V

Conclusion...

• THE MEANING OF LIFE? •

Here then is an interesting conclusion to the idea of absentia and paradox. At the beginning of this study, I mentioned the possibility of an intrinsic spiritual tone emerging from these logical patterns, in spite of a desired adherence to common sense conclusions. Well after dealing with paradox for some time, I began to notice how one of the more interesting things that could be said about paradox, and the logic of paradox, is how it can be applied to life itself. One might even say that the problems the Mobius idea causes for a finite world, seem to make an answer to the question of life as insurmountable as any other paradox. For example... given what we have theorized about the origin and destiny of our universe, as seen through the stages of our model, the meaning of life seems quite pointless. We pass through an apparent progression of ascending steps only to exit where we entered via our two impossibly connected points of absentia (see Endless Ascent). Because of this, the action of broken symmetry becomes a futile existence, while at the same time the balance of a perfectly symmetrical life creates stagnation. Because of this we see how the eternity of nothingness remains as pointless as the transient expression of any model. And, because of conditions like Endless Ascent, we can see how the point at which another entity takes over becomes as original a beginning as the previous, in spite of what one gains from the other. We are forever stepping up and not going anywhere! So where do we belong? The endless ascent, from point to sphere, makes the development and growth of the model seem meaningless, while - to some - the reality that lies between begins to feel like a trap or finite prison of three dimensions, with the effects of Diminishing Returns isolating us all from each other, our creator, and our perceptions of purpose.

Think about the differences between the finite and the infinite, or the body and the spirit. On the one hand, the conditions we have theorized concerning the evolution of finite manifestation make it a complex and sometimes violent experience (see Big Bang/Fountain). Implosions and explosions, compression and radiance, human bodies, as well as human spirits, are fragile entities, they often succumb to illness and injuries, sometimes making the very act of maintaining a manifest form, or conscious mind, a burden. But... on the other hand, one has to admit that the privilege of being given a manifest form, and the miracle of birth from a stagnant world of nothingness, is unequaled in the universe. The exhilaration of form, energy and senses is overwhelming. And the uniqueness of every individual, creates a tapestry of creation and universal expression that is truly sacred. Every day a body lives, is a day of unbelievable brutality - but oh, to have such senses! How can life be so rotten and so incredible, at the same time?

As I pondered this question I asked myself “How can anything be anything, and something else, at the same time? Then I thought, “Perhaps the logic of paradox can offer some answers to this perplexing dilemma.”

The Mobius ‘God’

When we apply the essence of "pretzel logic" or "adherence to absurdity" to the question of life, we realize the true paradox of life itself, namely that...

In other words, when we have the capabilities to understand life, we don’t. And, when we loose the capability to understand, the meaning of life becomes all too obvious. Thus by way of universal application, we can see how the Mobius twist forces life itself to reveal the same paradoxical conditions of conflict, found in other laws and patterns, with external differences characteristic to its form. In other words, by being simultaneously a trap and an opportunity, life is shown to be governed by the "ultimate symmetry" of our two points of absentia. Finally, in the spirit of true "pretzel logic" we can now safely say that...

However, to be more precise, we should say that the meaning of life is in fact hidden, within the realm of pretzel logic and the Mobius twist that creates our two points of absentia. Thus, if the meaning of life is locked within the paradox of The Absentia, some might be lead to conclude that the existence of any supreme being (as in a GOD), must also exist within the realm of the two points of absentia or pretzel logic and the Mobius twist. This then becomes the foundation for any pursuit of "God" or religion within the confines of our home-made universe.

In looking for spiritual connections in all this, it’s not difficult for me to conclude that because we all share the same outer absentia, "God" is in fact all around us, and, because all unobtainable centers will transcend to an equal state of impossible singularity, "God" must also exist within each and every one of us simultaneously (not exactly a new idea but...). Our purpose then, from the point of view of our model, is to be a transient expression of universal flux and patterns-in-nature, and unite this single split "God" with an endless augmentation of form - a mechanical purpose with a hidden meaning (a result of the exclusionary, um-pa-pa/string-leaving-top effect of paradox) (see Angular Momentum).

