THE TENTH MAN : 11




Analytical. I


Discoursive, dialectic, or discriminative analysis of the so-called 'opposites' and 'complementaries' can treat all of them objectively, that is as nouns, and in every case their mutual reintegration psychologically will leave the resultant concept of 'voidness'. All can be grouped and examined under the single aspect of Negative-Positive.

The abolition of the resultant concept of 'voidness', however, can only be effected by its negation when the nominal dualities are grouped under the pronominal or personal I and personal You, for such resultant voidness is, precisely, personal voidness, and its negation must necessarily be the negation of the subject as well as of the object.

All the pairs of so-called 'opposites' and 'complementaries' can be grouped under the pair I and You, and so regarded noumenally instead of phenomenally, that is pre-conceptually and non-objectively. The expression in dualistic language of such im-mediate apperceiving necessarily remains superficially dualistic, but basically it is non-dialectical, non-discriminative, and non-discoursive. On this account it is not dialectically logical, and could never be such, and it can only be apprehended by im-mediate apperceiving.

Noumenal apperceiving indicates apperceiving pre-conceptually, at the undivided source of phenomenality. It requires no rationalisation, no reification, but just apperceiving unscrambled by dialectical interference. Therefore this apprehending, directly apperceived, can only indirectly be recorded, and never discoursively.

Under the personal pronoun 'I' are grouped all the negative elements, to which this pronoun can be applied, and under the personal pronoun 'YOU' all the positive elements, as follows:

'A'..............................'B'
I.................................YOU
Self.............................Other
Subject........................Object
Noumenon...................Phenomena
Nirvana.......................Samsara
Negative......................Positive
Absence.......................Presence
Voidness......................Plenum
Non-being....................Being
Non-manifestation.........Manifestation
Non-action...................Action
YIN............................YANG
Etc. etc........................Etc. etc.

There are three degrees of cognising:
(1) Perceiving phenomenally
(2) Perceiving noumenally
(3) Apperceiving non-dually, upstream of conceptualisation.

Phenomenal cognising consists of phenomenal subject perceiving phenomenal objects,

Noumenal cognising consists of phenomenality cognising subjectively,

Non-dual cognising apprehends phenomenality and noumenality as not separate, which implies the dissolution of all opposites and complementaries, and is preconceptual.


(© HKU Press, 1966)
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