Thought, the paradigm, Meister Eckhart, Carl Jung, and Seven Sermons to the Dead

***

Thought is erroneous only in so far as it exists within an erroneous paradigm. It is the paradigm of consciousness that matters. Intelligence and imagination can only be intelligent and imaginative within the paradigm, outside of it they are hollow talents. Yet one cannot envision an alternative paradigm while attempting to imagine it within the context of the first. The first paradigm must crumble; one must re‑cognize in order to recognize, only then can one begin to effectively consider. That is, one need not see different things; one need only see things different.

“God laughed, and begat the Son. Together they laughed, and begat the Holy Spirit. And from the laughter of the three the universe was born.”

                                    Meister Eckhart

 “Distinctiveness is creatura. It is distinct. Distinctiveness is its essence, and therefore it distinguisheth. Therefore man discriminateth because his nature is distinctiveness. …Our very nature is distinctiveness. …The natural striving of the creature goeth towards distinctiveness, fighteth against primeval, perilous sameness. This is called the principium individuationis. This principle is the essence of the creature.”

                                    Carl Jung (Seven Sermons to the Dead)

***

These selected fragments are excerpted from unpublished writings by Jack Haas; selections from the notebooks 1990-2005.