Brief Notes on Various Topics -- 12

11 March 2024

Brief Notes on Various Topics – 12

1.  I saw a video ad for a forum where the participants, all of whom were scholars of Platonism, or as they referred to it, ‘Neoplatonism,’ that was focused on discussing the nature of the ultimate.  The primary focus seems to have been on whether the ultimate can be understood as a person as opposed to the ultimate transcending personhood.

My view is that in Platonism the ultimate, the Good and the One, transcends personality.  I mean that individual personhood, and individual features of the ego, are left behind, one by one, in the divine ascent.  I think the idea that the ultimate is a person is an obstacle to the divine ascent because of our deep attachment to our individuality and personhood.

In the Late Classical period Christianity accepted Platonism, but injected into Platonism the personhood of Jesus.  The theurgists did the same, but instead of injecting a single personality they injected many personalities in keeping with their Polytheistic leanings.  This transformation of Platonism by Christianity and by the Theurgists by shifting focus to individual person(s), no matter how exalted, impacts Platonism in a multitude of ways.  I see the main impact as making Classical Platonism appear to be insufficient or incomplete; as if Platonism before Christianity and Theurgy was in need of some essential missing piece.  But if you view the ultimate as beyond individuality and personhood, then the injection of individual personalities, or a single personality, feels like a diminishment of Platonism, a way of creating additional, unnecessary, barriers to the Good and the One.

2.  I recently listened to a contemporary European philosopher who spoke about his topic from the perspective of, and from the methods of, analytic philosophy.  It was kind of depressing.  Overall, he had interesting things to say, but it was shoved through the analytic grinder; the result was the stilted, humorless, and customary, but unnecessary, over-analysis of terms.  And there was the unexamined materialism, reductionism, and scientism I’ve come to expect from analytic philosophers.  I wouldn’t say I learned nothing from the talk.  But I wonder if someone unfamiliar with this kind of analysis could get anything out of it.

There has been an extensive critique of analytic philosophy for decades now.  But Western Philosophy still seems to be stuck in some of its methodologies.

3.  I think the basic attitude that someone following the Platonic Path should have towards politics is that of Quietism.

4.  My Zen teacher liked to use an expression; ‘hard training.’  This referred to things like numerous prostrations and going on 100-day solo retreats governed by a rigorous schedule.  I can see applying ‘hard training’ to a Platonic context.  For example, a 100-day retreat in silence, that involved prescribed periods of contemplation, reading of Platonic classics, and included only minimalist vegan meals and being cut off from online media.  Such a total immersion in Platonism could bring many benefits. 

But, I don’t recommend someone do a 100-day retreat if they do not have a good guide (my teacher was the guide for retreats done by his students).  And if you lack experience with meditation or contemplation, it is not advisable to do such an intensive retreat; it’s like trying to run a marathon when you have not done any running, or trainings, prior to that.  A good runner would check with a coach or a more experienced friend.  Similarly, for a spiritual retreat, one should check with a spiritual guide or a good spiritual friend.

The contrast to ‘hard training’ is daily practice.  Daily practice resembles nourishing a plant every day, or practicing your guitar every day even if it is just for ½ hour.  The results may not be noticeable at first, but after a period of time, particularly when you look back at yourself and how you were at the beginning, the transformation is clear.  I have come to prefer this daily practice approach to the ‘hard training’ approach; perhaps that is just because of my advanced age at this time in my life.  But I have come to see the daily practice approach as more natural and, in the long term, I think it generates a more secure, a more stable, transformation.

5.  It is a desert afternoon in Spring.  Desert flowers don’t last long.