Heraclitus' "Logos" = Tao ?

[robertkernodle]

Heraclitus' "Logos" = Tao ?

[haselhurst]

Hi Robert,
There is only one reality. So it seems (according to WSM) that;

Dynamic Unity = Logos = Apeiron = Tao = Brahman = Akasha Prana = Waves in Space = Physical Reality.

This explains how all things that exist are necessarily interconnected by the One thing that exists (Space and its Properties as a Wave Medium) which enables us (as wave structures) to interact with the world around us in a logical manner. This includes empirical senses, logical thought and mathematics, and explains why logic of Mathematical Physics is able to correspond to the world (why we can have Science that works).

Geoff

PS - A few quotes on this dynamic unity of reality.

The most important characteristic of the Eastern world view - one could almost say the essence of it- is the awareness of the unity and mutual interrelation of all things and events, the experience of all phenomena in the world as manifestations of a basic oneness. All things are seen as interdependent and inseparable parts of this cosmic whole; as different manifestations of the same ultimate reality. (Capra, The Tao of Physics, 1975)

In ordinary life, we are not aware of the unity of all things, but divide the world into separate objects and events. This division is useful and necessary to cope with our everyday environment, but it is not a fundamental feature of reality. It is an abstraction devised by our discriminating and categorising intellect. To believe that our abstract concepts of separate `things' and `events' are realities of nature is an illusion. (Capra, The Tao of Physics, 1975)

The central aim of Eastern mysticism is to experience all the phenomena in the world as manifestations of the same ultimate reality. This reality is seen as the essence of the universe, underlying and unifying the multitude of things and events we observe. The Hindus call it Brahman, The Buddhists Dharmakaya (The Body of Being) or Tathata (Suchness) and the Taoists Tao; each affirming that it transcends our intellectual concepts and defies further explanation. This ultimate essence, however, cannot be separated from its multiple manifestations. It is central to the very nature to manifest itself in myriad forms which come into being and disintegrate, transforming themselves into one another without end.
(Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics, p210)

Geoff - I think this last quote is very important, as this is a common (and very destructive) believe that we can never know this One thing that exists. I think the truth is that THEY did not know what it was, and further assumed that you cannot know One thing. The error was to ignore what Aristotle first wrote in metaphysics, that a 'Substance' must have 'Properties'. Once you define Space with Properties of a Wave Medium you realise that you can know this One thing, this Dynamic Unity of reality founded on Space existing as an Infinite Eternal Continuous Wave Medium.
I think the following quote from David Bohm is also very important.
Geoff

The notion that all these fragments is separately existent is evidently an illusion, and this illusion cannot do other than lead to endless conflict and confusion. Indeed, the attempt to live according to the notion that the fragments are really separate is, in essence, what has led to the growing series of extremely urgent crises that is confronting us today. Thus, as is now well known, this way of life has brought about pollution, destruction of the balance of nature, over-population, world-wide economic and political disorder and the creation of an overall environment that is neither physically nor mentally healthy for most of the people who live in it. Individually there has developed a widespread feeling of helplessness and despair, in the face of what seems to be an overwhelming mass of disparate social forces, going beyond the control and even the comprehension of the human beings who are caught up in it. (David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, 1980)