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Although the
term “the Absolute” has a philosophical meaning, its use by Collier
is unique and original. The term was used by Greek idealists, especially
Plato, to describe the one independent reality of which all things are an
expression. Later, the great German philosopher, Kant, used the adjective
“absolute” to characterize what is unconditionally valid. Obviously he was
adopting concepts utilized in classical philosophy by Plato and
Neo-Platonism by Plotinus. For both Plato and Plotinus absolute truth and
certainty could not be found in this world; hence, a transcending method
was essential in ascertaining truth and certainty. To Plotinus the One was
God. Nothing can be truly known about the One in any rational sense.
Ironically, it was a poet, Shelley
(1792-1822), who best explained this pervasive concept. In Adonais, the
52nd stanza reads in part:
The One
remains, the many change and pass;
Heaven’s light forever shines, Earth’s shadows fly;
Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,
Stains the white radiance of Eternity,
Until Death tramples it to fragments.
Only in
death, beyond the senses, can the One (God/Absolute) be perceived. God,
therefore, does not create (that would sully God’s unchangeableness).
Rather God “emanates.” God is reflected into lower planes (earth), and
these reflections represent kinds of imitations of God’s perfection in
descending degrees of fragmentation. Similarly Kant claimed that pure
reason searched for absolute grounds of the understanding that were ideals
only, but that practical reason postulated the real existence of such
grounds as necessary for morality. Schelling, a contemporary of Kant’s,
coined the term “the Absolute.” To Hegel “the Absolute” was the spirit.
Using Plotinus’ concept of emanation, the process would look like this:
The Absolute: the first emanation/intellect; the second emanation/soul or
spirit;
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and the third emanation/matter. Today, philosophers like
Josiah Royce and F. H. Bradley have returned to the subject of the
Absolute.
It appears that Collier knew nothing
of this esoteric background. He approached the topic de nova.
Collier explained the Absolute as follows: “(It) is envisioned to emit an
absolute principle that forms an array of Absolute Law. This immutable law
of the Absolute throws a gantry of force from which such things as mass,
motion, dimension and consciousness are derived. Here is the immediate
basis for the universe and for all that is in it.” (Pleneurethics: A
Philosophical System Uniting Body, Brain, Mind [2nd ed.] p. 244.)
Unlike Descartes’ absolute, Collier’s
is not divine. It is structural—the prime structure. This immutable entity
is the immediate basis for the universe and for all that is in it. The
Absolute is the source of Pleneurethical truth because such truth flows
from the basic structures of the universe. In an ontological sense, the
origin and source of the universe is the Absolute as shown in Plate I. It
is the prime source, which prevails behind the grid of Absolute Law from
which the universe is elaborated.
Material that is apparent to the
senses is but the tip of the iceberg. For behind all material that is
visible and palpable to the human limited range of perception, there
exists an immense amount of invisible material. This invisible material is
called in Pleneurethics “metamaterial.” That which is true for material is
also true for consciousness and for the animating force of life.
Metaconsciousness is then the
unseen force of life that resides in a realm beyond one’s range of
perception. This important force in Pleneurethics has been given the name
“Aram.” All life on earth is but Aramafication of material in the several
life forms that are perceived as on land, in the air, and in the water.
Since life on earth abides in material form, one cannot evade recognizing
the law of physics. For the law of physics is nothing more than the
Absolute Law expressed in terms of mass, trajectories, orbits, repulsion,
ducts, transfers, and bio-electronic coaxial transmissive devices.
The entire living community found in
the universe is a product of Aramification of materials found available
and suitable. (Aram is a principle of Absolute Law—the animatory force of
nature. Aramification is the animation of material by Aramic force to
produce an individual of any species now or to evolve later.) Absolute
First
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Cause, unlike the Aram force, is inflexible. It is
distant, remote, and unapproachable by humans, and it moves according to
its own rule. It administers punishment for infringement of any edict of
Absolute Law. Absolute Law is a basic array of force from which the
universe is draped. From the network of force, which stands as a buffer
between the universe and the first source, or Absolute principle, such
things are derived as mass, temperature, velocity, space, orbit, light,
consciousness, and life.
