Predictive History - The Story of "Civilization", "Secret History", "Game Theory" and more - Dante #5: Paradise Cantos 30-33, Hell Cantos 1-2

Episode Date: August 22, 2026

Watch on YouTube: https://link-to-youtube.s.gy/dante05

Okay, good morning. We are live. So today is a special day because this is a day when we meet God. And we are now in the last four contos, 30, 31, 32, 33. And we are in the Imperium, which is a seat of God. So we will be doing a lot. today, but I just want to first make sure there are no questions, issues from the previous four days. Are there any questions you have about what we've learned so far? Anyone?

Yes? So I remember last time we were talking about how the angels' existence are really not that admirable. Like, you don't want to be an angel. But when I went back and when I read the part about describing angels, I think Dante was actually trying to be a little bit tongue-in-cheeker. Like he was trying to say that it's not great to be an angel without saying that being, without explicitly saying that being an angel is not that desirable. Is that what he's trying to do? Yeah. So the thing about divine comedy that's very important to appreciate is that it's all very subtle.

And there's a really important reason for the subtlety. So how, so do you guys know how people learn divine comedy or how they transmit to the divine comedy back then for 100 of years? Like if you were in school and we have to learn divine comedy, how would we learn it? So according to what I remember, like the teacher will have one book and he would read it and he will read on the podium. listen and you copy it down. And then what would you do? You memorized it, do you understand? Okay?

So remember how before we said that, divine comedy is meant to be read aloud and listen to you? What's also meant to be memorized. And what's happening is that divine comedy is designed to expand your imagination. And obviously, as you memorize divine comedy, it's like Shakespeare, right? If you memorize Shakespeare, your fluidity in English language,

which increases, but so does your imagination. And what increases the imagination is the subtlety embedded within the non-companic, because you actually don't know what you've memorized, but over time, because it is implanted in your brain, almost as an operating software, the more experiences you have, the more questions you have, the poem expands in your imagination.

It's infinite. And then it drives you. into greater imagination yourself. And that's why I say that the Van Cominy is really the basis of the Renaissance. Because if you just look at any Renaissance painting, you can trace it back to a line or a terseid in the line comedy, right? And what's happened is that line has expanded itself inside the brain. And it's almost like seeds taking root and just growing into trees.

And so that's what the effect of the divine comedy is. And it works because of paradox and subtlety. If it's too blatant, if it's too in your face, then your mind doesn't focus it on as much, okay? But because it's so subtle, and you feel as though there's some stuff I have not yet discovered, right? It's like a puzzle you're trying to assemble together. Your brain keep on working subconsciously on it for like 40, 50 years. And that's really a, really the power of divine comedy and that's why it's really hard for people to express the impact of divine comedy because it works at a subconscious level

and this is what Carl Young would refer to as the collective unconscious okay it's really the very basis of majority look the reality look if you think about it the reason why we're able to sit down together and have these very rich discussions about the divine comedy what enabled this discussion is the fact that Doni created modernity itself, right? Create the idea of individuality, create the idea of debate, dialogue. Okay, so we are living in Donny's world and we all basically have minds or shaped by Donnie himself. All right, does that make sense?

Great, any more questions before we continue before we begin? All right, so now what I want to do is I want to look at a comment from you that I found very interesting. It's from YouTube. It's just a comment. It's a very long comment. So here it is. Carol, could you give me a favor and read the comment?

And this goes back to discussion from last class, which is the coin. What's the coin doing in heaven? What is its purpose, right? The coin is meant to be a metaphor for faith, but that doesn't really make sense because the coin represents present something material. But and this person has a very interesting explanation. Okay, can you read?

Carol? In Pardiso, Kantor 24, write at line number 24, Beatrice officially hands Dante over to St. Peter to initiate the examination. In Alan Mandelbaum's translation, that exact line reads and tests him as you please on Matters Grave, Dante deliberately places the word tested at line 24 inside Canto 24, inside the sphere of the 24 elders, the traditional symbol of the codified, closed scriptural canon.

He is screaming to the reader that he's stepping into an institutional trap. This directly mirrors the structural constraints found in the original four Gospels, the Peter Paradigm, the entire miracle of the coin and the fissuous mouth, It begins precisely at verse 24. Here the establishment corners Peter to demand an institutional tax. Dante mirrors this textually. The exact disciple who watched Jesus bypass human currency by extracting it from nature is transformed in Canto 24 into the ultimate papal gatekeeper, demanding a standardized church coin from Dante's purse. the interrogation blueprint, this verse establishes the scriptural president for institutional

authorities demanding official credentials from a wild spiritual force, stating that the Pharisees questioned him. Dante uses his own line 24 to step into this exact role, submitting to Peter's interrogation on paper to satisfy the religious empire. The illusion of the purse, Here, Jesus stuns the disciple by declaring how difficult it is for those reliant on physical coins and institutional currency to enter the kingdom. Dante plays on this irony by using purse imagery to satisfy Peter, knowing full well that in the infernal, purses are the exact symbols used to damn corrupt popes. The trap of power at the last supper, a dispute arises among the disciples as to which of them was considered to. to be the greatest. The disciples were already craving an earthly hierarchy. By looking at the textual architecture of the comedy, we can see Dante was playing a master level game. He knew

that physical institutions and dogmatic checklists were destined to crumble. By using the stamped coin at line 24, Dante wasn't blindly submitting to church dogma. He was using the empire's own currency to smuggle his formless cosmic fire past the medieval gatekeepers. Okay, yeah, so this is brilliant, okay? And it shows you the level of complexity of the divine comedy, all right? So let me make certain points. Point number one is, last class, we appreciated how the literal analysis of divine common, how deep it is at a literary level. And you can only understand that if you understand the Italian, right? Here, this person is pointed out to the numerology of the divine comedy, the numerical structure of it.

24, you may not know this, but 24 is a very important number for a right of reasons. But 24 doesn't just refer to the Bible. What it really is referring to is the classic epic poems of the world at this time, which are Homer, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and Virgil's Inniad. Virgil's Inniad. These are all written in 24 books. So 24 is almost like a divine mystical number at this point. So that's why it's important. So the numerology is something that you can spend decades examining and obviously he's doing that. Second point is how subversive divine comedy is. So we look at divine comedy at a pretty simplistic level. But if you just go line by line, you can see how

how divine comedy is constantly subverting itself, how your interpretation is breaking down if you do more and more analysis. And that's intentional. And the reason why he does that is to make the divine comedy infinite universe, where you can go back and explore forever. And the third point that's very important to appreciate is that ultimately what Dante wants is for us to always question authority. Right? To question not just Peter, do not only question the church, but also question Dante, and ultimately to question ourselves, to create a constant, almost an infinite process of self-inquiry, self-dobate, and self-discovery. And that's why you can spend your entire life just reading my comedy at multiple angles, and it's never enough. So the ultimate goal of our

seminar is just to introduce you to divine comedy. Do not believe that this is that like I'm giving you a final interpretation. That's silly. This comment shows you how complicated the divine comedy is, okay? But I'm providing you a framework in order for you to engage your own process of self-creation, self-discovery when you journey into the divine comedy, right? Because once at the framework allows you to better understand and journey for the divine comedy, but then as you journey some more you will break down this framework and create your own framework okay this is a process that Harold Bloom the great Yale literary scholar refers to as as creative self-destruction okay right yes so after you read the question you read the comment

about St. Peter I'm actually inspired to ask a question so yesterday we talked about how Peter was pointing at the Vatican on Earth and he was going, these guys are nasty. But Peter here himself, by asking Dante, the pilgrim, about the coin, is also complicit in what the church is doing. So what point is Dante trying to make here? Is he trying to say that St. Peter is criticizing the church? Is he trying to say that St. Peter is the church?

Or is he saying that St. Peter is a mix of the two? Okay. What makes Dante very hard for people to understand? is at the heart of Dante is his democratic spirit, okay? He is absolutely anti-power, anti-hierarchy, anti-status. Right? So the idea that after Jesus died, Peter will then become the first pope, Dante finds this perverting Jesus' legacy.

because Jesus came to our world and sacrificed himself in order to free us, to liberate us from power itself, right? And then for Peter to say, well, I was closest to Jesus, because after he died, the apostles fought over his legacy, starting to felt this is a perversion of the message of Jesus. The message of Jesus is that there is divinity within us and we look into us, we can liberate ourselves. We don't need God. We don't need hierarchy. We don't need the church anymore. That was the ultimate message of Jesus.

And that's what Donne is trying to do in the divine comedy as well. Right? I learned from a Yale scholar. Great question, Renee. So I was looking back at Yale Professor Mazata's interpretation of this canto. There are tons of paradoxes, including the coin. And so on verse 38, 37, 38 of Cantor 24, do test this man concerning the faith by which you walk upon the sea,

ask him points light and grave, da, da, da, da. So I don't know if you remember from the Bible that Peter was actually quite doubtful when Jesus asked him to walk upon the sea. He actually didn't have sufficient faith, until, you know, Jesus is like, why aren't you going there? And then he ended up doing that. But I think it's also very human.

It's also very human. And I think that's one of the paradoxes things. And it's ironic that Peter is the one who asks about faith because if you read the gospels, Peter is the one who has the least faith in Jesus, right? And that's what Jesus tells Peter. And so there's so much irony embedded in divine comedy. Okay.

Any more comments or questions before we move on? Okay, so something really interesting happened yesterday while you are starting to break and one of you wrote a poem, okay? And I don't want to put you in a spot, but I asked your free permission and we're going to read the poem together, okay? So can you come please and help us? read with the poem. Well, first of all, introduce yourself and tell us the background as to how you came to write this poem. Yeah, my name is Jay Ong. How I came to write this poem. I had some time to kill in my hotel room yesterday, and I

You know obviously being away from family. It's it's and you know it's father's day weekend. It's kind of difficult. So you know decided to make something in the spirit of Dante in a spirit of hope for you know for my kids yeah so that's where this comes from okay so can you just read us a poem tonight for far in the glass room no who-jong no can't chan-hung-hung-no-cuncang no canching rain on the stones no green hudan just quiet uh sorry just quiet and a week in the old poets country of light. Learning the sea between us,

learning the sea between us is a, is a, sorry, is a, what was that? Sorry, I couldn't read my own writing. It's a trick we keep playing. The souls that look scattered, scattered each one on its own, not split at all, one light, that other yang hila.

This is in the LA too, so. So you are near, though the south seas between us, classrooms, far light, and still the Jalan boulang. And love, the poet says, moves the sun and stars, and binds the loose pages of life into one. From a hawkian mountain to green water, the long climb came only to stand up in you. Three of you each holding a different measure, none holding half, each of you hold. The way a man once crossed this dark sea to his son with nothing to give, but I see you, climb,

don't healer. That's all, that's all, Sajang, from the far age of it all, as we turn through the dark up the long-clim hope. Great, thank you so much. That was beautiful. Okay, all right. So, can you tell us what the poem is about?

It's about, for me, it's about being away, and I'm trying to convey to my kids why I'm away. And yeah, okay. So you see what's happened is that he could only write this poem because of his love for his children, right? This cosmic connection with his children. And that's why we need to recognize that for Dante, Beatrice is a real person.

Okay, we know historically they didn't know each of that that well. They met when they were eight or nine spent a few years together then they they went apart, they were apart and then Beatrice died when she was like 24. Okay, so the time actually spent together was not that much. But when we divide calmly, she comes across as a real person. And for Darnay, she was a real person. She was in constant communication with her soul. It is possible to do this. Like where you're not even together, she may not even be alive. She might not even be alive. she was not alive, but with your imagination, with your love, you can be in communication with her across dimensions. Okay, and that's what drives the poetry, all right? That's why love has to be between two people. It can't be between you and God, it can't be between you and money or

anything mature. It has to be between two people, okay? And you focus your love in a way, and and directed a person, your imagination just explodes. Okay, that's what drives your imagination. All right. So this is a testament to that. So thank you very much. Thank you. Okay.

So we are now in heaven. And when we're in heaven, there's a problem because in heaven, there's no time and space. Which means that you can't actually perceive anything. Okay. But if you can't perceive, what's the only way? that you can see them. You can't perceive. Excuse me? Imagine. No, you don't, not the imagination, right? What? You can use your spiritual spiky senses. Okay. Well, that's actually a word for spiritual spiky sense. It's called what? Hmm? Intuition or what? Well, what's behind your intuition? Come on guys.

like your intuition, your spidey sense. What do we call that? How do you see, you can't see? You feel. Yeah, exactly. Thank you. Yes. Your emotions, right? Okay.

This is why it's important not to go to school because then you can actually, you know, use your intuition, your emotion. It's your emotions, okay? So in other words, when he goes to heaven, he can actually see anything because it's so blinding, it's so beautiful, okay? But he can feel it.

And so what he's trying to do is convey heaven to us for his poetry. And so what heaven is is our happiest moment. It is pure bliss, pure joy, pure happiness, okay? So to start the class, I want us to think all our happiest memory, a memory that brings constant delight to us as to think more and more about it. and then that helps us better understand the architecture of heaven, okay? So I'm going to write this down, all right? And, like, again, I just want happy memories.

Your happiest memory, okay? Anyone? Yes? I remember that one time when I was, okay, this sounds silly, but I was in primary school, and the teacher was about to punish someone unjustly for something that he wasn't really a fault for doing. And I stood up to the teacher, and I told her that's stupid.

and everyone in the class cheered for me and in the end the guy didn't get punished. Yes, that's a great memory. Yes, thank you, right? Your selfless generosity, okay? Selfless sacrifice. That's rewarded. All right, that's one good memory, yes? That's a great memory, by the way. Beautiful. Yes. Yes. I remember when I was first time in New York, I was saying everything is new, everything is different. This is a different world is quite different from China, so that really making me feel shocked. kind of make me feel amazed and yeah.

Okay, right, so novelty, okay, novelty, surprise, shock. Yes, what else? Yes? For me, it was after the IB exams, I finally got to sleep for 12 hours, and when I woke up, it was the happiest feeling I've ever felt.

Okay, we call this relief and release, right? Relief and release. So the idea is, you know for quite a few months you were nervous and all this tension built up in in you right and then you were able to release it good what else yes um so I would like to share my experience of getting my my dog because it was really special for me I had been like basically begging my parents to have a dog for such a long time and we were going to adopt but there were always things in the way so we couldn't

get a dog and finally I did during my first year in middle school and that was really my happiest memory I'm so glad that I have my dog great yeah so it's idea of wish fulfillment right you ever wish this is something that you always wanted and it fulfills itself so wish fulfillment good what else yes to return home after a year of studying abroad and stuff like the minute I hit the airport I'm like yeah exactly right returning home right I would say returning home. Yeah, exactly. What else? Yes? When I first met my jazz piano hero for the first time in his live show, I was transcended with his art.

Okay, right. So there's a color called flow, right? Which is intense focus. or devotion to your passion. Okay, yes. So flow. Yes. Yes. If I may, I think this counts inside of really being in the flow, but especially I'm really into mathematics.

And when I understand a really difficult mathematics concept, I feel really happy. And because I have a lot of friends around me that I can really talk about this kind of stuff with them, It makes me feel very good that I'm actually able to understand all of this and be able to talk to people about it that really understand what I... Yeah, I wouldn't say this is flow. I would say this is more like self-creation, okay, or self-discovery, right? When you, there's definitely something new about the world and you show others, okay? But what makes it really, I think, happy for you is the sharing aspect, right?

You've, there's something new and you share some other people that helps them learn more, right? So it's really sharing of the knowledge, right? Sharing knowledge. Good. Yes. Anyone else? I'm curious about what's your happiest memory. Well, obviously my children.

Yeah. When I'm with my children, yes. Anyone else? Yes. I remember, like back then, I met this girl online. and I just I just and I feel like like my soul's ecstasy and my soul fumbles and back to we we didn't even met each other yet right and but just knowing that there's a such existence another human being that is so imaginative and so poetic and it makes me like

like like for several days I feel like I'm all psychedelic you know So I understand, thank you, okay. This is a connection, right? Connection. Right? Also community. All right. Yes.

