An Article from the Saros Spring 1997 Newsletter
Knowledge is unconstrained and cannot be defined; any definition would be too limiting. However, it can be likened to an eternal and infinite pool from which all things emanate via the river of consciousness. It is the source of everything material and immaterial - all creativity, all destruction, all matter, all laws, all existence.
What flows from the pool must be replaced, otherwise it would gradually empty, and would contradict the eternal and infinite attributes. The consequences of emptying, were that possible, might include the disappearance of this universe - or the death of God. In the non-conscious course of events, the replenishment of the pool happens automatically, as far as we know!
However, in this little corner of the universe (and, who knows, maybe in other corners and in other universes), man consciously taps the pool of knowledge. The results of such action are everything that man has 'known' through discoveries, inventions, insights, inspiration, etc., and hence all that he has needed to sustain and progress his existence. Man uses the faculty of consciousness to gain access to and extract from the pool of knowledge.
Consciousness is man's birthright (or gift?) and, most would argue, a privilege. With privilege goes obligation and responsibility. Man's obligation is to sustain his birthright - to affirm his consciousness - otherwise the species as we know it would become extinct. His responsibility is to be aware of the consequences of this obligation, and by doing so, to replenish the pool, i.e. to perpetuate knowledge. Consciousness is not a 'free lunch'!
How does man consciously replenish the pool? It can be argued that man's creativity, and his attempts to know and to organise the components of knowledge are a form of replenishment. The abilities to create and to organise are two ways in which man's consciousness has become a reality, and these are the faculties which, over time, have contributed to what we call progress. Everything that mankind has done during the course of his existence has been in the service of progress. Not everything has necessarily been wise, but that is not the point. The mere existence of a conscious human species is a replenishment of the pool, and will continue to be so, provided that the river of consciousness keeps flowing.
Philip Maxwell
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