21 levels of Self-Deception: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview
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T W E N T Y - O N E L E V E L S
6. Ascendancy and Descendancy
‘…We seem not to have learned this lesson that the slimy body close at hand is holier that the dry distant mind, because we still pray to abstract gods and look beyond the sensuousness of the moment for redemption.’
Thomas Moore — Original Self
Ascendancy and descendancy are the two terms that form one of the major splits I’m looking to discuss in this work. As explained in the Introduction, the term descendant is used advisedly — in truth this should be a horizontal relationship, but because our culture assumes a hierarchical, dominating stance, in this sense it might be seen as ‘descent’. In terms of ultimate reality, of course, this is again a false split. The division of the world into ascendancy and descendancy is a construct and a means of viewing the world in order to try to better understand it. Everything is both and neither of these things.
Equating ascendancy with spirit and descendancy with soul makes a further relation here. Both terms — spirit and soul — are loaded, and come with a lot of religious
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