{"quotes":[{"text":"Only after the concept of knowledge has been based on an ontological relation [*Seinsverhältnis*] can we work out the particular kind of being from which the principle of immanence-to-consciousness (the starting point of Idealism and Critical Realism) mistakenly proceeds as though from a primary insight. This is the being of 'being-conscious' [*Bewusst-Seins*]. All being-conscious must first of all be brought under the higher concept of ideal being, or, at all events, that of irreal being. The mental item which presents itself in the experiences of consciousness may be real; being-conscious itself never is. However, the concept of consciousness is derivative in not only this sense. Consciousness also presupposes the concept of knowledge. Nothing is more misleading than to proceed in the opposite direction and define knowledge itself as simply a particular 'content of consciousness,' as we see if we oppose, to the particular kind of knowing and having-known which we call consciousness, another kind of knowledge which precedes it and includes no form of being-conscious. We will call this knowledge *ecstatic* [*ekstatische*] knowledge. It is found quite clearly in animals, primitive people, children, and, further, in certain pathological and other abnormal and supra-normal states (e.G., in recovering from the effects of a drug). I have said elsewhere that the animal never relates to its environment as to an object but only *lives in it* [*es lebe nur 'in sie hinein*']. Its conduct with respect to the external world depends upon whether the latter satisfies its instinctive drives or denies them satisfaction. The animal experiences the surrounding world as resistances of various types. Hence, it is absolutely necessary to contest the principle (in Descartes, Franz Brentano, *et al*.) that every mental function and act is accompanied by an immediate knowledge of it. An even more highly contestable principle is that a relation to the self is an essential condition of all processes of knowledge. It is difficult to reproduce purely ecstatic knowledge in mature, civilized men, whether in memory, reverie, perception, thought, or empathetic identification with things, animals, or men; nonetheless, there is no doubt that in every perception and presentation of things and events we think that we grasp *the things-themselves*, not mere 'images' of them or representatives of some sort.Knowledge first becomes conscious knowledge [*Bewusst-sein*], that is, comes out of its original ecstatic form of simply 'having' things, in which there is no knowledge of the having or of that through which and in which it is had, when the act of being thrown back on the self (probably only possible for men) comes into play. This act grows out of conspicuous resistances, clashes, and oppositions―in sum, out of pronounced suffering. It is the *actus re-flexivus* in which knowledge of the knowledge of things is added to the knowledge of things. Furthermore, in this act we come to know the kind of knowledge we have, for example, memory, ideation, and perception, and finally, beyond even these, we come to have a knowledge of the relation of the act performed to the self, to the knower. With respect to any specific relation to the self, this last knowledge, so-called conscious self-knowledge, comes only after knowledge about the act. Kant's principle that an 'I think' must be *able* to accompany all a man's thoughts may be correct. That it in fact always accompanies them is nevertheless undoubtedly false. However, the kind of being (indeed, of ideal being) which contents possess when they are reflexively *had* in their givenness in conscious acts―when, therefore, they become reflexive―is the being of being-consciously-known.'from_Idealism and Realism_.","author":"Max Scheler","tags":["epistemology","metaphysics","ontology","phenomenology","philosophy"],"id":452,"author_id":"Max+Scheler"},{"text":"...An optimistic mind-set finds dozens of possible solutions for every problem that the pessimist regards as incurable.","author":"Robert Anton Wilson","tags":["metaphysics","philosophy"],"id":1060,"author_id":"Robert+Anton+Wilson"},{"text":"We are often given pills or fluids to help remedy illness, yet little has been taught to us about the power of smell to do the exact same thing. It is known that the scent of fresh rosemary increases memory, but this cure for memory loss is not divulged by doctors to help the elderly. I also know that the most effective use of the blue lotus flower is not from its dilution with wine or tea – but from its scent. To really maximize the positive effects of the blue lily (or the pink lotus), it must be sniffed within minutes of plucking. This is why it is frequently shown being sniffed by my ancient ancestors on the walls of temples and on papyrus. Even countries across the Orient share the same imagery. The sacred lotus not only creates a relaxing sensation of euphoria, and increases vibrations of the heart, but also triggers genetic memory - and good memory with an awakened heart ushers wisdom.","author":"Suzy Kassem","tags":["ailment","ancient-egyptians","ancient-medicine","awakened","awakened-heart","blue-lily","cure","cures","doctors","east","egypt","egyptians","elderly","enlightenment","euphoria","flower","flowers","fluids","genetic-memory","genetics","health","healthcare","heart","illness","illnesses","imagery-sacred","increaes-memory","lily","lotus","lotus-flower","medicine","memory","memory-loss","metaphysics","orient","papyrus","philosophy","physicians","pills","power","power-of-scent","power-of-smell","remedy","rosemary","sacred-lotus","scent","scripture","smell","smelling","tea","temples","tombs","treatment","vibrations","wine","wisdom"],"id":3575,"author_id":"Suzy+Kassem"},{"text":"What worlds are there herein? I’ll tell you. In these seas of