3 ms·

He also reinterpreted his experiences several times - and was open about it. Crumb gives a mostly Buddhist take, but PKD often gave far more Gnostic Christian t

He also reinterpreted his experiences several times - and was open about it. Crumb gives a mostly Buddhist take, but PKD often gave far more Gnostic Christian takes on it (or surprisingly orthodox Christian ones)

Trasmatta 2mo ago
I have a copy of his Exegesis, and I can confirm, he reinterpreted the experience probably hundreds of times. He loved the gnostic interpretation (which is the main focus on VALIS). But also yeah, sometimes just straight up orthodox Christian ones. And he even fell back to interpreting it as just psychosis sometimes. PKD also invokes Buddhism and Hinduism frequently in the Exegesis. Here's a quote I love from it: > I have seen the infinities of Judaism, which is morality, of Christianity, which is love, of the Greeks, which is wisdom, and I have seen God’s power as pronoia and charis to rescue me by bending the world itself; but beauty is a perplexing infinity, raising more questions than it answers. It is a puzzle too intricate for me. It spans all else. As I sit across the game board from Krishna I say, “I have found in beauty that which I could not myself have made; thus I have found the benchmarks. I believe, for I have the evidence that I trust; it is sufficient.” There is an infinity of good, of love, of wisdom, of power, but each particular beautiful thing is infinitely beautiful, and there is an infinity of them, so beauty, alone, is an infinity of infinities: ∞2.
- wartywhoa23 2mo ago
  This beauty is so immensely infinite that humans came up with making it finite by creating definitions made of words, which became both their salvation and damnation.
  - Trasmatta 2mo ago
    Agreed. I think PKD himself got trapped by words and trying to intellectualize his experiences. He experienced a lot of anguish because of that
adfm 2mo ago
Here's a link to a video of PKD in Metz, France in 1977 where he reviews the material: https://youtu.be/P3TXfwGV8LQ?is=09XaeMgMDZaRChGT https://youtu.be/P3TXfwGV8LQ?is=09XaeMgMDZaRChGT

Trasmatta 2mo ago

I have a copy of his Exegesis, and I can confirm, he reinterpreted the experience probably hundreds of times. He loved the gnostic interpretation (which is the main focus on VALIS). But also yeah, sometimes just straight up orthodox Christian ones. And he even fell back to interpreting it as just psychosis sometimes. PKD also invokes Buddhism and Hinduism frequently in the Exegesis. Here's a quote I love from it: > I have seen the infinities of Judaism, which is morality, of Christianity, which is love, of the Greeks, which is wisdom, and I have seen God’s power as pronoia and charis to rescue me by bending the world itself; but beauty is a perplexing infinity, raising more questions than it answers. It is a puzzle too intricate for me. It spans all else. As I sit across the game board from Krishna I say, “I have found in beauty that which I could not myself have made; thus I have found the benchmarks. I believe, for I have the evidence that I trust; it is sufficient.” There is an infinity of good, of love, of wisdom, of power, but each particular beautiful thing is infinitely beautiful, and there is an infinity of them, so beauty, alone, is an infinity of infinities: ∞2.

wartywhoa23 2mo ago
This beauty is so immensely infinite that humans came up with making it finite by creating definitions made of words, which became both their salvation and damnation.
- Trasmatta 2mo ago
  Agreed. I think PKD himself got trapped by words and trying to intellectualize his experiences. He experienced a lot of anguish because of that

adfm 2mo ago

Here's a link to a video of PKD in Metz, France in 1977 where he reviews the material: https://youtu.be/P3TXfwGV8LQ?is=09XaeMgMDZaRChGT https://youtu.be/P3TXfwGV8LQ?is=09XaeMgMDZaRChGT