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Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
I'll start with a quote from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek:
The question from agnosticism is, Who turned on the lights? The question from faith is, Whatever for? Thoreau climbs Mount Katahdin and gives vent to an almost outraged sense of the reality of the tings of this world: "I fear bodies, I tremble to meet them. What is this Titan that has possession of me? Talk of mysteries!--Think of our life in nature, --daily to be4 shown matter, to come in contact with it,--rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! the solid earth! the actual world! the common sense! Contact! Contact! (typo edited out -- thanks to DW; who knows his Thoreau, thoroughly.) Who are we? where are we?" The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth . . .
Sir James Jeans, British astronomer and physicist, suggested that the universe was beginning to look more like a great thought than a great machine. Humanists seized on the expression, but it was hardly news. we knew, looking around, that a thought branches and leafs, a tree comes to a conclusion. But the question of who is thing the thought is more fruitful than the question of who made the machine, for a machinist can of course wipe his hands and leave, and his simple machine still hums; but if the thinker's attention strays for a minute, his simplest thought ceases altogether. And, as I have stressed, the place where we so incontrovertibly find ourselves, whether thought or machine, is at least not in any way simple.
_________________ Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads ~ Henry David Thoreau
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” -Thich Nhat Hahn
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Thought I may as well chase down the Thoreau quote -- here it is, from Maine Woods:
I stand in awe of my body, this matter to which I am bound has become so strange to me. I fear not spirits, ghosts, of which I am one, that my body might, but I fear bodies, I tremble to meet them. What is this Titan that has possession of me? Talk of mysteries! Think of our life in nature, daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! The solid earth! the actual world! the common sense! Contact! Contact! Who are we? where are we?” (1864, Maine Woods , "Ktaadn," 664)
_________________ Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads ~ Henry David Thoreau
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” -Thich Nhat Hahn
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
I am now in the last third of the book. Thus far Dillard has used her detailed descriptions of nature (mostly of insects) to make two points. The first, the multitude of forms that life takes in the world run the gamut from startlingly beautiful to shockingly horrific. The second, in nature (evolution) the individual does not matter; it is the survival of the group/species that is the point. I can't wait to see where she is going with this!
On page 178 Dillard wrote:
Look: Cock Robin may die the most gruesome of slow deaths, and nature is no less pleased; the sun comes up, the creek rolls on, the survivors still sing . . . We value the individual supremely, and nature values him not a whit. . . . But wait, you say, there is no right and wrong in nature; right and wrong is a human concept. Precisely: we are moral creatures, then, in an amoral world.
Dillard captures something here that helps me understand why spirituality/religion and science clash for so many people. --- hold that thought, I am burning the rice!
---Never cook and write at the same time!
Nature and human morality seem to be at odds. The very workings of evolution is in direct opposition to one of humanities highest held values -- recognition of the individual. All we, as humans, can do is focus on the individual. After all, the only sure thing is that we are alive right now -- as far as any of us can prove, this is the only opportunity that we have to smell, eat, have sex, touch, experience, love....How could we not be focused on the individual. I can see why evolution might be perceived to be a threat to morality. I think one could make the argument that the current heighten focus on the individual goes part way to explain why there has been more opposition to evolution in the past 10 years than....than, I would venture a guess, since The Origin of Species was first published. In the frame work of evolution the individual is disposable.
_________________ Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads ~ Henry David Thoreau
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” -Thich Nhat Hahn
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Dillard wrote:
But wait, you say, there is no right and wrong in nature; right and wrong is a human concept. Precisely: we are moral creatures, then, in an amoral world.
I've been thinking about this quote and the implications for morality since yesterday. I've been asking myself what is morality, where does it come from, and why is there such a thing as morality. So far what I've come up with is, morality must be what holds society together. It is the social contract. Number one, preeminant rule is do no harm. Isn't that the essence of morality?
