The Practice of Contemplation
by Eric S. Fallick
The formal practice of contemplation is the central transformative practice of the Path to liberation. This is especially so in a spiritual system based on an idealist metaphysic. (Conversely, such a metaphysic is implied by the fact that all the systems of the philosophia perennis, even non-idealist ones, consider that the practice of “meditation” or contemplation is the means of changing one's mode or state of being.) Since all is mind or spirit or thought, experience without referent; since Reality is, in fact, contemplation, and knowing or experience is not possible without the Absolute, the absolutely essential practices of moral discipline, renunciation, and asceticism, and the necessary ancillary study and reading and thought and reflection may all be taken as also being forms of contemplation. Contrary to the prevailing view and practice in these darkest of times, when “meditation practice” is “taken up” by worldlings all and sundry without philosophical understanding, without giving up anything, and with a view just towards being healthy, wealthy, and wise, genuine spiritual contemplation is a difficult practice of contemplative ascetics requiring renunciation of the world and worldly pursuits and desires, strict moral discipline, and the ability to think and discern clearly, and is based on a definite metaphysical or philosophical understanding or view of the nature of Reality, and has a definite aim or telos. In this short essay, I would like to try and present a very brief discussion of Platonist contemplation practice.
Plato and Plotinus were the greatest of mystics, contemplatives, and spiritual teachers. Although in modern times the teaching of the divine Plato has, unfortunately, been presented as just “philosophy” in the modern sense of the term as just thinking about things, it is, in fact, a spiritual and soteriological system more akin to the Indian systems and the Greek systems of Orphism and Pythagoreanism. It has, however, happily, never become an organized, institutional religion for the many, never has had an organized, ritualized monastic order, etc. This has allowed it to retain its purely transcendent, spiritual nature and great liberating power, but perhaps has led many moderns to overlook its actual nature and content. Similarly, the dialectical form and, in the case of Plato himself, often symbolic, allegorical, and anagogical form of presentation used may lead to a lack of understanding or appreciation. Platonism requires of the individual practicer, contemplative ascetic, or philosopher in the original Platonic sense of the term considerable intelligence, discernment, and self-reliance. The goal or aim of the Platonic teaching, with, of course, its own uniqueness in various respects, is, like the allied systems mentioned above, liberation from the endless miserable cycle of repeated birth and death, of individuated existence in space-time, and, like at least some of the other systems, re-union with the Absolute. This should be obvious from, for example, an unbiased and informed reading of Plato's Phaedo, perhaps the core dialog for the Platonist practitioner and the key to understanding the rest of the Platonic corpus.
As indicated above, real contemplation practice is based on, and in turn reveals, a particular metaphysic or understanding of Reality. Of course, actual contemplative experience transcends and is ultimately not a matter of discursive understanding and constructs, but rather is a direct transformation of state of being and union with higher Reality, but the expression of such contemplative accomplishment and transformation at the level of discursive thought yields definite understandings, and such understandings are, conversely, necessary for undertaking contemplative practice. Further, the attempt at conceptual understanding is in itself part of the practice at a lower level and continues along the Path in interaction with the knowledge directly “seen” in contemplation. Thus, it will be necessary to first sketch a very brief outline of the Platonist understanding of the nature of Reality.
The highest, ultimate, truest, most really being, in fact, the only thing fully being, Reality is the One or the Good, the self-existent Absolute, the Source of everything. This is really beyond predication, hyper-one, hyper-good, hyper-beautiful, existence beyond existence, pure knowledge without knower and known, absolute sentience without subject and object at all. It is not only completely without time and space, but even beyond eternity and infinity. This is really all that is. It is our origin and goal. Without it, neither we nor anything else would be even to the degree that we and they are. It is the ground of all experience, and our whole aim is to return entirely to this. The true noetic love at the base of our soul that is the propelling force on the Path is for This One only.
The One in its hyper-perfection emanates, without being in the slightest bit altered or affected or losing any of its total independence, the next “descending” order of Reality, Nous, commonly translated as Intellect, but which here will be rendered the Divine Mind-Thought. Here a degree of nescience has arisen so that there is a degree of multiplicity. This is the realm of the Platonic Forms or Ideas which are, however, not different from the Divine Mind that eternally and unchangingly contemplates them. Here subject and object have emerged and become distinct, but are not separated. Unlike the chaotic multiplicity of the sense-world, here there is only one each of the eternal Ideas. There is no change or time or space, but their divine paradigms of eternity, infinity, and the interrelation of the Forms have appeared. One must resist the temptation to imagine Nous as spatially separate from the One or emerging in time from it. It is more like a lesser degree of being or reality being discriminated within in it by nescience.
