r.a. schwaller de lubicz - ancient egypt, science, and the evolution of consciousness (1978).pdf - R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz - adad.molo

Symbol and the Symbolic

Ancient Egypt, Science, and the Evolution of Consciousness

R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz

Table of Contents

Translator's Preface ................................................ 7

Illustrator's Preface ................................................... 18

Preface ................................................................... 23

Notes on Modern Thought......................................... 29

Symbolic Modes ...................................................... 45

Symbol-Synthesis ................................................... 49

Innate Knowledge (Summary) ................................. 56

The Principle of the Present Moment.......................... 59

The Discontinuous Object in the

Continuous Present................................................... 61

Relationship is the Symbol of Being ......................... 64

The Crossing: Principle of Evocation ......................... 67

The Symbol as Expression of a Will .......................... 69

The Symbolic........................................................... 71

Conclusion............................................................... 82

Epilogue................................................................... 91

Translator's Introduction

THERE IS ONE precaution that can be given here to the

reader drawn to the work of R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz for the

first time. Schwaller de Lubicz is using words and thought

forms that are peculiar to our present rationalized mentality

but with the intention of describing or, rather, evoking in us a

mentality completely different from our own, one that

belonged to the sages of ancient Egypt. And it is for this

reason, more than any other, that difficulties can arise for us

in the reading. Generally, these two complementary mental

operations can be designated as analytical (our present habitual

mode) and the more ancient analogical mode, but these words

must be taken in a deeper sense than that generally ascribed

to them at present. Schwaller de Lubicz's writings, then, act

as a "synapse" between these two polarities of intelligence,

and one finds that a clear, logical exposition—be it architec-

tural, scientific or mythological—will suddenly lift and expand

into an immense interconnected thought-field of an extra-

rational quality, in which the multiple simultaneous meanings,

while inwardly felt, may no longer be available to our rational

mind. These unannounced fluctuations between our two

primary modes of knowing is at first disconcerting, but, if one

persists (sometimes without really grasping the idea), one can

obtain glimpses of a new relationship between inner knowing

and sensory-based external analysis.

Derived from his extensive study of Egyptian monuments

and hieroglyphic writing, Schwaller de Lubicz's theme of two

qualitatively different minds inhabiting the human psyche has

found very convincing support in recent brain research.

Experiments with brain-damaged individuals has revealed a

distinct separation or lateralization of cortical functions giving

rise to an area of scientific investigation popularly known as

"right and left mindedness."

The left hemisphere processes information sequen-

tially, the right hemisphere simultaneously, acces-

sing several inputs at once. The left hemisphere

works in series; the right in parallel. The left

hemisphere is something like a digital computer; the

right like an analog computer. 1

This localization in the right hemisphere of the highly

intuitive aspects of thought together with the capacity for non-

verbal pattern recognition, is consistent with the dominant

quality of mind which, in Schwaller de Lubicz's view, could

have produced the temple architecture and hieroglyphic

writing of the ancient Egyptians. Through myth, image and

geometric proportion, Schwaller de Lubicz believed, the Egyp-

tians were able to encapsulate in their writing and architec-

ture the basic pattern structures of the natural universe. 2

Brain research reveals that musical ability seems also to be

located in the right hemisphere, particularly the recognition

and recall of tone, harmony and melody. These musical

aptitudes involve auditory pattern recognition of a holistic and

often simultaneous nature, very different from the analytical

and verbal processes which are located exclusively in the left

hemisphere. The separation of the visual and verbal from the

sonar and intuitive has deep implications in defining the

difference between esoteric and exoteric knowledge.

Robert Ornstein of the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric

1. Carl Sagan, The Dragons of Eden, (New York, Random House) p. 169.

2. See R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, The Temple in Man (Inner Traditions, 1981) and Le Temple

de l'Homme (Paris, Dervy Livres, 1977).

Institute has suggested that during our recent evolution the

intuitive, non-verbal sensitivity of the right hemisphere has

been obscured by the surge of active development in the left,

analytical hemisphere. He claims that this imbalance in

intracortical representation and communication might be con-

sidered a rudimentary cause for the conflicts, disorders and

discrepancies which presently pervade our intellectual and

social life.

In this brief work, Schwaller de Lubicz examines symbol-

ism or, rather, the symbolic method in general, not from the

point of view of our contemporary use of symbols as conven-

tional designations, abbreviations or as literary, metaphoric

devices, but as the means for transmitting a precise supra-

rational knowledge and intuitive vision which, he contends,

was a major aspect of ancient science.

The symbolic attitude of ancient knowledge cultivated the

intellect to the extent of perceiving all of the phenomena of

nature itself as a symbolic writing revealing the forces and

laws governing the energetic and even spiritual aspects of our

universe.

Modern science, particularly subatomic physics, has, as

Schwalier de Lubicz points out, expanded its knowledge of

matter to the point where Nature must be considered supra-

rational (as being beyond the limits of rational methods and

formulae). These new discoveries and ideas, he emphasizes,

demand a new and as yet unfound vocabulary, as well as a

radically different approach to education and knowledge itself.

This view places Schwalier de Lubicz at variance with some

contemporary writers such as Fritjof Capra who, in The Tao of

Physics, contends that we can with our present scientific

methods move directly into a science with spiritual dimen-

sions. Schwalier de Lubicz denies this possibility, empha-

sizing that the achievement of a sacred science requires a

transformation of mind which would considerably alter our

relationship to knowledge and its expression. It is here that an

r.a. schwaller de lubicz - ancient egypt, science, and the evolution of consciousness (1978).pdf

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: