alignment of ground self ego other cosmos in advaita, zen and christianity

The alignment of the axis of ground-self-ego-other-cosmos vis a vis intraobjective, intrasubjective, intersubjective and interobjective phenomenal categories brings us full circle back to some ideas we were exploring in private correspondence last year, Phil. What is going on, putatively, might be brought out in sharper relief by engaging Advaita, Christianity and Zen as foils through a polydoxic lens that distinguishes between their unique soteriological-healing trajectories without denying their salvific efficacies. Of course, these are not monolithic traditions and different schools and cohorts often emerge and will variously participate, some more, some less, some not at all, in their authentic orthopathic, orthopraxic and polydoxic dynamics. Those are instructive, too, and this all has practical significance for the life of prayer, transformation and the fruits of love.

There is some peril in thus generalizing but much value to be realized from noticing such patterns, especially if balanced from a self-critical stance.

Phil's comments sound right-headed and match my own intuitions.

What I would say is that the West has well emphasized the gifts to be mined from exteriority, the inter-engagements, vis a vis the axes of ego-other and ego-cosmos (intersubjective & interobjective), while the East has well emphasized the gifts to be mined from interiority, the intra-engagements vis a vis the axes of ego-self and ego-ground (intrasubjective & intraobjective). This is not to say that both East & West do not engage each aspect of reality, only to note differences in emphases (informed also by a polydoxic perspective). I won't flesh this out but will leave it here to develop later, if no one else can crack my jargonistic code. As with any strengths, these can be practiced to a fault. So, East & West may also be expected to display certain historical weaknesses along with their respective soteriological and healing trajectories, which display some unique giftedness.

The alignment of the axis of ground-self-ego-other-cosmos is not only modeled, but indeed effected, Christologically, as revealed in the 5-fold Lukan Christology (Luke) where Jesus orients, saves, sanctifies, heals and empowers us, carried on by the Spirit in the 5-fold Lukan pneumatology (Acts). A pan-entheism sees God indwelling in ground, other & cosmos, distinct from the self-ego axis but as its primal ground, origin, cause, support, meaning and destiny.

Advaita engages this primal ground. An essential Buddhism engages the self-ego axis in relation to others and the cosmos with a respectful silence toward ground & orgin and takes account of the self-ego's relational, dynamical, processive (nonessentialist, nonsubstantialist) nature (when noself is properly, not literally, conceived). Christianity's emphasis has been on the self-ego-other axis with a stewardship model toward the cosmos, which is not as green a stance as the pantheists, panen-theists and absolute monists but does have its pan-entheists and Francsican sensibilities, which can move us beyond a wholly instrumentalistic stance to a less dualistic outlook.

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