Thank you. Anyone else? Yes? I was born and raised in a culture where, you know, it's this filial duty for somebody to study really hard to make achievement in, you know, in his life and to bring honor to the family and to the neighborhood and to the community. So I felt the most excited and most happy when I won those awards and in those competitions

in my hometown and bring honor to my family and my school and the whole city. So I couldn't imagine something even greater than that. So for me it's to be in the right community to be supported and to lead that community and to bring honor to that community. Great, yeah. So we will call this recognition and validation, right? You are recognized for your achievements and you are validated for them. Good. Okay, great, this is a lot. Anyone else? Like sometime in art museum, I can experience kind of transcendental and mysterious,

aesthetic experience. Yeah, beauty, right? We encountering beautiful. You are very happy. Okay, so yeah, we can keep on going, okay? But you get the sense of what happiness is, right? And what heaven is, is just every second, there's just continuous happiness, right? So just think of your happiest moment and then just think that this goes on forever. Okay, so that's what heaven is.

All right, let me ask you the question. Let me ask you a question. Are there any songs or poems? or artwork that triggers your happiness. Okay? Like what are they? Yes? Hyper-specific, but medieval illuminated manuscripts. Okay, sure. Okay. Manuscripts, okay.

So, okay, what else? Yes? I would say house music. House music, okay, all right. Yes. I want to say some like really classical music, like really in the middle age. It's been maybe not that really. Yeah. What else? For me, it's a novel, but it has really beautiful prose and it's, it, the words are used in a way that are so unique and creative that it shocks you.

Good. Okay. So guys, it's going to be music, okay? Music is a thing that's going to trigger your happiest memories. and probably also your other memories as well. So that's what Don is going to do. He's going to construct because he doesn't remember anything, okay? Don is going to keep on saying about this, how he goes to the imperium

and he's going to meet God. It doesn't remember anything because it is so blinding because it's so beyond time and space. But what he has is the emotions with it. And from these emotions, he's going to reconstruct, we imagine his experience in the Imperium in a way that we can appreciate. And he's going to design the poem with the musing a way that triggers our happiest memories so that we can experience with him the Imperium.

Does that make sense? Okay. All right. So we now move towards Cantl 30, the Imperium. Again, we saw the Angels. we've turning a long way through the cosmos and now we are finally in the Imperium. And again, what is paradoxical about heaven is that there is, in fact, a hierarchy, right? Just because you go to heaven doesn't mean that you've succeeded because there are some really dumb kids in heaven, okay?

Like Picarda. And the hierarchy of the heavens also suggests that there are certain things that you have to doubt. For example, why is Peter, right? Why is he outside the imperium? Right? That makes you question a lot of things he says. So again, there's so much subtlety, there's so much nuance, there's so much paradox to divine comedy. It forces you into a lifetime of self-confidence.

inquiry, okay? All right, so let's read Paradise 30. Okay. Kanto 30, perhaps 6,000 miles away from us. The sixth hour burns and now our world's inclines shadowed to an almost level bed so that the span of heaven high above begins to alter so that some stars are no longer to be seen from our deep earth and as the brightest handmaid of the sun advances, heaven shuts off, one by one, it's lights until the loveliest is gone. So did the triumph that forever plays around the point that overcame me, the point that seems enclosed by that which it encloses.

The point of course refers to God, okay? And what's really important to understand is like God is both being and becoming. So God's a source, a big bang, but also God is the perimeter, okay, all the universe. And how do we expand the perimeter of the universe? The imagination, do you understand? Okay, so we humans, and this is what's really shocking about Donny's that he's saying that we humans participate in the creation process ourselves whenever we use our imagination. And what he's going to say that's even more controversial is that only we can do this, okay? Not the angels, not God, nothing else but human. Okay?

All right, keep on going. Fade gradually from my sight so that my seeing nothing else and love compelled my eyes to turn again to Beatrice. If that which has been said of her so far were all contained within a single praise, it would be much too scant to serve me now. The loveliness I saw surpassed not only our human measure

and I think that surely only its maker can enjoy fully. I yield. I'm defeated at this passage more than a comic or a tragic poet has ever been by a barrier in his theme. For like the sun that strikes the frailest eyes, so does the memory of her sweet smile deprived me of the use of my mind. From that first day when in this life I saw her face until I had this vision, no thing ever cut the sequence of my song. But now I must assist from this pursuit in verses of her loveliness, justice, each artist who has reached his limit must.

Okay, so Beatrice and Dante have reached Imperium. This is Journey's End. And it is Fonnie's love for Beatrice that has carried him so far up into the cosmos. And being here, what does he want to do above all else? What does he want to do? This is Dante, right? What does he want to do? Anyone?

Describe Beatrice, or is that what he wants to do? He wants to write poetry to Beatrice, right? Do you understand? For him, your fullest expression of your love someone is to use your imagination to express the poetry. Because why would you want to do that? Why would you want to write the poetry? How help out to express how much love you have for this person

I don't know how awesome, wonderful this person is. Right, so poetry is the highest expression of your love for someone. But why is that the case? Yes? To connect, to unify with those who you love. To connect with those who you love and also to show your love and brings others into this love as well. You understand?

That's what poetry is doing. Yeah, yeah, of course. It immortalizes love, kind of like the Shakespeare and Sonah. That's right, right? To share your love across time and space. Okay, so that's what he wants to do. What's this problem? It's a problem. What's a problem? He spent his entire life writing love poetry to Beatrice in order to immortalize her, in order to immortalize her love, their love, but what's the problem now? I'm not sure if his wife is okay with this, but he has a wife.

You know, I got a wife. I know wife. I know wife is a wife is a wife. kind of responsibility but not love you know I'm sorry to tell her that all many people know that love is not for a wife but you know the love is something that you cannot you cannot touch you really want it but you cannot touch that is love it's not love this is the kind of responsibility and have to pay everything for her you want to marry someone you love and if you break the values of marriage which by the way you made to God because you met your soul made then you're also betraying God in the process Okay. I'm sorry. Okay. Ideally, okay. But in the real world, there are things such as class hierarchies. There are lots of constraints, right? So, Pietris and Donnie came from different class backgrounds. And in this culture, all marriages are arranged, right? There's no dating market. It's like, you don't go online and says, hmm, I'm going to look for, you know, my deal. That's a lot. That's a lot. That's a lot. I'm going to look for, you know, my deal. That's a lot. That's a lot. I don't. That's a lot.

No, no, it's like you're assigned someone to marry. And so in this culture, marriage and love are not the same thing. Marriage is just for convenience. And love is the expression of beauty and truth, okay? All right? Okay, so the question is, what's the problem here? He wants to write a poem to Beatrice. He wants to write a verse, but there's a problem.

What's a problem? I mean in the poem he does say right I must desist from this pursuit in verses of a loveliness just as each artist who has reached it he's he's reached his limit yeah but why has he reached his limit because she's heavenly and he's earthly and he can't like fully express how good she is he ran out of words for it maybe okay well that's true but it's not because he's earthly and she's heavenly right it's because In their ascent, Beatrice has become more beautiful over time. Right? And so once we reach this point, he now has reached the limit of his imagination.

He's now reached the limit of his poetry, okay? All right. So there's a limit here. Why should we not believe him? Why should we not believe him? Because there's no real like limitation for the imagination. Exactly. First of all, there's no limitation also. He's not modest, man. He's not a modest guy. He's telling you, oh, you know what, I can't really do this.

He's trying to trick you to something, okay? So, so this is a paradox. All right, let's keep on reading, Carol. Verse 34. So she in beauty as I leave her to a herald that is greater than my trumpet, which nears the end of its heart theme, with voice. and bearing of a guide whose work is done. Began again from matter's largest fear, we now have reached the heaven of pure light,

light of the intellect, light filled with love, love of true good, love filled with happiness, a happiness surpassing every sweetness. Here you will see both ranks of paradise and see one of them wearing the same aspect, which you will see again at Judgment Day. Okay, so here it would be very nice to have the Italian, okay? And to be read aloud in Italian, because I think with these words, this marks a very distinct use of language.

And light of the intellect, light filled with love, love of true good, love filled with happiness, a happiness suppressing every sweetness. It's like a song, okay? It's a very lyrical song that conjured up our best memories. Again, we don't have the Italian, but if we did, I think that's what we would happen. It's like the highest possible vibration, okay? It's very light, very lovely, pure joy. So imagine angel singing, okay? This poetry is really angel singing together.

Okay, keep on going. Verse 46. Yeah, 46. Like sudden lightning scattering the spirits of sight so that the, The eye is then too weak to act on other things it would perceive. Such was the living light encircle in me, leaving me so enveloped by its veil of radiance that I could see no thing. The love that calms this heaven always welcomes into itself with such a salutation to make

the candle ready for its flame. No sooner had these few words entered me then, I became aware that I was rising beyond the power that was mine. And such new vision kindled me again that even the purest light would not have been so bright as to defeat my eyes, deny my sight. And I saw light that took a river's form, light flashing reddish gold between two banks painted with wonderful spring flowerings. Out of that stream, there issued living sparks which settled on the flowers on all sides.

Like ruby said in gold and then as if intoxicated with the odors, with the odors, they again plunged into the amazing flood as one spark sank, another spark emerged. The high desire that now inflames, incites you to grasp mentally the things you see, pleases me more as it swells more, but first that you may satisfy your mighty thirst, you must drink of these waters.

So did she, who is the son of my eyes, speak to me. She added this, the river and the gems of Topaz entering and leaving, and the grasses laugh These are shadowy prefaces of their truth. Not that these things are lacking in themselves. The defect lies in you whose sight is not yet that sublime. Okay. So he says this.

He's reached the limit of his imagination. You can't describe Beatrice's beauty anymore. And now what Beatrice is saying to him is that to truly experience God, You need your machination to be limitless, right? And so drink from the light. Did you have a question? Yeah, I have a question. Like, personally, I find this thematically a little bit weird.

So earlier on, he was talking about circles of angels and about light and about Beatrice being so great that he can't describe her. And we have to notice that these are all very abstract things. Like he literally cannot conceptualize them in physical manner anymore. However, here he can suddenly conceptualize things again. He's suddenly talking about the river and about the flower banks. So what prompted this shift and what place does it have here? I don't agree with you.

I think he's always been able to visualize this. I think this is a very visual poem, right? I mean, like, just look at the artwork from here. I mean, it's pretty visual. So at no point did he actually lose his imagination. When he's saying, I've reached a limit of my imagination, it's just telling us and him, we need to work harder guys. This is a co-co-creation process.

Not only do I have to work harder to create the words to describe my experience, but you have to devote yourself further and invest your imagination further to really truly appreciate what I'm saying. Okay? All right. So the idea here is that he's reached the limits of his imagination. and so what does Beatrice tell him to do? Not the water.

What must he drink? The light, okay? And it is, but it is metaphor described as water. Because why would he do that? What is you really describing here? I remember in the Bible in the New Testament, the Samaritan woman and Jesus, Jesus said, if you follow me, I will give you the living water,

so maybe it's a metaphor for that. Yeah, it's a baptism, right? It's an initiation into faith. Okay, right? Does it make sense? Like when you absorb this light, it is giving you a new faith, a new life, to truly activate your imagination, because that's what you'll need if you're truly to meet God.

Does that make sense? Okay, let's keep on going. Verse 82. Yep. No infant who wakes long after his usual hour would turn his face toward milk as quickly as I hurried toward that stream. To make still finer mirrors of my eyes, I bent out toward the waters which flow that we in them may find our betterment. But as my islets eaves drank of that wave, it seemed to me that it had changed its shape, no longer straight, that flow now formed around.

Then just as maskers, when they set aside the borrowed likeness in which they hide, seemed to be other than they were before. So were the flowers and the sparks transformed, changing to such festivity before me that I saw clearly both of heaven's courts. Okay, so as he's dragging the light, his very perception of the heavens are changing, okay? So this is extending his imagination, this is transcending his imagination. So now he can actually see heaven, okay? And when he sees heaven, he can now describe heaven to us.

97, O radiance of God, through which I saw the noble triumph of the true realm, give to me the power to speak of what I saw. Above on high, there's a light that makes apparent the creator to the creature whose only peace lies in his seeing him. The shape which that light takes, as it expands is circular, and its circumference would be too great a girdle for the sun. All that one sees of it derives from one light ray reflected from the sun. summit of the Primam Mobila, which from it draws power and life. And as a hill is mirrored in waters at its base, as if to see itself when witch with grass and flowers, grazed, so in a thousand tears that towered above the light and circling it, I saw mirrored all of us who have one return above.

And if the lowest rankin gathers such vast light, then what must be the measure of this rose where it has reached its highest leaves? Within that breath and height I did not find my vision gone astray, for it took in that joy in all its quality and kind. There, near and far, do not subtract or add, for where God governs with no mediator, no thing depends upon the laws of nature. Into the yellow of the eternal rose that slopes and stretches and diffuses fragrance of praise unto the sun of endless spring.

Now Beatrice Droomius one, who though he would speak out, silent. And she said, see how great is this council of white robes. See how much space our city's circuits spans. See how our seated ranks are now so full that little room is left for any more. And in that seat on which your eyes have fixed, because a crown already waits above it before you join this wedding feast, shall sit than soul of noble Henry. He who is on earth to be imperial, he shall show Italy the righteous way, but when she's unready, the blind greediness, bewitching you, has made you like the child who dies of hunger and drives off his nurse. And in the holy form, such shall be the prefect then, that either openly or secretly he will not walk with Henry.

But God will not endure him long within the holy ministry. He shall be cast down there where Simon mages pace. He shall force the anachman deeper into his home. Okay, all right. So again, now Dante is able to see the pyramid its entirety. And it's basically like two roses and in the rows are seated, those who are closest to God. And we'll see their ranks later on. And this is, this is, this This will be the last time that Beatrice will speak.

And again, they're in the Imperium. And what Beatrice is talking about is a prophecy, okay? So this is again the year 1300. Donnie will finish this in 1321, but he's right in the year 1300. A few years from now, Henry the 7th, the Holy Woman Emperor, will invade Italy and try to unify Italy, and then he will be betrayed by the Pope, Clement, okay? What features is saying is that Novo Henry has this divine mission, okay? He's almost like sent by God to lead Italy in a righteous way.

But unfortunately, Italy was not yet ready for the grace of God. And so he was betrayed and he failed in his mission. And so the person who is responsible with his failure is Clement and God will, and God will punished Clement as Simon Magus was punished as well. If you know Catholic theology, you know that Summon Magus is a heretic, right? The first great heretic of the Catholic faith. And so it's troubling because we are now in heaven, right? And heaven is supposed to be the happiest memories, right? this pure top happiness. And Beatrice is being angry.

She's clearly angry about what's going to transpire. And so what's going on here? How can we explain or reconcile this paradox where she's in heaven, and this is the happiest memories of the happiest people. There should be no hatred. There should be no anger. yet in her final words to Dante she tells him a prophecy of betrayal

of hatred what's going on here yes so like like I said last time I think maybe it's because Dante isn't here to stay like he isn't here to bathe in happiness and to stay an angel or whatever he is doing he is here to carry a message back to Earth and that's why she's telling him all of this this is like the secrets this is like the top the Pentagon secrets and they're telling them this in front of God like at the preface of God because that's the most secret layer and he's she's telling them this so that he can carry the message back to

earth and what is this message? The message that all this is going to go is going to go down and Henry is actually a nice guy and all that well Dunning knows that but the people Right? Because he's really in 1321. He's seen everything that transpired. He was the one who wrote letters to Henry, praising him for his efforts. But again, it's like we're in heaven and we're taught that in heaven, you're able to let go of your bad memories, right? And you're able to embrace your good memories. This is clearly a bad memory. What's going on here? Yes?

I think maybe also Dante is trying to weave his own political views into this, this story just because I'm not sure since this is after all his imagination. Yeah, so this is what most scholars believe, okay? Most scholars believe that Donny has this political vendetta and he's trying to settle scores. But for the past week, I've been telling you guys that we let's work at the assumption, let's work with the faith that this poem is perfect and that everything in it makes sense. And as long as we're able to imagine hard enough, have enough faith and hope and love, we can make sense of what's really going on. Okay.

And to say, well, you know, he was just angry and his political vendetta. Yeah, it does make sense. But I want to try harder, okay? I want us to use our imagination and figure out what's really going on here. Why is Beatrice's last words to Dante both anger and hatred? Yes? So this is probably a really far-off explanation, but I can remember both in my life and in the Bible some cases when your anger is so righteous. Like sometimes it's the anger of God and it's so righteous that it feels like joy.

