How Things Work: A Brief History of Reality
Book II: The Power of Three (#41 – The Mystic East)
Be A Part of the Conversation!
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
“Modern secular thought has its own dualism: It treats only the physical world as knowable and testable, while locking everything else - mind, spirit, morality, meaning - into the realm of private, subjective feelings. The so-called fact/value split.”
– Nancy Pearcey
CONSIDERATION #41 – The Mystical East
Special Note:
Apologies Everybody!
I have just added a Paid Upgrade Option to the FREE Weekly Newsletter and there were some unexpected results. If you received any “spam like” emails from the “How Things Work” website I apologize. I Hate That, and I Know You Do Too!!! There is a preset in Substack that sends out these emails to Free Customers Automatically. I Didn’t Know That. I Have Reset the preset for NO PREVIEWS, which means you should no longer get any Spam mail about upgrades. I have also completely separated the FREE Newsletter into its own Sub-Section on the website. All Free Subscribers will get a Free Weekly Newsletter and Access to the Website which includes an accessible archive of ALL Previous Newsletters Free of Charge. With no more spam. (I hope.)
For Paid Subscribers, I am new to the way all this works on Substack. Last week I sent out the “Reality by a Thread” Post which showed as “sent,” but not necessarily received? Therefore, I sent out several other posts which seemed to encounter the same problem. I am still not sure how many paid subscribers received a post last week. I am trying to get to the bottom of this. Meanwhile, as a Paid Subscriber you can always access the “Reality by a Thread” post on the Website under its own new submenu. It should open automatically if you are a paid subscriber, and you can post. The “Untangling the Knots of Reality” Podcasts are also available on the website under their new submenu. So, as a paid subscriber, EVERYTHING is accessible to you from the Website.
I truly appreciate my paid and unpaid subscribers and want you to have an extraordinary experience with my work and website. However, Reality can be difficult sometimes! So, I do want you to know that I am working diligently to make your Reality with my website a positive one. If you are receiving any unwanted spam-prompts I am working on making them stop! Hopefully resetting the preset button will bring it to an end. If not, I’ll keep working on it until they do end!
Thank you for your patience and continued support.
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
Book II begins with a consideration of classical science through the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the important points to understand is that this “scientific revolution” was a direct result of the Western thinking we have previously been considering. Science, as we generally know and understand it, is a Western concept. In terms of classical science, it is also an empirical concept. It is in fact the essential factor separating science from philosophy and theology. Although heavily dependent on the abstraction of mathematics, the overall structure of classical science was objective and empirical. In this sense, classical science represented a balanced symbiotic relationship between rationalism (mathematical theories) and empiricism (physical experiments producing objective results). This unique relationship produced tangible objective results that literally changed our objective reality. Science had the power to transform abstract metaphysical concepts and theories into objective physical reality. Science made abstractions real.
“The influence of science and technology was so overwhelming that the duality of East and West generated a completely new world; the third world.”
This new ability led to a technological revolution that catapulted Western civilization into a new era of wealth, knowledge, and influence. Science was the main factor in creating what we commonly experience today as Reality. However, originally, the “mystic east” was not a part of this new revolution. This led to an even greater divide between East and West into one of Reason versus Superstition, Science versus Ignorance, and ultimately Affluence versus Poverty. The influence of science and technology was so overwhelming that the duality of East and West generated a completely new world; the third world. The countries and societies that embraced the new power of science became unimaginably rich and powerful. Those who did not fell into an even greater poverty and despair. The experience of Life in the “first world,” however, would become more and more an experience of abundance, opportunity, and choice.
The West would embrace this new revolution and the power of changing reality that came with it. The Mystic East, on the other hand, continued to question the wisdom of exercising such power. However, eventually, the power of science would dominate, and permeate every culture, country, and individual at some level. Classical Science defined the parameters of reality for over two centuries. It began by expanding the limited possibilities of dualism into a recognition and understanding related to the infinite Power of Three.
CONSIDERATION #41: The Mystical East
Chapter 1 Expanding the Possibility of Dualism – The Mystical East
The Tao begot one.
One begot two.
Two begot three.
And three begot the ten thousand things.
Lao Tzu – Tao Te Ching #42
This simple, yet revolutionary, revelation from the Tao Te Ching clearly establishes the mystical implication of the number three. Three is the number that leads to physical manifestation. This example literally moves step-by-step from the principles of dualism (yin and yang) to the manifestation of all physical reality through a third unnamed principle that essentially manifests yin and yang into the physical world, or what the Chinese called “the ten thousand things.”
