53. God: A Metamodern Perspective (w/ Layman Pascal)
Apr 25, 2024
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Integrative thinker Layman Pascal explores God from a metamodern lens, discussing surplus cohesion, 2nd person relations, and communicating across memetic structures. They dive into God as dynamic becoming, problematizing the 'Creator' image, and the metamodern sort of God. The conversation touches on the divine other, pluralistic mysticism, and the concept of God as love.
Metamodern spirituality emphasizes surplus cohesion as a means of transcending cognitive limitations and generating coherent meaning.
Understanding God through a second person lens allows for diverse interpretations and intentional engagement with the divine.
Viewing God as an ongoing process within cosmic evolution challenges traditional metaphysical concepts and emphasizes a relational gradient approach.
The metamodern interpretation of God highlights the limits of human understanding and the importance of approaching divinity with reverence and openness.
Deep dives
Understanding the Surplus Cohesion Model of Spirituality
The surplus cohesion model defines spirituality as a process within individuals where diverse sense-making modalities come together, generating surpluses of coherent meaning that exceed ordinary cognitive limitations. This surplus creates a depth of meaning interpreted in various ways, such as encountering an internal meta-self or perceiving a divine spirit. Interpersonally, combining cultural information leads to a numinous surplus experienced as a divine spirit among people, essential for cultural functionality.
Lensing God as a Second Person
The conversation explores the second person lensing of God, acknowledging the diverse modalities for interpreting and relating to the divine. Traditionally, perceiving God through an interpersonal lens aligns with fundamental modes of interaction we adopt to engage with the world. This lensing allows for intentional engagement with entities, emphasizing the importance of varied perceptual perspectives in understanding and encountering divinity.
Relating God to Cosmic Evolution and Complexity Unfoldment
Addressing the intricate connection between God and the unfolding cosmos, the discussion delves into viewing God as an ongoing process within the complexification trajectory of existence. Exploring the theological concept of God within the evolutionary framework contemplates God as a maximal complexity manifestation within the evolutionary unfolding of consciousness and sentience throughout cosmic evolution.
Metamodern Perspective on Divine Mysticism and Theological Concepts
The metamodern interpretation of God challenges traditional theological metaphysics by emphasizing a relational gradient approach to understanding divinity and the mystery inherent in reality. The concept of God in quotation marks signifies a poetic personification of complexity, acknowledging the limits of human model-making and the informational opacity that transcends human comprehension. Apophatic mysticism serves as a pathway to revere the divine beyond definitive conceptualizations, fostering a profound connection to the transcendent amidst the limitations of language and perception.
Nature of God and Human Experience
The podcast episode delves into the diverse ways in which humans perceive and relate to the concept of God. It explores various experiences like evocations of pure beingness, urgent prayerful acts in times of need, and glimpses of divine interconnectedness. The discussion raises questions about the similarities and differences in how individuals evoke and understand the divine in profound moments, highlighting the complexity of personal and cultural interpretations.
Progression and Complexity in Belief Systems
The conversation touches on the developmental aspects of belief systems, suggesting that individuals may regress to simpler responses in times of distress while also experiencing moments of expansion and awe that evoke a sense of totality and divinity. The episode examines the concept of totality in relation to social breakdowns and the danger of reverting to regressive notions of divinity rather than advancing to higher levels of understanding.
Integration of Perspectives on God and Love
In the discussion, the intertwining of concepts of God and love is explored, emphasizing how love experiences reflect and amplify one's connection to the divine. The conversation navigates between metaphysical descriptions of God as love and critiques of dependency on a benign parental deity, highlighting the significance of emotional frequencies like love, gratitude, and awe in accessing states of surplus cohesion and divine communion. Additionally, the dialog contemplates the value of pluralistic interpretations of godhood, encouraging a deeper exploration of divine relational dynamics and the evolution of human spiritual experiences.
Integrative thinker Layman Pascal joins me to talk about the meaning of "God" from a metamodern perspective. How does thinking in terms of "surplus cohesion" point us to a helpful way of relating to all the meanings of the term? Why and when is a 2nd person relationship with Reality warranted? Who is this Face in the Universe summoning us to greater communion and transcendence? How do we communicate about all this across the various memetic sensemaking structures of culture (traditional, modern, postmodern metamodern)? Finally, what can folks expect about the upcoming metamodern spirituality gathering on the topic, which will be hosted at Sky Meadow in May and led by Layman?
0:00 Introduction
1:21 Layman's "Surplus Cohesion" Framework
4:48 God as Ultimate Reality in the 2nd Person
9:52 The Face of the Universe: Seeking the 2nd Person in the Complexity Stack
16:27 Some Framing: Reality as Dynamic Becoming, Not Static Being
21:36 Reflecting on the Alpha and the Omega: Problematizing the "Creator" Image
27:46 But Is This Still God? Communicating across Memetic Tribes
37:22 "Real in What Way?" across Levels of Memetic Complexity
45:05 Summarizing a Metamodern Sort of God
47:06 "God" in Quotation Marks: Moving beyond Totality
52:10 The God Encounter
1:08:12 The Divine Other
1:13:33 Praxis: Courting Visio Divina
1:16:41 Pluralistic Mysticism
1:23:10 Trinity as Dynamic Architectonic Plurality
1:27:08 Naturalism and Metaphysics
1:30:46 God is Love
1:37:20 Talking about "The G Word"
1:39:40 The Upcoming Metamodern Spirituality Lab on "God" at Sky Meadow (May 24-26)
More on the metamodern spirituality lab at www.skymeadowinstitute.org
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