Jack asked, in passing, in this week’s orientation notes, which, if any, of the three spaces in the phrase “Space projecting space into space†“I am here†might be.
The “16 points†seem to be a projection, since the “I†is compelled to reach out in search of a home for itself. In the light of the TSK vision, this projected reaching out is made possible by the allowance of space, in the freedom the “I†experiences to engage with whatever environment it discovers.
The strange (symbolic) presentation of a world view in which 16 other points provide “completion†for a zero point, seems true to how we have mysteriously emerged into consciousness (“I am hereâ€) and then have no choice but to reach out and populate the more diversely articulated space we discover around us. More radically, this reaching out is then presented as involving the construction of a track, joining the “Iâ€, “here†in its “beingâ€, with several “there’sâ€, that show up like 16 train-depots, providing destination, purpose, and orientation for the “Iâ€.
We might well ask if it adds anything to this picture to call the “Iâ€, its reaching out, and its discovery of an environment—“Space projecting space into spaceâ€.
To quote a Jewish prayer: “If not now, when?â€
It seems that this entire, strange version of how we relate to our environment, may actually require the concept of space if we are even to comprehend it. Interestingly, the 16 points may not require us to actually notice them, as a baby discovers a mobile spinning above her crib. They seem to step forth just as vigorously as the “I†steps out from its here-ness. Perhaps the “16†points are also “space projecting space into spaceâ€, and the “Iâ€, “hereâ€, meets its “companions in time†half way.
The “I†seems to bring a space of consciousness into a kind of space that does not require its own locus of consciousness in order to provide orientation for the “Iâ€.
For these “16†points to provide “completion†for the zero point (which mysteriously erupts as “I am hereâ€), it seems that relationship is needed. Without relationship with others it seems that the “I†could not enjoy a sense of completion, but would remain a subject facing off against its objects-of-interest. Even if 16 objective references were to arise and ground the “I†it seems that a sense of completion also requires that we feel ourselves flowing within a larger whole—a whole that completes and embraces us while allowing us the “space†to “be†ourselves “here†and “nowâ€.
Perhaps the “universal unique†points toward these dual faces of our existence as living beings: we are unique in our I-am-here-ness but we cannot thrive unless we find completion in the universe that embraces us.
Michael,
I make yours, my words:
” …“I†steps out from its here-ness. Perhaps the “16†points are also “space projecting space into spaceâ€, and the “Iâ€, “hereâ€, meets its “companions in time†half way.”
After all, there is always the sky to remember us that space is everywhere.
You said also that:
“… it seems that a sense of completion also requires that we feel ourselves flowing within a larger whole—a whole that completes and embraces us while allowing us the “space†to “be†ourselves “here†and “nowâ€.”
But for me, there is no need that “You” or “I” be ourselves. The important is the relationship, the infinite possibilities of the universal unique allowed by space.