By carrying this spiritual meaning one step further, one may also choose to view the outer absentia as a theoretical "Heaven" and "God" and the inner absentia as a "Hell" or "Devil within us," in which case our manifest forms would become an arena of conflict that connects, or separates, these two forces (see Diminishing Returns), thus providing us with a possible explanation for a universe that is both rotten on one hand and incredible on the other. In addition, we could also consider the Christian notion of God casting Satin, out of heaven and into the depths of hell, as a parable for the idea of IMploding coagulation from God (on the infinite outside), to Satin (on the finite inside) [Revelation 12:9]. Our final purpose then would be one of perpetual reconciliation of divine opposites along this absentia-to-absentia spectrum of intermediary opposites. Another familiar idea, and one that once again points us to the 3/7 sphere of our model to observe how the theoretical "skin," or transitional membrane, described elsewhere, can be seen not only as a metamorphic transitional midpoint between particle and wave, positive and negative, or infinity and definition, but also as the midpoint between the embodiment of Go-o-d and D-evil.

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The Cosmic Reconciliation Mandala

Here is a mandala you can use to meditate on the idea of each entity in the universe being the embodiment of opposing forces that exist within and without. Whether you choose to view either extreme as Go-o-d and D-evil, or Heaven or Hell, or just Conscious and UnConscious, is up to you. The important thing to draw from this mandala is how the blackness and stars that you see within... are the same blackness and stars that you see without. The Godforce of paradox is not two Gods in two places, it is one God in two places... two places that, through conditions of paradox are actually the same place. Exist in one and you also exist in the other. Pursue God with an inward path, or pursue God with an outward path, it doesn't matter.

Like trees fanning out at their tops with branches, and fanning out at their bottoms with roots, the 3/7 metamorphic "skin" of our model is a midpoint of cosmic reconciliation between the extremes of without and within. The relationship between The Universe and The Absentia is like a sandwich, with life and death as the ingredients between two slices of absentia.

In this mandala, the two rings with inverted triangles represent the numbers 5, on the inside and 0 on the outside. The inverted pointing triangles symbolize how an inward path takes us to the same place as an outward path. So whereas most of our models show four circles and a point, in this mandala, the point has been enlarged to an unrealistic degree to show that the nothingness of dead center is the same nothingness that lies outside. Nothingness is nothingness. Through the paradox of a split Absentia/Godforce, they are united as one... singularity... in two parts! The dotted lines between the five circles are like trees fanning out at their tops with branches, and fanning out at their bottoms with roots, showing how the 3/7 metamorphic "skin" of our model is a midpoint of cosmic reconciliation between the extremes of without and within. Those same dotted lines, when viewed in conjunction with the five circles, can also be seen as lines of force, joining the inner and outer reaches like poles on a bar magnet. The four little circles represent the four stages of the spherical model of existence. As each series of little circles converge upon the center, the larger circles represent the recursive 5 circling us back around, through the dead center of nothingness to the nothingness of the outside, to begin our inward journey again and again, as we pursue a God that is ultimately unobtainable.

Re-ligare

When we begin to examine tarot cards and identify numerical characteristics, we will see how the numbers 3 and 7 (representing the 3/7 sphere of metamorphic transition between divine and mundane) will be correctly associated with concepts like religion and spiritual connections. In fact most people who pursue occult, religious or spiritual studies usually discover rather quickly, the significance of the number 7 as a spiritual and religious number. The problem is, many people (too many) do not explain why this number has such influence (other than to offer a multitude of man-made lists of things that come in quantities of seven). Associating all these lists of 7 to the seven classical planets that defined spheres of containment which ancient minds believed to be steps to heaven helps. But, for many, the spiritual significance of the number 7 (and to a certain extent the number 3) is so embedded into the folklore of occult, religious and spiritual practices that a lot of people don't even bother to ask why, they just accept the label of “7” as a representation of "spiritual things," and never look for the patterns that explain why. Of course now, because of this study of patterns, we know why the number 7 is spiritual. Between the holy trinity of The Cosmic Waltz, and the spiritual oneness of the 7 in the Critical Mass of the Geometric, Creative and Sexual progressions, these two numbers hold important positions with respect to the idea of religion, spirituality and connecting to the divine.

