By M. Ali Lakhani

Wittgenstein and the Tao

(In Memory of Wolfgang Smith, 1930-2024)

.
Language cannot contain reality.
Physics does not fathom its hidden ground,
But Being knows it. We know more than words
Can tell, more than our instruments can see.
So the Tao teaches: ‘Who knows, does not say.’
The Holy One proclaims only: ‘I AM’.
Meaning, reduced to thought, is elusive,
An ever-moving Heraclitean flow.
But the river’s source is deeply present;
It lies in the Spirit we plumb to know.
Speech beyond our mind’s grasping intellect
Or the science which ‘murders to dissect’,
We know, not in words but mystic silence –
The force that IS, both in and around us.

Wolfgang Smith was an Austrian scientist, mathematician and philosopher, who argued the case against the limited view of causation embraced by science – subsequently referred to as horizontal – which operates in time by way of a transmission through space. He posited an extended understanding to include vertical causation effected by wholeness – an incarnational view in which being and wholeness are one and the same and that potential (or spirit) can be actualised as matter.

M. Ali Lakhani, KC practised as a barrister in Vancouver for 46 years. He is the founding editor of the Traditionalist journal, Sacred Web [/] (est. 1998), the leading publication in its field, and the author of four books on traditional metaphysics.

By Nükhet Kardam

Inside and Outside

The bird inside
Fluttering its wings
Protected, fed
Happy

Suddenly a door opens
Gingerly stepping
Outside
But not too far

Am I free?
Or not?
Hovering close by
Right outside
Just in case

Am I free?
Free from what?
Now curious
Now fearful
Now hungry
Now excited

On the verge
Neither here nor there
Neither inside nor outside
In the dark in the light
In the In Between
The visible and the invisible
The visible and the invisible

This poem was inspired by a mosaic by Clem McDonnell:

Clem McDonnell was born in Ireland, has lived in Istanbul, Türkiye since 1985. He is passionate about mosaic, which he has studied in Istanbul, Ravenna and Venice. He currently shares this passion through his Istanbul mosaic studio, @mosaicclem.

Nükhet Kardam divides her time between Monterey, California and Antalya, Türkiye. She explores the intersection of poetry, visual arts and music. Her new book of poetry and photography In Wonder (Hayret) in English and Turkish, as well as videos and other projects can be explored by visiting www.NukhetKardam.com.