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The source of all things

pointwithinacircle2

Rapscallion
Premium Member
It seems that one of the perennial questions that people ask is "Where did that come from?". I recently read what I thought was an interesting answer to this question. It said, "All things begin as thought".

As I considered this I found myself looking at my watch and thinking "before this watch existed on my wrist it existed in the mind of the person who designed it". Then I thought about how time had to exist in someones mind before a device for measuring it could be invented. By then it certainly seemed that a lot of things began as thought.

Then I considered my feelings. Previous to this I had considered my feelings to be reactions to outside events. But I realized that between the event and the feeling there was a moment where I thought about and what was going on. In that moment I "chose" how I was going to feel.

Of course as this idea is expanded to take in more things it becomes more difficult to support. I cannot prove, for example, that before the earth was created it existed as a thought. However the concept that all things come from thought seems worthy of investigation.
 
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Curtis Helsley

Premium Member
One of the principles of Hermeticism states that "All is Mind", meaning that thought IS the sole originator of all things, in the instance of creation the thoughts of what we know as God. To take it further, it also espouses that Mind is simply a higher frequency of existence than the physical (above the physical but below the spiritual). I'm not saying whether this is right or wrong (as that's a decision each one of us has to make in our own journey), but your train of thought reminded of that. If you're inclined to explore the Hermetic philosphy, The Kybalion is a good primer that speaks significantly about that very idea that you posed, namely that all things derive from thought and Mind.
 

Curtis Helsley

Premium Member
I'm not necessarily sure I see "Mind" as being more inclined toward the masculine or the feminine, and I see Will as meaning the same thing in this context. I view the word "Mind" in this instance as meaning "the substance from which creation springs forth", Will could equally be applied, whereas I think of "Love" as more of a purpose than a cause in and of itself. Of course these are all just words that have finite meanings, which makes their usage problemtic when you're talking about the infinite and the spiritual.

From the Hermetic perspective (and I'm just a student of various philosophies and do not claim to wholly espouse or be an expert on any single one), God is THE Mind from which all creation springs forth. God's origin is none, nor is God's creative impulse driven by a finite concept such as Love (as espoused by many traditional Christian doctrines).

I personally DO believe that our notion of Love is a pale reflection of God's own character, but what I believe and what is true is probably separated by a wide chasm, which is why I find the exploration of philosophies different than what I was brought up with fascinating and enlightening.
 

pointwithinacircle2

Rapscallion
Premium Member
I like the term Construct, which is defined here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construct_(philosophy) as:

"A construct in the philosophy of science is an ideal object, where the existence of the thing may be said to depend upon a subject's mind. This, as opposed to a real object, where existence does not seem to depend on the existence of a mind."

I suggest that Thought, Will, and Love are all constructs, meaning they depend on the mind for their existence. I could add to this list by suggesting words like Justice, Liberty, and Equality. When viewed in this way it seems to me like the most important things in life are those that exist only in the mind.
 

BroBook

Premium Member
It seems that one of the perennial questions that people ask is "Where did that come from?". I recently read what I thought was an interesting answer to this question. It said, "All things begin as thought".

As I considered this I found myself looking at my watch and thinking "before this watch existed on my wrist it existed in the mind of the person who designed it". Then I thought about how time had to exist in someones mind before a device for measuring it could be invented. By then it certainly seemed that a lot of things began as thought.

Then I considered my feelings. Previous to this I had considered my feelings to be reactions to outside events. But I realized that between the event and the feeling there was a moment where I thought about and what was going on. In that moment I "chose" how I was going to feel.

Of course as this idea is expanded to take in more things it becomes more difficult to support. I cannot prove, for example, that before the earth was created it existed as a thought. However the coencept that all things come from thought seems worthy of investigation.
I would add the obvious, there has to be a thinker, my instructor used to always say thought comes from not knowing.
 

pointwithinacircle2

Rapscallion
Premium Member
:) And isn't that the beginning of all thoughts about Diety? Man says: Everything that I create begins as thought, therefore my creation must have begun as the thought of something greater than myself.
 
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