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Intuitive Astrology
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KMT Ancient Metaphysical Egypt
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The Cave is a metaphor for the mind. Prisoners are in an underground cave with a fire behind them, bound so they can see only the shadows on the wall in front of them, cast by puppets manipulated behind them. They think that this is all there is to see; if released from their bonds and forced to turn around to the fire and the puppets, they become bewildered and are happier left in their original state.

They are even angry with anyone who tries to tell them how pitiful their position is. Only a few can bear to realize that the shadows are only shadows cast by the puppets; and they begin the journey of liberation that leads past the fire and right out of the cave into the real Life. At first they are dazzled there, and can bear to see objects only in reflection and indirectly, but then they look at them directly in the light of the sun, and can even become the sun itself.

This allegory is related to idealism in the following way. The cave is the mind. The shadows of the puppets that the prisoners are watching represent their taking over, in unreflective fashion, the second-hand opinions and beliefs that are given to them by parents, society, science and religion. The puppets themselves represent the mechanical minds of the prisoners.

The light of the fire within the cave provides the light but is distorted illumination from the imprisoned intellects. Liberation begins when the few who turn around get up and go out of the cave. Outside of the cave, the real objects dissipate into a transcendental realm. In order to be them, the light of the sun, Everything, including all matter and every mind, exists within, and is part of, this consciousness , "I AM NEITHER MIND NOR BODY" is necessary. I AM THE SUN...EARTH WIND WATER AND FIRE.

A similar allegory using today’s symbols would replace the cave with a movie theater, the shadows with the pictures on the screen, the puppets with the film, and the fire with the projector light. The sun is outside, and we must leave the theater to see its light, we must leave the mind and the body and walk in the Sun light

consider a version of idealism, called monistic idealism, which states that consciousness and only consciousness is fundamental and primary. Everything, including all matter and every mind, exists within, and is part of, this consciousness. From this point of view, matter is an emergent feature, or epiphenomenon, of consciousness, rather than the reverse as in materialism. There are many aspects in the interpretation of quantum theory that can be explained in this philosophy, but which are the sources of perplexing paradox in a materialist or dualist philosophy.

In this philosophy, consciousness, as the ground of all being, cannot be conceptualized. The personalized, summary statement of monistic idealism is, "I am neither mind nor body. As Noumenon, I am pure subjective awareness, transcending all that exists and all that does not. As phenomenon, I am the objective expression of Noumenon, including all that exists and all that does not". This suggests that, in order to know the transcendent, noumenal Self, one must look inward, away from all phenomenal objects. I as Noumenon am not an object and therefore I cannot be described conceptually or perceived as an object. My true nature can be realized only by looking away from both the conceptual and the perceptual.

I AM