It feels like you're ex. It feels like you're reveling in your. your anger and you know that what you're angry towards is right? Yeah, so you're saying that Beatrice is anger makes her happy. Huh. Yeah, that's a possibility. But let's keep on using your imagination, right? And okay, all right.

So let's go to the year 1300, okay? And you are a Catholic believer. What do what the church fathers teach you about? about evil in this world? Yes? Near 1300 guys, not today, okay? Catholic Church is very different, yes? Evil comes from Satan? Right, but what do you do about evil in this world? Seven deadly sins? No, I'm saying like, if you see evil, if evil happens to you in this world, what do you do? There will be just retribution, but you may not need to do it. There would be a divine plan for it.

for it. Okay. There's actually much simpler explanation. What are people literally taught at this time in history about evil and injustice? I think people have just been taught do not just against the God, not against the church. But he just, I think the dentage is against church. So maybe he's saying this is quite evil. Yes. Maybe he just accepted. Like, accepted. Why? Because persecution is the way to make. you grow and like do not take things into your own hands like it's God's job yes it's all part of God's plan uh no no no no there's a really simple logic at work here okay yes just like evil is within us so it's normal to occur but where does the evil come from from the first sin like Adam eating the apple i understand that that was like 10 000 years ago so why is just no evil. Okay, so this is hard, okay? But at this time in history, what the people were taught

is this. We are all born in sin because of the original sin and that is transmitted to us for our bodies, right? Right? What are our bodies want? Our bodies want sex. They want money, right? Okay. But our bodies are just temporal things. We'll have our bodies for 50 years, 100 years at most, basically 40 years, okay? 40 years in the grand scheme of things is nothing, right? So put up with this persecution, put up with this evil, put up with this injustice for 40 years when you die, you go to heaven, and all you do is experience pure bliss. Pretty simple deal.

It's a pretty good deal, right guys? You see evil around you, you see injustice, you see sin, don't worry about it. It's a simple deal. It's a pretty good deal, right guys? You see evil around you, you see evil around you, you see sin. Don't Don't worry about it. It's a little. It's a little. It's a pretty doesn't matter. What matters is your salvation and your salvation demands that you give yourself free of sin. Okay, yes? So what you're saying is basically Dante doesn't agree with that? Exactly. He completely disagrees with that. What's he really saying? When you see evil you should do something about it? No, no, no, but I'm trying to explain why bitches is like in our title word to Don

Cursing like these people, right? Saying Clement, he's gonna burn in hell, and like the people in Italy are in grateful. Why is she doing that? Yes? So I'm confused about something you just said. So you said that Dante is against, keep yourself pure doctrine of the church,

and he's against pass positivity. Like he's not doing nothing? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's what you said. A couple of classes ago, you told us about all that hope and light stuff. And when I asked you why Dante wasn't proactively trying to do some things, and you said, oh, he's acting in hope and light. And when I asked you what that means, you said that it means that he's acting inwards and he's not acting outwards.

So I want to ask you how to reconcile this. Like he's both doing something and he's against doing nothing. Okay. So first of all, you don't appreciate. In our world, the greatest act you can take is to use your imagination. That's what he's going to reveal to us. The greatest act you can take is to use your imagination, which means that being a poet is the greatest thing you could possibly ever aspire to.

There is no greater people than poets in this world, okay? Not prophets, not Jesus, not conquerors, not Napoleon, not Charlamagne, not Julius Caesar, always. That's what living a life of faith, hope, and love, and love is really about to write poetry that expands the human imagination. Okay? All right. So let's go back to the original question. Why is Beatrice baching about the world in heaven? Yes?

Maybe he's mad like this as saying that some people are so heavenly bond that they are not of no earthly good. So it's like people, he's criticizing people who are like thinking about heaven but not doing anything about the earth. Exactly. Yes. Exactly. What Donnie's trying to say is that, guys, it's not that earth is a prison. And once we do our time, we can go into heaven. That's not how it works. It's all connected. Okay.

What happens on heaven happens on earth? What happens on earth happens in heaven? As above, so below, as above, so below. Does that make sense? As below, so above. It's all intertwined together. Just Beatrice cannot be happy in heaven because we're so screwed up on earth. You understand? And because we're so screwed up on earth, we screw everything up. So don't be like, you know what? I see evil, but I'll just go lie at my bed for the next 40 years. And then when I die, I'll experience bliss in heaven. That's not how it works, man.

that isn't. If there's evil on earth, there has to be evil in heaven. And that's why she's angry. It doesn't make sense. That's a message Dante has for us. As above, so below. As below, so above. It's all intertwined together. So Dante is trying to destroy the escapist mentality, the defeatist, escapist, pessimistic mentality of the people at this time. you have to do something yes does that mean the does that mean the earth heaven and hell is all connected yes it's all intertwined together yeah so so there must be

things in hell and evil in hell right yeah therefore there will be seeing an evil in earth and they will be seeing an evil in heaven I I don't understand So there must be things and evil in hell, right? But they are all connected. So do you get what I'm saying? But I think it's connected in an emotional way, not in like the sin in hell transcends to heaven, like you're saying,

but it's a scenes in hell and on earth that upsets heaven maybe, right? Like emotionally, BHS is mad, but mad is not. Okay, yes? Yeah, like professor, maybe I have a question that I mean, do you help me to clarify some concept about the difference between like what we have happens on Earth and what has happened on the heaven? Because if you're seeing that like we, no matter where we are, we can all feel or perceive there's good in there's kind or there's evil on both earth and heaven, then how could the heaven and we're living in the real world different? Or in other words, like, if we can feel, we can both feel the same thing on Earth and heaven, then how could those parts essentially different from each other? Okay, so the difference between Earth and Heaven is that heaven is spiritual.

Okay, so we are souls, right? Earth, we have bodies. You understand? That's a difference. So what we experience on earth is different from what we experience in heaven. And what Donny's going to discuss is, okay, why does there have to be this distinction, right? Why is it that we're given bodies? And again, in the year 1300, the Catholic Church teaches you that we have bodies because we are a failed science experiment.

Okay, do you understand? All right? What Augustine writes is that what are we made of? What are we made of? No, that's how the Bible says. What does the Bible say? We are made of what? We are made of dirt. We are made of dirt. We are made of dirt, man. We are pieces of dirt. That's what we are. So how can we do anything right? That's like literally what the Bible says. We are made of dirt. Augustine says that then if we are made of dirt, that just means that we are a failed science experiment. God didn't mean to create us like this, but he did, and now we're completely screwed up, and we're put up with us, okay? And so we just have to endure, we just have to be patient. And then once our bodies wither away and our souls can now escape to heaven,

we'll have eternal bliss. Yes? But that makes very little sense given that. First, dirt was created by God, so technically it's also a creation of him. And second, God kind of molded the first man himself. So if it's God doing the creating, even if it's from dirt, then how could it be wrong, man? Look, look, look, look, okay, I do not want this to like be a theological class, okay? What I'm telling you is what people in this time believed.

And what I'm trying to tell you is how Dante responds to this. You understand? I don't want to have this argument, okay? If you don't have this go over time and go argue with Arkansas, okay? All right, let's continue, please. Conto 31. So in the shape of that white rose, the holy legion was shown to me, the host that Christ with his own blood had taken as his bride. The other host which flying, sees and sings the glory of the one who draws its love, and that goodness which granted it such glory, just like a swarm of bees that at one moment enters the flowers and at another turns back to that labor which yields such sweet savor.

descended into that vast flower graced with many petals, then again rose up to the eternal dwelling of its love. So there are two roses, and these two roses are like stadiums where all the best people are placed. And again, this goes a paradox because why do the people of the Catholic Church, why are they in one rose and then everyone else is another rose, okay? So there are these paradoxes that make you question the orthodoxy at this time. Keep on going, Carol? Their faces were all living flame. Their wings were gold, and for the rest their white was so intense, no snow can match the white they showed. When they climbed down into the flowering rose, from rank to rank, they shared that piece and ardor which they had gained with wings that fanned their sides.

Nor did so vast a throng in flight, although it interposed between the candid rose and light above, obstruct the sight or splendor because the light of God so penetrates the universe according to the worth of every part that no thing can impede it. This confident and joyous kingdom thronged with people of both new and ancient times turned all at sight and ardor to one mark. O threefold light that in a single star sparkling into their eyes contends them so, look down and see our tempest here below. At the barbarians, when they came from a region that is covered every day by Hellas, who wheels with her loved son, were seeing Rome and her vast works struck dumb when, of all mortal things, the Lateran was the most eminent.

Then what amazement must be filled me when I to the divine came from the human, to eternity from time, and to a people just insane from Florence came. And certainly between the wonder and the joy, it must have been welcome to me to hear and speak nothing. And as a pilgrim in the temple he had vowed to reach, renews himself, he looked and hopes he can describe what it was like. So did I journey through the living light, guiding my eyes from rank to rank, along a path now up, now down, now circling round. There I saw faces given up to love, grazed with another's light and their own smile, and movements grazed with ever, every dignity. By now my gaze had taken in the whole of paradise. It's form in general, but without looking hard at any part, and I, my will rekindled, turning toward my lady,

was prepared to ask about those matters that inclined my mind to doubt. Okay, so Dante now has the vision to see the entirety of the Imperium, the seat of God, and he is the wilder, he is amazed, he is stunned by what he has seen, and he is filled with tremendous joy and happiness. And so what he wants to do is share with Beatrice. He's turning to Beatrice, he wants to lock eyes with her, and they want to smile together in order to share this of greatest of joys of being in the Imperium.

But she's now disappeared. Okay, keep on going. Verse 58, Where I expected her another answered. I thought I should see Beatrice. and saw an elder dressed like those who were in glory. His gracious gladness filled his eyes, suffused his cheeks, his manner had that kindliness

which suits a tender father. Where is she? I asked him instantly, and who replied, that all your longings may be satisfied? Beatrice urged me from my place. If you look up into the circle that is third from that rank which is highest, you will see her on the throne

her merits have assigned her. I, without answering, then looked on high on high and saw that round her now her crown took shape as she reflected the eternal rays. No mortal eye, not even one that plunged into deep seas, would be so distant from that region where the highest thunder forms. As there, my sight was far from Beatrice, but distance was no hindrance, for her semblance reached me undimmed by anything between. O lady, you in whom my hope gained strength, you who for my salvation have allowed your footsteps to be left in hell.

In all the things that I have seen, I recognize the grace and benefit that I, depending upon your power and goodness, have received. You drew me out from slavery to freedom by all those paths, by all those means that were within your power, do in me preserve your generosity so that my soul, which you have healed, when it is set loose from my body, be a soul that you will welcome.

Okay, so what's happening is that Dante, has reached Imperium. He is about to be God, which will be his happiest moment. And obviously, he wants to share it with Beatrice. He's also grateful for Beatrice, who has taken him from hell all the up to heaven, okay? His love for Beatrice and has guided him throughout all this time. His journey for the cosmos, his journey from hell to purgatory to heaven. It's all because of Beatrice. And at this moment, when he is about to meet God, something has happened. She's been switched, okay?

She's returned to her seat in the rose, and she's been replaced by another guy, Bernard. Okay? And Bernard is the one who will take Dante to meet God. This is like really, really confusing. Like, who, first of all, who the hell is Bernard, okay? We know who Virgil is. We know who Beatrice is. We don't even know who Bernard is. And, like, why make this switch at this crucial time when we are at the climax, when we are at Journey's End, right? What would this happen?

Any theories before we continue? Yes? So first I have a question. So when we're talking about Bernard, I'm pretty sure it's okay to assume that they're a saint, right? Okay, so some background, okay? Bernard is the saint of the Catholic Church, and what makes him important is he's almost like the first love poet of the Catholic Church in the Catholic tradition. Does that make sense? He is one of the cool founders of the Knights Templar. So there's a lot of romantic stories behind him. What makes him interesting is that he wrote love poetry to Mary.

Not Jesus, not God, but to marry. And I mean, the standard explanation for why Bernard is a guide is because Mary is the queen of heaven. There's God, for the queen of heaven is Mary. Okay? So basically, Bernard is Mary's servant, and Bernard will use Mary's power in order to help Dante see God completely. Did you have a question?

My theory is like that. Dante is very modest, so he wants you to see. No, no, no, Dante is not modest. That's arrogant. Don is the opposite of modest, okay? You will not meet a less modest person than Dante. But we keep on going. So he wants, he's trying to show that he's joining the ranks with the most famous poets in the world.

But Bernard's one of the most famous poets in the world. The first love poet in the church. Okay, right. So, yeah, right. So first of all, he's paying homage to Bernard, right? He's saying, like, I come from this legacy, which you started, which is, love poetry. The difference is like I'm not I'm actually loving a real person and you and you love you know someone else. Yes? So I think something that's important to realize here is actually something

I learned in medievalism. So during the middle ages, even the late middle ages, love when used in this context, is not always about sexual sexuality. It's not always about husband and wife. It's actually the opposite. This is the quarterly love tradition, right? But like the courtly love tradition is one part of the Middle Ages is not all the Middle Ages the whole idea of a feudal structure is founded upon the fact that you love your feudal liege like you love your wife and you love your parents. It's like filial peatial version. That's the first point and the second point is that Wikipedia says here that Bernard is

also a reformer of the Benedictines and so I'm thinking maybe Dante could be hinting at the fact that he is advocating for a type of reform. These are two points I was going to make. No, but I understand that there's lots of reasons. I'm saying like the main reason that most people agree on is, first of all, Don is paying homage to Bernard. The other reason is that, like, the queen of heaven is Mary, and Bernard is considered her greatest earthly servant, okay?

Those are the most two accepted reasons. But again, I have a problem understanding why is he making this transition. You have Beatrice? Yes? Sorry, sorry, sorry. At the back and then you... Probably because his love for Beatrice has reached his peak, and so he cannot use love as the force to send. So they need a switch person for him to love someone else and then ascend. Can you explain?

Try to explain this, okay? Elaborate on this idea. Because basically we were in heaven and he was saying all great things about Beatrice and idolizing her. And so it seems like it reached a peak and it cannot be better. And so as we said, love was the force guiding him. And because it's a peak to meet God, he would need like another, like more of this force. So switching the person could be a way to ascend. Okay. So let me add to what you're saying, okay, to make sure I'm following your logic.

So love is the force that got him to this point, but love can't take him further. Is that right? Okay, so he needs another force to take him to God. Okay, and what do you think this force will be? We just said not reason not desire what? Huh? What? Imagination.

Yeah, okay, so he was something here and he knows the answer, okay? Love can only take you so far, but if you really want to transcend, it has to be the imagination, okay? So that's a force that's going to take him to the highest height. Love got him this far, but to go even further, you need the imagination. Does that make sense? Okay, yes? I was going to say exactly that because also in the text, he replied that all your longs may be satisfied. So I think that Beatrice has sort of like satisfied all his, like, you know, love towards her already.

So that's why she has to return. And also I have a theory that like, because he's going to meet God and meet Mary, right? And he is essentially a poet and he wants to share this with the world. So he needs to consult with a poet like Bernard's sort of like draw from him to expand his imagination to be able to describe the following process, if that makes sense. And has done it doesn't like this before, we've consulted a poet in order to increase his imagination? Yeah, so he kind of like, so that's why Bernard appears to him because he's like this great love poet. So yes?

He had Virgil before in hell. Well, we'll discuss this story tomorrow, okay? But he actually doesn't consult Virgil for his poetry. Okay, anyone else? Okay, so I want to us to think about this, okay? This is like really hard, but I want us to think about this. Okay, imagine you have the world's greatest mother, okay, which is like Carol, right, obviously. Thank you.

But she's been with you all this time, and she's taking care of all your needs. If you are truly to, like, you know, like this, she's fed you the best food, she's taught you the best poetry, she's loved you for out, okay? If you are to truly grow as a person, what must you do eventually? You have to leave, man. You have to like, leave me, man. You have to like try to go away. Leave me a little mom, okay? That's what Fannie is doing right now, right?

He's saying, Beatrice, you've taken me so far, and I can't do this about you. I couldn't have reached this point about you, but now I must do this my mind. do this myself. Okay? So this is a really hard question, but I'm saying like, okay, so let's try to connect everything together.