Of course religion, by definition, or etymology, means the reuniting of man with spiritual forces: re - back + ligare - to bind. Thus, religion, to me, is an admission of Diminishing Returns (seen earlier), wherein finite expressions of spirituality actually separate the reality of a mass from its infinite surroundings. Re-ligare then, occurs at the 3/7 transitional surface, between the two worlds of inner and outer absentia. By becoming a point of "spiritual connect," the simultaneity of the 3/7 position makes our man-made symbolic representations of the infinite become characteristically divine and enlightened, while at the same time, terrestrial and common in form, as we attempt to unite these two worlds at this critical juncture.

Practically every religion or spiritual path of enlightenment that is offered in the world, points out how our mundane, manifest existence separates us from the divine forces around and within us. Some suggest meditation as a way of shedding the body and uniting with the divine. Some suggest prayer as a way of communicating with the divine. Some advocate a more passive lifestyle as a means of harmonizing with the divine. But these are of course unsustainable states that only allow us to reach out of our physical, manifest forms and touch the divine for limited amounts of time. Ultimately, and unavoidably, we are still terrestrial beings with physical bodies, living in a world physicality and dimensionality made up of opposites and sides and other physical entities colliding in infinite karmic ways. Spiritual, divine forces permeate our form inside and out (see various analogies elsewhere on this site), but those forces are characteristically without form or definition and are characteristically shared by all in a world of unity and oneness. As such, they are not able to define us as individuals, they typically define the unity and oneness that makes us all the same. Our physicality is what makes us unique. Our spirituality is what makes us the same. Duality and Unity are themselves a duality - thereby mimicking the ULTIMATE SYMMETRY of the Mobius-like universe we have thusfar created within the pages of this study, by revealing a universe that is two sided and one sided ... at the same time!

As a mandate of many religious beliefs, some argue that our physical form and world of opposites is a detriment to happiness, and that only by uniting (or as some believe, RE-uniting) with the divinity of oneness can we ever achieve happiness in life. In this belief, these philosophies echo the Heaven and Hell, or God and Satan duality mentioned above, by suggesting that physicality is a burden, and spirituality is a blessing, and that only through liberation of physicality in preference for spirituality can we ever know happiness. They additionally argue that form (as seen in the dualities and polarities of physical and conceptual opposites) is in fact an illusion and, by necessary opposure, imply that the formless state of unity and oneness (where they believe there are no such opposites) is what's real. Thus, this mindset effectively declares the formed to be formless (i.e. and illusion) and the formless to be formed (i.e. reality)! Illusion is reality and reality is illusion - once again, confirming that our universe is in fact governed by paradox... no matter what spiritual philosophy we are talking about.

Because we (humans reading these words from my internet site) are physical beings existing in space, our physicality is something we deal with directly, every day. Spirituality, on the other hand, is seen by many as another world, realm or plane of existence that we don't deal with as much as our physical world, realm or plane. It is this imbalance that religions, spiritual, and some psychological philosophies attempt to correct in our lives. Some suggest that the more we emphasize our physical, conscious nature, the further we get from our divine or unconscious nature, and the more we long for a connection or reunion. Some see our separation from the divine as an unfortunate fall from grace - a mistake that we need to correct by being more spiritual. Some see our human form as sullied and impure and need of alchemistic fire to be burned away. But what about our divine nature? If we are so disconnected, how do we know what divinity wants? Is it possible that our divine nature longs, every bit as much, to connect, or re-unite with its physical counterpart? Isn't it a bit lopsided for us to think that connecting or re-uniting is a one directional event, of our inflated egos reaching toward divinity? Shouldn't we also consider a diametrical counterpart reaching the other way? What if our spirituality longs to be physical at the same time our physicality longs to be spiritual? What if the formed longs to be formless, and the formless longs to be formed? With such an inspired symmetry, we would then be seen as shaking hands and trade places with ourselves at the 3/7 sphere of metamorphic transition where negative becomes positive, and positive becomes negative. We might think it is a one way journey of liberation from the physical to the spiritual. But, perhaps, by untwisting the twisted (leaving the physical for the spiritual), we are only twisting what was untwisted (making the spiritual physical) - just like the Mobius strip analogy that we've been using thusfar to illustrate the divine symmetry of paradox.

