THE WAY IN DIVINE METAPHYSICS—
CONTENTS
Chapter 1: The Way of Nature .............................................................1
Chapter 2: The Way of the Shaman ......................................................7
Chapter 3: The Way of the Brahmin ................................................... 13
Chapter 4: The Way of the Magi ........................................................20
Chapter 5: The Way of the Philosophers .............................................27
Chapter 6: The Way out of Egypt .......................................................34
Chapter 7: Druidism: Preparing the Way .............................................42
Chapter 8: The Way of the Prophets ..................................................47
Chapter 9: The Way of the Essenes ....................................................54
Chapter 10: The Way of the Lord ...................................................... 58
Chapter 11: The Way of the Apostles .................................................65
Chapter 12: The Way of the Sufis .......................................................71
Chapter 13: The Way through Later Philosophy ..................................77
Chapter 14: The Way through Science ...............................................84
Chapter 15: The Way through Later Science ......................................91
Chapter 16: The Way into the New Age ........................................... 98
Chapter 17: The Way in Divine Metaphysics ....................................105
Chapter 18: The Way in Equipoise .................................................. 110
Chapter 19: Equipoise Symbols and the Unified Event ..................... 120
Chapter 20: Equipoise in the Eternal Dreaming..................................136
Chapter 21: In Spirit and in Truth .....................................................142
Chapter 22: The Psycho-spiritual .....................................................150
Chapter 23: Divine Metaphysics: The Angelic Science ......................155
Chapter 24: Equipoise Divine Geometry ...........................................165
Poetry Appendix ..............................................................................171
Bibliography .....................................................................................175
To my beloved, who inspired me,
and to all those of the Way.
With Love to my Son Laib and Daughter Wanan
ix
The Way: Introduction
In many religions, philosophies, and disciplines of spiritual growth, ‘A
Way’ is spoken of with quiet reverence. It is, primarily a path, a discipline,
and a code of conduct. The purveyors of such a path or discipline do not
intend it as an artificial way devised by humankind according to the culture
of a specific time and place, but frame it around an awareness of ultimate
reality—of ‘the Way things are.’
The Way is revealed though the divine order and accessed by mystics
and contemplatives who have studied the divine order or experienced
enlightenment or divine inspiration. To understand and describe the Way
things are in universal terms is the goal of metaphysics, and such meaning
and purpose that this brings to human life expresses an ideal Way for
human
individuals to follow.
This current work is a study of the many human expressions of the Way.
It is not a study of the many purported truths of humankind and the
many ways based on these. It is my aim to reveal that there is a Way, a
Divine and Natural Way, which runs and has run as a common thread
through the thinking of many peoples in the world at different times in
history. This Way is subject to a developing understanding and has passed
though different phases of human awareness. There can only be one
truth about the existence of beings in the world, though it finds different
expression in different cultures and languages. Only one Ultimate and
Divine Truth can exist, for if not, there would be nothing worthy of the
name ‘Truth’.
This metaphysical standpoint underlies this study. Metaphysics is the area
of philosophy that is concerned with what is ultimately real and true—that
which is always and everywhere real and true, not simply case-specific
knowledge. Any claim to universal truth is a metaphysical claim, and all
competing claims to universal truth from religion, philosophy, and science
can be viewed side by side and examined in the field of metaphysics.
Any Christian would say, ‘Christ is the Way’, and he or she may indeed
be right. But Christ, as Logos and mind of God, should have had access
to all wisdom, human and divine, and stood at a pinnacle of growth in
divine awareness. To say or imply that Jesus would have been unaware
of the wisdom of Taoism, for example, is to deny that he participated in
God’s greater eternal and omniscient awareness. All world religions and
philosophical traditions leading up to his advent may be seen as forming
the
true Old Testament to this world saviour. This is the context of the current
study, which deals with many of the world’s most significant religious and
philosophical wisdom traditions leading up to Christ and beyond.
I have been selective in the material presented, to point out recurring
themes and focus on the golden thread that is the Way. However, I have
also tried to highlight differences that are often important and should not
be glossed over. This is a very concise introduction to the world’s pearls
of
wisdom, and I hope it will inspire others to conduct further research and,
more importantly, to attain greater and more universal awareness.
The name
metaphysics derives from a section of the works of the
great
philosopher Aristotle. In these works, which concern universals and first
principles, Aristotle speaks of a ‘divine science’, a science of the mind of
God—‘Being such a science that God alone could have or God before all
others.’(Aristotle The Metaphysics) The ‘mind of God’ or ‘Logos’ concept in
the history of ideas is one theme of this work. For seen in these terms, it is
the Logos that regulates and determines the Way.
This work is a study in worldwide metaphysics. It presents and introduces
all the world’s most significant wisdom traditions and religious
philosophies.
In the book’s later section, I will introduce my own metaphysical philosophy
of
Equipoise, which can then be seen against the backdrop of its
inheritance
in the greatest traditions of metaphysics. This metaphysical philosophy
of
Equipoise is a universal law of necessary equivalence and
symmetry,
involving necessary counterbalance. I hope this will serve as an indication
of
what metaphysics might become as a ‘divine science’ in taking on the
crucial
insights of science and the profundity of religion.
The spiritual influences that have shaped nations and influenced history
through the ages are a theme of this book.
The Way in Divine Metaphysics examines one evolving truth and one Way,
discovered, and not invented, through various approaches, in different
environments, as seen from different perspectives.
* * *
Grounds of all being
Orderer of nature
Divine source
If it be thy will
So guide ourWay
Love uniting all
Opposites conjoined
Very God, I pray
Every being within you, give you praise.
—agnoi ‘God is Love Prayer’; the first letter of each line spell this