that it had, even if unaware of it, from its being from and still in its higher part in contact with Nous. Otherwise, there couldn't be coherent relative experience at all--a mass of sensations per se is meaningless. To take the example given above, the soul has the innate knowledge eternally of triangle-in-itself. No sensory triangle as perceived by sense perception in this world is really a true and perfect and complete triangle and the true idea of triangle can't be derived from any sensory triangle. Perceiving, however, the imperfect phantom copies of one or more triangles in the sensory world, the soul refers these perceptions and sensory data to the Idea of triangle-in-itself that it innately possesses and is reminded of this Idea that it was previously no longer aware of, had 'forgotten', and uses this Idea to construct and organize the experience of a relative sensory triangle, which would otherwise be impossible--disorganized sense impressions being meaningless and impossible in themselves. Thus, 'knowledge' at a relative empirical level of empirical sensory triangles and what they are is really recollection of the absolute Idea of triangle-in-itself that the soul has always had but not recalled to the lower conscious level. (And, in fact, even the sensory experience is from the beginning a projection of soul (ours and the world-soul) of the Idea from the level of Nous, so the whole process is really remembering from beginning to end.)
