@chrkrhc

Meanwhile, on the opposite of the world, the anonymous Christian author of *The Cloud of #Unknowing * was giving instructions for apophatic #contemplation—a fancy term for wordless, non-conceptual, "just being" meditation.

(I did my dissertation on those two teachers. Different languages, and different cultural traditions, but very similar meditation instructions—and over time they each made similar edits in their instructions.)

#Zen #Dōgen

[in reply to a prompt for lovely sentences:]

The 14th c. author of *The Cloud of #Unknowing* understood that the divine, while it cannot be held in thought, can effectively hold us, in an immediate and sober and loving experience. A modern translation:

But whenever reason fails, then love delights in coming alive and learning to be in play.

The Middle English:

But ever when reason defaileth then list love live and learn for to play.

.
(from his *An epistle of discretion of stirrings*)

@allisonwyss

The 14th c. author of *The Cloud of #Unknowing* understands that the divine, while it cannot be held in thought, can effectively hold us in immediate and sober and loving experience. A modern translation:

But whenever reason fails, then love delights in coming alive and learning to be in play.

The Middle English:

But ever when reason defaileth then list love live and learn for to play.

.
(from his *An epistle of discretion of stirrings*)

@EgyptianAphorist

The anonymous Christian author of *The Cloud of #Unknowing* offers the understanding that our very wish to seek the Divine is placed in us by the Divine.

I read an essay yesterday outlining what appears a similar perspective in Ayatollah Mutahhari (d. 1979):

"Mutahhari develops the argument that the creature of God is the act of God, the act of God is itself one of God’s modes and not a second entity. So God’s creatures are in fact manifestations of His effulgence."

I have two fav. authors—the anonymous 14th c. Christian author of *The Cloud of #Unknowing* and the 13th c. Japanese #Zen teacher Dōgen.

On opposite sides of the world and members of very different religious communities, they wrote deeply similar instructions for how to #meditate. And over time they each made revisions in their instructions—and they made the same revisions.

They were doing the same thing and making the same realizations.

Together they have helped me as a meditator. A lot.

I've been looking at Plato lately, as a #contemplative. And I'm seeing that in the Allegory of the Cave, where the person is initially blinded by the sunlight, the verb Plato uses is *aporein*, which means to be in a state of *aporia*.

And *aporia* is used for the kind of #unknowing that Socrates provoked in the people he talked with, in helping them to realize they didn't really know things they thought they did.

(I have an essay on Socrates along those lines, here—)

https://thesideview.co/journal/the-contemplatives-socrates/

@JaysenWaller @Yudron

Yes. My dissertation compared #meditation/ contemplation instructions in #Zen teacher Dōgen and the Christian author of *The Cloud of #Unknowing.*

Opposite sides of the world, very different religious vocabularies, and very similar practices.

And, over time each made some modifications in their instructions — and they made the same modifications.

They were practicing, and learning, the same realization.

I came across a recording last night of a podcast I did a few years ago on 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑈𝑛𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 (~1 hour), titled "Zen and the Art of #Unknowing with Dave Collins."

I mention #Zen materials in it a few times, but it's mostly about the Cloud.

(The podcast was part of the series, "Poststructuralist Tent Revival." I'm seeing the other episodes of that series are available on Soundcloud.)

https://podtail.com/fi/podcast/poststructuralist-tent-revival/zen-and-the-art-of-unknowing-with-dave-collins-48/

It was a warm and sunny day, full of birdsong. The family picnicked down by the lake—unknowing, unsuspecting, of what watched them with many eyes, of what stalked them on twisted limbs, all the way back to the manor—the creature for whom barriers and locks meant little once the sun went down…

#vssGothic #unknowing #vss #writing #MicroFiction #horror

Gifts for strangers: the ‘ethically ambiguous’ TikTok trend using unknowing people as fodder for content | TikTok | The Guardian #gifts #strangers #ethically #ambiguous #tiktok #trend #using #unknowing #people #fodder #content #guardian #15luglio https://parliamodi.news/article/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlZ3VhcmRpYW4uY29tL3RlY2hub2xvZ3kvMjAyMi9qdWwvMTUvZ2lmdHMtZm9yLXN0cmFuZ2Vycy10aGUtZXRoaWNhbGx5LWFtYmlndW91cy10aWt0b2stdHJlbmQtdXNpbmctdW5rbm93aW5nLXBlb3BsZS1hcy1mb2RkZXItZm9yLWNvbnRlbnQ=