The Divine Mind-Thought, although lacking the hyper-perfection of the One, still is perfect enough to emanate another lower order of being or reality while remaining unchanged itself. This is the level of soul, both the World Soul or the Soul of the All and our individual souls. Here subject and object have split up and time and space and multiplicity and change have appeared. Soul creates, so to speak, the apparent multiple-object space-time world by projecting the Forms of the Divine Mind-Thought into multiple partial reflections trying to thus approximate the totality that has now been seemingly lost at this the last and lowest level of being. Soul, however, unlike the two higher levels, is unable to remain unchanged in the process and is continually caught up in and is part of its own projection. The experiential field of the World Soul contains all time and space simultaneously, encompasses the whole All, including all at once all the modifications reflected in it of the modifications of each of the experiential fields of the individual souls brought about through their respective volitional activities, and, in turn, the individual souls' experiential fields are modified reflecting all these modifications induced by their own actions with respect to the actions of others, but the individual souls do not experience these changes all at once like the World Soul, but as a continuing series in space-time that constitutes what appears to them as an involuntarily given empirical world. Again, this level is not to be thought of as actually spatially and temporally separated from the higher levels (indeed, space and time have only just emerged at this lowest and least important level), but, again, more like an even lesser degree of being or reality further discriminated within the two higher levels by a greatly increased degree of nescience.
For the World Soul and its All, there is not necessarily any fault or problem connected with its existence at this level. It is merely the necessary and, in some sense, permanent radiation of the Divine Mind-Thought. For the individual souls, however, which are in some sense microcosms of the whole system capable of in some sense existing at all three levels, being here as individuals in space-time and as subjects with separate objects is the greatest of faults and errors. They have, through nescience, dared to move away existentially from the higher unities, to want to belong to themselves and objects as separate individuals, and have forgotten their true identity as really being the One. Thus, they wander further and further away, deeper and deeper into nescience, forgetting the Real more and more, continually projecting the Forms they have forgotten as such into new supposed objects which they exalt as more important than and to themselves, and thus experience endless misery (in fact, just the fact of being here at this lowest level at all is the most hellish suffering compared to the hyper-bliss of being the One) reincarnating in an endless series of forms both human and non-human.
This then is the situation and reality in which we presently find ourselves, and the obvious task is to reverse the whole process, escape totally from space and time and multiplicity and individuality, and even from eternity and infinity and totality, and return to just being the One. This is the Path of Contemplation. In understanding this process and path, it is important to note that the nature of the individual soul is to love, and it is where and is what it loves. While the soul's true love is only for its source, the One, to which it really longs to return, in its present fallen condition this has been forgotten and its love has been altogether turned around and misdirected through nescience to the things of this world and itself, pursuing which, its misdirected love becomes all the more misdirected and it ties its bonds tighter and tighter in a vicious cycle of ever-increasing nescience. Of the essence of the Path, then, and continuing throughout it, is the continuous effort to give up all love for all the things of this world and the individual self and to redirect all the soul's love back exclusively towards the Good, the Absolute. True renunciation and true knowledge go hand in hand together. (This, incidentally, is why the Socrates of the Symposium, who represents the higher divine part of the soul, states that he says that he knows nothing other than the things of love (177d 7-8).) It is also important to note that the soul, as stated above a sort of microcosm of the whole system of reality, never really entirely descends, but part of it, however much it may be forgotten by the lower part we are mostly exclusively aware of, remains always above in the higher realities, and it is through this higher part that we need to pull ourselves back up. Also, it needs to be remembered that everything is really spirit, mind, or contemplation, and that discursive thinking and “physical” action are really lower weaker forms of contemplation even though they appear to us in our delusion to be dealing with and attempting to manipulate an objective, external, and physical or mental, in the lowest, psychological sense of the word, object-world. Actions and thoughts directed towards things in this world really aim at creating a state where different things will appear to us, which is really an altered state of contemplation.
The practice of contemplation, then, may be roughly outlined in three stages corresponding to the three levels of reality or modes of being. It should be noted, however, that actual practice is iterative and nonlinear and the three levels constantly interact with and reinforce each other throughout the Path. Also, this brief outline essay will not discuss all of the practical details and the many difficulties, troubles, hindrances, pains, and pitfalls that occur through the course of spiritual, contemplative practice. It may be noted, however, that tremendous perseverance, effort, patience, endurance, and discernment are required.
The first stage involves alteration of discursive thinking and phenomenal behavior. The practitioner must first gain a good understanding of the principles of the Path and the nature of Reality, as outlined above, and of the unsatisfactory nature of worldly life and repeated rebirth. He must stop thinking like a worldling and start thinking as a renunciant, always thinking of how things are and of getting free, always seeing things in terms of universal principles, not particular occurrences, as much as possible not thinking of worldly matters and desires beyond what is necessary, trying to gain greater understanding, in thought and emotion turning his concern and love away from all the things of this world and towards the Divine Mind-Thought and the Absolute, etc. This is done through reading, study, and reflection with continuous effort. (Ideally, it is, of course, good also to have the association of, teaching of, and discussion with other, more advanced, or at least equal, renunicants and contemplatives, but, unfortunately, in this dark age, such are hardly to be found, so the sincere aspirant is basically left on his own with the writings of the ancients as his only guides.) The practitioner must also in deed renounce all worldly activities, pursuits, and desires as much as possible, and devote all his time and energy, beyond what is necessary for psycho-physical survival, to contemplation and study. This includes celibacy, vegetarianism, teetotaling, abstention from entertainments and social events, complete honesty, kindness and non-harming, etc.-- the cultivation of all moral and ascetic virtue. All this may seem like only necessary preparatory requirements for contemplation, but since, as stated above, all is really contemplation, and to know is to be, these practices of thinking and conduct are, in fact, a sort of low-level contemplation, and by changing one's thinking and actions and way of life and attitude, one has already to a certain preliminary degree brought about a change in one's contemplative state and mode of being.
