Yes! It is *so* different from the way we're raised to think of things, but so, so useful. And also, clearly, an old idea that I'm just regurgitating, so I can't remotely take credit for it.
In stories about blessed elders and clairvoyant saints, it is a common theme that they often... people go to visit them, and their lives and thoughts and very souls are an open book to these holy men and women. This is because they've learned to see with the nous! Without the distraction of words and sensory data. Seeing soul-to-soul without any filters. I can't imagine that would be an easy thing to do all the time, which explains why these people are almost universally monastics, hermits, or holy fools. Regular social interactions *depend* on everybody being able to hide aspects of themselves.
I *think* that one of the functions of regular confession is that it gets us used to the idea of *not* hiding those aspects of ourselves that we are ashamed of. This seems like it'd help us to be able to handle the sort of truth the nous has access to. It seems like (and this is just me, not any religious authority) if just regular people, with no preparation, suddenly went "pop!" and had the eyes of their nous opened wide... it would not be the sort of thing you could function with in normal life. It'd make you bonkers, like being on a permanent shroom trip.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-03-12 06:31 pm (UTC)In stories about blessed elders and clairvoyant saints, it is a common theme that they often... people go to visit them, and their lives and thoughts and very souls are an open book to these holy men and women. This is because they've learned to see with the nous! Without the distraction of words and sensory data. Seeing soul-to-soul without any filters. I can't imagine that would be an easy thing to do all the time, which explains why these people are almost universally monastics, hermits, or holy fools. Regular social interactions *depend* on everybody being able to hide aspects of themselves.
I *think* that one of the functions of regular confession is that it gets us used to the idea of *not* hiding those aspects of ourselves that we are ashamed of. This seems like it'd help us to be able to handle the sort of truth the nous has access to. It seems like (and this is just me, not any religious authority) if just regular people, with no preparation, suddenly went "pop!" and had the eyes of their nous opened wide... it would not be the sort of thing you could function with in normal life. It'd make you bonkers, like being on a permanent shroom trip.