You have to leave your mother at some point. You have to leave someone you love at some point. And we've reached a point where love can only take us so far. And now the imagination must take over, okay? Why? What allows for the imagination that created conflict with love. This is a hard question, but think about this, okay? When you love someone, and when you imagine, it's there's a contradiction, okay? And how, and so why, how can this

contradiction be resolved by switching Beatrice with Bernard? Love is focused on one person and imaginations more diverse and switching with Bernard because Bernard is a poet so what is love what is love action and it has to be directed towards a person a real thing object when you love a child what are you doing you hug him kiss him feed him good food yes okay okay so so so sorry but like when you wrote the poem when you wrote the poem okay yep how do you feel about yourself while you you were writing the poem I wasn't thinking I'm thinking of myself. Exactly. I was not thinking of myself. You understand? That's the trick, guys. I was not thinking of myself.

That's what love is. I don't think of myself. I give myself. I think of the other person and I become nothing. I lose my ego. Right? What's the imagination? Exactly. You're expressing yourself. Okay. That is a contradiction. Right? So when Donne is with Beatrice, he cannot think of himself. He's to think of Beatrice. He's giving himself because he's so much in love with Beatrice. And that's what allows him to climb to heaven. That's what allows him to leave hell, Jennifer Procratory, and climb heaven. But now that you must meet God, now that you must fully exercise your imagination,

you must retain your ego. You must express your ego. You must manifest your ego. Right? And why would this be a problem if you are a priest or, you know, you're a Catholic priest at this time of an issue, yes? Because people are taught to lose your ego and be humble like Jesus was? Yes, yes? Because you're not allowed to marry and you're definitely not allowed to express your love towards a soulmate.

We don't know that, okay? But yes, what the church tells us is that you must be humble because your ego is a source of all evil in this world. Doesn't make sense. And what I said, no, guys, that's not how it works. Your ego is a source of your imagination. And you can imagine good or you can imagine evil. You imagine evil, there's going to be evil. But if you imagine good, there's going to be good, okay?

You understand. But if you want to truly meet God, you truly want to understand the world, you must use your imagination. All right. That's the logic here. Okay. Again, he now must switch to Bernard. So the problem, I mean, it doesn't really matter if Bernard is, but he must make the switch if he is truly to meet God. Yes? So this is something I didn't get. So earlier you said that Dante believes that people can only love other people. They can't love concepts like God. And when they love other people, their love excites their imagination and their imagination brings them closer to God. So why is Dante right now replacing the person he loves with this crusty old guy? He has no feelings towards. Like, how is he trying to excite his imagination to meet God here?

There's no love here. Okay. So what love does is expand your capacity to use your imagination, right? But now you must use your imagination. therefore you must focus on your ego to understand. The only way to obtain love, okay, as a fuel for your imagination, is by being selfless, by giving yourself, right? To not think of yourself, to think of others.

Now you have all this fuel inside of you, right? Now you're going to use this fuel in order to project your imagination to understand God. But to do that, you have to embrace your ego. Okay? And what thought is going to do is, in the final canto, he's going to show that he's better than God. He's superior to God because God does not have imagination.

He does. Okay? All right. Okay, so we clear about this. So again, there's a scholarly explanation, but then there's my explanation. So do as you will. Okay, all right, let's keep on going.

Verse 91. So did I pray. And she, however far away she seemed, smiled and she looked at me, then she turned back to the eternal fountain. Okay, so this is almost like a graduation, right, where, you know, like you're maybe the school valedictorian, and you just have this entire speech saying, you're like, I love you, mother, and I mean, I am because of you. But what you're really saying is, like, I've grown up, now I'm going to leave you, mother, okay? Sorry. All right, all right, let look, yeah, yeah, let's, yeah. Okay. Yeah, let's keep on reading.

Verse 94, and he the holy elder said, that you may consummate your journey perfectly. For this, both prayer and holy love had sent me to help you. Let your sight fly around this garden by gazing so. Your vision will be made more ready to ascend through God's own ray. The queen of heaven for whom I am all flame with love will grant us every grace. I am her faithful Bernard.

The queen of heaven is Mary, okay? Why is this a paradox or a problem in the Catholic Church? Yes? Mary is the Virgin Mary, and she is kind of, she carried Godson, okay? He carried Godson, and she's the Virgin Mary, she's a Virgin forever. And right here, Bernard, you are here writing love poetry about her. Yes. Because what we're supposed to believe in is the Holy Trinity not Mary?

Yes, exactly. Because the king of heaven is Jesus, not Mary, okay? But Jesus isn't even here. It's Mary that's here. This is a paradox. Why wasn't Bernard invoking Jesus, right? No, no, no. He's invoking Mary, the queen of heaven.

Okay, let's keep on going. Verse 102 to 103. Just as one who from Croatia perhaps has come to visit our Veronica, one whose old hunger is not sated, who as long as it is shown repeats these words and thought, O my Lord Jesus Christ, true God, was then your image like the image I see now? Such was I as I watched the living love of him who in this world in contemplation tasted that peace. And he said, Son of grace, you will not come to know this joy of state if your eyes only look down at the base, but look upon the circles. Look at those that

sit in a position more remote until you see upon her seat, the queen to whom this realm is subject and devoted. I lifted up my eyes and as at morning the eastern side of the horizon shows more splendor than the side where the sun sets. So as of climbing with my eyes from valley to summit, I saw one part of the farthest rank of the rose more bright than all the rest. And I And as unearth the point where we await the shaft that beethon had misguided glows brightest while to each side the light shades off, so did the peaceful aura flame appear brightest

at its midpoint, so that its flame on each side taper off at equal pace. I saw around that midpoint festive angels more than a thousand with their wings outspread, each was distinct in splendor and in skill. And there I saw a lot of the light, loveliness that when it smiled at the angelic songs and games made glad the eyes of all the other saints. And even if my speech were rich as my imagination is, I should not try to tell the very least of her delights.

Bernard, when he had seen my eyes intent fixed on the object of his burning fervor, burned his own eyes to her with such affection that he made mine gaze still more ardently. Okay, let's keep on going, okay? Canto 32. Though he had been absorbed in his delight that contemplator freely undertook the task of teaching, and his holy words began, the wound that Mary closed and then anointed was the wound that Eve so lovely at Mary's feet had opened and had pierced. Oh, wow, okay. Okay, these three lines are really important, okay? Let's try to figure this out.

We met Adam, right? We met Adam in heaven. Where is Eve? Where is Eve right now? No, but I'm saying where is she right now? At Mary's feet, do you understand? Mary's the queen of heaven, and Eve is right beside her. So lovely at Mary's feet.

next to the queen of heaven, okay? Right? The wound that Mary closed and then anointed was the wound that Eve had opened and had pierced. What does this mean? Yes? The wound that Mary's feet, I think, is sin. Because Eve is responsible for the original sin.

And... So basically Mary used to have sin, but since Mary's purified, Mary closed the wound. Yeah, this is really hard, okay? But like, it's actually telling you exactly what's going on, okay? It's hard because of kind of dissonance. It goes against everything you've been taught, right? We know that Eve was responsible for the original sin,

which was disobedience, which was pride, which is eating the fruit, okay? What did Mary do? Do you mean? Mary gave birth to Jesus and Jesus died for the original sin to be forgiven. So who's responsible for redeeming us? Mary, this is what she's saying here. No, I'm sorry, this is what Donnie is saying here. Okay?

It is Mary that redeemed us, not Jesus. Yes? Why isn't it Jesus? Well, that's what we have to figure out, okay? Why is it Mary and not Jesus, yes? pierced is some veil and that is a continuum between God and human that he pierced by partaking that fruit. Yeah, she broke the love and the bond between God and us, right? And Mary closed it. Mary, Mary repaired the bond. So she redeemed us. But how does it make any sense. It was Jesus that redeemed us, right? It was Jesus that we

appeared the bond. That's what we were taught. What thought is saying is like, nope, it was Mary guys. It was Mary that did this. Well I'm gonna try a rudimentary understanding here. So Mary gave birth to Jesus. So basically what Dante is trying to say here is that Mary is the ultimate source of Jesus who saved us. That's the first part and the second part is that Jesus is a man. And he cannot be a mother. And so his love towards everyone, his love towards his believers is abstract. Like it's not visceral.

It's not visceral like a mother's love towards her children. And what Dr. is trying to invoke here is Mary's love, the motherly love, the purest love that God has given us. Okay. What is the greatest miracle in human history? What is the greatest miracle? What defies our explanation? So much people believing in Christianity? Well, I mean if you're Christian, you don't think that's a miracle.

You're not just natural, right? Because we're the truth. And so, yeah, of course everyone should believe us. Could you repeat? Yes. The incarnation, the virgin birth. Okay, guys, there are two miracles, right? First of all, Jesus sacrificed himself for us, okay?

A god killed himself for us. Then you had a woman give birth to a god. Which is a great miracle? I'm the second one, man. Right? Like how is it possible for like a mortal woman to give birth to a god? Right? How is it possible then?

What enable Eve to give birth? Yes? So for Mary's case, maybe it was her faith, her willingness to be a vessel for God that has showed her from the initial sin. Exactly, you understand. Eve was proud and she disobeyed. She lacked faith in God. Mary had complete faith in God. And that's what redeemed us.

The complete another faith in God is what redeemed us. not the sacrifice of Jesus, but the complete under faith of Mary. That's what he's starting saying here, which means what? Which means that we redeem ourselves. We have the power to redeem ourselves. We never needed Jesus. We just have to believe in Jesus and Jesus would come to redeem us. But first, you have to believe we could redeem, then we could be deemed.

then we could be redeemed. Okay? So you see what's happening, where before you were taught to be passive, to be humble, to accept the will of God, and now you're being taught, no, you have to be active.

You have to use your imagination. You have to use your faith. If you are to better the world. And the example is Maryby. That's why she's a queen of heaven. because she was the most virtuous of all of us. And if she were not that virtuous, she could not have possibly given birth to Jesus.

Okay? This is pretty mind-blowing, right? What do you think? Later, the Catholic reforms and everything to do bring Mary to a higher point like Dante has. That's why we see a lot of paintings where Mary is holding baby Jesus and Mary is more exhausted in a way.

And Jesus in a lot of these religious paintings is because of the fact that the Catholic Church also sort of agree, well, later on, with this idea that she's the new Eve. Yeah. She's quite elevated. Exactly. If Jesus is the new Adam. Exactly. So rather than just say, this is all heresy, this is, let's just burn all this, right? It's like, no, he's right.

That's a power of poetry. Right? That's a power of art because it shocks you into a new tool. that you must accept. It may take time, but it will work. So this is why starting tomorrow, we will learn like the real battle is actually between the Catholic Church and Dante. It's actually between Virgil and Dante, okay? But first we want to learn about the cosmology of Dante. Starting tomorrow, we will go into the final war between Virgil and Dante.

What we'll show you is that this war continues even to today, okay? All right, let's keep on going. Verse seven. Below her in the seats of the third rank, Rachel and Beatrice as you see sit, Sarah Rebecca, Judith, and the one who was the great grandmother of the singer, who, as he sorrowed for his symphonous, cried, miserere me, these you can see from rank to rank as I, in moving through the rose from pedal and to pedal, give to each her name.

Okay, all right, so again, Mary is the queen, Eve is beside her. and then as we move forward, obviously the people closest to her are the people who are the most Virtuous right Rachel Bichrechelle and Beatrice Sarah Rebecca Judith If you were like a practicing Christian You're kind of shocked by this why you shocked by by this? I'm talking about the year 1,300. Okay? What would you be shocked by by by this? Yes? Is there women? First of all, they're a woman.

And also, they're many Jews, man. Right? These aren't Jews. Rachel, Sarah, Rebecca. Actually, you know, don't know who Judah is. And then you have Ruth, the great-grandmother of King David, right? Why do you have these people and not like David, Moses, Abraham, right? The patriarch.

You're the matriarchs. Okay, so again, this reveals the revolution. nature of Dante. Okay, let's keep on going. Verse 13. From rank to rank as I in moving through the rose, from pedal and to pedal give to each her name,

and from the seventh rank, just as they did within the rank above, the Hebrew women follow, ranging downward, dividing all the tresses of the rose. There are the wall by which the sacred stairs divide, depending on the view of Christ with which their faith aligned, upon one side there where the world,

rose is ripe with all its petals are those whose faith was in the Christ to come. And on the other side that semi-circle whose space is broken up by vacant places sit those whose sight was set upon the Christ who had already come. And just as on this side to serve as such a great partition, there's a throne and glory of the Lady of Heaven and the seats that range below it. So opposite the seat of the great John who always saintly suffered both the desert and martyrdom, then two years of hell. Serves to divide below him sit assigned to this partition, Francis Benedict and Augustine,

and others rank on rank down to the center of the rose. Now see how deep is God's foresight both aspects of the faith shall fill this garden equally. Okay, so this is really the first time that we see Augustine reference, okay? And he's clearly in heaven. And we talk about Austin a lot in this class, because Augustine is really the major theologian of the Catholic Church. at this time in history. What's the paradox here?

There's a paradox in the divine comedy. How many times is Augustine quilted in the divine comedy? Never, right? This is the major theologian of the Catholic Church. His book, City of God, and confessions are read by everyone within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.

You're forced to read them, actually, if you are to join the Catholic Church. And Donnie never actually quotes him, okay? And this is actually the first time that we see Augustine appear. So again, this is a very subtle tongue-in-cheek, very paradoxical place to put Augustine. Okay, let's bring away. Verse 40,

and know that there below the traverse, transverse row that cuss across the two divisions sits souls who are there for merits not their own. But with certain conditions, others' merits, for all these are souls who left their bodies before they had the power of true choice. Indeed, you may perceive this by yourself. Their faces, childlike voices are enough. If you look well at them and hear them sing. But now you doubt and doubting do not speak, yet I shall lose that knot. I can release you from the bonds of subtle reasoning. Within the ample breadth of this domain, no point can find its place by chance,

just as there is no place for sorrow, thirst, or hunger. Whatever you may see has been ordained by everlasting law so that the fit of ring and finger here must be exact. And thus these souls who have precociously reached the true life do not among themselves find places higher low without some cause, the king through whom this kingdom finds content in so much love and so much joyousness, that no desire would dare to ask for more. Creating every mind in his glad sight bestows his grace diversely at his pleasure, pleasure, and here the fact alone must be enough. And this is clearly and expressly noted for you in Holy Scripture and those twins who in their

mother's womb were moved to anger. Thus it is just for the celestial light to grace their heads with a becoming crown according to the color of their hair. Without then any merit in their works, these infants are assigned to different ranks, proclivity at birth the only difference. In early centuries, their parents' faith alone and their own innocence suffice for the salvation of the children. When those early times had reached completion, then each male child had to find through circumcision

the power needed by his innocent member. But then the age of grace arrived and without perfect baptism in Christ such innocence was kept below in limbo. Look now upon the face that is most like the face of Christ, but only through its brightness can you prepare your vision to see him? Okay. So, what Bernard is doing is listing the ranks of the most beloved, right? Starting for Mary and keep on going, okay?

So at this time in history, there's a major debate in the Catholic Church about children, right? If you're an infant and you die before you are baptized, what happens to you? Yes? You ascend into heaven because you didn't do anything wrong, so you are technically perfect. That might be logical, but that's not what they thought, yes? Anyone else? Because you weren't baptized yet and you don't have, and you still have the original sit on you, you kind of burn hell. Yeah.

You get to Pogetree? Yeah, you're limbo. Okay, you don't understand, limbo? Because it's a more dilemma for the church, right? Because you didn't become a Christian, so you can't go to heaven, but you didn't have anything wrong. You're free of sin, so it's wrong to put you in hell. So they just put you, okay, let's make up a new place called limbo, okay,

or purgatory, and we'll put you there. Okay, because we don't know what else to do with you. Right? And what is, and so in this heaven, What does Bernard say about this? This is actually a huge issue by non-Catholic church, okay? Like, because it creates such a paradox, right? So what does Bernard say?

And salvation decides where they go. Well, that makes no sense at all, right? Right? Like, why should it matter what your parents do? That's even more unjust. What does Bernard say? The age of grace has arrived so you guys can, now go to heaven now? Or actually no.