_________________ Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads ~ Henry David Thoreau
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” -Thich Nhat Hahn
Joined: Apr 2008 Posts: 2495 Images: 5 Location: Round Hill, VA
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Though out the book Annie Dillard uses the adjective speckled to describe various and sundry things in her view. I noticed the frequent use and for awhile I thought she was simply reporting. She also makes several references to Jacob's cattle, on which a nation was founded, "ring-streaked, speckled and spotted." Reading chapter 13, The Horns of the Altar, I made a connection. I thought of the poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins Pied Beauty. In chapter 13 Dillard makes an eloquent argument that to be alive in this world is to be blemished; spotted with the scars of living. She says the only creature that is perfect is the newborn. The very act of being alive exposes every living creature to physical insults; in the form of parasites, predators, the elements, and accidents. We are all pied in one way or another.
Dillard p. 245 wrote:
I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done my share of eating too. I am not washed and beautiful, in control of a shining world in which everything fits, but instead am wandering awed about on a splintered wreck I've come to care for, whose gnawed trees breathe a delicate air, whose bloodied and scarred creatures are my dearest companions, and whose beauty beats and shines not in it imperfections but overwhelmingly in spite of them.
Pied Beauty
Glory be to God for dappled things-- For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings; Landscape plotted and pieced--fold, fallow, and plough; And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange; Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?) With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise Him.
_________________ Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads ~ Henry David Thoreau
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” -Thich Nhat Hahn
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
For a definition of 'morality', I look to the studies done by Kolberg. Our definition is related to our cognitive development. Since Dillard wrote Pilgrim at age 27 her own definition may have changed by now.
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
weaver wrote:
For a definition of 'morality', I look to the studies done by Kolberg. Our definition is related to our cognitive development. Since Dillard wrote Pilgrim at age 27 her own definition may have changed by now.
I think much work has been done since Kolberg did his research. It would be interesting to read something more recent to see what of Kolberg's ideas have held up over time.
_________________ Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads ~ Henry David Thoreau
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” -Thich Nhat Hahn
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Saffron wrote:
Thought I may as well chase down the Thoreau quote -- here it is, from Maine Woods:
I stand in awe of my body, this matter to which I am bound has become so strange to me. I fear not spirits, ghosts, of which I am one, that my body might, but I fear bodies, I tremble to meet them. What is this Titan that has possession of me? Talk of mysteries! Think of our life in nature, daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! The solid earth! the actual world! the common sense! Contact! Contact! Who are we? where are we?” (1864, Maine Woods , "Ktaadn," 664)
This passage is not quite clear to me, like many I really like. It talks to me about the difficulty of realizing fully what it is to be here. I wonder sometimes at the ease with which we humans make the jump to a "spiritual" realm, when the evidence says that we haven't bothered to find out what it means and how amazing it is to "daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks"! Stay grounded, is what Thoreau seems to be telling us in this superb passage.
The following user would like to thank DWill for this post: Saffron
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Saffron wrote:
I thought of the poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins Pied Beauty. In chapter 13 Dillard makes an eloquent arrangement that to be alive in this world is to be blemished; spotted with the scars of living. She says the only creature that is perfect is the newborn. The very act of being alive exposes every living creature to physical insults; in the form of parasites, predators, the elements, and accidents. We are all pied in one way or another.
Heck of a connection, Saffron. This is a shining thread you've got going, and it makes me wish I'd managed to check the book out on my last visit to the library!
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
DWill wrote:
Heck of a connection, Saffron. This is a shining thread you've got going, and it makes me wish I'd managed to check the book out on my last visit to the library!
Yes, I do think you need to borrow this book. I keep trying to buy myself a copy -- I gave it to my daughter for Christmas. It is quite hard to find at a brick and mortar these days; in fact, I ordered hers online. And thank you, I'm glad you like the thread.