fragrant waters, numerous as atoms in unspeakably many buddha-fields, rest an equal number of world systems. Each world system also contains an equal number of worlds. Those world systems in the ocean of worlds have various resting places, various shapes and forms, various substances and essences, various locations, various entryways, various adornments, various boundaries, various alignments, various similarities, and various powers of maintenance.","author":"Thomas Cleary","tags":["buddha-fields","buddhism","flower-ornament","metaphysics","philosophy","universe","worlds"],"id":5686,"author_id":"Thomas+Cleary"},{"text":"God who gave Animals self motion beyond our understanding is without doubt able to implant other principles of motion in bodies [which] we may understand as little. Some would readily grant this may be a Spiritual one; yet a mechanical one might be showne, did not I think it better to pass it by.","author":"Isaac Newton","tags":["god","metaphysics","motion","nature"],"id":5866,"author_id":"Isaac+Newton"},{"text":"If being is many, it must be both like and unlike, and this is impossible, for neither can the like be unlike, nor the unlike like.","author":"Zeno of Citium","tags":["determinism","elea","eleatic","greek","hinduism","metaphysics","philosophy","vedanta","zeno"],"id":8701,"author_id":"Zeno+of+Citium"},{"text":"A balanced diet” is not so much about protein/fat/carbohydrate ratios. The real ratios to consider, at least for the typical American or European, are energy consumption/expenditure, pleasure/actual need, food/everything else.","author":"Darrell Calkins","tags":["asian-philosophy","buddhism","cobalt-saffron-retreat","cobaltsaffron","cobaltsaffron-retreat","comparative-religion","compassion","conscience","creativity","curiosity","darrell-calkins","darrell-calkins-cobalt-saffron","darrell-calkins-cobaltsaffron","darrell-calkins-retreat","darrell-calkins-seminar","emotional-health","evolution","happiness","humor","inspiration","intuition","martial-arts","metaphysics","mysticism","paradigm","physical-health","purpose","quantum-physics","stress-management","taoism","truth","well-being","zen"],"id":8879,"author_id":"Darrell+Calkins"},{"text":"Anyone who can relax, clear their mind, and envision being different in some way—such as more successful, funny, healthy, wealthy, or wise—can quantum jump. To initiate a quantum jump requires keeping an open mind that you can experience another reality. It is important that you are able to sincerely desire and feel a connection to another reality, envisioning some way of making a connection with it through a bridge, a door, a window or a handshake.","author":"Cynthia Sue Larson","tags":["hope","metaphysics","physics"],"id":8911,"author_id":"Cynthia+Sue+Larson"},{"text":"Because they are assertions about Being in the light of time properly understood, all ontological propositions are Temporal propositions. It is only because ontological propositions are Temporal propositions that they can and must be *a priori propositions*. It is only because ontology is a Temporal science that something like the *a priori* appears in it. *A priori* means 'from the earlier' or 'the earlier.' '*Earlier*' is patently a *time-determination*. If we have been observant, it must have occurred to us that in our explications we employed no word more frequently than the expression 'already.' It 'already antecedently' lies at the ground: 'it must always already be understood beforehand': where beings are encountered, Being has 'already beforehand' been projected. In using all of these temporal, really Temporal, terms we have in mind something that the tradition since Plato calls the *a priori*, even if it may not use the very term itself. In the preface to his *Metaphysische Anfangsgründe der Naturwissenschaft [Metaphysical principles of natural science], Kant says: 'Now to cognize something *a priori* means to cognize it from its mere possibility.' Consequently, *a priori* means that which makes beings as beings possible in *what* and *how* they are. But why is this possibility labeled by the term 'earlier'? Obviously not because we recognize it earlier than beings. For what we experience first and foremost is beings, that which is; we recognize Being only later or maybe even not at all. This time-determination 'earlier' cannot refer to the temporal order given by the common concept of time in the sense of intratemporality. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that a time determination is present in the concept of the *a priori*, the earlier. But, because it is not seen how the interpretation of Being necessarily occurs in the horizon of time, the effort has to be made to explain away the time determination by means of the *a priori*. Some go so far as to say that the *a priori*―the essentialities, the determination of beings in their Being―is extratemporal, supratemporal, timeless. That which does the enabling, the possibilities are characterized by a time-determination, the earlier, because in this *a priori* nothing of time is supposed to be present, hence *locus a non lucendo*? Believe it if you wish.'―from_The Basic Problems of Phenomenology_.","author":"Martin Heidegger","tags":["being","heidegger","metaphysics","ontology","phenomenology"],"id":10239,"author_id":"Martin+Heidegger"},{"text":"I am that I ama Goddess, a Godentitled to the deepest and most beautiful sensationsoffered by Heaven and EarthIn love I trustIn Wisdom I am revealed.","author":"Ramon Ravenswood","tags":["beauty","cosmic","divine-love","goddess","gods","heaven-and-earth","love","metaphysics","mind-body-spirit","poem","poetry","sacred-wisdom","soul","spirituality","wisdom"],"id":12805,"author_id":"Ramon+Ravenswood"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":393,"pages":40,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}