The Not Two

A philosophical examination of the treatment of logic and God in Lacan's later psychoanalytic theory. In The Not-Two, Lorenzo Chiesa examines the treatment of logic and God in Lacan's later work. Chiesa draws for the most part from Lacan's Seminars of the early 1970s, as they revolve around the axiom “There is no sexual relationship.” Chiesa provides both a close reading of Lacan's effort to formalize sexual difference as incompleteness and an assessment of its broader implications for philosophical realism and materialism. Chiesa argues that “There is no sexual relationship” is for Lacan empirically and historically circumscribed by psychoanalysis, yet self-evident in our everyday lives. Lacan believed that we have sex because we love, and that love is a desire to be One in face of the absence of the sexual relationship. Love presupposes a real “not-two.” The not-two condenses the idea that our love and sex lives are dictated by the impossibility of fusing man's contradictory being with the heteros of woman as a fundamentally uncountable Other. Sexual liaisons are sustained by a transcendental logic, the so-called phallic function that attempts to overcome this impossibility. Chiesa also focuses on Lacan's critical dialogue with modern science and formal logic, as well as his dismantling of sexuality as considered by mainstream biological discourse. Developing a new logic of sexuation based on incompleteness requires the relinquishing of any alleged logos of life and any teleological evolution. For Lacan, the truth of incompleteness as approached psychoanalytically through sexuality would allow us to go further in debunking traditional onto-theology and replace it with a “para-ontology” yet to be developed. Given the truth of incompleteness, Chiesa asks, can we think such a truth in itself without turning incompleteness into another truth about truth, that is, into yet another figure of God as absolute being?

The World and God Are Not-Two is a book about how the God in whom Christians believe ought to be understood. The key conceptual argument that runs throughout is that the distinctive relation between the world and God in Christian theology is best understood as a non-dualistic one. The “two”—“God” and “World” cannot be added up as separate, enumerable realities or contrasted with each other against some common background because God does not belong in any category and creatures are ontologically constituted by their relation to the Creator. In exploring the unique character of this distinctive relation, Soars turns to Sara Grant’s work on the Hindu tradition of Advaita Vedānta and the metaphysics of creation found in Thomas Aquinas. He develops Grant’s work and that of the earlier Calcutta School by drawing explicit attention to the Neoplatonic themes in Aquinas that provide some of the most fruitful areas for comparative engagement with Vedānta. To the Christian, the fact that the world exists only as dependent on God means that “world” and “God” must be ontologically distinct because God’s existence does not depend on the world. To the Advaitin, this simultaneously means that “World” and “God” cannot be ontologically separate either. The language of non-duality allows us to see that both positions can be held coherently together without entailing any contradiction or disagreement at the level of fundamental ontology. What it means to be “world” does not and cannot exclude what it means to be “God.”

What If One Plus One Is Not Two? Daniel McMullan What If One Plus One Is Not Two? shares an internal dialogue dissecting some of life’s most perplexing questions. Fascinated by chemistry in school, nineteen year-old McMullan pondered over different theories of nature while writing in his notebooks. This led him to epiphanies that completely changed his understanding of the world. For over a decade he organized and elaborated on those writings to form this book. Although we desire a rational understanding of life, McMullan suggests that an honest analysis of any conclusion reveals unreliable assumptions at the foundation. Come along for the ride as he explores the philosophical implications of this paradigm-shifting perspective.

“This royal path (Advaita), revealed by the sages of yore, is now in danger of being closed. The by-lanes are being taken for the royal path. Our effort now is to make people realize that these diversions from the royal road will lead them nowhere. Life’s real problem is not solved with these shortcuts to spirituality. These shortcuts will only result in endangering the seeker… This is a movement for the propagation of the true Vedantic wisdom, the legacy left behind by Shankara Bhagavathpada, the timeless knowledge that is eminently adaptable to the modern times.” ----Shri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao What is the Absolute Truth? What is my essential nature? How can I grasp the truth and make it my every-day experience? In this book, Shri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao, with great insight and clarity, answers questions that intrigue seekers of the truth. Srinivasa Rao’s clear and lucid explanations of the Absolute Truth resonate deeply, and awaken the seeker to a direct experience of the Self as Pure Consciousness. “This book is a very useful addition to the Vedanta texts in English. It is an excellent summarization of Advaita.” --- Dr. Aravinda Rao Karanam, Retired DGP, now teaching at www.advaita-academy.org “Shri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao imparts a no-frills Advaita that has a high fidelity to Shankara’s core teaching. His unique style of explicating the Knowledge Path captures analytical minds and makes one marvel at the rigor of logic and precision of the ancient Indian Sages. His metaphors are often enthralling and highly instructive. Here is a truly rewarding Advaita text that challenges everyone’s intellect.” ---Dr. Ramesam Vemuri, Author of Religion Demystified, and writer at www.advaita-vision.org.

Patanjali the founder of ancient Yoga has laid out a fascinating understanding of body and mind. Osho brings this ancient system into a contemporary understanding, creating a holistic approach to health and meditation. He give some significant attention and background understanding to vegetarianism stating that naturally, we should be vegetarians .

A compelling, harrowing, but ultimately uplifting story of resilience and self-discovery. "A Two-Spirit Journey" is Ma-Nee Chacaby’s extraordinary account of her life as an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian. From her early, often harrowing memories of life and abuse in a remote Ojibwa community riven by poverty and alcoholism, Chacaby’s story is one of enduring and ultimately overcoming the social, economic, and health legacies of colonialism. As a child, Chacaby learned spiritual and cultural traditions from her Cree grandmother and trapping, hunting, and bush survival skills from her Ojibwa stepfather. She also suffered physical and sexual abuse by different adults, and in her teen years became alcoholic herself. At twenty, Chacaby moved to Thunder Bay with her children to escape an abusive marriage. Abuse, compounded by racism, continued, but Chacaby found supports to help herself and others. Over the following decades, she achieved sobriety; trained and worked as an alcoholism counsellor; raised her children and fostered many others; learned to live with visual impairment; and came out as a lesbian. In 2013, Chacaby led the first gay pride parade in Thunder Bay. Ma-Nee Chacaby has emerged from hardship grounded in faith, compassion, humour, and resilience. Her memoir provides unprecedented insights into the challenges still faced by many Indigenous people.