Philosophy’s Two Paths: The View from Above and the Way Through Hell

The etymology of philosophy leads to the love of wisdom. The paths to wisdom can be divided into two: ekstasis and catharsis. Jamie Wheal is a thinker who utilises this distinction in his book Recapture the Rapture and on podcasts (where he includes a third aspect: Communitas - community/sangha).
The distinction between ekstasis and catharsis is a powerful one. Ekstasis is the higher perspective; it is being on the mountain and surveying the entire landscape. Catharsis on the other hand is the way under - it is Dante going through Hell and emerging into Heaven.
Ultimately both ekstasis and catharsis lead us to the same place: wisdom but the journey is very different. We can see philosophers throughout history leaning more towards one direction or another: Plato, Plotinus, Parmenides and Spinoza lead us towards the high insights of ekstasis; Heraclitus, Nietzsche and Kierkegaard lead us towards the deep wisdom of catharsis.
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Learning Resources:
• Recapture the Rapture by Jamie Wheal www.recapturetherapture.com/
• The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries by Gordon Wasson www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/186043/the-road-to-eleusis-by-r-gordon-wasson/
• The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche www.goodreads.com/book/show/94578.The_Gay_Science
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🎶 Music Used:
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⌛ Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
0:38 Ekstasis
4:40 Catharsis
7:57 Conclusion
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#ecstasy #thelivingphilosophy #catharsis #jamiewheal #philosophy #recapturetherapture

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Want to support the channel? Now you can! 💸 Patreon: patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy ☕️ ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy ⌛ Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 0:38 Ekstasis 4:40 Catharsis 7:57 Conclusion

[@TheRealValus]

I used to be excited when Academy of Ideas uploaded a video; now, it's The Living Philosophy. "My imagination grows every time I read Vico as it doesn't when I read Freud or Jung." (-Joyce)

[@davereckoning9530]

"My imagination always grows every time I read Jung - I have to imagine that I follow his train of thought, imagine that it makes sense, and imagine that it has any validity." (- Dave)

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Haha wow Valkin that brought a big smile to my face thank you for the kind words it's stuff like this that keeps the engine running in times of doubt

[@corporatelawyerpill5746]

Amazing work. Accurate, inspiring and succinct. Keep it up, from a fellow Irishman who loves philosophising

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Haha thanks Shane always happy to please a countryman!

[@philharland7763]

.... perhaps the slide of "western" culture from the hights of pre-Plato insights, is traceable to this almost universal reversal in the understanding of the term "philosophy". Instead of "love of wisdom" (an accumulative grab of knowledge), imagine now, this society, based on "wisdom of Love". A pure compassionate approach to life where heart based, wholistic comprehension is the foundation for action and intelligence.

[@satnamo]

sofyfilo=wisdom(love)

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Interesting reframe Phil. My focus always went later to the trading of sophia for scientia/episteme but this is a novel way of looking at it

[@jujostudio]

See bell hooks for more on defining philosophy as wisdom of love.

[@frimports]

I am reminded of Dostoevsky’s Underground man. Is there not pleasure in pain? In extreme suffering there is a kind of jubilation, a quiet rejoicing in the ability to Stoically endure. What used to bring terror and anxiety has no more power as the soul has been through the fires of refinement. “Gone are the days we stopped to decide where we should go we just ride” Robert Hunter Crazy Fingers.

[@satnamo]

Float like das wind And flow like water. A freeman is a warrior; He must require strength because otherwise he will never attain power.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

God I love that book and that crooked protagonist that we can all relate to in those corners of our psyche. That's a book I must crawl into once again and writhe uncomfortably in the presence of the underground man

[@peterlynley]

It's very hard to tell the difference between philosophy and spirituality sometimes isn't it? Very illuminating. Mark Vernon has just published a book on Dante's Divine Comedy as a spiritual journey. It just dropped so I haven't read it yet but I plan to. Vernon is a very insightful writer.

[@satnamo]

Das beste of man is he who has eyes to see de unseen because seeing de unseen is enlightenment

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

I know right! I guess when you get into this ancient view of philosophy as something lived and as being a pursuit of wisdom then it overlaps with that practical side of spirituality. I'm curious to check out Vernon's work. The third draft of my own book about suffering/catharsis was structured around Dante's journey so I'd be very curious to see what he has written about it. Might inspire me to go back and blow off the cobwebs!

[@Criminal_Psychology_Dispatch_]

Insightful video, thank you!

[@kevinrombouts3027]

Oh that's stunning revelation to me. Thanks so very much.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Delighted to hear it Kevin!

[@JP-rx8dn]

This was excellent. A very beautiful and poetic vision if philosophy.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks JP glad you enjoyed it!

[@embassador_r610]

Underrated. This is damn underrated!