Yeah, so before you can go to heaven? I mean like. Before you couldn't go to heaven, now you can. Well, the age of grace is the coming of Christianity and Jesus, right? Anyone? Okay, let's read it again, okay? Because this is very perplexing, starting from... 19? Yeah. No, sorry. 40. 40. Okay. First 40. And know that there below the transfers row that cuts across the two divisions

sits souls who are there for merits not their own. But with certain conditions, others merits. For all of these are souls who left their bodies before they had the power of true choice. Okay. So these are children, okay? And these children, these babies, are actually in the rows as well. And this goes against Catholic doctrine because you have to first be baptized in order to ascend to heaven. Okay? So these are babies. And so they are in heaven. Okay, keep on going.

Verse 46. Indeed, you may perceive this by yourself. Their faces, childlike voices are enough. If you look well at them and hear them sing. But now you doubt and doubting do not speak, yet I shall lose that knot. I can release you from the bonds of subtle reasoning. Within the ample breadth of this domain, no point can find its place by chance, just as there is no place for sorrow, thirst, or hunger.

Whatever you may see has been ordained by everlasting law, so that the fit of ring and finger here must be exact. And thus these souls who have precociously reached the true life do not amongst themselves, find places high or low without some cause. Okay, all right. So what are saying is that everything happens for a reason, okay? There is perfect justice in the world, especially up in heaven. So these babies are here for a reason, for a cause.

Okay, keep on going. Verse 61, The king through whom this kingdom finds content and so much love and so much joyousness that no desire would dare to ask for more, creating every mind in his glad sight, bestows his grace diversely at his pleasure. And here the fact alone must be enough. And this is clearly and expressly noted for you in Holy Scripture,

and those twins who in their mother's womb were moved to anger. Who are those twins? Right. Esau and Jacob. Yeah. Can you explain? Because the twins were. conceived and they were fighting inside the womb and one is hairy and one is smooth.

Beautiful and they fought ever since they were in the tomb till the very end of their lives. Okay so it's Jacob and Estol, yes. Okay, let's keep on going. Verse 70. Thus it is just for the celestial light to graze their heads with a becoming crown according to the color of their hair. Without then any merit in their works these infants are assigned to different ranks, proclivity at birth the only difference. In early centuries, their parents' faith alone and their own innocence sufficed for the salvation of the children. When those early times had reached completion, then each male child had to find through circumcision the power needed by his innocent member. But then the age of grace arrived and without perfect baptism in Christ,

such innocence was kept below in limbo. Look now upon the face that is most like the face of Christ for only through its brightness can you prepare your vision to see him right so how does he resolve this contradiction paradox first I have a question why does Kane get to be in heaven I be because I remember it's Jacob in these oh yes so I guess he's saying that even in your womb in the room you have a cell and your soul is different like this at birth is the only difference. So like if you're inclined to be good or evil, it's already decided when you are at point zero. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So what do you make of this explanation, right? This case even more problems, right? What are you saying is that Jacob and Esso, well, they were always going to be enemies. And that was that was determined at the point of birth, right?

So again, this is what makes divine comedy so revelatory because paradox leads to more paradoxes. Okay, we resolved one paradox which creates even more paradoxes. It was like, ah, wait a minute here. What's going on? The merit was always was determined at before verb, okay? So God can know where you belong the moment you were born. Yes? I thought God gave us free will So God can't really predict any Exactly, okay So this is really problematic, okay?

This is a paradox now. God give us free will, we can be anything we want, we can do whatever we want, but at our birth We have our own inclinations So what's going on here? Yes?

Time doesn't really exist So even though as humans, right, we can't really predict the future, but because like God is all knowing, he kind of like sees everything happening, but it's like different for him because there's no concept of time. But again, this is a problem because what you're saying is that, well, God knows what would happen if you didn't die a verb and he would know what kind of person you became. But in that case, there's no free will then. It's all predetermined, right? It's a huge problem. I don't think we should think of this as being predetermined. I think we should just think of it as like

God can know whatever we're doing throughout the expanse of time. So he doesn't like make, he doesn't like force you into a certain ending. It just happens and he knows it from wherever he is. We knows it and it's not free will. Did you understand? He knows, but he doesn't intervene.

Yeah, so why does that conflict with free will? I guess I'm confused here. So why does he knowing everything that has happened conflict with free will? Like you can still enact your people. Okay, yeah, okay, so I understand, but like what we will... Okay, I... Okay, that does make sense, right? He knows everything that has... that will happen, right?

Because he is God. So, yes? Or is it also an inversion of Christianity? Because could it be that the proclivity of birth we have is actually positive, not negative? So we will, like all children who die at birth would go to heaven. Yeah. Okay. That makes a lot more sense, right? That makes a lot more sense. I don't see how we can be born evil, right?

But if that's a case, that could be more problems because then like, every child goes to heaven, right? And then like you just run out of space eventually. Yes? How do you run out of space if heaven is infinite? Well, I mean, in order for free will to happen, okay, you have to have heaven and hell, right? Because, I mean, like, just think about this more dilemma where now you're incentivized

to kill your kids. Right? Just kill them at birth, then you ensure them they go to heaven. Yeah, right? Because they haven't, because they have free will, they haven't decided that they believe in God yet, so the children, the children don't have faith yet. Because when they are born, they don't believe in God yet. Yeah, they have not made their choice, that's correct, yes. So they go to purgatory and they're in Limbaugh.

That's right. That is how, what the Catholic Church teaches you, right? I'm just saying like, but we have a situation where there are children, babies, who are among the blessed, who are among the elect. And God is like, wait a minute here, how did they get there? Right? And what Bernard's saying is like God knows everything, God is perfect, God knows exactly where you belong. We also said that your merit is determined at birth, okay? So without knowing how you live your life, God can determine what your propensity is. This is all very confusing, right?

Yes? The babies are in heaven because, as you said, like, if you're a parent, the happiest moment of your life is when your child is born. So when that child was born, they gave joy and love to their parents so they can go to heaven. Okay, but like that creates even more problems because first of all like which parent is not happy to see their child Second of all if that's the criteria then it's a parent to determine who which child goes to heaven, right? It could be like you know the mother's having a bad day. She's really unhappy, right? Well then now your child's screwed for all of eternity. That kind of sucks. Okay, so what I want to do is this okay It's amazing thing about where like 10-032, we are in heaven and all that's happened is we're even more confused.

So during lunch, I want you guys to talk about yourself through research and figure out this problem for me, okay? When I come back, give me the answer. All right, when we come back at 1 o'clock, give me the answer as to how to resolve this paradox. Okay, I'll see you guys after lunch, okay? Okay, so we have a lot to do today, okay? So let's start class. What is the answer, guys? Tell me what the solution is. Okay, so this is the hardest theological problem in the universe. It is almost impossible to solve.

Okay? And why this is put, why this paradox or conundrum is put before we meet God is, the only way to solve this problem is for your life. through love and imagination, okay? So there's almost like a warm-up before our meeting with God, which is going to really test our love and imagination. So let's try to figure out what's going on, okay? So let's go back and figure out, first of all,

who is with Mary? Okay, so there's a hierarchy, right? So Mary is at the top. Eve is with her. And then below her are Rachel's and Beatrice. Okay? below them are Sarah Rebecca and Judah who is Rachel tell me the story of Rachel yes one of the most beautiful wives of Isaac or Jacob Jacob okay all right okay no no that's Sarah

okay okay okay so we need to figure out first of all why are they where they are they are they are the closest to God so why are they where they are yes because they didn't have free will no they didn't have the option to choose so therefore they did not have free will. Is it because they are ancestors to marry? No, well I mean, okay, all right. Okay, so let me tell the story of Rachel, okay? So Jacob is exiled from his homeland.

He goes and finds shelter and refuge with his uncle, Lakhan. And they make a deal where Jacob works for Lakhan for seven years, and then Lakhan will give him Rachel. Seven years later, they get married, and on the wedding night, they have sex. When Jacob wakes up, he finds the woman he's had sex with is not Rachel, but Leah, who is Rachel's older sister. Jacob says to Lacan, you've cheated me. And Lacan says, it's not our custom to first marry the younger sister before the elder sister. So we are forced to give you Leah. But if you work for me for seven more years, I will give you Rachel. At this point, if you're Rachel, what are going to do? I'd be pissed,

right? I'd be like, screw you all. I'm going to go find someone else. Okay? What does Rachel do instead? She sticks around, okay? And that demonstrates her love and devotion to Jacob. It is an example of the beauty and power of love. That's why she, where she is. She is where she is, okay? Because of her self-dedication to love. Because of her faith in God, because of her love for Jacob. Because everyone else would be like, screw this, I'm going somewhere else, okay? Because I've been cheated.

But because of her love for Jacob, because of her favoring God, she stuck around and endured being married to Jacob while also Leah being married to Jacob. Okay? So that's an example of selfless love. What is Beatrice doing in heaven? What does she do to warrant her next to God? We know Rachel, yeah, good example. And Sarah, who is the wife of Abraham, she prayed and prayed for 80 years

before she was actually granted an only son, Isaac. So yeah, these are examples. But what's Beatrice doing here? What is Beatrice accomplishment? Yes? So, Beatrice kind of, she was dead already, so Beatrice kind of gave up temporarily her place in heaven to do the great labor of guiding Dante from hell to heaven. Yeah, but I mean, how does she get where she is in the first place? She died at childbirth.

She died giving birth. But that's an accomplishment, right? That's because like think about the millions of mothers who are given childbirth. There's like literally billions of them, okay? But she died. Yes? She inspired Dante. Yeah.

Or, yes? She made a devotion or covenant with God that she had the will to be devoted to God? Okay, so there's only one reason why she is where she is, yes? Could it be arrogance from Dante because he puts Mary at the top of heaven and that's because there would be no Jesus without Mary and he thinks, obviously he's divinely inspired and But there would be no Dante without Beatrice. Exactly. Yeah.

Thank you very much. Okay, yes. Dante put her there. You understand? So, so think about this, okay? We have Rachel, who is the perfect example of love and devotion. We have Beatrice, who is there because she put, because she put, because she started put her there, okay? So now we have to use her love and imagination and figure out how these infant,

God to this rose so that they're beside God. Yes? Dante put them there. She me? Dante puts them there. Not Dante doesn't even know them. He doesn't even name them, right? Who put them there? Maybe that is on his own interpretation, like they deserve to be there. Okay, all right. So again, what's hard about Dante is that you are forced to use your love and imagination. But once you do, the universe opens itself to you and it reveals itself to you, okay? You're a parent. Let's all imagine we are parents, right? And we have our first child,

and for the reason, at one or two years old, the child dies, maybe at six months, who knows, okay? Now, at this point in our lives, we can make a choice, right? Most of us will choose to despair. Some of us may choose to have another one, But then there are certain individuals who, because of their faith, hope, and love, they say themselves,

I'm going to dedicate the rest of my life to celebrating the legacy of my child. I'm going to put all the love that I had from my child and devoted to others, devote to the world, to celebrate my child. obviously this person would deserve to be next to God, right? But what's the paradox? What's the problem with that? Huh? Yes?

Why is the child there instead of the mother? But yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'm saying the parent did all the work. So why is the child there and not the parent who did all the work? Because the kid inspires their parents. And so is the death of the child enables them to share them love with the world? Sure. But I mean like, so, right?

It's a parent who did all the work. It's starting to roll out of the poetry, yes? In the same way Beatrice inspired Dante, death of a child can inspire his parents. I know, but it's a parent who did all the work, right? So why is the child there, not the parent? Right? Why is Beatrice in heaven and not Dante? Because he decided that Beatrice would be in heaven. Right.

So the child is in heaven because their mother decided that they would be in heaven. Exactly. You understand, okay? Like if you're God, right? And you talk to the Lord and says, wow, the life you led was so exemplar. I have to put you beside me because I am so bedazzled by your example. Because the world is shining so much brighter because of your, sacrifice, okay? But the mother's like, don't put me next to you, put my child next to you, right? You understand? So that's what the children are in heaven. Excuse me?

Yeah, the parents put them there. Right? And if you think about logically, this resolves a lot of the paradoxes, right? Because again, if you are a, if you are a parent and your child dies, you don't have a hard time explaining yourself why the child died, okay? Or like, why is my child not in heaven? Okay, so this is the hardest problem for theologians to solve. I don't think anyone has solved this satisfactory, okay? But Dante provides a solution.

Does it make sense to you guys? Do you understand how this logic works? By the same token, we can also imagine certain examples where a child's death warrants him or her in heaven immediately, okay? So let's think, think of it's like, what, 13 or 12? The guy fights Goliath, right? If he lost Goliath, what should he be? He should be next to God, right? In fact, if he were to die, he'd be more worthy of God than if he defeated Goliath. Does that make sense?

Excuse me? So why would he be more worthy to God than if he defeated Goliath? Yeah. He had complete faith in God even without having the results he had expected. Exactly, right? So why they're put in heaven is not necessarily because of their actions alone, it's because of the effect of their actions on the people around them. Does that make sense?

So by that logic, he has no more worthy if he died, then he was, if he actually defeated Goliath. Because if he actually defeated Goliath, then the net effect upon the people next to his bearer. Okay, again, use your imagination. My son David went to fight Goliath, okay? And before I was fighting, I was afraid of these Philistines. My son goes and fights Goliath and he dies. What are the rest of the Israel that's going to do? They will avenge David and fight back.

If a child has a courage to fight a giant, then I would be ashamed to not take up arms and avenge him. I couldn't live myself, right? So just use your imagination and use your sense of love. If you were a parent and you saw your son make this ultimate sacrifice, you would be compelled. You could be the biggest coward in the world, right? You could be afraid to die. You can have absolutely no faith.

But to see your son die against a giant, he had actually no chance anyway. Before I'm taking up arms and to fight with faith, that compels you into action. Do you understand? And therefore David, even though he's an Israelite and not a Christian, even though he didn't really accomplish him that much, he just died in battle. Like, you know, he would have been right next to God. Yes? My imagination is telling me that the death of a child would be incredibly disheartening.

And if he defeated Goliath, then a child defeating a giant will be a sign of the glory and the power of God. And I think that would be more inspirational. Okay, then your imagination doesn't come from a place of love. Okay. All right. Okay. Doesn't make sense to you guys. All right.

We can also imagine, let's just say that Mary, before she gives birth to Jesus, she has a child and a child dies. Right? Where would the child go? Exactly, right? Because if you, the Mary, have all the virtue to give birth to Jesus,

then your child, must be virtuous as well. Does it make sense? Okay? So this is a way to resolve the paradox. And again, what Donne is doing is, he's presenting to you the most, the hardest theological problem

in order to excite your love and imagination. And because only with that can you actually meet God. All right. So, doesn't make sense, guys? Any questions? Yes. I'm quite confused about why, if the mother is virtuous, then the son is also virtuous. Automatic. Why? Like born with? Okay. Yeah. I'll try. He did not say that. What he said was for the unborn child, the mother, is the one whose belief has put the baby into heaven.

You know, just a personal sharing. Before having three beautiful children, on earth, I have two children in heaven. And it's because I believe that they're in heaven. I haven't had them that they're in heaven. But it's not because I'm virtuous. It's because I believe they're in heaven. and that propelled them to heaven.

And I mean, this is a beautiful story, so thanks for sharing such a personal detail. But if you're a parent, you understand. But if you're not a parent, then it's hard to understand. You can't actually reason this out, okay? That's why, you know, divine comedy, it has to be read over a lifetime, and it has to be read from a place of love.

And it's only after you experience love for yourself, could you truly appreciate divine comedy? Right? Okay, so this is not to criticize you. This doesn't say that this is a lifelong journey. And again, this is the hardest question in theology. What happens to infants who are not baptized? Are they automatically condemned to hell and limbo?

And what Donne says is that you have to just trust in the infinite justice and wisdom of God. Okay. There are these cases that are impossible for us to reason out, but God knows the answer. God knows that your sacrifice is meant to put the infinite in heaven and not yourself in heaven. And so God is going to honor your request. You know, it was you who did all the virtue in the world. Okay? So in a case where the child is relatively young, but the parent and the child dies,

and for whatever reason, someone else thinks that child should not be in heaven. And the parent thinks the child should be in heaven. In that case, what happens? Oh, my God. This is not, okay. Can someone answer this question? You just have to believe that God is the ultimate judge and God will consider every cases, every possible scenario,

every hidden thoughts of that child's heart. And then... Okay, look. God is love, okay? So when you truly love, God responds to you. When you hate, God turns away from you. Does that make sense?

