Conatus: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

odd anomaly that tells us nothing about reality. Perhaps, again, it shows nothing more except that we are capable of different brain states. For the atheist, the mountaintop experience is a demonstration of — at least — what the human mind is capable of conceiving and the tranquillity it can achieve. We could say it is more of a dive into the deep recesses of the human consciousness. For others it is a glimpse of what the universe is really all about, perhaps even a glimpse of Heaven.

Whatever the source of such experiences, I think it’s worth considering them as a glimpse of important knowledge. The mountaintop experience seems to resonate with the most important aspects of life, so I think it is worth taking time to consider what the mountaintop experience may be telling us. The importance of the mountaintop, I think, is that it chimes well with the essential paradox of life that we have explored above — the paradox between the imperfect world of the Many and the perfection of the One. The mountaintop is the view from eternity — a God’s eye view, if you will — that gives us the perspective on this. We may not be able to dwell in that place all the time, but we can contemplate the world by imagining the mountaintop.

The mountaintop experience, I think, shows us how the universe really is in its completeness. But we know our lives are not like this. There is an inevitable disharmony because we are caught up in the very things that the mountaintop frees us from — time, self, worry and limited perspectives.

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