_________________ Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads ~ Henry David Thoreau
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” -Thich Nhat Hahn
Joined: Apr 2008 Posts: 2495 Images: 5 Location: Round Hill, VA
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
DWill wrote:
This passage is not quite clear to me, like many I really like. It talks to me about the difficulty of realizing fully what it is to be here. I wonder sometimes at the ease with which we humans make the jump to a "spiritual" realm, when the evidence says that we haven't bothered to find out what it means and how amazing it is to "daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks"! [b]Stay grounded,[/b is what Thoreau seems to be telling us in this superb passage.
*my bold
It is very difficult not to get carried away by the question of what the hell are we doing here. It has plagued me at times. I think maybe this is the wrong question, or at least, I think we go about trying to answer it all wrong. I believe Thoreau is right, the mind blowing fact is that we are here at all. We are incarnate. It is the only thing we can be absolutely sure of; we are flesh. Western people spend so much energy denying the physical reality of human life (we are animals)-- aging, fat (I don't mean obesity), pain, desire/lust, smell, digestion, wrinkles, lactation, childbirth, menstruation, body fluids of all kinds, sex and death. If you want to know what it is to be human, you must attend to all of these things; embrace them, for they are what make up a human, animal life.
_________________ Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads ~ Henry David Thoreau
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” -Thich Nhat Hahn
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Saffron wrote:
Dillard captures something here that helps me understand why spirituality/religion and science clash for so many people. --- hold that thought, I am burning the rice!
---Never cook and write at the same time!
Nature and human morality seem to be at odds. The very workings of evolution is in direct opposition to one of humanities highest held values -- recognition of the individual. All we, as humans, can do is focus on the individual. After all, the only sure thing is that we are alive right now -- as far as any of us can prove, this is the only opportunity that we have to smell, eat, have sex, touch, experience, love....How could we not be focused on the individual. I can see why evolution might be perceived to be a threat to morality. I think one could make the argument that the current heighten focus on the individual goes part way to explain why there has been more opposition to evolution in the past 10 years than....than, I would venture a guess, since The Origin of Species was first published. In the frame work of evolution the individual is disposable.
I hope it was not burnt after all. I had a thought about evolution's focus on the species, which comes from reading The Selfish Gene (what I did read of it, I mean). I don't know if it would make anyone feel better, but actually it did me. Dawkins believes evolution works entirely through the individual and that the individual is the unit of selection, not the group. I think he's in the mainstream here, the belief in group selectionism having given way 20 or 30 years ago. Where Dawkins takes things further is in thinking that the gene is the true unit of selection, making the individual the vessel that ensures the genes get passed down the generations. One of his alternate titles was "The Immortal Gene." Even in cases of altruism, where the assumption may be that the individual is programmed to sacrifice for the good of a group/species, what is going on is really still the individual deriving an advantage for himself through the altruistic behavior. What we see as a species thriving is in fact just the result of all the individual success at reproduction. So, according to Dawkins, evolution doesn't "care about" species. (There are even some biologists who doubt the existence of species as a higher-order entity, but I don't know about that.)
My own individuality, in the sense of who I was as a person, goes down the tubes within a couple of generations if I succeed at reproducing, but the genes I passed on are individually potentially immortal. I don't know... that pleases me somehow.
I think it's the lack of room for a planner that bothers people most about evolution. While it's not true that the whole process is random, it is true that evolution must be entirely unguided--or else it's not Darwin's theory. This is where I think the fundamentalists are a bit ahead of theists who accept evolution. Don't misunderstand me, I'm glad for the modern theists; otherwise we'd have a lot more trouble with creationism in the schools. But the fundamentalists are more consistent. (Sorry, I didn't intend to say this much about the subject.)
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Re: Exploration of mysticism and spirituality in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
DWill wrote:
(Sorry, I didn't intend to say this much about the subject.)
I'm rather glad you did! Thanks.
_________________ Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads ~ Henry David Thoreau
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” -Thich Nhat Hahn
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