moving beyond philosophy to find the ineffable

Vic Shayne
author
13 Pillars of Enlightenment: How to realize your true nature and end suffering

Think about it. Or don’t. Is there a philosophy about what lies between thought and no thought?

Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline. It’s a theory or attitude that acts as a guiding principle for behavior. As such, philosophy is what has been discovered by figuring things out, even if theoretically, labeling them, and thinking deeply about them — all of which have their place in our world. But uncovering the irreducible essence of what we are has nothing to do with thought, but rather seeing/being beyond thought, knowing, ideas, belief, information, etc.

philosophers on philosophy
Of course, philosophy can be a valuable asset, and many philosophers have come up with some brilliant insights about philosophy itself:

• “Philosophy is at once the most sublime and the most trivial of human pursuits.” — William James
• “To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school…it is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically.” — Henry David Thoreau
• “What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows.” —Epictetus

philosophy isn’t necessarily related to a mystic realization
While philosophy has produced many ideas that refer to the ineffable essence of what we are, it generally seems to stop short of any sort of realization borne of a mystical knowingness. Still, perhaps because philosophers and others, including academics, cannot relate to the mystical experience, many mystics are labeled philosophers. But since philosophy is grounded and founded on thought, thought is the dividing line between thinking deeply about something and actually realizing it to be true. This is the difference between mentation and immersion.

Without thought there is no philosophy, and without thought there may be a realization of what we truly are beyond thought, the sense of self, the body, and all forms and phenomena.

clarity in the absence of thought
There is no clarity of mind as long as it is filled with thought. The reason mysticism/enlightenment is so confounding is because thought is being used as a tool to figure it out, which is not possible. That which is prior to thought cannot be explained or comprehended by thought, knowledge, or even metaphors. To have a very good idea of what it is like to walk along the ocean shore is not the same as actually walking along the shore.

Ultimately, we experience a subjective reality and the approaches to assessing it are manifold. The so-called enlightened mystic (I use this word with trepidations) sees without interpretation. Jiddu Krishnamurti, who has been repeatedly referred to as a philosopher, perhaps erroneously, proclaimed, “Truth is a pathless land.” Philosophy, on the other hand, takes a path, which is a methodology borne of thinking, to assess truth.

To find the ultimate reality means to observe what it is not; and for this reason it is ineffable and beyond thought, philosophy, religion, etc. Philosophy tries to see and understand what things are, and religion tells you what they are and expects you to follow with blind belief. But that which we are at our essence is ineffable and nothing that can be known by way of thought or information.