The post you (may) have been waiting for. Some material comes from the work "The Idea of the Holy".
According to Otto, the numinous experience has two aspects: mysterium tremendum, which is the tendency to invoke fear and trembling; and mysterium fascinans, the tendency to attract, fascinate and compel.
A few years back I was helping someone with a philosophy paper. While reading the background material, I came across an interesting passage I have fixated on ever since.
I have had this conversation with a select few of you. I have been in search of the perfect moment for a very long time. Ive actually experienced a version of it - a couple times. Once on the banks of the Tuckaseegee River in East LaPorte, North Carolina and once in the college town of Murray, Kentucky. ((This line of thought will contradict later sentences - just go with it.))
A philosopher believes that man (and woman) moves through life looking for the perfect moment. This moment transcends every other moment in their respective lives. The moment evokes a true surreal experience and fills the soul with a true and absolute serenity. This philosopher believes that man (or woman) lives the rest of their lives trying to recreate this moment. It is incredibly rare to experience it again - the intensity of the emotion - because, as he puts it, its not like the first time.
I have posted earlier this week about not being able to go home again. I have dreamed about this moment. Ive written short stories about it. I know one of the people who keeps showing up in that dream. I can picture the moment with stark clarity. Having actually experiences two versions of it - I can completely relate to this philosophy. I have spent a very long time and expended a great deal of personal, spiritual, and emotional capital to get back to that place. Just like the Nexus in Star Trek Generations, unfortunately is its not something you can reach without destroying the things youre traveling in at the time.
After I read that passage in the philosophy outside the old Helder Hall (which is no more - having been replaced last year), I came away with the thought that you just cant get back to the moment that made you feel most alive. Sure, there are other moments and new people who bring you hysterically close to it. In the end, the moment just isnt the same.
Should you simply live in the memories as you age and relish them as treasured moments OR should you try to create your own future moments that COULD exceed the ones you had before?
"Stars were falling deep in the darkness
as prayers rose softly, petals at dawn
And as I listened, your voice seemed so clear
so calmly you were calling your god
Somewhere the sun rose, o'er dunes in the desert
such was the stillness, I ne'er felt before
Was this the question, pulling, pulling, pulling you
in your heart, in your soul, did you find rest there?
Elsewhere a snowfall, the first in the winter
covered the ground as the bells filled the air
You in your robes sang, calling, calling, calling him
in your heart, in your soul, did you find peace there?"
Even when the moment is over, living inside that setting can truly bring you peace. I know all of you have had the same experience as me, whether you have given it a moment's thought or not. When you close your eyes tonight - picture it and relish it and claim that perfect moment for your own.
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