The Matter of the Mind

PD 1.5 (i.e. Pandect: page 1, fifth pgrph) Your world ... is one of many similar inhabited planets which comprise the local universe of Nebadon. This universe, together with similar creations, makes up the superuniverse of Orvonton, from whose capital, Uversa, our ... revelatory commission hails. Orvonton is one of the seven evolutionary superuniverses of time and space which circle ... the central universe of Havona. At the heart of this eternal and central universe is the stationary Isle of Paradise, the geographic center of infinity.

Sean "Now hang on a minute—I can't let that go by. `The geographic center of infinity' is an oxymoron if ever I heard one. First, the word geographic has to do with the drawing out of a description of `geos' or earth. And I cannot imagine how earth can be considered a center of infinity, or how Paradise could be either, for that matter. Or anything else. One has to posit infinity in this scenario as an incomprehensibly huge `globe' of which the perimeter somehow is at any point equidistant from the center. But if infinity is all that is therein contained then what have we got there? Endless reaches of nothing at all? Does anything in this make any sort of sense?"

Ben "Did I just hear you say that the bulk of what you just set forth makes no sense?"

"Listen, we have the following: 1. Nebadon, an inhabited local universe which is part of a superuniverse: 2. Orvonton, of which there are seven, and from whose capital: 3. Uversa, a commission has been sent to bring us this missive of revelation. Further, the seven superuniverses circle, like normal satelites, 4. Havona, the perfect central universe, itself circling, like normal satelites, 5. The Isle of Paradise, the absolute center of the 6. `heelal' (i.e. `everything, in an undifferentiated sense,' borrowed from the Dutch language.)"

Ben "Does that help? Make sense?" "Not sure. Let me think about it."

PD 1.6 (i.e. sixth pgrph) The seven evolving superuniverses in association with the central and divine universe, we commonly refer to as the grand universe; these are the now organized and inhabited creations. They are all a part of the master universe, which also embraces the uninhabited but mobilizing universes of outer space.

"Thus, we also have: 7. The Grand Universe of organized and inhabited creations, and: 8. The Master Universe which is the Grand Universe plus the organizing but uninhabited universes of outer space.

Ben "Take note, Sean, that the term `outer space' in this setting, has quite a different meaning than the one in use among earth's astronomers. The latter use outer space to refer to a region that is not a part of an organized community or family of space objects; the former are speaking of a region of space in which there are no such objects at all."

Sean "That's all very interesting, but at the moment it is just a bald, unsupported set of statements." Ben "At the moment, yes, but later astronomy proper plays a good part, with an overall effect of supporting these and many other cosmological claims. As you can surely tell, these are the bold and basic strokes, to set the stage in major parts, a concession, if you will, to the limited human mind. And now, another such ambit."

PD (6.2) In this original transaction the theoretical I AM achieved the realization of personality by becoming the Eternal Father of the Original Son simultaneously with becoming the Eternal Source of the Isle of Paradise.

"Here we have an early introduction, by way of a conceptual nod to `eternity' with the use of 8. the theoretical I AM which appellation, (see the King James Bible.) "underlines the meaning of `eternity' in an experiential sense as being the always and ever present, connoting the whole of past-present-future in one apprehension."

(KJB, Gen. 26.24) And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

PD (34.4) No thing is new to God, and no cosmic event ever comes as a surprise; he inhabits the circle of eternity. He is without beginning or end of days. To God there is no past, present, or future; all time is present at any given moment. He is the great and only I AM.

"We also come up against 9. the realization of personality as the first occurrence of relatedness between two persons—think of "This is my beloved Son ..." but, to put the capacity for relatedness as somehow commensurate with `personality' engenders some dissonance, so that will require some discussion later on.

"There is a third element in the last Pandect item, and that is the paired way in which the creation of the Eternal Son is coterminous with that of the Isle of Paradise, and what's more, the quotation continues as follows:"

PD (6.2) Coexistent with the differentiation of the Son from the Father, and in the presence of Paradise, there appeared the person of the Infinite Spirit and the central universe of Havona.

"The third element, then, applies also in the case of the Infinite Spirit: In the same way that the Eternal Son is paired with the Isle of Paradise, the Infinite Spirit is paired with Havona. Both of them are coupled with an immediate objective correlative as they come into existence. The implication would be that even with the coming of the gods there is a balance involved, `a balance in groundedness,' for want of a more fully formulated explication."

We also come up against the realization of personality as the first occurrence of relatedness between two persons—think of "This is my beloved Son ..." but, to put the capacity for relatedness as somehow commensurate with `personality' engenders some dissonance, so that requires some examination later on."

PD (6.2) Coexistent with the differentiation of the Son from the Father, and in the presence of Paradise, there appeared the person of the Infinite Spirit and the central universe of Havona.

Sean "Well, you're a fledgling full of promise, aren't you? You're soaring the azure skies and leaving me here unattended in my atheistic isolation. Ever think this might...