What is the force beyond The Absolute
and the Absolute First Cause? In Collier’s Pleneurethics the answer is
Aram, pronounced “a-ROM.” The system is governed by broad parameters,
permitting nearly total randomness in minute details of the system of life
on this earth and the next. Aram does not make the environment. The
particles of the environment—dust, liquid, vapor are not made by Aram.
Aramic force uses the dust, the liquid, the vapor and other existing
particles to create new forms required by a changing environment.
Environments come and go with the ages. As one form perishes another
springs up. Aram exerts itself in animals and plant structures and in all
the substructures between them. As a result the entire living community in
the universe at any moment is a product of Aramification. Hence, Aram is a
principle of Absolute Law—the animatory force of nature. Aramification is
the animation by Aramic Force to produce the human species now in
existence as well as any species to evolve later.
Aram is not capricious, but works
patiently in material according to the laws that govern material. Aram
must be consistent with the natural laws of physics. Collier concludes
that upon examining the structure of all living forms there is comfort. It
is the comfort that is derived from the knowledge that there is nothing
arbitrary or capricious in the universe. All is in accord with eternal
law.
Aram is not the caretaker of any
particular material form. It presses itself into any viable form available
and compatible to the existing environment. If the material environment
changes—and it has and will—Aram shifts its expression to another physical
form compatible to the new environment. In environmental transformation,
Aram is flexible. On the other hand, the Absolute First Cause is—by
comparison—inflexible. The Absolute First Cause is distant and remote, and
beyond approach by the human species. The Absolute First Cause projects
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a gantry of force from which Absolute Law and the
universe are elaborated. Aram is the impersonal provider of life force,
but it is incumbent on both the individual and the species to adapt to the
material environment or to perish.
As Collier has devised Pleneurethics,
he perceives the universe as it is, penetrates its essential nature, and
analyzes it. In its analysis Pleneurethics perceives form upon form,
movement within movement, distortion from distortion, and the straight
upon the straight. In short, it perceives structures and discerns their
functions and their contents. In Pleneurethics structure is of vital
importance. The brain and the entire nervous system are the primary
structure. In the analysis, which is central to Pleneurethics, one
observes an existing order as well as a loose disorder. However, even the
disorder is empirically held to recognizable limits. Hence, order is seen
in that which appears at first glance to be disorder. Indeed, much that
initially appears to be disorderly becomes exquisitely orderly upon deeper
analysis.
Science and materialism are the foundation of Pleneurethic
analysis. The spirit, which is so essential and fundamental to Descartes,
does not play a role in Pleneurethics. The Absolute is a pure,
dispassionate power from which all else emerges. Truth is passionately
sought.
Without getting too deeply into
philosophy, it is necessary to address briefly at this point the Mind/Body
Problem. Rene’ Descartes (1596-1650), the great French scholar and the
father of modern philosophy, concluded that the mind (spirit) and the
matter (body) are completely separate. This concept is known as dualism.
In one form or another his dualism has been sustained into this century.
In current philosophical debate Descartes’ dualism is challenged by
monism—a unity of mind and body. Richard Collier, independent of the
academic debate, shaped Pleneurethics as a philosophical system uniting
body, brain and mind. This unity is a remarkable achievement that is
essential in Pleneurethics where the trinity is an interlocking whole.
This precept is basic to his new concept of healing. Later, as the brain
and the mind are discussed, there will be more discussion of the
Mind/Brain Problem.
In Pleneurethics the Absolute moves
according to its rule. Punishment is meted out to believers and
non-believers equally for any infringement of any edict of Absolute Law.
There is no redress from Aram or the Absolute as there is no redress from
the sun.
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Comfort is derived from the knowledge that there is
nothing arbitrary or capricious in the universe. All is in accord with
pure law. PLEND, the deity of Pleneurethics, is not a personal deity.
There are no “chosen” people. PLEND rules by the laws of physics. The
refuge is predictable and open to all who will think purely and
rationally, and who will endeavor to understand the system of Absolute
Law.
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