The next two stages comprise what may appear as more the contemplation practice proper. The second stage is the ascent to and contemplation of and ultimately union with the Divine Mind-Thought. This stage itself consists of two parts. The first part is the ascent to the noetic realm from the things here, and the second part, the “dialectic” proper, is the sustained contemplation of and absorption into or transfer to this realm after the initial access to it has been gained. The first part is basically the one part of the Path where the question of a number of methods of proceeding arises. The dialogs give a number of different methods for making the initial ascent to the noetic realm through either the variety of different Forms or through working to gain the vision of one particular Form. The Phaedo gives the direct method of at once shifting the soul from all preoccupation with individual sense data in the space-time realm to the Ideas which they reflect while sitting in formal contemplation and as each occasion for discrimination arises in the seeming space-time flow; the Symposium gives the method of access through contemplation of the specific Form of beauty; the Republic presents the method of ascent through contemplation of the mathematical-type Forms, and etc. The basic principle and procedure underlying all these methods is, however, the same. Starting with multiple reflections of either one specific Form or of a group of related Forms or of many Forms as the occasion for each arises, one must continually abstract the universal element in each more and more, ignoring the multiple things per se and concentrating just on that universal non-sense-perceptible element, until the direct apprehension of the Idea in itself dawns upon one. When, after long, hard practice and impelled by growing love for the divine beauties one is now beginning to glimpse and by corresponding growing disgust for the sense world, one has attained at least a degree of direct apprehension of at least some of the Ideas and can fairly regularly and consistently direct one's attention to them and bring them into view, one can then proceed to the second part, the actual contemplation proper of the Divine Mind-Thought.
This second part of the second stage is, as stated, where the practicer directly and deeply contemplates and is in contact with the Divine Mind-Thought. This is the famed “dialectic”, which, contrary to popular belief, has nothing to do with discussion between people or discursive or professorial thinking. In the “dialectic”, the “dialog” is between the noetic part of the soul and the Divine Mind-Thought. Entering into the noetic realm, apprehending the Forms and their relations by directly receiving them from the Divine Mind-Thought, exploring all the structure and wonders There and being drawn in by their ravishing beauty, identifying with the Divine Mind-Thought more and more and attenuating oneself more and more, the summit of this stage is reached when the awareness and experience of the soul has entirely entrusted itself to and passed over into the awareness and experience of the Divine Mind-Thought in itself timelessly yet actively resting in itself. Within this awareness, it receives truer knowledge about itself and knows that this is not the end, but that it must and its love is impelling it to press further to the One itself. Incidentally, it may be noted that when this stage is accomplished to some degree, the practicer now has a degree of direct access to knowledge and the Forms themselves and can directly “see” the Ideas of “contemplative-asceticism-in-itself”, “spiritual-teaching-in-itself”, “righteousness-in-itself”, etc., and, to the extent that he can see them clearly and follow them despite his remaining bondage, habit-patterns, ignorance, etc., now has direct guidance from the Forms in the Divine Mind-Thought independently of any instruction appearing in the least real sense world.
Established to some degree here, one may pass on to the third and final stage of directly apprehending, approaching, and re-uniting with the Good or the One. There is not so much that can really be said of method for this stage. Understanding now in some way where the One must lie and with great longing gazing steadily in that direction, being carried out by the surge of the effulgence and love of the Divine Mind-Thought, suddenly, after a long time, the One appears and manifesting itself gives a glimpse to the contemplator. Now knowing to at least a small degree where and what It is, one keeps looking with tremendous long and protracted effort. The One keeps revealing Itself more and more, deeper and deeper, clearer and clearer, with quantum increases followed by painful returns of darkness. When the One is manifesting, the soul feels now an almost unbearable love wanting only to totally be absorbed and obliterate itself in It. Over a long time, the Vision becomes clearer and steadier, the more one can give up attachment to everything else, and the soul begins to realize its own nothingness in this contemplation—that really the One Itself is the Source of its own awareness and experience and that really contemplation of the One can only ultimately be the One contemplating, in a sense, Itself. The soul's great love is an incomplete reflection of the autonomous Unity of the One in its hyper-goodness. Continuing more and more, the One manifests Itself more and more, more and more fully, and the soul passes over more and more into the One and is more and more attenuated as itself. When the One is fully and completely manifested, then That is all there is: no more soul, no more world, no more time and space, no more even eternity and infinity and the Divine Mind-Thought; endless hyper-sentience beyond sentience, hyper-oneness beyond oneness, hyper-goodness beyond goodness, hyper-perfection beyond perfection. When This is all there is, this One only and fully, and everything else whatsoever has totally ended completely forever, this is release from birth and death and the End of the journey.
©2011 by Eric S. Fallick platonicascetic (at) (gee)mail (dot) com