The Tao Te Ching categorically states that the source of all physical reality is initiated from two opposing primal forces interacting with a third factor responsible for directly manifesting physicality, or what we call reality. From one; two. From two; three. From three; all physical existence. Within this third factor resides the possibility of directly participating in the process of manifesting the physical world. The question for the East was, “Should we directly participate, or interfere, with this process?” and their answer was no. This led to an Eastern focus on the less rational “metaphysics” of dualism, leading them to create a form of binary mysticism known as the “I Ching.”
“They recognized that reason, through mathematics and logic, was the third factor that could not only help human beings understand the nature of their reality, but give them the power to alter it…”
The essential difference between Eastern and Western philosophy is not so much about how things work, as much as it is about what our part in that process should be. Therefore, structure, in the form of dualism, is recognized equally by both. However, Western civilization accepted the invitation to participate directly in the process of manifestation. One example is their creation of a binary system of reality based on opposites, digital reality, in which they became the masters. This allowed them to create their own unique realities. They recognized that reason, through mathematics and logic, was the third factor that could not only help human beings understand the nature of their reality, but also give them the power to alter it, and even create new ones.
Eastern philosophy also led to a binary system of dealing with reality. However, their belief in the importance of not interfering with the natural processes of the world led them to embrace a third factor related to an internal investigation, as opposed to the external focus of the West; giving birth to a binary code designed to help them understand and recognize their part in the process, as opposed to altering or controlling it. They sought guidance from the universe in how best to coexist and interact with the world, not how to dominate it. Much of this guidance was achieved through self-reflection, or meditation. This mystic, or intuitive, approach to metaphysics became a fundamental characteristic of Eastern thought. Yin and yang serve as the basic binary code of Eastern tradition. However, it eventually developed into its own complex system of binary code known as the “I Ching.”
“There is essentially no difference in structure between the West’s binary code (0-1) and the East’s binary code (yin–yang).”
The “I Ching,” or “Book of Changes,” consists of sixty-four unique hexagrams composed of solid lines representing yang and broken lines representing yin. There is essentially no difference in structure between the West’s binary code (0-1) and the East’s binary code (yin–yang). However, the Eastern code is used for divination. Originating between 1000 – 750 BCE, Taoists, Buddhists, and Confucianists interpreted this code for both moral and practical decision making. In 136 BCE, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty included the “I Ching” as part of the “Five Classics” representing the essence of Chinese culture and philosophy declaring it to be "the first among the classics."
Construction on the Great Wall of China began as early as the 7th century BCE, with the most well-known sections completed by the Ming Dynasty between 1368 – 1644. Although one of the main reasons for China building the Great Wall was to protect itself from the Western hordes; it also served to separate China from the rest of the world. For centuries, the “Orient” remained a strange, isolated, exotic, and most importantly, irrational place for the West.
“China did not begin to re-engage with the West again until the 1970s.”
Therefore, the East was not a part of the scientific revolution. China, for example, did not begin to re-engage with the West again until the 1970s. It has since become a world power that may dominate the next century, however most of their technological advancement was not home-grown; it was purchased, or purloined, from the prosperity of the West. China played no role in the original scientific revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries.
POSTSCRIPT
Although the Power of Three is clearly recognized as the Power of Manifestation in the Tao Te Ching, “And three begot the ten thousand things,” it focuses on balancing its constituents of Yin and Yang while virtually ignoring the actual force responsible for transforming those abstractions into the world of physical reality, or the “ten thousand things.” Eastern metaphysics also recognizes a danger in attempting to alter the mechanics of Reality. Instead, they focus on balancing the illusion of its dichotomy. The Eastern focus emphasizes becoming one with reality, whereas the Western focus becomes more and more about organizing and controlling reality.
Next week we will consider how Western Rationalism utilizes the Power of Three to transform metaphysical abstractions into objective physical reality.
New “Reality by a Thread” Upgrade – CLICK IMAGE to learn more!
Excerpt from “Untangling the Knots of Reality” – Podcast 6: Eastern & Western Dualism
“Tiger Dragon” PDF Versions Available Exclusively Through BooksNotOnAmazon.com. Print Editions Available Exclusively Through Blurb.com. CLICK IMAGE to Learn More!
Catch up on the Conversation! Free PDF Edition of Book One With a Paid Upgrade to “Reality by a Thread!” CLICK IMAGE to learn more…
Get ahead on the Conversation! “Book II –The Power of Three” Now Available! PDF Versions Available Exclusively Through BooksNotOnAmazon.com. Print Editions Available Exclusively Through Blurb.com. CLICK IMAGE to learn more…
