Erica Gamester: Noland Trail - "Student Experience of Natural Setting" #2

Student Experience of Natural Setting #2 – Noland Trail

 “In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.  The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.” (Psalm 95: 4-5)

While on the Noland Trail, I found a secluded area, encompassed by trees with crisp leaves coating the ground. I found a seat on a moist, slanted rock in order to clearly perceive Nature’s message. As God spoke through my thoughts, I produced this poem:

Golden beams glare through gaps in the leaves

Lime blades arise through the earthy crumbles

The space in between is where we meet

Whispering wind tickles the nape of my neck

Liquid beads perch in the spider web’s design

Your presence provides where I am incomplete

Erica Gamester: Bayon Temple of Angkor Wat - "Student Experience of Natural Setting" #1

Student Experience of Natural Setting #1 – Bayon Temple

Since the beginning of religion, it has been understood that God created our known universe, which includes the environment and entities we surround ourselves with. God uses nature as a medium in which to communicate with his spiritual followers here on earth.  Through nature, He can speak, teach and provide for us. 

“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:3 

Over the summer of 2013, my family and I ventured to the suburbs of Southeast Asia. We had been hopping from hotel to hotel, trying to experience as much of this distant land as we could before our two-weeks were finished. It wasn’t before long we moved on from Thailand to experience Cambodia. We established our temporary living space at the local Moon Boutique Hotel; after abandoning our heavy backpacks in our designated rooms, we headed off to the sacred Buddhist temple, Angkor Wat, which holds the record of being the largest religious monument in the world. 

Looking closely at the structure, I was able to comprehend the progressive aging that this edifice has experienced. Moss, clinging plants and other weeds were gradually reclaiming the monument’s structure, increasingly breaking it down as time goes by. Broken walls lied scattered across the field; a blanket of vegetation even completely engulfed some pieces. Weather and erosion had caused facial features to be broken off of the giant Bayon temple heads.  I am finally able to understand, Nature is reclaiming what is rightfully His. 

Erica Gamester: Objectivity vs. Subjectivity "Student Choice" #4

Student Choice #4: Objectivity vs. Subjectivity

In class lecture, we touched on the idea of “axis mundi” as being the center of the world, or the world’s point of beginning. In religion, axis mundi provides the consecrated connection between Heaven and Earth. It represents a location where the four directions meet and a relationship is formed between the sky and the earth. Through the axis mundi, spiritual travel between higher and lower “realms” is made possible.

“Communication from lower realms may ascend to higher ones and blessings from higher realms may descend to lower ones and be disseminated to all.” (Axis)

The idea of axis mundi can be expressed through different mediums. For example, the illustration of the “Tree of Life” visually connects all worldly embodiments. Also, Buddhism uses the human body to represent this idea by being represented as a pillar that stands between land and sky, heaven and earth. Additionally, specific celestial bodies identified through the practice of astrology can be representative of center of the world.

“Because the axis mundi is an idea that unites a number of concrete images, no contradiction exists in regarding multiple spots as ‘the center of the world’”

Axis mundi entails that the objects/entities existing between heaven and earth exist as a storehouse for impending knowledge. Therefore, in addition to traveling to different realms, the axis mundi ultimately guides us to understanding and information.

LITERATURE CITED

Axis Mundi. (2012, October 23). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://solarlunar.com/axis-mundi-center/

Erica Gamester: Ontology "Student Choice" #3

"The word "ontology" has four established meanings in philosophy. There are two intersecting sets of distinctions. Pure philosophical ontology is different from applied scientific ontology, and ontology in the applied scientific sense can be understood either as a discipline or a domain.” (Corazzon)

In class lecture, we briefly discussed ontology to be the study of being/reality. This school of thought classifies varieties of objects into the categories of concrete or abstract, existent or nonexistent, real or ideal, independent or dependent. Then, it explores the ties these objects have with our life in terms of relations, dependencies and predication. In addition, there are also three steps of practicing ontology: formal, descriptive and formalized.

Formal ontology was created by Edward Husserl who defined it is “object is the study of the genera of being”. This study has three basic problem-solving levels: formal logic, formal axiology, and formal praxis.

“(a) Formal Apophantics, or formal logic of judgments, where the a priori conditions for the possibility of the doxic certainty of reason are to be sought, along with (b) the synthetic forms for the possibility of the axiological, and (c) "practical" truths.”

