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Page 1 of 11903 · PDF PAGE 11
…bal Fetich. When Buddha was asked how things came to be, he took refuge in silence, which his disciples very conveniently interpreted as meaning that the question tended not to edification. I take it that the Buddha (ignorant, doubtless, of algebra) had sufficiently studied philosophy and pos- sessed enough worldly wisdom to be well aware that any system he might promulgate would be instantly attacked and annihilated by the acumen of his numerous and versatile opponeni Such teaching as he gave on the point may be summed up as follows. “Whence, …
1903 · PDF PAGE 13
…ach a state in which the 0 is absolute. Not only must we get rid of all subjects, but of all predicates. By 0 (in mathematics) we really mean 0°, where n is the final term ofa natural scale of dimensions, categories, or predicates. Our Cosmic Egg, then, from which the present universe arose, was Nothingness, extended in no categories, or, graphically, 0°. This expression is in its present form meaningless. Let us discover its value by a simple mathematical process! 0! P=0.4=9, Multiply by 1 =" Then > xGo0xe Now the multiplying of the infinitely…
1903 · PDF PAGE 24
…tial preliminary to even early stages of true meditation. And iron will-power is a still earlier qualifi- cation. By meditation I do not mean merely “thinking about” anything, however profoundly, but the absolute restraint of the mind to the contemplation of a single object, whether gross, fine, or altogether spiritual. Now true magical ceremonial is entirely directed to attain this end, and forms a magnificent gymnasium for those who are not already finished mental athletes. By act, word, and thought, both in quantity and quality, the one obje…
1903 · PDF PAGE 9
…roduced by interference of light and that existing in the mere absence of light? Is Unity really indentical with .9 recurring? Do we not mean different things when we speak respectively of 2sine6o° and of y3? Charcoal and diamond are obviously different in the categories of colour, crystallisation, hardness, and so on; but are they not really so even in that of existence? The third example is to my mind the best. 2 sine 60° and V3 are unreal and therefore never conceivable, at least to the present constitution of our human intelligences. Worked…
1903 · PDF PAGE 15
…sence-of- book is not on the table”, which is precisely my equation backwards, and a thinkable thing, To reverse. the process, what do I mean when I say “some pigs, but not the black pig, are not in the sty"? I imply that the black pig is im the sty. All I have done is to represent the conversion as a change, rather than as merely another way of expressing the same thing. And “change” is really not my meaning either; for change, to our minds, involves the idea of time. But the whole thing is incon- ceivable — to ratiocination, though not to tho…
1903 · PDF PAGE 14
…d that is equally unreal if] make the /3, = 250 the members of a ternary scale. But this, theoretically true, is practically absurd. IfI mean “the number of a, b, and c”, it does not matter ifI write y3 or *y50; theidea is a definite one; and it is the fundamental ideas of consciousness of which we are treating, and to which we are compelled to refer everything, whether proximately or ultimately. So also my equation, fantastic as it may seem, has @
1903 · PDF PAGE 12
10 When I say “No cat has two tails” I do not mean, as the old fallacy runs, that “ Absence-of-cat possesses two tails” but that “In the category of two-tailed things, there is no extension of cat.” Nothingness is that about which no positive pro- position is valid. We cannot truly affirm : ‘Nothingness is green, or heavy, or sweet.” Let us call time, space, being, heaviness, hunger, the categories. “ If a man be heavy and hungry, he is extended in all these, besides, of course, many more. But let us suppose that these five are all. Call the ma…