immanence
Carl Jung called immanence "the deep truth." This blog explores a Jungian view of immanence: the divine within.
Phenomenology of the sacred
Wenzel Hollar- Chaos, 1607-1677, US public domain.
“God is Life, he is the essence of Life, or, if we prefer, the essence of Life is God. Saying this we already know what is God the father they almighty, creator of heaven and earth, we know it not by the effect of a learning or of some knowledge, we don’t know it by the thought, on the background of the truth of the world ; we know it and we can know it only in and by the Life itself. We can know it only in God.” -Michel Henry
For much of recent history we have been taught that God exists somewhere outside of life, beyond experience. But this is simply a perceptual illusion. The sacred, perceived as an idealized transcendent beyond, is an illusive boundary at the horizon of consciousness. This sacred beyond is our own growing edge, a perceptual illusion that calls forth the evolution of consciousness.
The transcendent horizon beckons us forth until we develop the capacities to begin to work with the truth available to our perceptual awareness. It is only then that we can discover a relationship with God and begin to truly know God. And in realizing this relationship with God we find that we are contained within God. Life is not simply our biological life but a divine life, a phenomenological life that is the life of God.
The ego tends to focus its gaze upon the transcendent horizon, always wanting more, desiring more. But there is the possibility of a moment when the ego (as awareness) has achieved the perspective necessary to shift its gaze to that which is immanent and real.
This is the immanent turn, a point in the history of the development of consciousness when we are ready to perceive the truth with our own eyes, to know what is real with our own hearts. This is the moment in our development when we are ready to know the creative ground of life as a perceptual truth. To get to this point we must clarify the egos reliance upon fantasy, upon grandiosity and self-delusion.
The phenomenology of the sacred is a humble act, experienced within a life lived close to the bone. Phenomenology provides a theoretical framework, a language and form of experimentation, in which we can grow our ability to perceive the immanent truth: the sacred is not far off, but is instead the very root of life, emerging and pulsating throughout life, and perceptible through the field of consciousness.
About Jenna Lilla PhD
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