The Decreationist: Simone Weil’s thoughts on the unmaking of the self

It seems as though the author is hinting at a spectrum of decreations from physical to mental. On one hand it suggests that, Weil equates the decreation of the self to be synonymous with physical decreation, while the author suggests that mental decreation to be an other valid interpretation.

For those who are practitioners of neti neti meditation, what are your thoughts on the subject?

Thanks, GPT.

I have progressed enough in my mediation practice to understand the question, but not far enough to have much to say in the way of answers. "Apophatic" theology in Catholic circles seems to be related: One approaches insight into the divine through a process of subtraction or negation, a bit like sculpture. Remove all that is not true, in order to begin to apprehend the dim outlines of the truth.

Similarly, one might approach one's own ego consciousness, with its many delusions, as a process of deconstruction. Teachers of contemplation such as Thomas Merton talk about the "true self" and the "false self". Personally, I find the longing for "true self" and the diminution of "false self" to be more helpful than a notion of complete self-annihilation. To use Catholic terminology, the path toward a fully actualized true self is classically referred to as the Beatific Vision or Divine Union. These notions are perhaps similar to Enlightenment or Satori.

The academic discipline of mathematical statistics also has some resonances here. One seeks to hone a rigorous freedom from one's own expectations, pre-conceived ideas, and agendas. The goal is to see the truth, delicate as it may be to tease out, and overcome any personal tendency, explicit or implicit, to distort the view based on what we hope to see.

As for the decreation of God, consider the first commandments:

1. Have no other gods before me, or make graven images

There's no requirement to obey or sacrifice to God, just not to have false gods.

2. Don't take the name of the lord in vain

Don't act pious or pretend you are God's representative.

3. Respect the Sabbath

Don't fill life completely with work; *everyone* should do *nothing* for a day. There's NO requirement for religious services.

In the historical context when gods and temples seemed to vie for adherents, sacrifices and superiority, it's interesting that the (writers of the Hebrew god?) disavowed all that. Considering god as a projection of humans, this seems to inoculate people against religion and taking themselves too seriously.

(Needless to say, most of religion overtly violates this interpretation.)

Any text that uses GOD anywhere near an argument, is already boring and irrelevant.