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I don’t know, I have no sense of the divine. I enjoy the music and hear that Bach was a Christian. I am a huge Bach fan but I don’t know what the divine is and

I don’t know, I have no sense of the divine. I enjoy the music and hear that Bach was a Christian. I am a huge Bach fan but I don’t know what the divine is and doubt I’ll ever know. I am like a p zombie but for spiritual matters

gumby 3y ago
I find when I listen to these fugues my mind is drawn to and becomes lost in the overtones and the mathematical depths and recursion. Being transported to another place that way, out of my body and sense of where I am, I consider divine. Bach is not the only such, but he is the master.
- bowsamic 3y ago
  I can't think of anything more Earthly than enjoying the beauty of mathematics and music
  - matt-attack 3y ago
    Wouldn’t mathematics transcend our tiny blue dot? Sure topics like geography, biology and history don’t surely math and physics do!
    - bowsamic 3y ago
      No, I think mathematics and physics are invented by humans in a human form for humans, but then again, I’m a theoretical physicist, so I’m biased
  - gumby 3y ago
    Wow, for me things that can't be physically represented (at a human scale anyway) such as most of mathematics, physics, and frankly music are fascinating, definitely feel real, can be explored, but yes, are beyond concrete representation. Could one write a 16-part invention? I doubt it; certainly I think it would be hard to conceive of playing it, but I can "look into" a complex invention as I hear it and see how it could subdivide and get an idea of where that could lead. Certainly anything beyond the physically representative is to me sublime, and still able to trigger synesthesthetic response.
    - bowsamic 3y ago
      I don't have synesthesia, and I don't really have a concept of the sublime. All of reality is "the same" to me
zoogeny 3y ago
There isn't a singular experience of the divine that you either have or do not have. The Bhagavad Gita, for example, in large part discusses the multitude of ways one can experience the divine. It strongly makes the case that doing ones duty is equally valid to both worship and seeking spiritual wisdom. The story is based around a warrior prince named Arjuna having a conversation with the manifestation of God in the form of Krishna. Arjuna is confused because Krishna is explaining that giving up all earthly desire is the path to union with the divine. Yet Krishna is also imploring Arjuna to do his duty as a warrior prince and to fight in a battle to regain his kingdom. This is obviously a contradiction, since desiring to defeat his opponents and regain an earthly kingdom is in opposition to our traditional understanding of religious observance. The idea these ancient authors were trying to communicate to us is that not everyone is going to be a monk. You need bricklayers, bakers, doctors and programmers. The trick is to realize that fully being a human, engaged in some activity, is equivalent to experiencing the divine. Nowadays we might feel more comfortable with the secular "flow" ideas, that mental state some experience when completely absorbed in their work. So don't worry if you can't find the divine through ritual worship or through the exploration of spiritual wisdom. The divine is right there and possible for anyone to experience (if you believe the ancient authors of spiritual works like the Gita).

gumby 3y ago

I find when I listen to these fugues my mind is drawn to and becomes lost in the overtones and the mathematical depths and recursion. Being transported to another place that way, out of my body and sense of where I am, I consider divine. Bach is not the only such, but he is the master.

bowsamic 3y ago
I can't think of anything more Earthly than enjoying the beauty of mathematics and music
- matt-attack 3y ago
  Wouldn’t mathematics transcend our tiny blue dot? Sure topics like geography, biology and history don’t surely math and physics do!
  - bowsamic 3y ago
    No, I think mathematics and physics are invented by humans in a human form for humans, but then again, I’m a theoretical physicist, so I’m biased
- gumby 3y ago
  Wow, for me things that can't be physically represented (at a human scale anyway) such as most of mathematics, physics, and frankly music are fascinating, definitely feel real, can be explored, but yes, are beyond concrete representation. Could one write a 16-part invention? I doubt it; certainly I think it would be hard to conceive of playing it, but I can "look into" a complex invention as I hear it and see how it could subdivide and get an idea of where that could lead. Certainly anything beyond the physically representative is to me sublime, and still able to trigger synesthesthetic response.
  - bowsamic 3y ago
    I don't have synesthesia, and I don't really have a concept of the sublime. All of reality is "the same" to me

zoogeny 3y ago

There isn't a singular experience of the divine that you either have or do not have. The Bhagavad Gita, for example, in large part discusses the multitude of ways one can experience the divine. It strongly makes the case that doing ones duty is equally valid to both worship and seeking spiritual wisdom. The story is based around a warrior prince named Arjuna having a conversation with the manifestation of God in the form of Krishna. Arjuna is confused because Krishna is explaining that giving up all earthly desire is the path to union with the divine. Yet Krishna is also imploring Arjuna to do his duty as a warrior prince and to fight in a battle to regain his kingdom. This is obviously a contradiction, since desiring to defeat his opponents and regain an earthly kingdom is in opposition to our traditional understanding of religious observance. The idea these ancient authors were trying to communicate to us is that not everyone is going to be a monk. You need bricklayers, bakers, doctors and programmers. The trick is to realize that fully being a human, engaged in some activity, is equivalent to experiencing the divine. Nowadays we might feel more comfortable with the secular "flow" ideas, that mental state some experience when completely absorbed in their work. So don't worry if you can't find the divine through ritual worship or through the exploration of spiritual wisdom. The divine is right there and possible for anyone to experience (if you believe the ancient authors of spiritual works like the Gita).