Life is a roller-coaster ride! It's short and scary, it jerks us this way and that, it takes us to euphoric highs and then plunges us to unbelievable lows, it makes us scream and laugh, and when it's all over we can't wait to go again! How do we know our unborn self, waiting to be reincarnated, doesn't view life as a ride it can't wait to get back onto? Maybe our manifest, form and dualistic universe isn't a shameful, polluted mistake that we need to deny and shed! Maybe those philosophies were invented and handed down to us from people with a severe case of low self esteem, who could not even begin to conceive of themselves as worthy of the divinity they seek, or even the divinity within them. Personally, I see myself as worthy of divinity, and my manifest form as a divinely inspired roller-coaster car! Let's go!

Throughout this study balance, symmetry, contrast and consistency have been employed as a means of establishing a wisdom system with harmony of interpretation throughout. People who think that tarot is best used as a device for liberating people from their physicality, and all the dualities and polarities of dimensionality, might not like a system that sees both side of every issue as equally important. People who see physicality and duality as the cause of all suffering in the world, will undoubtedly do whatever it takes to minimize the importance of such concepts in the hopes of persuading others to seek the other. And while I might agree that our intrinsic emphasis upon our physicality and material world might be in need of some spiritual emphasis, as a means of balancing things out, I do not support the complete abandonment, radical minimization, or vilification of physicality and duality that many spiritually enthusiastic people endorse and encourage. To me, that is just swinging the pendulum too far the other way. This study endorses and encourages all to maintain an acute awareness of EVERY aspect of our existence, and to not give an unhealthy emphasis to either one. It asks that we keep our head in the clouds and our feet on the ground - please! Don't make one "better" than the other. If someone needs balance in their life, they should get to know the one they don't know that well. But don't completely forsake the other. Try to maintain an awareness of the divine symmetries put forth in this study. When I look at the universe, I see these infinite symmetries, united in Paradox/Absentia/God. I see a universe of duality and unity dancing together like a man and woman in love. Please do not separate them. Please to not eliminate one for the other. Personally, I think it's "better" when they dance together. And I think the amazing symmetries that this study points to confirm that sentiment.

But hey, that's enough of that for now. I don't want to get too "spiritual" here. There are other places around this site where we can find more of that. I think that in various places throughout this study, I have shown how physicality and spirituality coexist as Model and Non-Model... Train and Track... Scales and Chords etc, etc. Most of the diagrams have been designed to describe the Model, but as stated early on, reasoning by opposure is encouraged, as a means of understanding both the physical and spiritual aspects of our existence. In that way, I am somewhat neutral on the subject of physicality over spirituality and don't feel a great need to pursue "God" (as "He" is called in some religions) to balance myself out. I leave that up to each individual to balance their own physical and spiritual needs. Finding "Him/Her/or It" in paradox is satisfying enough to me. So suffice it to say that in this tarot universe, the meaning of life has been safely locked away within the paradox of The Absentia, never be "found." And, like a mirage, our attempts to reach and explain it only cause it to vanish, leaving behind paradoxical contradictions, hypocrisies and stalemates, as our inadequate tools of perception compete to define something that isn't even there! Or... to slightly modify a line from the poet Piet Hein: The Absentia is like two locked boxes, each containing the other's key! With the meaning of life inside, never to be set free.

The Absentia - this study's word for a "Godforce" - is like two locked boxes, each containing the other's key. Some seek this Divinity by going outwards, some go inwards. As stated above, it doesn't matter which way we go, because... when or if we ever get there we just encounter a locked box (metaphorically speaking)... with a note saying that the key for this box is in the other box! And when we turn around and reach the other box, there is another note telling us that the key for that one is in the other box we just left behind!! That is our life; existence between two Absentias. Thus it is this very back and forth design that gives all forms of Paradox their characteristic pattern of incompatible interdependence. One person says they got there going outward. Another says they got there going inward. But to where did they get? If they got anywhere significant, then they would be telling the same metaphorical story of a locked box and a note telling them that the key was in the other box!

But the real kicker to all this - which most people never even know exists - is that each box is completely unlocked and open... until we get there! The box that holds the key we seek is open... only when we are not there... i.e. when we are at the other box, reading the note about the box we are not at. When we get to the other box... it's closed... and the one we left behind is now open! Again, the biggest problem being... that most of us don't even know this is going on. And so we either press onward as far as we can go in either one of these two directions, or we dart back and forth forever, endlessly debating the relative value of either destination against the other saying things like: "The answer isn't out there, it's in here" while simultaneously building metaphorical ladders out and up to heaven. The trick of course is in being in both places at once. Only then will we encounter a box that is both opened and closed at the same time. Only then will we be able to obtain either key. Of course, at that point, the keys will not be necessary, because both boxes will be opened, and all the answers will be pouring out and through us.

