A deep and heartfelt gratitude to both of you for taking the time to reply.
I shall quote Aldous Huxley to begin this:
"There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception" - Aldous Huxley
It is the scientific mindset which says that everything has a rational explanation and if it cannot be explained, it simply does not exist. However, things like dark matter cannot be explained...and yet it exists, but a 'self-aware Consciousness in the form of energy' is too much of a stretch, it seems.
A lot of emphasis is also placed upon 'change' in that 'everything changes' and so must we to adapt/conform to it and to society at large, but this seems totally idealistic to me in that 'change' can involve a progression
or a regression, however the Absolute remains as the only constant in this Universe and it is only the manifested energies (Shakti) which instigates whatever change is perceived with the passage of time.
I have also just found out recently that the heart has brain cells inside it and it can 'think' too:
https://exploringyourmind.com/the-he...s-neurons-too/
The heart thinks in the language of feelings, intuition and empathy which isn't really relatable to the brain in terms of logic or rationality, even though it can also be
very logical, scientific and rational in its own way...and this all goes back to the sacred rituals of the Hindus which is aimed to strengthen this heart/mind connection with the purpose to realise the immanent and transcendent Divinity.
It also goes back to Tantra; which has been corrupted by the West (and
many) who associate it with sex and the 'Kama Sutra' when if such people knew what true Tantra actually
entailed, they would have kittens.
It goes to the 'New Age' movement totally corrupting the ancient and sacred teachings for profit, and the more 'spin' that gets placed on stuff like chakras and kundalini, the further away from the truth it becomes...until
everything is a symptom of 'kundalini awakening' but whether it is or not is highly doubtful.
I guess you could call my way, my perception 'spiritual aesthetics' ...I am the 'aesthetic ascetic' (lol) in that what many call 'cultural superstition' can lead to experiences that take one out of the mind and the thinking space and directly into the heart-space, where everything else is only an extension
of this.
Our modern world has, for about two centuries, tried to overturn almost 20,000 years of human thought and experience and that is only one
hundredth of the time that the human species have allegedly inhabited this planet and we like to believe we are more technologically and scientifically advanced than any other civilisation which existed before us....oooops!
We also take this scientific rationalism (and alcohol) into primitive cultures...or wipe them out with disease and force them to live in accordance with the 'modern scientific view of reality' or else they are 'superstitious' and/or 'uncultured' and/or 'barbaric' and place them in government controlled reservations and such...so any of the ancestral knowledge is lost...and this may include many plant-based herbal medicines or keys to the history of humanity....oooops.
No, I don't preach or proselytize because everybody is different and has their own path and I don't like it when another does this to
me...also, another person is bound to be more receptive and open-minded when one is presenting views and experiences in the mode of 'sharing' or 'storytelling' or 'relating' rather than shoving them down another's throat with spoon-fed dogma and diatribe.
Yes, I am also learning - learning how to relate thoughts to emotions, learning to 'let go' more, learning not to take life too seriously or too intellectually and learning to go beyond concept when applying ritual. Our innate state is
joy, but we seem to place convenient limitations upon it and then try to rationalise doing so by using socially accepted and acceptable models of cognition.
Again, all the best to you my brothers...with love, light and peace.
Aum Namah Shivaya