Franklin Merrell-Wolff's experience and philosophy : a personal record of transformation and a discussion of transcendental consciousness : containing his Philosophy of consciousness without an object, and his Pathways through to space

Contains both works 'Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object' and 'Pathways Through to Space'. Here is an account of the enlightenment experience and its consequences written by a trained philosopher and mathematician who is also a master of English prose. Merrell-Wolff experienced enlightenment, became established in the state, and wrote clearly about the value and nature of the knowledge he attained. This is a record of transformation in consciousness written during the actual process itself, supplying an unusually intimate view. The author faces the epistemological problem directly —the problem of demonstrating the reality and value of knowledge springing from mystical roots. He gives serious attention to the philosophical and psychological criticism, writing with an eye to the pitfalls indicated by such criticism. He did not write only for those who believe easily. After graduate work at Harvard, Franklin Merrell-Wolff accepted a position as professor of mathematics at Stanford. A few months later, he abandoned a promising academic career in order to facilitate his quest for a third way of knowing—a way apart from sense perception and conceptual cognition. “I found myself in sight of the limits to which our present egoistic consciousness has reached, and also had found adumbrations of another kind of consciousness where alone, it seemed, solution of the antinomies of the subject-object consciousness could be found.” Franklin Merrell-Wolff's experience and philosophy Contents Preface PATHWAYS THROUGH TO SPACE 1 The Light Breaks Forth 2 Concerning Meditative Technique 3 Cosmic and Transcendent Consciousness 4 The Record Continued 5 Evolution and Cosmic Consciousness 6 Myself 7 Jesus and the Way 8 The Ineffable Current of Bliss 9 Concerning the Spontaneity of the Self 10 Seek Me First 11 Expression from Different Levels 12 The Record Continued 13 Nirvanic Bliss 14 The Record Continued 15 The Grand Adventure 16 Alternative Roads to Recognition 17 Being Born Again 18 An Experience with the Fire 19 The Drama of the Triune Man 20 The Meaning of Omniscience 21 The Record Continued 22 The Celestial Virgin 23 Beauty 24 The Record Continued 25 Both by Thought and Feeling 26 The Sea of Consciousness 27 I Who Speak 28 How to Understand Mystic Writings 29 Concerning Opposition Aroused by Sages 30 The Record Continued 31 The Level of Real Equality 32 The Greatness of Man 33 The Moral Problem 34 Solar and Planetary Recognition 35 Recognition and the Physical Body 36 Concerning Occult Powers 37 The Underlying Force in Religion 38 Knowledge Through Identity 39 The Meaning of Substance 40 Communion in the Company of the Realized 41 Recognition and Egoism 42 By Many Paths 43 The Record Continued 44 The Relation of Karma to Recognition 45 The “Awakening,” The End of All Religion 46 The Conditions that Favor Recognition 47 The Nature of the Higher Knowledge 48 The Record Continued 49 Sleep and Death 50 The Well of Ignorance 51 Beyond Genius 52 The High Indifference 53 The Evidence for the Higher Consciousness 354 A Poetic Interlude 95 The Real and the Unreal 56 Integration 57 The Gold Mine 58 The Power of Illumination 59 Expression and Transcendent Consciousness 60 The Symbol of the Fourth Dimension 61 The Nature of Ponderable Matter 62 Real Equality 63 The Predicament of Buddha 64 The Adept World 65 Manifestation without Evil 66 The One Element 67 The Current of Numberless Dimensions 68 Concerning Duty 69 Philosophic Reconciliations 70 Recognition as an Act of Transcendence 71 The Record Continued 72 The Problem of Government 73 Compassion 74 The Symbolism of the Butterfly 75 Concerning Asceticism 76 Poverty and Obedience 77 The Higher Consciousness and the Mind 78 The Atlantean Sage 79 The Barriers to Recognition 80 The Nameless 81 The Record Continued 82 The Point-I and the Space-I 83 Sangsara 84 Nirvana 85 Conceiving and Perceiving 86 A New Word 87 The Conflict between Space and Time 88 The Final Record 89 The Supreme Adventure 90 Addendum to the High Indifference 91 Conclusion: Two Years Later THE PHILOSOPHY OF CONSCIOUSNESS WITHOUT AN OBJECT Part I: The Ground of Knowledge 1 The Idea and Its Reference 2 A Mystical Unfoldment Part II: The Aphorisms on Consciousness Without an Object 3 The Levels of Thought 4 Aphorisms on Consciousness Without an Object 5 General Discussion of Consciousness Without an Object 6 Commentaries on the Aphorisms GLOSSARY INDEX