The discussion between Jonathan Shear and Pat Hayes has led to the question of how the recognition or realization of consciousness without an object, which transcends the categories of experience, is experienced by the empirical or relative self.
A detailed psychological first-hand account of the experiential precipitates of such a recognition, as well as a rigorous philosophical analysis of it, is given by Franklin Merrell-Wolff in his two books, _Pathways Through to Space_ and _The Philosophy of Consciousness Without An Object_, both of which have recently been republished by SUNY Press in a single volume under the title _Franklin Merrell-Wolff's Experience and Philosophy_.
As for the state itself, Merrell-Wolff emphasizes that "All language, as such, is defeated when used as an instrument of portrayal of the transcendent." Yet, he adds, "There are implications and consequences following from such an insight that do fall within the range of formulation."
In this matter, Merrell-Wolff is careful to point out that "A definite line of demarcation must be drawn between the transcendental state of consciousness itself and the precipitated effects within the relative consciousness. The former is not an experience, but a Recognition or an Awakening on a timeless level of consciousness. The latter is an effect precipitated into the time-world and therefore has experiential and relative value."
He then lists certain effects precipitated into his own relative consciousness as a result of his Recognition. They are, briefly,
1. A shift in the base of consciousness:
"The roots of my consciousness, which prior tothis moment had been (seemingly) more or less deeply implanted in the field of relative consciousness, now were forcibly removed and instantaeously transplanted into a supernal region."
2. A transformation in the meaning of the 'Self' or 'I':
"The Self is no longer a pole or focal point, but it sweeps outward, everywhere, in a sort of unpolarized consciousness, which is at once self-identity and the objective content of consciousness."
3. Noetic, superconceptual penetration:
"I had awareness of a kind of thought of such an enormous degree of abstraction and universality that it was barely discernible as being of noetic character."
4. Transcendence of space, time and causality:
"I knew myself to be beyond space, time, and causality...I, thus, am not dependent upon the space-time manifold, but, on the contrary, that manifold is dependent upon the Self with which I am identical."
5. Feeling of complete freedom:
"I had broken out of the bondage to the space-time manifold and the law-form governing in this manifold."
6. Freedom from guilt:
"The bindings of discrete individuality no longer existed."
7. Resolution of the 'wrongness' felt in life:
"I attained a state wherein I could be at rest and contented in the most profound sense."
8. Increased calmness and serenity:
"There is no need for trying to be calm and serene, but rather these qualities envelop the individual without his putting forth any specific effort."
9. The significant and value of information is changed:
"Knowledge, in the sense of information, has value chiefly as an instrument of expression or a means to render manifest that which is already known to me in the most significant sense."
10. Increased felicity:
"The higher felicity seems almost, if not quite, identical with virtue itself."
11. Benevolance:
"It is not so much a feeling of active altruism as being grounded in a kind of consciousness in which the conflict between self-interest and altruism is dissolved."
12. Non-conceptual cognition:
"As it is immediate knowledge, it is intuitive in the broad sense, but as it is highly noetic, it is to be distinguished from other forms of immediate awareness that are largely, if not wholly, non-cognitive."
Again, these are precipitates of the Recognition into the relative consciousness. A complete and consistent description of the Recognition itself is not possible since the state of consciousness without an object transcends the distinctions which are unavoidably introduced by descriptive thought and language.
Thomas J. McFarlane
thomasmc@netcom.com
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