Átélek, therefore I am – this is the new cogito of Aletheosophia. I thought I would write an essay about it. Yes, but what I did not expect was that by the time I reached the farewell paragraph of the article, the new cogito would no longer be entirely new. I begin to write with the consciousness of Átélek, therefore I am…
Dawn
Every human being, every single day, is touched by it. The first more important realization of consciousness, slowly returning with the first rays of dawn yet still waking sleepily, determines not only the mood of the morning, but the mood of the whole day as well. Aletheosophia would not be a philosophy of the now if it were not illuminated by the early sun of its own first morning. And it is only fitting that the first day and first ray of wisdom should shine first of all upon the main thesis of this philosophy of the now.
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As for the main theses of Aletheosophia, they are still in search mode. But as for this present writing, I would like to share glad tidings with you: the new cogito of Aletheosophia.
Átélek, therefore I am.
In Hungarian: Átélek, tehát vagyok. In Latin: Átélek, ergo sum.
I admit it, and I agree with you! This “Átélek” is indeed highly mystical, and this whole cogito certainly has a very Cartesian sound. Well, you are absolutely right. If you are wondering who this Gábor is, and what this Aletheosophia is, and how it dares to raise itself to Cartesian heights, you are right about that too. If you are still with me now, welcome. To the best of my ability, I will explain everything.
At the moment this new cogito came to light – Átélek, therefore I am – joy rather took hold of me, and a brightness flared up in my mind. It was happiness to see the newly manifested possibility of Aletheosophia thanks to this new cogito. I decided that it should remain. Átélek, therefore I am. Átélek, tehát vagyok. Átélek, ergo sum.
And so what is this mystical “Átélek”?
It is the first-person singular subjective conjugation of the verb átélni, which in English means I am living through. And why, then, is it not translated? I thought it better to preserve the grammatical naturalness of the verb átélni, namely that as a subjectively conjugated verb it does not insist on attaching itself to a definite object — to living through, yes, but living through what exactly? That is why.
At the dawn of Aletheosophia, then, I feel it important to take seriously the realization arriving on the wings of the first sunray, for it determines the whole of that day. The joy of the first important realization will shine as an inner light source throughout the full day of Aletheosophia.
Divine Spark
Not only good ideas are ideas, but bad ideas are ideas too. And yet those important realizations that are capable of changing a person’s life, I prefer to call divine sparks.
It was during the writing of my first book that the idea flashed into my mind which later, as a Divine Spark, contributed to making Aletheosophia possible. First I will tell the short story of how the idea occurred to me. What if I were to launch a new philosophy out of the many hundreds of hours of observation I had devoted to observing the now? That is what I thought. And that is what I did. The possibility of a philosophy of the now began to take shape within me, but it had neither a name nor a main thesis yet. The coining of the name Aletheosophia filled me with joy.
After this I began to think about what the anatomy of a Divine Spark might be. I realized that every idea and every divine spark takes embodiment from the spirit-world and is fulfilled at the request of the human being. When Aletheosophia was not yet a philosophy of the now, when it was not really anything at all, it was merely a barely perceptible tiny intention within me. I wanted my first book to have an agora fit for conversation. This desire lay dormant within me, wanting to come to light. Then came that original Divine Spark from which Aletheosophia was later born. I would now like to take a closer look at the anatomy of this Divine Spark.
So, I have done so. I summarize it in the following table.
Divine Spark → Now | Medium | Prop |
|---|---|---|
Metaphysics | • Logic (divinity), | • Now, |
Physics | • Brain | • Moment as a second & |
It may help to read the table in the following way:
The Divine Spark manifests through the portal of the Now. It has both metaphysical and physical aspects. Actors and props, as entities, take over the foundational pillars of the earthly creation story of the Divine Spark.
The present state of Aletheosophia is directly connected to its spiritual origin. By present state I mean everything I have already formulated, everything that will later serve as further fertile ground for its growth. And by spiritual origin I mean that original divine spark from which the as-yet-unnamed Aletheosophia was conceived.
As we know, there is no structure that can disregard its foundations. The same is true of Aletheosophia. It rests on spiritual foundations: the very first original divine spark, which at the very first moment was formulated in only a few words. It is an honor that I could be the medium-person through the gate of whose soul Aletheosophia can now grow.
On the Horizon of Aletheosophia
This morning I still woke up believing that the cogito of Aletheosophia was: Átélek, tehát vagyok. (I did not yet know that this cogito would not even survive until noon, and indeed I could not yet know whether by the time I finished this article the cogito of Aletheosophia might change once again.)
Before turning to a short history of the cogito, in which I take stock of what main theses Aletheosophia has given birth to, I would like to look a little outward and ask what essential connections may be discovered on the horizon of Aletheosophia.
