Final Participation (thinking from the real self: from that which is divine in us - God Immanent) is inhibited or blocked by many habits, assumptions and convictions that are nearly-universal among modern adults.
To an atheist-materialist; real self thinking is childish, psychotic, demented or merely wishful fantasy.
To an orthodox- (i.e. Not Romantic) Christian; real self thinking is pagan, demonic; contradicts church tradition, church authority, The Bible and mainstream theology.
To almost everyone; it is contradicted by mainstream institutions, officialdom and the law, economics, science, medicine and the mass media.
That is to say: in this mortal life of today; the thinking of our real self is socially maladaptive (and very probably biologically maladaptive).
For all these reasons; thinking from the real self tends to be incomplete, unintegrated or brief in duration. Soon we will cease to attend to our real self in face of one or several of these other factors.
Consequently, the tendency is to ignore it altogether - especially when intuitive heart-thinking contradicts whatever other factors to which we give primary authority and to which we accord validity.
But we can choose consciously to attend to the thinking of our real self; and give it primacy over other sources of thinking. We can choose to allow it to dominate.
And, in a world of loving creation - such as Heaven - thinking from the real self (Final Participation) is wholly (indeed necessarily) adaptive; it both fits-into and contributes-to that world.
Yes! In my daily prayers to Christ I ask Him for this among other things. Final Participation is good way of putting it! I touch on it every day, usually for only a few moments but sometimes I am in this... state (?) for a good long while throughout the day.
ReplyDeleteI pray to Christ that He leads me to Spiritual Perfection (That's how I articulate it), that He blesses me with Wisdom and that He helps me to awaken to His eternal presence in my heart and soul. All the same things but phrased differently. He will open the door if you knock, I can confirm this.
Excellent post!
Final participation is biologically maladaptive?! Can you clarify what you mean?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDeleteAfter my Philosophy of freedom awakening I could clearly see that there had been up until that point two souls in me, one was my hear-thinking and the other was my intellect; the latter being more of a nuisance than actually informing my life, and I realised that there was always more heart thinking going on than I would have been intellectually able to admit.
@Brief - Thanks - glad to have confirmation.
ReplyDelete@Otto - "biologically maladaptive" means something that would tend to reduce "fitness"/ reproductive success - e.g. by causing illness, reducing status, or leading to death.
Bruce,
ReplyDeleteYes, I knew this. But why would final participation be biologically maladaptive? That's what didn't make sense to me.
@Otto - One main reason people assimilate to materialism is that it is how The World works - if you want to thrive in The System, you (mostly) need to work by The System rules.
ReplyDeleteOf course, one may be 'miraculously' sustained when living by Heavens rules - like some of the great ascetic saints - but this is not a recipe for a long, healthy, prestigious life; nor for attracting a fertile and healthy wife and raising many viable offspring.
Compromises happen; but if one lives to optimize biology, health, lifespan, or modern social standing (or some combination thereof), then one is Not living to optimize the spiritual.
Great post.
ReplyDeleteI'm not following how it is biologically maladaptive?
Have you got any practical examples of this?
@Nathan - You need to think this through for yourself.
ReplyDeleteI am simply countering the false, perhaps naïve, ('self-help') narrative that If you were to achieve a breakthrough of consciousness, then it would Also sort-out your life generally - necessarily tending to make you biologically (and socially) successful in this-life (as well as optimally orientated towards resurrected post-mortal life).
If the Christian life and the worldly life were the same, there would not be any problem in doing the right thing.
Yes I am with you in countering the naive claims some expect upon breakthrough in consciousness, however it's not clear to me that it is biologically 'maladaptive' nor should it be.
ReplyDelete@Nathan - I don't know what you know about natural selection and demographics.
ReplyDeleteHere is a list of countries by Total Fertility rate - the most adaptive countries and people in the world now are the highest TFR - and any that are below 2.2 are already going extinct:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependencies_by_total_fertility_rate#Country_ranking_by_most_recent_year
I suspect that living in a rural region, and more simply and in touch with nature, would allow for a larger consonance between intuitive-heart-thinking and biological adaptiveness. But overall you are right: following heart-thinking puts you at odds with our social systems, the bureaucracy, and the ability to succeed in the corporate world.
ReplyDeleteAnd living closer to nature or rejecting the modern system means that you are forced to deal with the vagaries of nature, and that can be difficult and unsure. You may, for example, starve.
There are people here, though, who are organizing to live that way and help each other. Regardless of how successful it is in material terms, it is the right way to live.
I suspect we will, however, be targeted by the system at some point.
@Jake - Original Participation lasted longer in rural areas - but the signs are that it has gone from there too - any anyway it does not suffice.
ReplyDeleteI don't suppose a particular physical environment of a general kind will be a major factor in attaining Final Participation - the main factor is the individual person himself, and what he is trying to do, and he will seek what he needs.