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Haha thanks Embassador! Much appreciated

[@todormia]

You are a great rhetor, and you are explaining so profoundly and honestly, without digressions. That is rare. I love your videos. I would like to watch your future video about Heideger's late philosophy (on poiesis and tecnology)!

[@mralexander99]

❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥……you are definitely on to something that is - an idea/experience whose time has come….the world is thirsty for the ecstatic and willing to enter the cathartic to taste it’s nectar…..the giants before us have pointed the way….and we here in the beginning of the 21st century are ready to seize this notion and spread it widely forevermore 🎭

[@tarunchandrasekaran7701]

This is incredibly interesting and useful. I am very grateful for your videos. They are masterpieces in conveying philosophy in quick methods.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thank you so much Tarun it brings me a lot of joy to hear that!

[@dillonjohnlane]

brilliantly put as always. thank you for your work.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks Dillon!

[@thevulgarhegelian4676]

Shout out to Richard Rohr and Jamie Wheal in same segment. your channelis killing it with deepest, hard hitting insights over philosophical and theological topics. Thanks for your work. Been in my head for days now thinking. Really 👍

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Ah thank you so much Andrew that's brought a big smile to my face love getting comments like this from people on the same buzz as me. It gives me so much heart

[@nashenas1950]

Your videos are great! Huge amount of wisdom.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks Abolfazl!

[@Jose-yr7ji]

Great video! Perfect 💯👌🏻🙂

[@olbluelips]

Great video

[@Simon-zan]

Amazing work and amazing channel!

[@martinrigg7087]

Thank you for your insights.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thank _you_ for the kind words martin

[@Motorlizard]

Great video! Love this subject matter, keep it up!

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

As ever thank you Bill for the words and support

[@thangtrantrung5876]

This video is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Haha thanks Thắng

[@Ronin3Zero9]

Thanks!

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks a million Leo!

[@drewsuismclovin]

Thanks for these great bits of insight into what you have learned/what you know. They are a great pleasure to watch through and a great supplement to my own explorations into these subjects!

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Ah thank you so much it's my pleasure I'm just delighted that you're getting a lot of value out of it!

[@gabrielsimpson9919]

Amazing

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks Gabriel!

[@deepsleepist9097]

Thanks, you gave me ekstasis.

[@markdpricemusic1574]

Magnificently lucid presentation. many thanks for this. Please let people know if you are at any conferences this Summer - or even better, if you are organising any conferences. ''Mysticism'' has been used as a term of abuse in academic philosophy for a long time now - but your work gives a fine sense of how and why thought should be ( like alchemy if understood properly ) as exploring transformative potentials. Otherwise 'philosophy' is just complex but idle chatter and distinction-mongering. More power to you Sir.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks a million Mark! No conferences planned to visit or host although someone was encouraging me the other day to host a workshop weekend or something but no plans as of yet I'll be sure to announce it if ever there is one!

[@WheelMarks]

As always your content is top notch Thank you and please keep it up

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Ah thanks a million Michael! I really appreciate that

[@THEREDAKAY]

Reminds me of the Pixar movie Soul. What a professional and insightful channel! Immediately subscribed.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thank you! I haven't actually seen Soul so I shall be checking that out immediately!

[@felixgenereux388]

Incredible video my man. I wondered if something like this existed.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks Felix!

[@natalieschreiber7785]

Just subbed. I love your videos and I've been binging them since I found your channel two days ago, thank you!

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Ah that's awesome Natalie! Delighted you're enjoying them!

[@stephankreidl1999]

Very cool video and nice graphics! The volume of the music is perfect. Very delightful thank you! I think the moments/days after such an experience are what is truly hard. For me atleast it was always painful in a way to fall back to ignorance, but i feel like that over time that becomes easier and i clinge less for the clarity these heights provide. In my experience the clarity psychedelics provide are in a way less grounded, and in their worst case uprooting, hence why one might have trouble to integrate the ecstatic experience. Trying to gain insights by disciplin and commiting to the path of wisdom is maybe at times slower but i feel the progress made carries over better. Anchoring the mind rythmically creates nice resonances. :)

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks a milion Stephan! I'm inclined to agree with you as well. I feel like the cathartic cuts a lot deeper and really gets into the bones. I do think the psychedelic path has the potential to unlock something but it takes a lot of work to integrate it afterwards

[@Whisperingbugs]

What a good video! Keep on going man

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks Banous I really appreciate the support!

[@superscape3627]

These were very interesting perspectives🤔

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks Superscape!

[@LabradorcumJuice]

Im in New Zealand at work this is great man! Will-o'-the-wisp

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks a million! Nice to know my voice is active in all time zones XD

[@sacredmetaphics]

Excellent work Brother. I will share and connect with you on Twitter.

