Of the two others you were curious about-
 One was an aunt that took me to the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
 (permanent Egyptian exhibit) in NY, when I was 10. The Egyptian
 imagery (much like Chardin's writing) leaped off the walls
 and into my head (pure magic) and remain there still. The other
 was a teacher in the 7th grade that taught Latin American History,
 one Mr. Angus McPhail, crazy as a loon, but taught into my head
 the power of emotions to reach past what logic cannot see. That
 would be the simple of it.
 
 FM> I gather that Chardin is, however, merely a category of
 FM> thought that you once encountered, that it exacted a certain
 FM> youthful emotion which you feel you have outgrown or placed
 FM> in some more modern and contemporary context.  Am I accurate
 FM> in this supposition?
 
     Yes, but I do bounce new ideas against his, if not always for
   quality, at least for range (his being the grandest mind ever to
   touch me).
 
 
 FM> It then became clearer to me that reality of the experiences within
 FM> consciousness as related at first or second hand down through the
 FM> centuries of man's existence whether paleontological or historical
 FM> were NOT related to the gnostic notion of some mysterious beyond to
 FM> be reached through gradations of ACTIONS on the part of the
 FM> experiencing consciousness but were PRESENT right there in the
 FM> experiencing consciousness itself.  Lying or sitting around waiting
 FM> for some audible voice from some concrete BEYOND made less and less
 FM> sense, .....
 
     Very little makes sense to me, if I think about it long enough!
     .....or perhaps slips away to not matter much.
 
 FM> .....no matter how deeply the Fundementalist believes this to be
 FM> the ONLY contact of the human with the divine in the world.  The
 FM> notion of "God" writing books or of "Moses" writing books had seemed
 FM> rather strange to me even BEFORE I began to meditate seriously on
 FM> man's actual existence and experience.   I listened very carefully
 FM> to Voegelin's insistence that there IS NO TRUTH LYING AROUND
 FM> SOMEWHERE FOR SOMEBODY TO STUMBLE UPON THROUGH A FORTUITOUS DISCOVERY.
 FM> The truth of existence is not OUT THERE SOMEWHERE but is precisely
 FM> the realization of the reality existing WITHIN this consciousness
 FM> which reveals and is revealing itself in many modes and certainly not
 FM> always harmoniously and in complete fullness.
 
   That "realization" is relative to realization sounds about
   as right as it gets! .............yes "Voegelin" is with us
   most of the way!
 
 FM> That is the point of contact that I found with Chardin's stress on
 FM> the "within of things" which I found far more important than his
 FM> mechanics of the evolutionary process.  It is obvious from some of
 FM> the observations of some of the haters of humanity who post here on
 FM> this echo that the availability of what IS revealed in consciousness
 FM> is NOT available to all "conscious" beings and why that is so IS a
 FM> mystery.
 
     Nature seems in need of some extreme diversities. Those "haters"
     you refer to, define the FURTHEST walls of your own exploratory
     arena; and actually challenge you into frequent response (Richard
     devotes over half his postings to or about them).  I myself have
     some oft teased along your irritations .  We can be OK some
     of the time to some folks ....but it's hard to be OK with all
     folks all of the time.
 
 FM> Plato could only write what he had discovered and Aristotle could
 FM> only take that and enlarge upon it - BOTH were quite well aware
 FM> that the hordes of human beings who, of necessity, had to be
 FM> politically assembled and ruled throughout epochs lacked the
 FM> spiritual sensitivity to operate outside of confining religions
 FM> or ideologies.
 
     The intellectual aristocrats of history suffer the illusion
     of importance, not so enjoyed by the "hordes" that never heard
     of them. ........................Likely neither matters much!
 
 FM> This does not mean that Chardin is other than one of the forces ringing
 FM> true in a certain phase of what I uncovered as the truth of existence
 FM> available for my feeble grasp.
 
           ............two feeble GRASPs.
 
 DM>> higher than his words reflect. I found (find) him scary.
 
 FM> I am quite serious; why did you find him "scary."  That puzzled me,
 FM> I must confess.
 
     As with "Jesus" to some, Chardin had that power to touch mind.
     Being "naturally" distrustful, I must back off from those that
     can fist the delicate search circuits that give me pleasure.
     Intellectual charm is a selfish force born of almost spiritual
     giving ....the so called chains of bewonderment that can enslave
     the weak to charismas.  Being so, prone to epic and emotion, I
     chill scary near the chiming of enhanted chains.
 
     It took enormous effort to free myself from the comforts of
     youth nurtued religion   .......even now the silver bunjie
     cord still beacons to tug from time to time.
 
     I've chosen a low brow intellectual hedonism that I mix into my
     pastels....... my "VERY" few trips to the mountain have convinced
     (only) me that FULL and EMPTY are relative and equal and just a
     bit dark in any humor I might understand ...............
                                                  ^~
     ....when we choose to see through jade,   ((@@-" ... Dave
     reality becomes green  !!!                 /\
--- Maximus/2 3.01
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