Descriptive ontology deals with the classification of objects based on their in variables. These objects can be classified as either dependent or independent (also considered to be real or ideal).

Lastly, formalized ontology acquires all of the information collected and then formally processes the results into a methodization.

“Ontology is intimately related to metaphysics, the theory of ultimate categories of things” 

Specifically, modern metaphysics deals with the qualities and creation of categories as they strictly apply to an object. On the other hand, objects in ontology can apply to a number of categories.

All in all, ontology is a study reality with metaphysical undertones. We are able to utilize ontology in order to categorize objects through the three steps: formal, descriptive and formalized. The result allows us to understand the type of object and what affect it has on our own personal reality. 

LITERATURE CITED

Corazzon, R. (n.d.). Ontology: Its Role in Modern Philosophy. Retrieved November 21, 2014, from www.ontology.co

Erica Gamester: Walking to Santiago "Outside Reading" #4

Walking to Santiago

“Liminality is the in-between world of religious ritual, the mode of being where potentiality dominates, where change is necessary.” (Page 2)

In class lecture (and discussed in a previous journal), liminality is a doorway/passage that occurs in the middle stage of rituals, also referred to as “margin”. Unfortunately, in America, the power of rituals has ultimately been lost sight of due to strict laws and fluxing culture.

But for pilgrims, the power of liminality is anything but lost and is believed to bring healing. Together, pilgrims choose to abandon comfortable structures in order to pursue liminal healing in a dissimilar environment.

“Pilgrims leave their own traditions of discourse behind and walk together through the in-between world.” (Page 2)

In class, we discussed the influence of the “market place”, which is a blanket term for external influences. Every ego is trying to gain advantage over the other one. There are only self-motivated interests in the market place. In order to seek spiritual growth through the power of liminality, one must separate his/herself from the influence of the market place and abandon all selfish notions.

“Being outside the structures of a discourse of stability, and liminal, pilgrims engage in a discourse of change” (Page 3)

When separated from the social structure of the market place, there are no persons less or more important. Everyone is viewed as an equal member. With no social hierarchy in place, the market place is “shaken off”.

Turner states “Liminars are stripped of status and authority, removed from a social structure maintained and sanctioned by power and force, and leveled to a homogeneous social state through discipline and ordeal” (Page 3-4)

In conclusion, liminality through pilgrimage can only be obtained once the influence of the market place has been abandoned. Once the market place is shaken off, we are able to view our peers as equals – there is no longer a social structure that limits one another. On these journeys, pilgrims typically seek healing by passing through the liminal margin.  

Erica Gamester: Sacred Encounter "Student Choice" #2

Profane Experience and Sacred Encounter: Journeys to Disney and the Camino de Santiago

In class lecture, we discussed how relationships could either be an “encounter” and “experience” depending on whether the receiver is being perceived as an object or a subject. Specifically, a subject is doing and acting while the object is being acted upon.

However, subjectivity is determined by whether or not it is acting upon another subject or object.  The subject must be able to preform and assert, while the object is submissive. Objectivity can be indicated by the use of “it, he, and she” (note: another subject can be called a “he/she” as well).

Being considered as an object doesn’t always mean that you are a lifeless item; humans can treat other humans as objects too! For example, a mother can tell her son to fetch the emptied trashcan from outside. The mother is using her son as an object in order to complete a task, resulting in a subject-to-object experience.

“Tourism involves person in mediated experience and profanes unmediated encounter.” (Page 30)

Reiterating the quote above, tourism requires individual participation with subject-to-subject experience rather than an “encounter”. The difference between experience and encounter deals with how communication is being conveyed.  Communication can happen subject-to-subject, where both individuals are mutually connecting, or subject-to-object, where the subject is acting upon another human, object or animal.

“Encounter between pilgrims themselves and the surrounding environment that makes up places along the sacred journey involves the ethic of reciprocity. Whomever the pilgrim encounters becomes a You, a mystery without borders rather than an object to be manipulated, used to a desired end.” (Page 30)

Essentially, experience and encounter is determined whether both involved in conversation have mutual intentions, rather than one being treated as an object. These subject-to-object experiences are not beneficial to the pilgrim, as it provides no reciprocity between land and man.