[@dlloydy5356]

This is great. I immediately thought of flow state then you discussed it 😂. I have experienced it most often when exercising and pushing on....you are so mindful I guess of what you are doing everything else stops. It only occurs however when you’ve been through a really hard session usually physically.....it’s amazing and weird at the same time. Well explained again. Thanks.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Haha you were ahead of the curve then Danny! I think we could all do with more flow in our lives!

[@dlloydy5356]

@@TheLivingPhilosophy completely agree....I’m not usually in front tho 😂

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

@@dlloydy5356 Haha well then all the more occasion to relish it XD

[@misao7746]

7:00 I guess 11 year old me knew a lot about this catharsis then. When I feared something, I heard that people just forget about it and go kn, push it away by not being triggered, and thus they demanded censoring and trigger warnings. But I didn't believe it. I knew that avoidance would lead to a weakness and vulnerability following me through my life. So I put this pain on myself, imagined the scene, feared. Somehow though, there's something odd, something that sticks to you, then. Trauma, it's one of the most confusing things to me, it doesn't go away with pain seemingly, it only dissociates you from the world and gets bigger. But I believe there must be something thatcan abolish it.

[@satnamo]

Pain purifies everything

[@50palmyra]

You should read Simon chritchlys “tragedy the Greeks and us” for a critique of this very topic. Very good book

[@Ronin3Zero9]

You’re **ck**g brilliant man!

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Haha thanks again Leo

[@friedrichaugustiii3114]

I wonder whether Stoicism is rather ekstatic or carthatic. Maybe its focus on detachment is an ekstatic sentiment, but its active engagement in the world contrary to seeking a monastry on the mountain, the permanent confrontation with death and ills, embracing of hardship and a particular "becoming stronger than fate"-attitude has also carthatic qualities.

[@owretchedman]

This video is about, I feel, from my mystic perch, about the difference between being time and being of time. Most people think they have time, but in truth time has them. Time is devouring them like that painting by Goya where Saturn is eating people. People believe they have time, that there is future will they can become themselves. This a great error and the ultimate folly. One can only become themselves right now. It's always Now or Never.

[@OneConsciousnessWithAaron]

12 Everyone has experienced what he would call a sense of being trans. • ported beyond himself. This feeling of liberation far exceeds the dream of freedom sometimes experienced in the special relationship. It is a sense of actual escape from limitations. If you will consider what this "transporta- tion" really entails, you will realize that it is a sudden unawareness of the body, and a joining of yourself and something else, in which your mind enlarges to encompass it. It becomes part of you as you unite with it. And both become whole, as neither is perceived as separate. 13 What really happens is that you have given up the illusion of a limited awareness and lost your fear of union. The love that instantly replaces it ex- tends to what has freed you, and unites you with it. And while this lasts, you are not uncertain of your identity, and would not limit it. You have escaped from fear to peace, asking no questions of reality, but merely accepting it. You have accepted this instead of the body, and have let yourself be one with something beyond it, simply by not letting your mind be limited by it. 14 This can occur regardless of the physical distance that seems to be be- tween you and what you join, regardless of your respective positions in space and of your differences in size and seeming quality. Time is ir- relevant; it can occur with something past, present, or anticipated. 'The "something" can be anything and anywhere: a sound, a sight, a thought, a memory, even a more general idea without specific reference.? But in every case, you join it without reservation, because you love it and would be with it. And so you rush to meet it, letting your limits melt away, suspending all the "laws" your body obeys and gently setting them aside. 15 There is no violence at all in this escape. The body is not attacked, but merely properly perceived. It does not limit you, merely because you would not have it so. You are not really lifted out'" of it; it cannot contain you. -You go where you would be; gaining, not losing, a sense of self. In these instants of release from physical restrictions, you experience much of what happens in the holy instant: the lifting of the barriers of time and space, the sudden experience of peace and joy, and above all the lack of awareness • of the body, and of the questioning whether or not all this is possible. It is possible, because you want it.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Is this from the course in miracles? Fascinating!

[@OneConsciousnessWithAaron]

Yes this is from the Course.

[@marcusdsmith144]

Could you point me in the direction of one of your videos that address the perennial philosophy and non-duality and how it fits into the ecosystem of philosophy

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

I don't think I've tackled that directly. There's a video on the difference between mysticism and enlightenment and another on why I'm not enlightened that might tickle the spot but probably your best bet would be the series on the psychology of the chakras which talks about spiritual development in general kzbin.info/www/bejne/naC9YWtqpbSqq9E

[@midas01tw]

we do have a word for kairos, eureka!

[@marks7321]

This is incredible content and I am thoroughly enjoying your insight and prose. I find the narrative quality distracting from the content, however, and would love to read your thoughts. Do you have a blog or substack I can subscribe to?

