Of the Four Visions

(Author's note [2014] - I wrote extensively on ideas like 'vision' and 'imagination' when I was younger. In many ways, these studies became a foundation for the world view I hold today. Please note - I am not a religious writer, so the 'God' here is not from any tradition. Nor, despite blatant evidence to the contrary, are references to 'Christ' meant to suggest a connection to Christianity. In this piece, 'Christ' is a word that describes the final goal of human evolution.

In the world, there are often questions: Is God dead? Is God alive? Is there a God? These are misguided queries. The better question is whether the idea of God is useful. I think it still is, but I'm willing to be wrong. You see, I'm living in the 21st century, not the 12th; I know that in the world, God is a thought experiment...and always has been.)
      
1st sight - This is the condition of the individual who is only concerned with outward manifestation. The seeming of the natural and material world inhibit the mind. First sight entails a rationalization of perception received through the five senses. Man creates his own truth and reality, but forgets that it is a representation of the true nature of things. This 'world' of his own creating becomes a barrier to his contact with reality. However, as often as must be explained thus, thus must be explained. To pass beyond this sight entails a self-annihilation of sorts, tho' make no mistake - this death is a process requiring the greatest strength and humility to achieve a willing sacrifice of the ego.

2nd sight - This is the condition of the individual who has been redirected from a self-centred world to a God-centred world. It is the illuminated life that has glimpsed the infinite, and it is a vision shared by artists and mystics alike. The world of nature comes alive from behind the veil of appearance, and the individual becomes aware of cycles and systems of infinite complexity operating around them. It is the conscious recognition of worlds within worlds, and the arbitrary nature of corporeal existence. This second sight is a state of clarity, nature and imagination.

3rd sight - This is the condition of the individual who has perceived beyond his [physical] senses, who has apprehended truth in a manner that is entirely super-sensuous. This perception demands intimacy with the desires and higher aspirations of the soul. So then, God is the sum of all desire. Man's perception is not bounded by [physical] senses. In contemplating the transcendence, the individual is aware of his minuteness in light of eternity. This is the negative. In contemplation of the immanence, there is a sense of the nearness and intimacy of God, a marriage, if you will, when the soul communes with the infinite in joyous anticipation of divine life. God is one in us, and this one is all. It is folly to seek him elsewhere, save from within.

4th sight - This is the condition of the individual who is both witness and participant to the birth of Christ in the soul. Thus in the essence of Christ, all men become one, and so Christ is one alike in all men.

Imagination is the infinite facility of the universe.
The world is a symbol is the true eye of creation.
Faith channels vision.
We are angels and devils all!