TRA is for Trance: On the Linguistics of Crossing Over
Jul 15, 2021
01:15:33
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Quick takeaways
Emphasis on transcendence in modern society through science and apocalyptic religion.
Traverse through traditional trance practices leads to focused presence and mystical tradition.
Challenge of navigating inner journeys amidst constant technological trance-inducing stimuli.
Deep dives
The Linguistic Root "Tra" and Its Influence on Words and Concepts
The podcast delves into the linguistic root 'tra' and its profound impact on various words and concepts. Words like traverse, transform, travel, and transcend all originate from this root, highlighting humanity's inherent urge to cross boundaries and seek transformation.
Trance as a Reparative and Transformative Journey
Traditional trance practices are explored as reparative travel that heals and unites various aspects of individuals and communities. Trance allows practitioners to navigate journeys within themselves without physically crossing external boundaries, emphasizing the transformative power of altered states of consciousness.
Pilgrimage as an Inner and Outer Traverse
The podcast discusses the significance of pilgrimage as both an internal meditative journey and a physical traversal of sacred places. Pilgrimage routes, rituals, and practices offer paths for individuals to cross thresholds and connect with deeper aspects of themselves, transcending traditional boundaries.
The Intersection of Tradition and Transgression in Spiritual Practices
The interplay between tradition and transgression in spiritual practices is explored, showcasing how breaking conventional rules can lead to profound revelations. The balance between adhering to tradition and embracing transgressive elements is highlighted as a means to transcend limitations and access higher states of consciousness.
Technology and Trance: Navigating Contemporary Traverses
The impact of modern technology on inducing trance-like states in individuals is examined. Smartphones, social media, and digital platforms have reshaped human consciousness by providing continuous opportunities for crossing over into altered mental states, leading to a reevaluation of how individuals engage with technology to navigate their inner and outer journeys.
Trance, traverse, transformation, tradition, transcendence, transgression — all come from a single Indo-European linguistic root TRA, which signifies some type of crossing over. Crossing over is something human beings have always been inclined to do — populations migrate across great expanses as explorers seek new horizons. Too much emphasis on crossing over, however, can lead to worldviews of transcendence, in which the purpose of existence is to 'get past' rather than exist in harmony with what is. Transcendence worldviews are alive and well in modern apocalyptic religion and in modern science, which seems determined to transcend nature, blast us to mars, and extend human lifespans. Yet traditionally, this human need for traverse was addressed through ritualized trance, which carried practitioners across a great inner divide. The great inner traverse offered by trance practice brought the practitioner into a state of focused presence, a flow state that is the heart of mystical tradition, and that requires the greatest of traverses to reach — the traverse across the torrent of agitated discursive thought to a state of seamless integration. These days, this traverse is harder and harder to make, as we are inundated with technologies that 'carry us across', and we spend most of our waking lives in an unwitting trance, perpetually crossing over without even realizing it. TRA is for trance — choose your trances wisely.
