Theos-Talk Archives (November 2002 Message tt00778)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bart Lidofsky [mailto:bartl@sprynet.com]
> Sent: Saturday, November 23, 2002 7:49 PM
> To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: Theos-World Re: Theism Can't Honestly Be Dismissed
> 
> Steve Stubbs wrote:
> > Not really. It is a scientific fact, for example, that the color
red
> > does not exist in nature, but only in our consciousness.
> 
> It is a frequency of electromagnetic waves.
> 
> Bart

Another change to jump in with a few comments ...

The physical frequency exists for the color red, but the sense
perception may or may not be experienced. Someone could be colorblind
and not distinguish red from some similar shade of gray. Someone could
have synaesthesia and perceive the color from an association with a
number or sound. It gets trickier when someone can physically see color
but is colorblind for some psychosomatic reason.

With dogs, the sense of smell is considerably advanced. They can
distinguish people by smell and a bloodhound can track an individual
from a sample smell. We can smell the same molecules, but do not have
the sensory apparatus nor perception developed to that degree.

In addition to physical senses, the associated astral senses may not
need physical sense organs as "input devices," so that it is possible to
have sensory perception beyond which the physical body can support. 

With a man or woman, the senses are less developed that in male or
female animals. This is not because humans are less developed. It is
because the predominate emphasis in evolution is on the cultivation of
the mind and inner life. There is much to us that goes beyond eating,
sleeping, sex, and shelter from the elements; although to look at some
people, you would wonder what that could be! <GRIN>

Another aspect of sense perception is related to the training of the
mind. The first instant that we see a painting, it's an unintelligible
splash of color. The mind almost immediately makes sense of it and we
might say that we see a picture of a couple in a boat on a lake on a
sunny afternoon. The mind imposes a reality over the sense perception
both filtering and giving meaning to things.

When we see a color and recognize "red," it's the mind that has had that
thought. With training in art and the recognition of color, one might be
able to recognize and name hundreds of colors. Without much training,
another might only recognize five or ten colors. What one person calls
"red" might be one of twenty different colors that the other person
clearly distinguishes and pictures in their mind.

The same is true of inner experiences. One person without the subtly of
metaphysical training (theosophical or otherwise), might have a limited
vocabulary and tend to lump many experiences under a single description.
The other person might have a wealth of ideas to draw upon and a trained
perception that allows for a much richer field of inner experience.

-- Eldon