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Thanks Mark there is indeed a substack at thelivingphilosophy.substack.com/ I'd love your feedback as well. When you say the narrative quality do you mean the audio quality, the delivery or something else? Always trying to improve and consider myself at the beginning of a marathon so it's golden to get good feedback

[@marks7321]

@@TheLivingPhilosophy Excellent! And thank you for the quick response. I'm the furthest thing from knowledgeable about these things, so I don't even know how to articulate it. And, truthfully, it may be as simple as me not yet being used to your natural cadence and speech rhythms.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

@@marks7321 Yeah I thought that'd be the case I'm the same I always want to improve but lack the articulation to figure out where it's off hence my badgering you! Anyway I appreciate the feedback and hope you enjoy the articles!

[@marks7321]

@@TheLivingPhilosophy Read your article on Epicurus and loved it. Learned a couple new things, too, so thanks for that!

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

@@marks7321 ah wonderful Mark! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@OneConsciousnessWithAaron]

All your discussion of “Reality” lends me the reference of this material from A Course In Miracles. Curious of your thoughts on what is said here.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Ah fascinating! I haven't actually delved into it myself but I have a friend who has spent years studying it and I have a lot of respect for her. She's teaching an 18 month long course on it and that alone I admire - the level of dedication involved in it. Can't speak to any of the content though. What are your own thoughts on it Aaron?

[@OneConsciousnessWithAaron]

@@TheLivingPhilosophy hard to articulate my thoughts on it. This is my 30th year working it and studying it. It is how I understand consciousness, being-ness, awareness. I would love to speak with your friend about it. I would actually welcome the opportunity. I’m curious about how it’s being framed ands outlined for an 18 month course. Interesting.

[@OneConsciousnessWithAaron]

@@TheLivingPhilosophy the accessing of a less and less limiting consciousness, of broader thinking, and being able to integrate and encompass it into my own consciousness is the allure of A Course In Miracles. In the exact same way the quotes in Huxley’s Perennial Philosophy open and release my consciousness. I find them all to be bread crumb trails. I am always looking for bread crumbs and find all else simulacra and simulation, perhaps he should have stopped there.

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

​@@OneConsciousnessWithAaron Ah yes I can see the appeal it does sound enticing. Anything that merits 30 years of repeated engagement is a deep well indeed. I As for my friend I'm sure Mary would be delighted to chat to you. I see her email is up on the website circleofa.org/studygroups/ (Mary Barry - she's the only one in Ireland). I'm sure you could reach her there or if you send me an email (through the link on this page kzbin.infoabout) I can send her a message and maybe connect you guys more properly! I'll send her a text anyway and let her know you were asking about her!

[@michaelmcclure3383]

Yes, I think one inevitably encounters both of these in the course of a life devoted to truth. Sometimes the Catharsis comes later, maybe why Dionysus is a later God? I mean, would one reveal that aspect of the journey at the beginning?.. Usually it dawns when it's too late and one is wholly committed or at least can't employ the strategies of escape haha

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

Haha they absolutely would not. I think this is the beauty of the AA thing of one day at a time. When the challenge is that daunting ignorance is definitely an aid

[@michaelmcclure3383]

@@TheLivingPhilosophy have you seen this?. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3O6lnRoZZiEY8U

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

@@michaelmcclure3383 Ooh no but that's awesome I'm downloading it on Spotify to listen to right now. I've actually been planning my own video on JP's shadow so this should be interesting stuff!

[@michaelmcclure3383]

@@TheLivingPhilosophy yeah, the zen teacher is associated with the integralists, so goes into the spiral dynamics and shadow stuff too. I might have a little criticism of his view on what he thought Ramana said, but he's a Buddhist not a Vedantan haha

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

@@michaelmcclure3383 Haha one must forgive the clumsy feet of those who wander into realms in which they are not expert. I in particular have to beg for such mercy given what I do here XD

[@isaacvr6947]

Only ekstasis will get you to understand the nature of reality but only cartharis will teach you how to be human with a broken heart.

[@Banana_Split_Cream_Buns]

7:02 I wasn't aware that Nietzsche had tried meth.

[@surfism]

I would steer clear of Jamie Wheal if I were you. The presentation of his Flow Genome Project looks to be very image conscious. He seems like an egomaniac. And it puzzles me that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is credited with the concept of flow.

[@satnamo]

All the wisest men of all ages have always say das same things and fools always do das opposite: Who want to be happy ? Get in das zone yo

[@TheLivingPhilosophy]

I can see what you mean from a cursive look at Flow Genome and from reading people talking about that but when I listen to him on podcasts talking about things that have nothing to do with the business he's very insightful and has a really interesting take. And as for Csikszentmihalyi I guess his entanglement with flow comes from his having made a rigorous science out of it and for that I guess he has become the face of Flow.