Imagination and Consciousness

submitted by [deleted] from (self.Consciousness)

This post came about due to a conversation u/Horrux and I were having in another thread. I think this can be open-ended in the comments, but I would like to put up a few quotes by JRR Tolkien, and I'll explain why I think they are relevant. The first one has to do with fairy-story, which is, to me, the most applicable form of imagination a writer can produce. Horrux made a good point that engineers also utilize this tool.

“The realm of fairy-story (Faerie) is wide and deep and high and filled with many things: all manner of beasts and birds are found there; shoreless seas and stars uncounted; beauty that is an enchantment, and an ever-present peril; both joy and sorrow as sharp as swords. In that realm, a man may, perhaps, count himself fortunate to have wandered, but its very richness and strangeness tie the tongue of a traveller who would report them. And while he is there it is dangerous for him to ask too many questions, lest the gates should be shut and the keys be lost.” - Tolkien

The last bit is most vital, I think. Do not ask too many questions concerning reality when in the realm of Imagination. The answers you may get will be self-contained within that realm... they will be consistent with the experiences available while in that make-believe mind-set. This is dangerous, for the keys to REALITY can be lost, and you could find yourself in a form of psychosis, or, lost in Faerie. This is, to me, a warning sign saying "Beware of getting lost in the realm of make-believe."

“The human mind is capable of forming mental images of things not actually present (ie: Imagination) . . . An essential power of Faerie is thus the power of making immediately effective by the will the visions of 'fantasy’. Not all are beautiful or even wholesome, not at any rate the fantasies of fallen Man." - Tolkien

I think that this quote also warns of the dangers of using too much imagination. If one uses this tool without careful reason, it can backfire on both the maker, and on the consumer.

Now, I should say that I think the masses vastly misunderstand Imagination... I think they both view it as a trifling tool, something only children use (laughable) or as something that has no danger, and should be used freely and all the time (also hilarious). I don't know what more I have to say on this subject at the moment, besides this... Concepts are not factual reality. Concepts play around with reality in a make-believe way, often creating something un-wholesome, or, un-natural. I do believe that a biologically advanced species could do away with conceptualizing by replacing it with a more natural, mental tool. Just what that tool could be, I do not know. I am open to new ideas, people! However, there is something to be said about our biological need to sleep, and the rejuvenating well-spring that is the Dreamscape (the most imaginative thing humans could ever take part in, IMO) I would love to hear anybody speak about this and teach me new things. This is a topic I have wondered about for years, and one that I feel has not had the proper analysis it deserves.

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[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (13 children)

Humans generally don't have enough discernment to distinguish between vision of life in other worlds or dimensions, and purely imaginary fantasy. Those that do, will tell you the distinction is irrelevant, since the only thing that matters is the here and now, that we each have a life, that it is all we truly have, and that taking care of that is the only thing that is truly important.

Those who are capable of mental activity without use of the dimension of concepts say this: thought is purely telepathic. Being aware of telepathy, and especiallly WHAT one is conversing with, is of the utmost importance. Without this level of consciousness, it it obvious that mankind is on a road to perdition, as should have been made quite obvious lately to even those without a fully telepathic consciousness.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (9 children)

I should note that I do not like the the new-age belief that we only have the here and now, and that that is all that matters. It is a conceptual truth, therefore, not a real truth in my mind. It makes sense in the realm they created, which has SOME reality in it, but I do not think that it IS reality. For one thing, I know I have lived other lives on this Earth, whatever that means, and I know that death is not the end of whatever this experience is.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

You carry memories of other lives on Earth, yes. That doesn't prove that "YOU" have lived them. Quotes because what is you? WHAT are you? You do not know. It is not possible to truly know oneself.

Either way, because of the way time occurs, and the interdimensional arrangement of planes that create the physical world, it remains true that the only real moment is now. And if, through the purified mind that can make other times become NOW, they are also NOW. Sounds like mumbo jumbo, I am sure. But the point is, the Universal Intelligences that represent the ultimate in terms of consciousness and power through the universe function 100% in the NOW. They are also eternal. It only seems paradoxical because our human minds are born out of a paradox.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

I actually have thought about how those memories may not be mine It helped me disassociate from some of the negative aspects of those memories, which at first crippled me.

No, it doesn't sound like mumbo jumbo, although I think my criticisms with the whole "here and now" thing stands. I think my problem with it is that I don't view the past present and future as being separate. They are, to me, part and parcel. They go together, and can all be conceptually viewed as being NOW, but are they?

I know I'm getting some (or most) of this wrong.

To be eternal is to be in the NOW, is it not? It is to experience the past present and future all together, in one soup. Not how humans view it, as being linear and segmented

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Yes I agree, to be eternal is to be one with time, so that time becomes a non-factor. All nows are ever NOW. This is how the Cosmic Intelligence at the core of man sees things. It is very foreign to the ego incarnate and as such, fusing all the parts of such a being into one melded whole is (obviously?) difficult. But it's starting to happen.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

"All nows are ever now." Yeah, this is how I view it. I think some new age people view it this way, but their language paints it in another picture. Like, where past and future literally don't exist, not that our ways of perceiving them are wrong.

If you really think it is happening, then I'm glad to have met you. Very few people have a bright outlook on the human race. I personally feel like we have a good chance of changing to become more life-affirming as a race.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Is it you who described in a post a few weeks back, "good" as "life-affirming" and "evil" as "life-negating"? If so, I have to say, that really resonated with me. It's a verbatim expression of what I perceived already. But since I only use English on the Internet, I had never seen the reality of things expressed in this particular way. It resonates strongly with Objective Reality.

And yes, the stuff I speak of is WAY beyond beliefs, spirituality, new age stuff, etc.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That was me.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

There are two types of death: dark death and white death. Dark death is what most people undergo: the consciousness, the soul and its accumulated karma go to the astral plane, where they will stay in suspension for a long time, but interfere and serve as material for the living. White death happens once a being's karma is destroyed and their consciousness fuses with the Cosmic Intelligence on the Universal Absolute planes of eternal existence. Once that happens, "dying" is simply the deactivation of the physical body and one retains all their abilities.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

This interests me greatly. You'll be hearing from me soon concerning this. Edit: the thing is, I've heard these things before, but you write about them in a way that is helping me understand in a way I hadn't before.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Because I'm not doing theory. ;-)

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

You have mentioned this telepathic-nature of thoughts before, Horrux. I would really like to read more about this. My own experience backs this up, but I have had little reading in this regard.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Look at the Bernard de Montréal links in this sub. It's a good place to start. He is the pioneer and has forced the entities at the other end of "the line" of thought to reveal their role.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I have read some of his stuff before. You introduced me to him when I first started this account. I pulled away because I became distracted with earthly matters of health and such... I'm going back in!

[–]Shari 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I agree with you that one's imagination can take you places that are dangerous if taken too seriously. Tulpa's, for instance, are an entity that has been forcefully created in a host's mind to the point where this imagined being takes on it's own identity, personality, and vocabulary. They are created for complanionship intially, and some hosts that have a Tulpa, have been known to have lost control of their Tulpa, and it has run free until the host could erase it from their consciousness. But that is mythical. Some hosts claim that when a Tulpa is created, they knowingly dissociate from themselves, and create a whole separate entity within their consciousness. They force their thoughts into creation, and with much practice. Look up Tulpa. You will find some strange theories and facets on this one. It's a gem.