Michael Sternbach

Brilliant question. In a nutshell, in all the traditions you have mentioned, there is infinite truth to be found. As some here know, I have been studying Daoism, Hermeticism, and other metaphysical systems for decades. I always took it for granted that there is ONE universe that has an objective existence, not only on the physical but also on the metaphysical level. Daoism, Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Thelema... They all are just different windows through which you can look at that ONE reality. Sometimes you will be seeing it from different angles, so the image might appear differently. You must not let this confuse you, nor give in to the temptation to overly simplify things. Then the different vistas will give you a more complete picture of the ONE truth - which keeps eluding full comprehension nevertheless. Following this path, you must learn to discriminate (analysis). You will have to decide if and how things are or aren't related to each other. Sometimes it might take years to make up your mind. And you must be creative (synthesis). Contradictions? Well, there are contradictions even within the boundaries of any single system. Different interpretations abound - as this forum gives ample evidence of. But actually, many seeming contradictions can be resolved if you take a higher perspective that allows you to recognize how, in fact, they make up a whole together. Talking about Aleister Crowley, it was one of his greatest goals to reconcile different spiritual traditions. His famous Tarot, the Thoth deck, is the epitome of all his metaphysical knowledge. No final answer, to be sure - but a guide to the ONE Universe that is both out there and in there.

Isn't it curious that official science thinks of us a the peak of an evolution of billions of years. Whereas many metaphysical traditions insist that humanity was far more advanced once before, in time immemorial. That we have fallen from the graceful place we once occupied. Or maybe we were pushed down from it? The Greeks, the Hindu, the ancient Egyptians, the Judaic tradition, the Chinese, and others - they all tell us this. Why don't we see the evidence? Well, what is left of it could be right in front of our eyes, and we wouldn't recognize it (that is, most of us wouldn't). We will only recognize what we have affinity to.

To me, it's pretty obvious that the Universe must be full of life. It's a natural development that matter, given certain circumstances, at some stage becomes animated. What about the messages on board of the Pioneer and Voyager space crafts? They are just letters in bottles, thrown into the ocean. SETI? Sending smoke signals up into the sky, while watching out for smoke signals by others somewhere else.

Not this one though.

Love

I would say that science is just not advanced enough to keep up with metaphysics. But this doesn't need to keep us from applying or creating scientific models regarding metaphysical perceptions, as long as we remember that they are models - not everlasting perfect explanations. Surely, we must be careful not to let our ideas obscure our view of living reality. The search for truth is an open-ended endeavour.

Karl, please. You are talking with a lady.

I was looking at scientific books at that age and started worrying about my shoes later.

The argumentation of the article appears to be circular: It presupposes what it claims to deduce. When it states: "The arrow of time is an arrow of increasing correlations [between particles]", this could be just as well an effect of time's forward flow, instead of its cause. I believe that time does flow in (at least) two directions, even though generally we don't perceive this. Our perception is mostly based on electron movement, and electrons do move forward in time. Richard Feynman defined positrons as electrons that move backward in time. This manifests as a positive electric charge (while electrons have a negative charge) I think that the positron is the cause of the proton's positive charge. A proton can be seen emitting a positron and a neutrino under certain circumstances (beta decay), thus turning into a neutron, and is theorized to generally decay to a positron and some other particles eventually. So I think that reverse time flow is actually constantly happening in atomic nuclei, usually screened off by the forward time flow of the electrons on their shells. It seems to me that there is no general time flow, for it's not really time that is moving; rather, things are moving through time in a similar fashion they are moving through space. They do so at different rates (as the Theory of Relativity shows) and in different directions. Quite possibly, there is an antimatter universe where the time flow is reversed the way it is perceived. Watch this:

When, some three years ago, Junko and I moved into our house, our garden (which is big, although at a steep angle) was overgrown with all sorts of flowers and other plants. In summer, I counted like 40 different species! I still regret that I had it cut, even though it did get more accessible. I hope that it will fully recover and we will see all those different kinds again in this spring and summer. Also, hopefully our Damascene plum trees will bear fruits again this year (last year, we didn't get any - there had been too much rain in spring). But I won't do any gardening - just watch nature take its course. Perhaps Junko will plant some flowers though?

