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THE LUMINIST
MANIFESTO |
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An essential element of our Church’s perspective will be the realization that the rational intellect alone is not a reliable source of true knowledge about reality. While reason is an essential tool for circumscribed exterior, objective, manipulative areas of study, it is unreliable and inappropriate for higher philosophical research. The attempt to obtain true knowledge about reality through reason alone is fruitless, frustrating, and futile. Real acquisition of truth is possible only when the faculty of reason is augmented and supplemented by the equally essential and complementary faculty of intuition. A “ratio” in mathematics is a method of analysis of a number by breaking it down into its component elements and studying the relationships that appear between them. Similarly, the “rational” thought process involves cutting ideas or thoughts into parts and arranging them into patterns and categories. Ratiocination does not conceive of the “whole,” but only the “part.” Its only concern is differentiation. It is the function of intuition to conceive of the whole, and of unity; it is the function of reason to conceive of the part, and of division. Intuition focuses on similarity; reason focuses on distinction. Reason resolves ideas into bipolar dualities or pairs of apparently contradictory propositions (A vs. Not - A). It focuses on one element of each duality as “true” and on the other as “false.” Rational thought necessarily excludes any awareness of the validity of the complementary polar element. Thus it is capable of dealing with only half of each equation, and is blinded by its nature to the other half.
True knowledge of reality can be obtained only when rational thought is transcended by the conscious combination of the apparently contradictory elements of each proposition, so that the “paradoxical” validity of each polar opposite is recognized. The “positive” and “negative” elements (thesis and antithesis) combine [(+) + (-) = 0] in an explosive (orgasmic) cognitive reaction, resulting in the “annihilation” of rational thought and the emergence of a higher, more holistic form of cognition (as it is written, “Your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as the gods, knowing good and evil”). It is the faculty of intuition that makes this transformative transcendence of rational thought possible. Though largely denied, denigrated or dismissed by modern Western science, philosophy, and religion, intuitive thought is an inherent element of the human psyche. Intuition is direct perception or awareness of reality, unfiltered by the categorical analysis of ratiocination, and not dependent on the five physical senses. Intuitive thought can be described as the operation of “interior senses” — channels of perception that are not dependent on the physical sense organs — or “extrasensory” forms of perception. The existence of these “interior senses” was aptly expressed by the British poet William Blake, recognized as a Prophet by the CGL:
and:
Such “ESP” (extra-sensory perception) phenomena as telepathy, clairvoyance and clairaudience, psychometry, etc., which are studied in the field of parapsychology, comprise one aspect of the “interior senses” referred to here. (Traditional spiritual perspective on these “powers” is provided in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, one of the scriptures of the Hindu religion, which will be recognized by our Church as canonical.) Another way the “interior senses” are manifested is through the “mystical experience” referred to in the religious literature of the world. The mystical experience is a spontaneously emerging psychic state of expanded awareness in which impressions and realizations about nature, reality, and life arise in the mind, often with great power and authority, accompanied by a blissfully celebratory sense of certainty.
A form of intuitive thought familiar to many is the sudden “hunch” that provides valuable information or the solution to a perplexing problem; this is the “Aha!” or “Eureka!” experience in which answers are suddenly, inexplicably available and obvious.
Intuitive thought is often accompanied by a clear subjective sense of absolute certainty, of such intensity that it cannot be ignored. Properly attuned and augmented, this sense can be developed into an instrument of exacting precision, a “truth detector” — an invaluable and infallible guide in the search for truth — if insured against dogma and superstition by the checks and balances of the syncretic/eclectic method of comparative analysis. The intuitive faculty, like musical or artistic talent, occurs naturally in some people more than in others. All humans have access to it to some degree, just as all have, to some degree, the capacity for rational thought. Like the creative talents, the ability to use intuition must be nurtured, disciplined, and respected if it is to be developed. In some people it may be latent, undiscovered, or inhibited by contrary social conditioning. Techniques exist, and are being refined, by which the intuitive talents can be developed. Many of these techniques require training and involve certain risks. It is often possible to combine them for synergistic effects. Our Church will study, research, perfect, and teach the known techniques of consciousness expansion and intuition enhancement, along with any new approaches that prove to be valid and effective. Among the presently recognized techniques for development of the intuitive talents are:
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yoga, the science of
physical and mental training that originates with the Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist spiritual
traditions;
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