I have only offered a very brief summary of Colin Wilson's ideas for reflection. However, I will ask to what extent does the idea of an outsider, as a person who sees differently, make sense to you? Also, how might we think about peak experiences, and their value? — Jack Cummins
Genius is the ability to leave entirely out of sight our own interest, our willing, and our aims, and consequently to discard entirely our own personality for a time, in order to remain pure knowing subject, the clear eye of the world; and this not merely for moments, but with the necessary continuity and conscious thought to enable us to repeat by deliberate art what has been apprehended and "what in wavering apparition gleams fix in its place with thoughts that stand for ever! — Arthur Schopenhauer
'Superconsciousness: The Quest for the Peak Experience,' in which he spoke of his lifelong searching for peak experiences. — Jack Cummins
My own thread may be far too obscure to be taken seriously on a philosophy forum — Jack Cummins
However, I will ask to what extent does the idea of an outsider, as a person who sees differently, make sense to you? — Jack Cummins
It all seems to be about reductive explanations, and I may be seen as ridiculous for thinking about peak experiences, as being of any significance. — Jack Cummins
The question of simplicity of truth, or otherwise, arising in meditation and other practices, opens many areas for considering of experience. — Jack Cummins
I do think that being present can in itself be a peak experiences, but I am also thinking of how meditation can lead to transcendent states. — Jack Cummins
Perfect sense. A psychotic, a psychopath, a poet, a philosopher, a physicist, a persecuted migrant, a POW, a trafficked slave – in extremis, how can they not "see differently" from the margins of sanity?I will ask to what extent does the idea of an outsider, as a person who sees differently, make sense to you? — Jack Cummins
I think in terms of what Jaspers says are 'limit-experiences' or Bataille refers to as 'the impossible' (abjection), that is, involuntary psychological or intellectual situations so extreme the impacts of which make comprehending, even articulating, them even to ourselves, in effect, impossible (e.g. traumas of shame / betrayal / violence, psychotic breaks, interminable grieving, involuntary deliriums, crippling disgust, prolonged involuntary isolation, suicidal hope, suicidal despair, murderous starvation, unrelenting terrors, near-fatal withdrawal sickness, orgiastic convulsions, etc). As far as the value of experiencing such "peaks" (limits), the lyricAlso, how might we think about peak experiences, and their value?
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