Kosmos

Kosmos, from the Greek word for order or orderly arrangement, refers to the known universe and beyond it to all of creation. We distinguish it’s meaning from Cosmos, which refers merely to the universe as known to modern science.

Laws, Order, Harmony

The Kosmos is a whole. It is ordered, it has certain natural laws which are perceivable from the microscopic to the macroscopic. Understanding these laws and living accordingly is necessary for living in harmony with the whole, and for going beyond it.

The Law of Equilibrium – Cause and effect, Karma. All things are in harmony and balance within their domain. This may take the form of chaos to our limited vantage point.

The Law of Change – All is in a state of flux. All of existence is moving, changing, evolving, shifting.

The Law of Inertia – An object at rest tends to stay at rest. Paradoxically,(or not?) all things also tend to remain inert or in the status quo. Life is goaded out of inertia by the implanted forces of desire/fear and curiosity.

The Law of the Microcosm and the Macrocosm – The human being is a microcosm, a miniature of the macrocosmic universe, and the two are fundamentally linked. Causes set in motion on one level may equally have effects on another. The microcosm cannot contain anything not contained in the macrocosm. The Kosmos is the Macrocosm, and Man its true copy, the microcosm.

The Law of the Pyramid – All human effort and success is in pyramidal form. People exist on different levels of capacity, comprehension, and maturity. This distribution takes the shape of the pyramid. A majority stay within the safe, the known, the limited on the bottom level. The few through great dedication and single-minded purpose, climb to the top. One can only effectively work and communicate with those on your own level or the level immediately above or below. You rise by helping those below you and working with those on the level with you and receiving help from those above you. Attempting to learn from one too many levels above you is mostly useless as you will not be able to comprehend them from your current state of consciousness. For one above to reach down to far is a good way to be misunderstood, not understood, killed…or crucified.

The Law of Momentum – An object in motion tends to stay in motion. In order to do anything beyond the normal human capacities one must become a vector or a force in a certain direction. This momentum is what propels you through obstacles, fears, death…..

The Law of the Transmutation of Energy – Caloric energy is converted to mental energy, mental energy is converted to

All things have a certain amount of energy, if this energy is dissipated in many different directions it can never be directed fully in one direction.

The Law of Proportional Returns – You reap what you sow. You get what you give. Effort is rewarded. Input=Output. Helping others inspires help.

The Law of Extra-Proportional Returns – Working in a group can create more than the individuals are capable in themselves. 1+1+1+1+1=10

The Law of Relativity – All factors are relative and conditional to all other factors. Nothing exists in a vacuum.

The Law of the Paradoxical Immanence of All Things Relative – The mind is inherently dualistic, thought itself operates in polarities. Every evaluation is found to have an opposite that is equally valid from another perspective. No one assessment can be considered absolute. The Paradox permeates everything and that which seems to be may not be.

Law of Life or Complexity – The more complex a life form is the more intelligent, aware, conscious it is. Complexity is required to produce life. However, over-complexity leads to decay and instability. The happy medium is streamlined complexity, simplicity even in complexity. All great works of art and music are immensely skillful yet simple, distilled to the essentials.

Law of Love – Love invites love, hate invites hate.

Law of Faith – The ability to change the apparent status of matter by means of human belief. Is counterbalanced by disbelief or unbelief(Jesus was unable to perform healings and miracles in his home village – those who knew him as an ordinary boy). “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

The Law of 7 – “Nothing in nature and in life constantly occurs in a straight line, that is to say that there are always ups and downs in life which occur lawfully. Examples of this can be noticed in athletic performances, where a high ranked athlete always has periodic downfalls, as well as in nearly all graphs that plot topics that occur over time, such as the economic graphs, population graphs, death-rate graphs and so on. All show parabolic periods that keep rising and falling. Gurdjieff claimed that since these periods occur lawfully based on the law of seven that it is possible to keep a process in a straight line if the necessary shocks were introduced at the right time. A piano keyboard is an example of the law of seven, as the seven notes of the major scale correspond exactly to it.”

The Law of 3 – There is a pattern in all of life of three. The trinity. Affirmation, denial and reconciliation. The Way, the Truth, the Life.

Energy, Matter, Life

Life/energy has a certain order and impetus; life tends towards growth, greater intelligence, greater complexity, greater self-awareness/consciousness.

Energy is matter, matter is energy. Energy functioning in patterns is matter.

Energy is life. Everything is made of the same stuff, the same material, energy, consciousness. Not just physical things – but feelings, thoughts, emotions,

Energy is value, we pay someone for their energy, for the energy they give us. Energy is the currency of the universe.

It is the central urge in every atom,
(Often unconscious, often evil, downfallen,)
To return to its divine source and origin, however distant,
Latent the same in subject and in object, without one exception.

-Walt Whitman

I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar
With angels bless’d; but even from angelhood
I must pass on: all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,
I shall become what no mind e’er conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence
Proclaims in organ tones,
To Him we shall return.

-Rumi

Telos

Telos (from the Greek τέλος for “end”, “purpose”, or “goal”) is the function and purpose of a thing. When we talk about the telos of something we are trying to get at it’s aim, purpose, intention – it’s reason for being.

All things in existence serve a purpose within the whole. Nothing is foreign and out of place or it would be destroyed. The telos of a hammer is to drive nails, the telos of a violin is to be an instrument for the sounding of music, the telos of a cup is to hold liquid. What is the telos of Life and of the Human Being as an expression of Life?

Divine Purpose of the Universe

In Life, in all creatures and organisms, all manifestations of Life; there exists as fundamental to its nature, a growth towards an end(telos). This end which is not an endpoint but a process ever unfolding, is towards greater awareness/consciousness, greater complexity and intelligence, greater harmony.

It seems that the ultimate purpose and goal of each person, and that which they are seeking consciously or unconsciously(and therefore insanely) is the experience of being, of being alive, the fullness of life. There exists in everyone, whether conscious or not, a yearning and attraction towards perfection, peace, happiness, what some call God, the beloved. The call of home and destiny. this is the Great Work or the Magnum Opus. The person awaking from their robotic dream-life of unconsciousness to the realization of their deepest desire. It is the reconciliation of free will and destiny, thy will and my will. One may realize that the two become one and the same. Terrestrial life can be seen as a field, where the point is to gather experience and wisdom, and to hear the voice of intuition which points to the center of ones being and the purpose of existence: to know who one is, what one is, why one is, whence one is.

But we most not take ourselves too seriously….. On one level there is a vast beauty and significance to life and our existence, we have a great task and responsibility in this life. However, it is also true that there is no reason for all of this. There is no past, no future, no great purpose or goal, no hierarchy to ascend. The supreme reality merely took a notion to experience itself. We must be able to hold these two polarities in mind at the same time, neither accepting nor rejecting either one.