If you're like, you know, I want this child to burn in hell, why would God honor your request? That makes no sense. Not saying they should burn in hell. I just say someone believes that they shouldn't be in heaven. Then where should the child be? Pugatory.

Right. That's... what limbo is in hell. Okay? All right. Okay. And again, like, it's not everyone who gets to heaven. It's, it's those people, those individuals who stories are so exemplary that they inspire the world to greater love.

Okay? Does that make sense? All right. So now we are moving towards, well, this is the very last canto, okay? Canon of 33. And this is the greatest cantal of the entire divine comedy. I don't know why people just read Inferno, actually. If you really want to understand Dante, you really need to read the last canto.

Okay, so let's read it. Here we go. Do we not finish 32? Oh, I apologize. Yeah, let's just finish 32, okay? Let's make sure we, okay. But we understand the infant problem, right? Okay.

Verse 88. I saw such joy raiden down upon her, joy carried by holy intellects created to fly at such a height that all which I had seen before did not transfix me with amazement so intense, nor showed a me a semblance that was so akin to God. And the angelic love who had descended earlier now spread his wings before her singing Ave Maria, gracia plena. On every side, the blessed court replied, singing responses to his godly song, so that each spirit there grew more serene. O Holy Father, who for me endure your being here below, leaving the sweet place where eternal lot assigns your seat.

Who is that angel who with such delight looks into our queen's eyes, he who is so enraptured that he seems to be aflame? So once again I called upon the teaching of him who drew from Mary Beauty, as the morning star draws beauty from the sun and he to me all of the gallantry and confidence that there can be an angel or blessed soul are found in him and we would have it so for it was he who carried the palm below to marry when god's son wanted to bear our flesh as his own burden but follow with your eyes even as i proceed to speak and note the great patricians of this most just and merciful empire those two who there above us seated most happy to be so near the empress may be be likened to the two roots of this rose. The one who, on her left, sits closest, is the father whose

presumptuous tasting caused humankind to taste such bitterness. And on the right, you see that ancient father of Holy Church, into whose care the keys of this fair flower were consigned by Christ. And he who saw before he died all of the troubled era of the lovely bride, whom lance and nails had won, sits at his side. And at the side of Adam sits that guide under the side of him, sits that guide under whose ruled of people, thankless, fickle, and stubborn, left on manna, facing Peter, Anna is seated, so content to see her daughter

that as Anna sings Hosannas, she does not move her eyes. Okay, so we have Adam and Peter and Anna, okay? Anna is Mary's mother. Mary is so virtuous that even her mother is able to obtain a seat next to God. Keep on going?

Line 135. and opposite the greatest father of a family, Lucia sits, she who urged on your lady when you bent your brows downward to your ruin. We don't have time to discuss this, but Lucia would be the inverse of Picardia, okay? Whereas Picarda lacks will, Lucia is the total representative of will, okay? St. Lucie of the Catholic Church, who basically would rather die than to abandon her face. Okay, keep on going. Verse 139.

But time which brings you sleep takes flight. And now we shall stop here, even as a good tailor who cuts the garment as his cloth allows, and turn our vision to the primal love that gazing at him you may penetrate as far as that can be his radiance. But lest you now fall back when even as you move your wings, you think that you advance, imploring grace. Through prayer you must beseech grace from that. one who has the power to help you and do you follow me with your affection so may my words and your heart share one way and he began this holy supplication okay so again Dante is using Bernard as a model right so Bernard is first going to worship Mary to

humble himself before Mary and this will give him the power to humble for Donate to humble himself before God okay this is a very last cantoe we have come to the end okay we are we have come to God himself all right there we go Kanto 33 virgin mother daughter of your son more humble and sublime than any creature fixed gold decreed from all eternity you're the one who gave to human nature so much nobility that its creator did not disdain his being made its creature okay so again it's gonna emphasize that Mary is

more noble because she was able to give birth to Jesus. She was able to be the portal for God to manifest himself in this world, which has never been done before. Okay? From going. Verse seven, That love whose warmth allowed this flower to bloom within the everlasting peace was love rekindled in your womb for us above.

You are the noonday torch of charity, and there below on earth among the mortals, you are a living spring of hope. Lady, you're so high you can so intercede that he who would have grace but does not seek your aid may long to fly but has no wings. Your loving kindness does not only answer the one who asks, but it is often ready to answer freely long before the asking. And you compassion is, and you is pity, and you is generosity, and you is every goodness found in any creature. This man who from the deepest hollow in the universe up to this height has seen the lives of spirits one by one now pleads with you through grace to grant him so much virtue that he may lift his vision higher still,

may lift it toward the ultimate salvation. And I, who never burned for my own vision more than I burned for his, do offer you all of my prayers and pray that they may not fall short, that with your prayers you may disperse all of the clouds of his mortality, so that the highest joy be his to see. This two, O Queen, who can do what you would, I ask of you, that after such a vision, his sentiments preserve their perseverance.

May your protection curb his mortal passions. See Beatrice, how many saints with her, they join my prayers, they clasp their hands to you. Okay, so again, this is such a revolutionary passage. Okay, so Bernard is praying to Mary and says, Mary, please lend Dante some of your virtue so that he may see God. And first of all, what does it mean to say he may lift his vision higher still, may lift it toward the ultimate salvation?

How can Dante see God? By having faith? Not faith. You? You can't feel it. What is the truth? What does this higher vision mean? The imagination, okay?

So this is really interesting that he's saying that Dante, when he stares at God, you can't look at with your eyes. You have to look at with your imagination. Okay? Question. What does Bernard mean by he says, I never burned for my own vision more than I burn for his?

What does he mean by this? I never burned from my own vision more than I burn for his. for his? He hopes that Dante sees God more than he hopes he will see God. Okay. Basically, he loves Dante. Okay. That's a good try, but that doesn't really make any sense, right? Because Bernard is with God every single day, all the time for all eternity. So how can he, so how can Donnie know God more than Bernard? I never burdened for my own vision more than I burden for his. What does this mean?

Does he realize that Dante is going to go back to Earth and be able to take the Word of God back with him? Yeah, that's what Donnie is here for. But it's not the word, right? It's his vision. Yeah? So earlier you told us that in heaven is just constant joy of all kind on the whiteboard. And I'm just reminded of the old and tired argument. if everything is joy, then how do you tell joy from sadness?

So maybe Dante is able to perceive God's joy more because he has experienced sorrow in the human realm for so long, while Bernard has been here for a while, I guess. Yeah, but I understand that, but I'm like, would Dante know God better than Bernard? Yes? He's being able to imagine more. Yeah. Yeah, so what is going on here is that what Bernard is saying is like, the only way to see God is for the imagination. Guess what?

We angels, we souls, we don't have an imagination. Why not? Excuse me? No, no, no, no. There's actually a very good reason why they lack an imagination. They don't have a body, okay? Okay, this is like Donne explained to us. You need a body to have emotions.

And emotions is what gives you memory, which allows for the imagination. So that's what Bernard is saying is saying, like, yes, we've been with God for all returning, but we don't really know God. Only Dante with his imagination can truly understand God. Okay, that's literally what he's saying. All right. Let's keep on going. Verse 40.

The eyes that are revered and loved by God now fixed upon the supplicant showed us how welcome such devotions are to her. Then her eyes turned to the eternal light there. Do not think that any creature's eye can find its way as clearly as her sight. And I who now was nearing him who is the end of all desires as I ought lifted my longing to its ardent limit. Bernard was signaling. He smiled to me to turn my eyes on high,

but I already was doing what he wanted me to do. because my sight becoming pure was able to penetrate the ray of light more deeply, that light sublime which in itself is true. From that point on, what I could see was greater than speech can show. At such a sight, it fails, and memory fails when faced with such excess. Okay, so what Tony is doing is he's steering at God, and it really, really sucks, okay? It's burning his eyes so much that it's destroying it, that's almost like causing his, brain on fire and he's losing control and it's so powerful this site that he's

also losing his memory okay he's basically lost his memory it's so traumatic that he can't process what he's seeing okay uh keep on going verse 58 as one who sees within a dream and later the passion that had been imprinted stays but nothing of the rest returning to mind. Such am I for my vision almost fades completely, yet it still distills within my heart the sweetness that was born of it. Okay, so he can't see anything. You can't remember anything. What is left? The emotion of it, right? Okay? That's the only thing that's left. The sweetness of it, the emotion of it. And from this, he has to construct before his imagination, the divine comedy. Okay, keep on going.

Line 64. So is the snow beneath the sun unsealed, and so on the light leaves beneath the wind, the oracles of Sybil wrote were lost. Oh, highest light, you raised so far above the minds of mortals to my memory, give back something of your epiphany, and make my tongue so powerful that I may leave to people of the future one gleam of the glory that is yours. For by returning somewhat to my memory and echoing a while within these lines, your victory will be more understood.

Where is starting now? Where is he? What? Yeah, he's home. Okay, this is like 20 years afterwards. Okay? So he was, he met God in the year 1300 during the Easter weekend. Now, 20 years later, he is now trying to remember what he saw through his imagination.

Okay, he's trying to reimagine what he saw. Did you have a question? Okay. Keep on going? Verse 76. The living ray that I endured was so acute that I believe I should have gone astray had my eyes turned away from it. I can recall that I, because of this, was bolder and sustaining it until my vision reached the infinite goodness. Oh, grace abounding through which I presumed to set my eyes on the eternal light so long that I spent all my sight on it.

In its profundity I saw and gathered and bound by love, into one single volume, what in the universe seems separate, scattered, substances, accidents, and dispositions as if conjoined, in such a way that what I tell is only rudimentary. Okay, so what is able to reimagine is the totality of the universe, okay? All everything is connected together. All right, keep on going. Verse 91. I think I saw the universal, I think I saw the universal shape, which that not takes. For speaking this I feel a joy that is more ample, that one moment brings more forgetfulness to me than 25 centuries have brought to the endeavor that startled Neptune with the Argos shadow.

So was my mind completely wrapped, intense, steadfast, and motionless, gazing, and it grew even more enkindled as it watched. Whoever sees that light as soon made such that it would be impossible for him to set that light aside for other sight. because the good the object of the will is fully gathered in that light outside that light what there is perfect is defective what little i recall is to be told from this point on in words more weak than those of one whose infant tongue still baths at the breast and not because more than one simple semblance was in the living light at which i gaze for it is always what it was before but through my sight which as i gazed grew stronger that sole appearance even even as I altered, seemed to be changing. Okay, so what he's staring at, okay? What he's recognizing he's staring at is the Big Bang. Okay, do you understand? The universe and the totality before it became the universe.

He's also staring at the universe after the Big Bang. Okay, so this is beyond time and space. This is both nothing and everything, okay? This is both the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. This is everything and nothing, okay? Keep on going. Line 114. Okay, and this is what God,

is he's he's tried for 20 years to figure out what he saw and he's searched through the universe he's used his imagination and now he comes to the fundamental understanding of what God really is okay line 114 in the deep and bright essence of that exalted light three circles appeared to me they had three different colors but all of them were of the same dimension one circle seemed reflected by the second as rainbow is by rainbow and the third seemed fire breathed equally by those two circles. Okay, so what is God? Exactly, there you go, problem solved.

Holy Trinity, we can now go home. Okay, what the church has taught us for the past 2,000 years is true. It is in fact the Holy Trinity. And that's what you're taught usually, okay? But you keep on reading and it's a problem, keep on going. First one to one. how incomplete a speech how weak when set against my thought and this to what i saw is such to call it little is too much eternal light you only dwell within yourself and only you know you self knowing self known you love and smile upon yourself that circle which begotten so appeared in you was light reflected when my eyes had watched it with attention for some time within itself and colored like itself to me seemed painted with our effigy so that that

my sight was set on it completely. Okay. What's the problem with this? There's a problem here. It's the Holy Trinity, but it's not the Holy Trinity. Why? What's inside the circle? What's the effig mean? It's us. Yeah. Okay. There's three circles, that's a Holy Trinity, and we're inside each circle. Yeah. Huh. Oh well. Huh. All right, let's keep on going. Verse 133. As the geometer intently seeks to square the circle, but he cannot reach through thought on thought the principle he needs, so I searched that strange sight.

I wish to see the way in which our human effigies suited the circle and found place in it. So he's trying to figure out why we're in the circle. Why are we in God? Okay, keep on going. Verse 139. And my own wings were far too weak for that. but then my mind was struck by light that flashed and with this light received what it had asked

Here force failed my high fantasy but my desire and will were moved already like a wheel revolving uniformly by the love that moves the sun and the other stars and so he figures it out and we point the moment he figures it out he is completely connected to the universe he becomes one with God okay so and this is how divine comedy ends okay um and so the question for us is what did he see okay and again to solve this mystery to solve this paradox you have to use your love in imagination okay so all right let's try to figure it out All right. First thing I want to do is look at happiness. We are in heaven. We are beside with God, which is the purest happiness.

It is eternal bliss, the greatest joy. Okay. And we have examples of joy and happiness on this board. Okay. So let's just see these things are in heaven to make sure we understand what heaven is. Selfless sacrifice. Is that a number? heaven how do you sacrifice yourself in heaven well sure but what sacrifice yeah so sacrifice is not here you can't sacrifice yourself in heaven right because it's not mean sacrifice for it's already perfection novelty surprise shock yes or no definitely no because it's perfection right

it's eternal you already know what's there no relief and release No, because you need tension for that, right? You need evil, you need hatred, you need conflict, you need agony for there to be reflect, relief, and release. Nope. Which fulfillment? Is it there? No, because, yeah, exactly, right? There's nothing to fulfill. Returning home.

Well, maybe, I mean, you can say it's home, okay? flow yeah probably self-creation self-discovery sharing knowledge is that there no but not doesn't even know anything okay it's not there connection community probably recognition validation probably beauty okay all right so half the things on the list are there the other half are not all right so where can we're the only thing where we can find the rest here right okay on earth. So some of the happiness is on heaven, some is on earth, okay? But the problem is, the problem is you're in heaven and you're experiencing the perfect joy, the perfect happiness.

But already said, there's lots of happiness that are not in heaven. So how does heaven compensate? How does heaven resolve this problem? as some people just don't have such kind of desire so no no no we just said heaven is the greatest bliss it is perfection it's the greatest joy every single moment is pure bliss but already said a lot of the bliss can't be found in heaven so how does heaven resolve this paradox anyone exactly okay earth and heaven have to be combined together you understand God and men have to have to be combined together in order to create perfect happiness. Otherwise, it can't be done.

Right? Okay? So we have to be inside God. Okay? And what allows us to be inside God? Face, hope, and love? Okay. Well, let's just use imagination, okay? The imagination, okay? So it's the imagination that allows us to be inside God, you understand?

Yes? I just, I have a question about the first thing. So this idea that in order for heaven to compensate for not having some happiness, it needs to combine heaven and earth. What you need to have earth? Like, what do you mean by compensate? Do you mean like for like a person to experience all the happiness, they have to both experience earth and heaven?

Okay. You're Beatrice, you're Rachel, right? You're experiencing all happiness, right? Where's this happiness coming from? By you seeing what is happening. happening on earth? Yeah, because we generate this happiness on earth. And then because earth and heaven correspond, they experience this happiness. When we experience happiness, they do as well. But the happiness we experience, they can't possibly experience up there. So we have to

credit for them here. That's why people like Rachel and Beatrice are celebrated in heaven, because they create so much happiness that not only do they shone on earth, but they also shine in heaven. Does that make sense? So the idea is if you create happiness on earth, you're also helping create happiness on heaven. Exactly. Okay, because it is not possible for heaven to create certain forms of happiness. Okay. Yes? And I think that also related to like previously in the morning we discussed like why Beatrice is angry even in heaven, right? Exactly. Like so, uh, I suppose so below, right? Exactly. Yes. Where there's injustice in on earth, there must be

heaven can feel it as well. It's calling for us to create happiness and justice. Okay, you understand. And this again is shocking for people at this time because before they thought that Earth and heaven were separate, right? Earth is imperfect, heaven is perfect. Earth is flat. Heaven is spherical. So this is a revolution in mentality. all right okay doesn't make sense guys

all right so we are in God okay but at the same time God is in us how why how is God able to manifest himself

in us so in some of my research about this then like a scholar had said that objective and subjective and subjective start to converge and they were dealing with this with sight. So like the seer, what is seen in the act of seeing,

all converge into one. So I wonder if maybe, if God is love, maybe this is the moment where my love, love itself, and the person, or the God being loved, all converge into one because there's no time and space. Right, okay. So, exactly.