Here is another analogy we can use to visualize this perplexing state of affairs. They keys for understanding lif'e meaning are hanging from a string, over a teeter-toter. When our weight is pressing down on one side, the key is out of reach. But then we look at how close it is to the raised up (i.e. enlightened) side of the teeter-toter, so we head for that side. The problem is, once we arrive, our weight presses down and the key we sought through enlightenment is now just as out of reach as the other. Thus, in both examples, the only way to acquire either key is to acquire them both at the same time, using absolute, perfect balance between two extreme ends of a single entity. The problem is, that we would have to split ourselves in two, and stand on either side of the teeter-toter in perfect balance to achieve this elusive goal. The impossibility of achieving this in our physical analogy becomes a metaphor for what me must do in our minds. We need to be both inward and outward seeking at the same time... both conscious and unconscious... both male and female... both up and down... etc, etc, etc. Thus, mastery of opposites, rather than the elimination of opposites is how we obtain the keys to understanding life's meaning... with paradox standing as the only way of knowing we are even close to our goal.

Here's a third analogy: The relationship between The Universe and The Absentia is like a Grand Cosmic Sandwich, with Life and Death as the ingredients between two slices of Absentia. Only a jaw (i.e. spiritual philosophy) large enough to embrace both the slices (Absentia) and the ingredients between (Universe of Life and Death) will taste life's true meaning. Of course to many this type of explanation may not be much of a comfort. Those locked in the physical plane will not understand it. And those who have abandoned the physical, and developed a complete denial of its contribution to divine symmetries will not welcome the balanced perspective this study promotes. Myself, I would much rather admit to the existence of a form that explains the unobtainable status of life’s meaning, than spend eternity chasing a mirage, or worse yet, my own tail! This then becomes a state-of-mind, or spiritual goal, that is commonly referred to as "getting off the wheel," - a process that can take a soul several lifetimes of reincarnations to complete. I myself refer to it as "getting off the Mobius strip," and offer it here as a means of understanding a possible universe, upon which a tarot-like wisdom system could be designed. If you can apply any of this to the meaning of life, great.

A Super (duper) String Theory

If you can find a spiritual tone within this study, that would be fine with me. If you see scientific patterns within this study, that would be fine as well. I am an advocate of both approaches, as long as one does not exclude one for the other. Scientists, looking for a unified theory of everything have proposed an idea that involves the sub-atomic vibration of strings. Strings? Why not a Mobius Band? We have shown how the center of our model equates, in isomorphic form, to the twist of a Mobius band. We have shown how the infinite in-between of our number line alternates and oscillates between sides at speeds relative to the tangible entity that each number line attempts to describe. Implosion and explosion, solve et coagula, apart - together, our model vibrates like the macrocosm and microcosm it attempt to describe. As a string, or a Mobius Band, or a Mobius Sphere or a simple number line, paradox remains a Godforce to these abstract notions, thus uniting the spiritual with the scientific in an elegant symmetry of form.

Stop Chasing Your Tail

Models of spirituality that talk about transcending opposites to be united with "The One" usually talk about the unobtainable, and ineffable nature of that "One." If you choose to seek spirituality within the models and patterns offered in this study, it is my hope that it should be apparent by now that, from the perspective of our Model and Non-Model, that PARADOX is "The One." Not infinity. Not nothingness. Paradox. Paradox is GOD! Paradox is the ineffable SOURCE of ALL, the TAO of TE. From the perspective of this invented tarot universe, paradox is the irreducible crux of universal flux!!!

Two paradoxical points of Absentia (inner and outer) equal singularity and thereby unite a Universe of opposites. A Universe of opposites (nothing and everything) equals duality and thereby divides the two points of Absentia. The one sided effect of paradox CAN NOT HAPPEN, without the two sides that make it. And vice versa... THAT is THE ULIMATE SYMMETRY of a GOD. And with that I will end this journey, leaving you with this one final diagram, and the spiritual affirmation of the all-important symmetry all my previous diagrams have pointed to. Look for this symmetry. Look for the twist. The symmetry is true. The twist is divine.

In the mean time, remember...

Conclusion...