Reality. In what relationship does Aletheosophia stand to reality? Very much in contrast, I would say. When the Divine Spark connected with founding a new philosophy first flashed into my mind, I already knew the foundational role of the verb átélni. It was clear that to live through means to experience something without commentary, just as it is. In principle, two categories presented themselves. One: good faith. Everything belongs here whose essence concerns the past or the future and takes that as its starting basis. Two: reality. This is where Aletheosophia enters the picture. For only that can be reality which a human being is living through at that very moment. Thus everything else can only be good faith by necessity.
Truth. In what relationship does Aletheosophia stand to truth? In exactly the same relationship in which it stands to reality. In essence, reality is inseparable from truth. Speaking Aletheosophically (taking into account the reality of lived experience), I cannot say with certainty that the sun will rise tomorrow. Why? Because the sky may be cloudy all day. I am joking, yet in essence it is still true. In Aletheosophical terms as well, whatever is real by virtue of lived experience is true as well. Furthermore, if I may say that reality is truth, then it is also true that truth is reality. So the equation, so to speak, can be reversed.
I would still like to add one thought about realization. To realize means to live through the manifestation of logicalness. Every realization necessarily leads to lived experience, which makes the relationship of realization to lived experience inseparable, and thus inseparable from truth and from reality as well. Here I would already like to draw attention to the very obvious separability between the essence of realization and the essence of thought. I mean that to conceive something and to think something are not the same. The act of conceiving is the process of thinking. At the same time, the story of a thought may freely concern the past, the present, or the future. To realize something is a spiritual movement in which Logic recognizes a connection as logical, and that connection is immediately formulated and appears in thought, upon noticing and observing which we may refer back to the fact of realization.
I began to think about what cogitos Aletheosophia has already had, because it most certainly has had several. When a new cogito was born, at first I welcomed it with joy. Later I shifted into search mode, and the part of me that is always trying to improve things began to grow doubtful of it. Thus the staying power of the current cogito came under the tension of an ever greater challenge, and this led to change. I regard them as stations, and I dare say I might even call it development, though perhaps I am mistaken. In any case, I arrange the history of Aletheosophia’s cogitos in the following table.
Motive | Cogito | Problem |
|---|---|---|
At the beginning there was only the feeling of a new philosophy being born within me, and I felt it needed a main thesis as well. | Only the essence of my lived experience is true and real; everything else is only good faith. | Compared with what should be the main thesis of a new philosophy, it is somewhat diffuse, trying to encompass too many things at once. I feared that the essence might get lost. |
How did Descartes do it? I too would like a greatness like Cogito, ergo sum. | Átélem, therefore true. | Despite being very Cartesian, it does not bring into close view the inseparability of truth and reality. |
Better to return to the original idea. | Only in lived experience is there reality. Everything else is only good faith. | Everything necessary is in it, yet it is made of two sentences, and the repetition of the words “only” and “only” made it, I felt, less beautiful. |
I want a cogito in which, for the verb átélni, I can use a word that is not “experience,” so that we may exclude the possibility of commentary from the living-through of the present. | Now Átélem, therefore Reality is Truth. | Yes. I kept the original Hungarian form of the verb átélni, namely “Átélem.” Furthermore, I realized that I need not worry too much about the use of the word “to live through” or “to experience,” since in the moment of lived experience and experience alike, commentary is excluded anyway, because commentary can only be made afterward. Do I have a cogito that reflects this? No, not really — came the answer. |
I want a simple cogito, one that is striking and truly to the point, and in which the verb átélni appears exclusively in subjective conjugation, namely “Átélek.” | Átélek, therefore I am. | Will I really be able to get used to its obvious (and ridiculous) closeness to Descartes’s cogito? |
I will not deny it: there is something in me that fears I may make myself ridiculous with this very Cartesian cogito. Átélek, therefore I am.
Aletheosophia’s new cogito
Good morning, Aletheosophia!
Is this not too close to the original? Does it not echo too familiarly: Cogito, ergo sum., as Descartes originally formulated it? I admit it. It could hardly be denied how close they stand to each other: Átélek, ergo sum. and Cogito, ergo sum. But would it not have been better to choose a less Cartesian cogito? I thought about it a great deal. Yet I do not regard this present one as a final version, just as I did not regard the previous ones as final, and you have already become acquainted with them in the table above. As for the present main thesis of Aletheosophia – Átélek, therefore I am – this is only another cogito. Indeed, it is just as open to change as the earlier ones. I do not feel this to be an endpoint or an arrival either, but rather only an important station for my fellow travelers within an infinite journey.
PS
Imagine what happened this morning when I was almost finished writing this article. You will not believe it, but a new cogito was born within me: Átélek, therefore it is real and true. I know, don’t even say it, 🤣



