The Phenomenal Illuminations

Existence gives us gifts. Here we focus on the first of the three sets of Illuminations, that is, of the Phenomenal, the Cosmic, and the Technological.

Inside water, a water wheel turns.
The star circulates with the moon.
We live in the night ocean, wondering, what are these lights?
You have said what you are.
I am what I am.
Your actions in my head, my head here in my hands, with something circling inside.
I have no name for what circles so perfectly.
—Rumi, with credit to Atomic Statements

I am. These two words contain multitudes.

“I” is a universe unto itself, or some would say unto themselves. Old mystics claim multiple selves (Executives) within each of us are vying for control. Yet there is a unity to Experience—a locus we call subjectivity, or “I.”

To study it, the phrenologist must put down his calipers. A behaviorist’s shocks and pellets won’t do. The neurologist’s axons, dendrites, and excitations are all very interesting. But the Phenomenal Illuminations, these gifts of existence, are yours alone. Only you can study them.

Welcome to the interocosm—the universe within.