So God benefits itself in us who love, you understand? So God is in us. through love we are in God for imagination and this is inseparable this is what is the Trinity okay doesn't make sense right and there are two instances when Dante lets us know that God is love right the first is when he reconciles the Holy Trinity remember when Peter is testing Dante and And Peter asked Dante, what is God? And God says what?

You remember? Yeah, what does Donne say about what God is? God is love. Yeah. First of all, God is the Holy Trinity, right? Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God, the Father, these are separate but equal. And so how do you reconcile this paradox?

because all three represent love you understand so God is love okay so that's the first instance right the second instance is the idea of the merit flame so we are just a mirror that reflects God and God is love okay as represented by a flame does that make sense okay so we are just a reflection of God in the universe So the way to appreciate God is that God is in us with a force of love and we are inside God for our imagination. And the way of understanding this is that God is perfection, so therefore God can extend the parameters of perfection, right? To extend perfection is to say it's imperfect. So the only way to resolve this paradox is for us, because we are imperfect and for our imagination,

we extend the boundaries of the universe. Therefore, we let God know itself more. So it's only Dante with his body, with his imperfect body, that's able to imagine what God is. Not Bernard, not in the angels, not even Mary, okay? And certainly not God itself. God doesn't even know what it is. It's Dante that's able to explain to us what God is.

Okay. But you're not saying that God only exists because of man. No, I didn't say that. Okay, yeah, I just wanted to make sure. Okay, yeah. Yes? It reminds me of languages. Like, yesterday we heard Italian,

and I'm pretty sure none of us here speak Italian fluently. So if you speak a language fluently, then all it sounds to you, always sounds to you is like information. It's information, and that's the state that Bernard and Mary and every angel is in. But if you don't understand a language and you listen to it, then you can hear the cadence and you can hear the rhythm and that's where Dante is at.

Okay. I did really understand the point. Can you replace? So if you understand the language, then people are speaking information to you. If you do not understand the language, then people are speaking a song to you. I don't understand that. Okay. All right. Sorry. Okay. Okay. So what Dante is saying ultimately is that the imagination is the animating force of the universe okay so rather than see heaven as separate rather than seeing God separate see us as humans as part of the divine creation process and so you have a responsibility to imagine okay

doesn't make sense all right so you're like okay well I understand because that's what Disney movies teach me or whatever you know it's what's a big deal here it's a big deal because what the context is the year 1300 all right so what I want to do now is I want to come contrast this with another what passage from the Bible okay so this is what what's called part of the apocalyptic tradition okay Apocalypse is Greek for revelation what is revealed to you and of course there are in a Bible three really famous apocalyptic books there is the book of revelation the book of revelation of John there is the

book of Daniel and there's the book of Ezekiel okay and in the actually Ezekiel we have a situation where also Ezekiel visits God and we're going to be going to contrast what that experience is like. So can we read Ezekiel one to three? One, two, three. So just to say one and, you know, okay? So, so, so, so we're going to compare, contrast what Dante experienced and what Ezekiel experience. Ezekiel one. In my 30th year in the fourth month of the fifth day, while I was among the exiles of the Kabar River, the heavens were open and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of the month, it was the fifth year of the exile of King

Jehoachin. The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, the priest, the son of Bozzi by the Kibbar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was on him. I looked and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north, an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance, their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings, on their four sides, they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of another.

each one went straight ahead they did not turn as they moved their faces look like this each of the four had the face of a human being and on the right side each had the face of a lion on the left the face of an ox each also had the face of an eagle such were their faces they each had two wings spreading out upward each wing touching that of the creature on each what um it was just on either side and each had two other wings covering its body. Each one went straight ahead, wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.

The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire and light torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures. It was bright and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning. As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance instructor of the wheels.

They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced. The wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved, and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also were. rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them

because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, they also moved. When the creatures stood still, they also stood still. And when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal and awesome. Under the vault, their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing water, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army.

When they stood still, they lowered their wings. Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads that they stood with their lowered wings. Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal as a full of life, and that from there down he looked like fire and brilliant lights surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down and I heard the voice of one speaking. Let's go on to number two, okay? So you guys understand what's going on, right? I want you to compare and contrast this with Dantes' meeting with God. Because this is another meeting of God, right? Ezekiel 2. He said to me,

Son of man, stand up on your feet, and I will speak to you. As he spoke, the spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He said, son of man, I'm sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been involved against me to this very day. The people to whom I'm sending you are obstinate and stubborn.

Say to them, this is what the sovereign Lord says. And whether they listen or fail to listen, for they're a rebellious people, they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of men, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid through briars and thorns are all around you and live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say

or be terrified by them, though they're a rebellious people. You must speak my words to them Whether they listen or fail to listen For they're rebellious But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you Do not rebel like that rebellious people Open your mouth and eat what I give you Then I looked and I saw a hand stretched out to me

And it was a scroll which he enrolled before me On both sides of it were written words of lament And mourning and woe Okay, and we'll do Ezekiel three, okay? Mm-hmm. And then we'll stop. Ezekiel three. and he said to me, son of man, eat what is before you.

Eat this scroll. Then go and speak to the people of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, son of man, eat the scroll. I'm giving you and fill your stomach with it. So I ate it and tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. He then said to me, son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them. You're not being sent to people of obscure speech and strange.

language but to the people of Israel not too many peoples of obscure speech in strange language whose words you cannot understand surely if I had sent you to them they would have listened to you but the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they're not willing to listen to me for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate but I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are I will make your forehead like the hardest stone harder than Flint do not be afraid of them or terrified by though they are a rebellious people. And he said to me,

Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. Go now to your people in exile and speak to them, say to them, this is what the sovereign Lord says, whether they listen or fail to listen. Then the spirit lifted me up and I heard behind me a loud, rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing. It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud, rumbling sound. The spirit then lifted me up and took me away,

and I went in bitterness and the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me. Okay, stop, okay? Okay, so you guys, there's this major difference between Dante and Ezekiel, okay? Ezekiel is very much part of the biblical, apocalyptic tradition, okay? So we have Ezekiel, and we have Dantene. I want to compare and contrast these two.

What are the differences you see? Let's just name them. Anyone? Yes? Ezekiel thinks humans and people are bad and it doesn't matter what they do. Just be good yourself. Okay, so Ezekiel says that the Israelites are bad, okay? Yes, yes.

So God is judgmental. Is God judgmental in Dante? Okay, so God is love. That's a major difference. First, God is judgmental in Ezekiel, but in Dante, God is love. Okay, he doesn't judge you, yes? And Dante feels like he's more general, and Ezekiel describes a lot of details. Okay, all right, so another big difference is that Ezekiel is explicit.

Okay, you cannot possibly misinterpret his message. He tells you they should suck, go tell me they suck, okay? Whereas Dante, he is much more ambiguous, okay? Why would Dante be much more ambiguous? Why is he not explicit, yes? Because he wants the readers to, there's just multiple ways to interpret his words. Yeah, free will, right?

He wants you to make a decision as to how to interpret his point. or tree right God has given him free will to to interpret what he wants to interpret right Doni was invited to me God but God didn't actually say don't go do this right don't it can interpret the meaning any way he wanted right so yeah what else why some other differences okay so in Zech Ezekiel there's a a commandment, okay? There's an order from God, right? Whereas in Donnie, it's more about vision and imagination. Okay. Vision, it's up to your interpretation, but with a commandment or a squirrel, it's very written. Exactly. Yes. Okay. What's some other differences?

Just to add on that, I mean, just going back to Parasitin, 33, Dante mentioned that the reason for the ambiguity and the vision is because God to him keeps changing. And it's all, is it amorphic? What's the, what's the right word for it? It shapes, shifts. Right. Versus Ezekiel, who is, I know, God is like a general. Like, it tells you ABC.

If you don't do ABC, that's it. Yeah, look, if you read Ezekiel closely, there's almost like a mechanical language to it, okay? It's mechanical. Whereas with Dante, it's more spiritual, organic, okay? Right? What are some other differences? Dante had to go through hell and purgatory to save God.

Exactly, okay? So for Dante, it was a journey, right? It was a journey, a process. And Ezekiel, it's a destination. He was just shown these visions. He'd have a choice in the matter. There was no journey. Good.

What else? We can go on and on, okay? The major difference, of course, is that Whereas Ezekiel, it is a revelation, it is something that is shown to you. Dante is an act of imagination. It's something that you must imagine yourself. It is something that you must actively create yourself. There's a creative process.

Does it make sense? All right. So, again, the purpose of the divine comedy is to change the world. And so if you are in your 1300 and you grow up in the Ezekiel tradition where God is angry, God is scary, God wants you to be afraid of him, Donny is trying to change that and make you less afraid so you can be much more imaginative, right? So how does Donnie accomplish this? Yes, but what is it about divine comedy that allows people to lose?

lose their fear in God and allows me much more imaginative, yes? But saying that God is love, so and God will grant those who turn towards him. So in perfect love, there's no fear. Oh, in the scriptures, it's perfect love drives out fear. So. Right. But is saying it enough? Yes?

I think it's because he's making the unknown unknown. So like people are scared burning hell. People are scared, oh, waiting for them after they die. Exactly. Exactly. That's it, you understand. All fair is just based on mystery, on what you don't know. What Donny has done is showing you the completeness of the universe, from hell all the way up to heaven. Every aspect of the cosmos, he's revealed to you.

Right? Okay. So let's do Shakespeare, Hamlet, the famous Hamlet Siliqui, okay? To be or not to be. All right, so where's, we'll eat this together. Okay. To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether to snobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. To die, to sleep no more. And by asleep to say, we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. To the consummation devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep, to sleep perchance to dream, I. there's the rub for in that sleep of death what dreams may come what we have shuffled off this mortal coil must give us pause there's the respect that makes calamity of so long life for who would bear the whips and scorns of time the oppressors wrong the proud man's contumely the pangs of despised love the laws delay the insolence of office and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes when he himself might this quietest make with a bare bodkin who would fardels bear to grunt and sweat under a weary life but that the dread of something after death the undiscovered country from whose bore no traveler returns puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those wills we have than fly to others that we know not of

thus conscious does make cowards of us all and thus the native hue of resolution is sickly it over with the pale cast of thought and enterprises of great pith and moment with this regard their currents of the current turn awry and lose the name of action? So there is at Yale, or he was at Yale, but Harold Bloom was the greatest American leader critic. He's a huge fan of William Shakespeare. In fact, he argued that it was Shakespeare that created modernity, created was human. But you know, I mean, it's been a while since I read Shakespeare, but just putting Dante side by the way, I've said, with Shakespeare, I am not that impressed with Shakespeare anymore, okay? I mean, like, it took a long time for him to say what Donny would have said in one or two lines. Seriously. What is Shakespeare's point here? What, yes?

People don't die because they're afraid. Exactly. It's that simple, okay? There's really no, like, great truth to what Shakespeare is saying here. All Shakespeare is saying is that people don't ask because they're afraid of death. Why are they afraid of death? Because they don't know what death is. It's that simple, okay? So maybe someone can convince me that this is great literature, but having read Dante, I am not as impressed. But yeah, so this is the basic I premise here. It is because of the unknown that people are afraid. And what Donny has done with the divine comedy is revealed the entire cosmos to the world. But then you're like, wait a minute here. And here, he can just make all this up, right?

Right? He's like, why would people believe this? And the answer is, let's look at some pictures. Let's look at some pictures. Do you guys know what near-deb experiences are? Near-deaf experiences. So there's this guy, the pictures that we, right? Okay, so the first picture.

Okay, yeah. Here, exactly. Okay, guys, look at the picture on the screen. Okay, so there are people who have these near-death experiences. And first of all, what they describe is remarkably consistent. Okay, they talk about how when they die, they enter this realm, which is beyond time and space, which is complete unity. And they meet God, and God is pure love, peer forgiveness, non-judgmental, or generosity.

It is remarkably consistent. And one of these people actually remembered the visions from his or her near-death experiences. And look at the picture. It's pretty similar to how Donnie described heaven, right?

Where God and the angels are this huge spear of luminous light and everyone is surrounding them. It's pretty similar to what Donnie is describing. Okay. Let's go on to image two. This is a AI rendering. This is like, again, just exactly how Donnie described paradise. You see at the top all these angels flying around, right? You see at the core is God itself. It's pretty similar. And there's a hierarchy as well. Okay, let's, this is an artist's rendition of Dante and Beatrice staring at the imperium,

the angels surrounding it and God. It's similar. All right, let's go to the last picture. And this is Dante constructing the hierarchy of paradise. So not only did Donnie. give people a glimpse of heaven, but it attunes to what people instinctively believe about heaven. Does anyone know about near-death experiences? What happens to people with near-deaf experiences?

Do you guys know? Their life flashes before their eyes. But what happens afterwards? They live? Yeah, okay, okay, no, I mean, yeah, I understand, okay, yes. Okay, yes. That's why they're called near-deaf experiences, okay? Rather than death experiences, yeah. But it's interesting because, like, they might be in a car crash or they might have a heart attack, okay?

And they meet God and God always ask them, do you want to stay here, which is pure happiness, pure bliss, or do you want to go back home? And they always choose to go back home, okay? And I'm saying, saying, like, why do they go back home and what happens to them after they go back home? Yes? Um, it sounds really weird, like, how does God even determine this? Like, uh, at which point do God stop asking if you want to go home? Because I feel like if he asked every time, there will be a lot more people going home. But why does God ask?

Come on, guys. Do you want to go home? No, but why does God in my bath? Free will. Come on, we've been saying this for the past five classes, okay? Free will is the fundamental law of the universe. God can never force you to do anything. God must always ask you.

So everyone chooses to go back. home and what happens to this person to me they go to go back to the secular world to spread a message what message is this that God is love okay but what happens to the people who don't turn out to be big YouTubers who talking about their near-death experiences maybe they just pack up and go on with their lives have you have you been on YouTube have you looked at how many their death experience videos are on YouTube there's like millions of them yeah yeah millions of and there's way more people who

don't talk about it. Okay. Look, there's a lot. Okay. Why would you want to talk about it? I think because that's everybody's questions. Like Shakespeare said, like no, where no travelers return.

And then you're like, wait, I'm their traveler and I return. So I have the, you know, I'm the chosen messenger or something to tell people about what the ultimate philosophical question. Like, oh, where do we come from? Well, the Bible tells us that. We're going to heaven, but nobody knows what it's like, so I can kind of be the messenger. What is the main message of these people with narrative experiences? What do they tell others?

The God is grace and God is love. Death is now the end. Yes. Don't fear death. Don't. Lose your fear of death. It is nothing. It's only just another beginning.

Yes? Does that mean that if you refuse to die, you could tell you. to die, you could technically live forever. What? Same. Wait, wait. Okay. All right.

Okay. Repeat that, okay? Because you said that when you die, people say that God asks them, do you want to go to heaven or do you want to go home? And then if you just always say go home, can you technically live forever like that?

I think only in near-death experiences where you are like between this gap of whether you can be saved or not by medical intervention, then God asks you to pick. But if you're like dead, dead, like stone dead by car accident, then you're just into afterlife. That's actually a huge gap between like near-death and death. That's actually a huge gap. So how does God determine this? You just have to trust him, right? No, like what I mean, like, if medical means cannot save you, like you are like stone dead, like super. Like if you are squeezed by a rock and you are like your brain shuttered, right, then there's no way.

