That's what it's all about. Failing that one may live a strictly materialistic life, focused on houses and cars and 'getting ahead' and all other such things. Of course things like love, honor, integrity, duty-- these things give us at least a glimmer of the Infinite.
In contrast hate (so terribly common in our conventions of politics and geo-politics (usually going by the name of "good patriotic Americanism"), lasciviousness and promiscuity, avarice, and such like are expressions of the diabolic or 'worldly' (N.T.term).
And then there is Blake; he was said to be a "Bible soaked Protestant". In Ezekiel he had noticed an interesting departure from convention. In a youthful vision he asked Ezekiel why he ate so long on his right side and his left side and 'eat dung'. Back came Zeke's reply:
"the desire of raising other men into a perception of the infinite" (MHH13; E39)".
Without stretching matters very far you could say that was the underlying and guiding principle of his art (verbal and graphic). Blake had lived in the infinite from the time when at the age of eight he sighted a tree full of angels. It was so plain and clear to him throughout his life, and so mystifying to the rest of us: to perceive the Infinite!
For a fuller version of the story go to A Perception of the Infinite.
3 comments:
Ezekiel's actions and response is similar to many of the yogis... It reminds me in particular of the film Naked in Ashes which I saw a couple of years ago. I think Blake would've like it.
In the depths of the Unconscious we all come together: yogi, psychiatrist, minister, etc.
btw I'm trying to partition my Vista machine to allow room for Linux; it possible?
I'd think it must be possible. But I've never done anything with Vista or Linux. Unfortunately, I can't help here.
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