01-15-2020, 06:38 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-15-2020, 06:57 AM by Bill the Piper.)
The Toccata unfolds in seven distinct upward-moving phases, it is an audio picture of the seven major chakras
I don't believe in chakras (which are a Hindu superstition) and I don't think Bach ever did. He lived in 17th century Europe, and it's very unlikely he was familiar with Hinduism at all. Furthermore, he was a devout Protestant:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/arts/...music.html
The number 7 is prominent in many cultures because it reflects 5 planets visible to the naked eye plus sun and moon. 7 days in a week, 7 sacraments and 7 cardinal sins in Catholicism, 7 wonders of the world according to ancient Greeks, seven paradises in Islam. All of these could have inspired Bach.
The correspondence between some parts of the Toccata and the Hebrew alphabet is more likely since Hebrew was widely known in Europe back then.
I agree that mindful listening to classical music is very good for your brain. So is mindfulness. As for your meditation on the Toccata, I see it as a poem reflecting how you see reality. Music can bring the wildest associations.
What are these "ethical, psychological, spiritual pursuits" that can make us more than human? If they don't require technology, they have likely been known for ages. So why aren't we transhuman already?
I don't devalue things like art, music or psychotherapy. I always try to interpret my dreams to understand myself better. But all that has only limited potential. If we want to really transcend human limitations, we need to use biotech.
Extropianism values the mind above matter, but it doesn't try to deny that mind needs a material substrate (a brain, or a computer, or a swarm of nanobots) to exist. New Age idea of consciousness is like the ghost Casper
Also, we duly notice that the Sixties awakening was an overreaction to the evils of fascism:
-fascism praise military discipline above all, the Sixties awakening condemned all things martial
-fascism believed in racial superiority, the Sixties awakening pretended all cultures are equal
-fascism subordinated everything to the state, the Sixties awakening wanted to do away with the state
-fascism was insane collectivism, the Sixties awakening was extreme individualism
I guess extropianism looks out for common sense positions with respect to these issues. Sometimes the answer is more self-expression to allow creativity, sometimes the state and the military must come first.
I don't believe in chakras (which are a Hindu superstition) and I don't think Bach ever did. He lived in 17th century Europe, and it's very unlikely he was familiar with Hinduism at all. Furthermore, he was a devout Protestant:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/arts/...music.html
The number 7 is prominent in many cultures because it reflects 5 planets visible to the naked eye plus sun and moon. 7 days in a week, 7 sacraments and 7 cardinal sins in Catholicism, 7 wonders of the world according to ancient Greeks, seven paradises in Islam. All of these could have inspired Bach.
The correspondence between some parts of the Toccata and the Hebrew alphabet is more likely since Hebrew was widely known in Europe back then.
I agree that mindful listening to classical music is very good for your brain. So is mindfulness. As for your meditation on the Toccata, I see it as a poem reflecting how you see reality. Music can bring the wildest associations.
Eric the Green Wrote:I favor transhumanism more or less as Nietzsche first defined it, and it goes back to the romantics. To become the overman requires a spiritual journey, not so much a scientific technology. It requires developing our human potential. I don't oppose technology, but do not agree that it is the key to becoming more than human. That is an ethical, psychological, spiritual pursuit. To be transhuman in the new age perspective I uphold is to be able to manifest God as ourselves. The human potential movement begun in the 2T Awakening is the path to follow for a genuine transhumanism.
What are these "ethical, psychological, spiritual pursuits" that can make us more than human? If they don't require technology, they have likely been known for ages. So why aren't we transhuman already?
I don't devalue things like art, music or psychotherapy. I always try to interpret my dreams to understand myself better. But all that has only limited potential. If we want to really transcend human limitations, we need to use biotech.
Quote:I don't think any world view for the future is viable that keeps too much of the worldviews dominant before the sixties awakening, and only if they express the sixties awakening to some degree, especially the preference for spirit over matter, are they viable for the future.
Extropianism values the mind above matter, but it doesn't try to deny that mind needs a material substrate (a brain, or a computer, or a swarm of nanobots) to exist. New Age idea of consciousness is like the ghost Casper
Also, we duly notice that the Sixties awakening was an overreaction to the evils of fascism:
-fascism praise military discipline above all, the Sixties awakening condemned all things martial
-fascism believed in racial superiority, the Sixties awakening pretended all cultures are equal
-fascism subordinated everything to the state, the Sixties awakening wanted to do away with the state
-fascism was insane collectivism, the Sixties awakening was extreme individualism
I guess extropianism looks out for common sense positions with respect to these issues. Sometimes the answer is more self-expression to allow creativity, sometimes the state and the military must come first.