[MD] Intellectual Level

[Andre Broersen]

  Frank in response to Marsha:

What if mystical experiences are not a higher level of experience but a
regressive, reduced, or more animalistic type experience?

Andre:
Well, not quite Frank. The Meeting of East and West, if I understand anything
about Northrop's thesis at all, is about the difference of interpretation of experience,
or rather the activity of experiencing itself.
There is nothing 'mystical' about mystical/religious experiences. They are the reporting
DIRECTLY of pure experience. The philosophies of the 'East' are based on this.

The philosophies of the 'West' have been suspicious of this form of reporting (see ZMM) claiming
them to be unreliable,passionate, whimsical, subjective etc etc. and have therefore mesmorized
everyone by introducing the idea of (theoretical)'postulation' as a 'safe-guard' for entering into
false avenues and representations....(of 'reality').

It comes down to immediate experience (East) and experience by postulate (West).

Or to perhaps slightly rephrase your terminology ('animalistic')=pure experience.(East)

Postulated experience= through the theoretical grind.(West)

Does this make sense?