What the OP means is: Let's get back on topic, folks!

This is incorrect. Quoting the article Buddhism and Modern Science: Alice A. Bailey's A Treatise on Cosmic Fire (a book highly influential in Theosophist circles) echoes this in the introduction:

Yes, this is known to modern science. But unlike the latter, Alchemy states that this matter is constantly being created from subtle energies that emanate from cosmic bodies. It also says that metals can transmute to other metals over long periods of time in the body of the Earth.

I have nothing but high regard for TCM, and actually use it in certain forms myself. But you are mistaken to assume that the West didn't develop similar methods of applying natural remedies to effect healing. As I mentioned, there is spagyrics which goes back to Paracelsus and, even earlier, Arabic Alchemy. It is based on an energetic view of body and soul no less established than the Chinese system. Homeopathy is of a more recent date, although it was founded on Spagyrics, likewise has an elaborate theoretical background and has amassed an incredible amount of clinical observations in the two centuries of its existence. But to each their own. Here is an article on spagyrics I wrote for a homeopathic online magazine: http://cleverhthemag.com/2015/06/01/spagyric-medicine-for-the-homeopathic-practitioner/

Paraphrasing A. E. Waite, he is on the one hand impossible to agree with, on the other impossible to ignore.

Alchemy always maintained that there is matter continuously being created in our planet's body.

Oh, that narrows objectivism down.

I believe that all the great metaphysical traditions have glimpsed an aspect of the truth; each holds at least a piece of the jigsaw. Being a Hermeticist, I am also a strong believer in analogies. Thus, in my book, the life cycle of an individual can be likened to the life cycle of the whole Universe. And regarding the latter, the theory that impressed me most so far is Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (CCC), a brainchild of the famous physicist Roger Penrose. In a nutshell, it postulates that after a mind boggling number of years (something like 10100), all the protons in our Universe will have decayed, the black holes will have evaporated etc, so there will be nothing left but light (or EM energy). Time and space will lose any meaning in such a Universe; they can also be modelled as at once infinitely expanded and contracted to a point. And the latter is nothing other than a singularity. It bangs and, voilà - a new Universe begins (or a new Aeon in a continuing story). Now that's pure metaphysics for you. Penrose & Co. actually nodded when, on a congress I attended, I dared to mention parallels between CCC and mystical systems like Hinduism and the Kabbalah - while at the same time they emphasized that such considerations are beyond the scope of (their) science (what a surprise). Now applied to the question at hand, you have at the end of an incarnation (be it of a Universe or a human being) both: A state of timelessness/eternity, a return to the Mind of God as it were (as assumed in the Judaeo-Christian tradition). A return to a new physical existence (as suggested in Hinduism and Buddhism). I should also mention that gravity waves generated by the collision of black holes etc in a Universe nearing its end - despite its eventual complete annihilation and return to the state of infinite light (the "opening of Shiva's eye" ) - will "inform" the structuring of the matter in its subsequrent incarnation. So here's your karma... I am not saying that Penrose's cosmological model is all inclusive and provides all the answers, but I find it inspiring, to say the least. Thoughts?

In my opinion, Chuang Tzu is basic to any kind of Daoism.

Reading this post overloaded me a little...

Yes. Already Chuang Tzu wrote that the sage is the focus of wondrous occurences.

So who would you call an objectivist philosopher? Aristotle perhaps?

Aphelion&Perihelion

Yes, I value a number of Platonic and neo-Platonic ideas. You are also right regarding other Pagan and modern philosophies being influences on me, especially German Idealism (Hegel). Kant, Descartes and Marx not so much (as far as I'm aware, anyway). "New Age mysticism", well, if you mean the more advanced expressions (for instance, Seth), then yes. There is much more in my syncretistic system, but this is good for starters.