But if you are like kind of in a car concussion, car accident, you have concussion, your brain is a bit shaken but not like crushed. Then maybe, you know, you got a choice. I'm saying that there's a spectrum of things here. And I don't know at which point is the cutoff point. Like there are just God knows. So if you see God, God ask you the question, then you, you know, you have a choice. But if not, uh, yes, uh, I see I have a question because the physics keeps telling us that and nobody can die because we're just energy or energy will be forever in the universe.

But whatever, we don't feel a fear of death, but what will fear of which level will be? Because after we die, uh, we have to go to some, so have some heaven, somebody, we go to go to hell. So if in that case, we don't, we don't care about that, but we care about that, but we care about in which level we will be in after death after you know okay so let me ask you this question okay Let's just say we lose a fear of death How would you live your life if you lost your fear of death? What would you do? You may want to do whatever you want because if you don't fear of death you can't what would you do?

Suicide? What? Explain the logic here. What would you commit suicide if you lose your fear of death? I mean, you don't really care about living anymore, so you might. Okay, okay, that's a possibility. Like, well, you know, like, well, fear of death, I don't like my life, so I'll just kill myself, yes?

What would you do? No, imagine this, okay? Use your love, use your intuition, use your imagination. What would you do if you completely lost your fear of death? Yet you, then you? Well, death, that's this. Expiration right that means the time you have you don't have any more time left so if you have infinite time then you would no That's not like said I said you lose your fear of death. I didn't say you live forever I said you lose your fear of death

Say you don't have the sense don't have this fear of death Then you would procrastinate there would be no motivation to Agents to generate okay I'll sorry you so you maybe live your life to the fullest because now you don't fear too much anymore And you want to live your life to the best of your ability so that you can get more better place in heaven. What would you do? Maybe get closer to God, I guess,

like to learn more about him so that, you know, I can end up in a higher sphere of heaven, I guess. Okay, you would go and learn more, right? Yeah. Okay, yes? I once met this guy, he told me he had a near-death experience when he was, like, 20 or very young. and then afterward he felt that his life was on was on more was on extra time so his life has already

ended he is on extra time and this time has just been gifted to him so he he's now like i think 80 something but he spent his whole life pursuing um sustainability and working an NGO and not making any money yeah that's what the majority people will do maybe maybe not everyone okay maybe maybe some people will just kill themselves but the majority people will just live the life to the fullest we'll just do whatever you want to do now okay because you're not afraid of death anymore you're like i don't care i'm just gonna i have free will i have free choice okay uh yes so i think it's more of uh no one else goes to tell me how to live my life anymore so the whole the whole thing of the catholic church is that if you don't let us tell you what

to do with your life then you're going to hell and it's going to be horrible But not being afraid of death anymore, not being afraid of this Catholic help anymore means that you're free to do what you want deep down. Exactly. That's why Donnie wrote divine comedy to free people of the fear of death because, as you point out, the real public Catholic Church is they make people afraid of death. Right? If you don't obey us, we'll send you to hell, right?

If you don't obey us, you won't get into heaven. So what the real purpose of divine comedy is to expand your imagination by liberating you from your fear of death. And it does that by providing an imaginative universe that is complete, that is detailed, and which is all loving. There's no fear in heaven, right? These angels aren't meant to scare you.

Like in Ezekiel, they're meant to scare you. God is meant to scare you, but in divine comedy, it's in heaven it's all embracing it's all forgiving it's all welcoming okay does that make sense okay any questions okay so um as i point it out there's a reason why we did paradise first and it's really understand the cosmology of dante understand why he's doing what he's doing but But ultimately, Darnay is not working in a vacuum, right? It's not like he can just present this poetry and it'll be accepted. Because in this time of history, there's a greater power than the Catholic Church,

and it's Virgil. You think it's the Catholic Church that has all the power, but it's Virgil, the poet, who has all the power, because as we said, what poetry does is that it embeds itself into the collective unconscious and the language and the beauty shapes the way you see the world. So Donnie's real conflict, his real enemy is not the Catholic Church, it is Virgil. Okay. So now what we'll do for the rest of this rest of our time together is explore this cosmic conflict between Virgil and Dante.

And knowing that, but we will apply it to. to our world and see how this conflict is shaping our world. Okay, does that make sense? Okay, so now we are done with paradise, we're leaving paradise, and we're going to go to hell, okay? So this is Cantor 1, Infernal. This is a great website, right? It's so easy to navigate.

Yeah, go ahead. Does being in vegetative state include as part of near-death experiences? Because technically I know a lot of people, like once like people can kind of like know what you're thinking of their first thought is like to kill me but we literally just said that if you're in near death situation god will ask you whether you want to live or not so it's this kind of like an exception to this concept like I'm just a little bit confused I'm sorry okay so the idea is what happens if you're in a coma well if you're a coma it's also very much like a near-deaf experience and again God asks you do you want to live or not, right? Because there are people who wake up from a coma and there are people who don't wake up from a coma. And I think a lot of it has to do with your will to live.

Okay, doesn't that make sense? Okay. All right, so this is Cantor One of Inferno, okay? All right, the very beginning. Okay. When I had journeyed half of our lives' way, I found myself within a shadowed forest, for I had lost the path that does not stray. It is hard to speak of what it was, that savage forest, dense and difficult, which even in recall, renews my fear. So bitter death is hardly more severe, but to retell the good discovered there, I'll also tell the other things I saw.

I cannot clearly say how I had entered the wood. I was so full of sleep just at the point where I abandoned the true path. But when I'd reached the bottom of a hill, it rose along the boundary of the valley that had harassed my heart with so much fear. I looked on high and saw its shoulders clothed already by the rays of that same planet, which serves to lead men straight along all roads. At this, my fear was somewhat quieted, for through the night of sorrow I had spent the lake within my heartfelt terror present. and just as he who with exhausted breath having escaped from sea to shore turns back to watch the dangerous waters he has quit so did my spirit still a fugitive turn back to look intently at the past

that never has let any man survive I let my tired body rest a while moving again I tried the lonely slope my firm foot always was the one below and almost where the hillside starts to rise look there A leopard very quick in life, a leopard covered with a spotted hide. He did not disappear from sight, but stayed. Indeed, he so impeded my ascent that I had often to turn back again. The time was the beginning of the morning. The sun was rising now in fellowship with the same stars that had escorted it

when divine love first moved those things of beauty, so that the hour and the gentle season gave me good cause for hopefulness on seeing the beast before me with his speckled skin. But hope was hardly able to prevent the fear I felt when I beheld a lion. His head held high in ravenous with hunger. Even the air around him seemed to shudder. This lion seemed to make his way against me. And then as she woof showed herself,

she seemed to carry every craving in her leanness she had already brought despair to many. The very sight of her so well. waited me with fearfulness that I banded hope of ever climbing up that mountain slope. Even as he who glories while he gains will when the time has come to tally laws, lament with every thought and turn despondent, and so was I when I faced that restless beast, which, even as she stalked me, step by step, had thrust me back to where the sun is speechless. While I retreated down to lower ground before my eyes there suddenly appeared one who

seemed faint because of the long silence. When I saw him in that vast wilderness, have pity on me were the words I cried, whatever you may be, a shade a man. He answered me, not man, I once was man. Both of my parents came from Lombardy and both claimed Mantua as native city. And I was born, though late, Suf Julio,

and lived in Rome under the good Augustus, the season of the false and lying gods. I was a poet and I sang the righteous son of Ankesi, who had come from Troy when flames destroyed the pride of Iliam. And why do you return to wretchedness? Why not climb up the mountain of delight, the origin and cause of every joy? And are you then that vigil, you the fountain that really pour so rich a stream of speech? I answered him with shame upon my brow. O light and honor of all other poets, may my life.

long study and the intense love that made me search your volume, serve me now. You're my master and my author, you the only one from whom my writing drew the noble style from which I have been honored. You see the beast that made me turn aside, help me, O famous sage, to stand against her, for she has made my blood and pulses shudder. It is another path that you must take, he answered when he saw my tearfulness. If you would leave the savage wilderness, the beast that is the cause of your outcry allows no man to pass along her track, but blocks him even to the point of death. Her nature is so squalid, so malicious, that she can never state her greedy will.

When she has fed, she's hungrier than ever. She mates with many living souls and shall yet mate with many more, until the greyhound arrives inflicting painful death on her. That hound will never feed on land or pewter, but find his, fair and wisdom, love and virtue. His place of birth shall be between two felds. He will restore low-lying Italy for which the maid Camila died of wounds and nieces, Ternus, and Euralis. And he will hunt that beast through every city until he thrust her back to hell, for which she was first sent above by envy. Therefore I think and judge it best for you to follow me and I shall guide

you, taking you from this place through an internal place, where you shall hear the hows of desperation and see the ancient spirits in their pain as each of them laments his second death. And you shall see these souls who are content within the fire, for they hope to reach, whenever that may be the blessed people. If you would then ascend as high as these, a soul more worthy than I am will guide you. I'll leave you in her care when I depart. because that emperor who reigns above since I have been rebellious to his law will not allow me entry to his city he governs everywhere but rules from there there is his city his high capital oh happy those he chooses to be there

and I replied a poet by that God whom you had never come to know I beg you that I may flee this evil and worse evils to lead me to the place of which you spoke that I may see the gateway of St. Peter and those whom you describe as sorrowful. Then he set out and I moved on behind him. Okay, so this is the very beginning of Divine Comedy. And again, we've been in paradise, so we know exactly what this cosmology is. This year 1300 and Donny is like the middle age, right?

So 35 or 40. And he is in a shadowed forest. And he has actually no idea where he's going. Okay, so he's basically in a... in a midlife crisis and when he walks around he sees these beasts right and these beasts block his way forward and he's looking for escape and so Virgil shows up and says let me guide you and then Donnie's like you're my hero you're you are the person who I've worshipped all my life and how

How can we bypass these beasts? Yes? I have a question which is why is Dante being so modus right now? Being so what? Modest. Modest. Modest. Modest.

Modest. Being so modest. Okay. That's because he's lost. He's scared. He's hungry. If someone's going to come and get him. give you some food, you better be modest, right?

Right. But also, does Dante respect Virgil? Yeah, a lot, right? Because at this time in history, if you are an educated person, you all read Virgil. And how do you read Virgil? Do you guys know? No, but like, how do you study Virgil?

You have to memorize Virgil, okay? Like, you don't actually sit down and analyze Virgil, just memorize it word for word, and that's just how you learn Latin. And if you were educated, you have to speak Latin the way that Virgil spoke Latin. That's how you prove your eloquence, okay? So Dante is in the awe of Virgil. Dante sees Virgil as a father figure. Does that make sense? So you have to appreciate that at this time in history, Dante is worships,

Virgil and Virgil is going to be his guide. Okay, so let's continue the story where Virgil shows up and Donna is like, how do we get past the beast? And Virgil says you can't get past through the beast. You have to go through another way. You have to go through hell. Okay. So can someone explain to me what this is a metaphor for? First of all, why is Dante in the forest?

Why is he lost? And what do the beast represent? And why the start and what was Virgil says you cannot actually defeat the bees you cannot actually confront the bees you just have to avoid the beast What is this a metaphor for? Yes? Actually I think beast is just kind of anger fear or same kind of you know which is not so good Capeter his mind and the furries it means that he just get lost. So he just be exiled, you know Yeah, yeah exactly that's that's exactly correct right where he He is middle-aged and his life sucks.

His life is falling apart. He's been exiled from, he's about to be exiled from Florence, his political faction. The white Guelves are in conflict and losing to the Black Guelps. So he's completely lost. That's like, how do they get to this point? I see no possible path forward. And he is consumed by anger, by hatred, by fear. And that confuses you, that blinds you from seeing any possible path.

What Virgil was saying to me is like, you cannot actually confront your anger, you can't confront your hatred, you can't confront your fear. The only thing you can do is learn more, open your mind, develop your imagination, and then these pieces will naturally go away. Does that make sense, guys? Never ever try to confront your anger, never try to confront your fear, your doubts. That doesn't get you anywhere. develop more experiences, right? So let's just say that you have problems with your parents, okay? You really, really hate your parents.

You go to a therapist and your therapist tells you, well, we need to talk to you about your parents, okay? So talk about all these memories you have as your, as a child, right? And we will, through talk therapy, we imagine you. your childhood, okay? Is that a good idea? Would Dante agree to this? Why not? Why not? What's the problem with that? Because I'll be like just like the metaphor like facing the beast and I don't think like by by confronting with your anger you can like like you can find like a resolution

through that. That's what Donnie says but why. What happens when you confront the beast? Yes? You get more tangled up in it. You get more angry, relieving, or remembering that memory. You feed the bees, right? When you confront the bees, you feed the bees. So the more you talked about how angry you are, you become more angry. So what's the solution?

You're like, you know, you're, you don't like your parents, it's bothering you. And so, how can you? How can you get over this? So you go out and have life experiences yourself. You go out, fall in love, become a parent yourself, and then you understand your parents. Okay, exactly. Okay, that's the better path.

And that's what Virgil is saying, like, let's not do talk therapy. Let's not go to therapy, guys, because all that's going to do is feed the bees. It'll just make you more trapped in this forest. Let us go for hell. And then if you see what anger, fear, and hatred does to people, this will help you elevate or help you alleviate, reduce your anger, fear.

Yes? To me, it seems a lot like you're, it seems like what they're suggesting is more like ignoring stuff and distracting yourself for stuff rather than confronting stuff. Okay. What's response? It seems like Donny's just running away, right? What's response? Anyone?

Yeah, yeah? But I mean, that's the point of what he's saying. It's not to confront us to find a new way. Yeah. You don't have to confront something to defeat something. Okay? You can go around that thing. Why do you need to run into a wall?

Why can you just walk around the wall? Yeah, it's kind of like the Chinese wisdom, I guess. It's like you kind of go around it. You don't have to go straight to show that you defeat it or confront it directly. You can still solve the problem in many different ways. Right. What I'm trying to say is that, yeah, you can go around it and you can ignore it. And for the time being, and that's going to be way better than if you do talk therapy, if you dive deep down into it. But the point is that it's still there.

And it might ambush you every single day, like when you're truly angry about something, it might ambush you every single day and it might ruin everything else. So why not confront it? You are confronting it by going to hell already. So you're still taking an active action to get rid of it. of it by going to hell. So you solve it. It will ambush you anymore. And so just going to hell solves me all my problems. Like I take, yeah, like I took a round trip to hell and it solves the problems. Yes. Maybe because, you know, all of this anger, fear, it cannot be distinguished.

It cannot be destroyed. It just always makes this in your mind. So the better way, you just not secure them or not secure yourself, right? So you had better to avoid it. Maybe. Okay, yeah? So something I struggled with personally is we just finished the Paradisio. And so he was arrogant and enlightened person there. And so it's struggling for me to then go back to the inferno where he's a flawed, sinful person without all the answers. And he's got to go through the next three books to get most of the answers. So maybe he is making some mistakes.

Maybe he's not perfect right at this moment. Yeah. Right. So he has to go through this journey if he is the sin to heaven, if he's to find his true self. Okay? All right. Let's keep on reading. Canto two.

The day was now departing. The dark air released the living beings of the earth from work and weariness. And I myself alone prepared to undergo the battle both of the journeying and of the pity, which memory mistaking not shall show. Oh, muses, oh, hi, genius, help me now. O memory that set down what I saw. Here shall your excellence reveal itself. I started.

Poet, you who are my guide, see if the force in me is strong enough before you, let me face that rugged past. You say that he who fathered Sylvia's while he was still corruptible had journeyed into the deathless world with his life body. For if the enemy of every evil was courteous to him, considering all he would cause and who and what he was, that does not seem incomprehensible,

since in the imperial heaven he was chosen to Father honored Rome and her empire. And if the truth be told, Rome and her realm were destined to become the sacred place, the seat of the successor of Great Peter. And through the journey you ascribe to him, he came to learn of things that were to bring his victory into the papal mantle. Later, the chosen vessel traveled there to bring us back, assurance of that faith with which the way to our salvation starts. But why should I go there?

Who sanctions it? For I'm not Annius. I'm not Paul. No, I nor others think myself so worthy. Great. So again, he's being really, being modest here, right? He's saying, DeVirjo says, like, we have to go into hell.

And Donny's saying, it's like, I'm not worthy at all. Because you think of all these major figures who's been to hell. I'm not worthy, right? Because who's been to hell? You have Innius, who's the hero of the Inniad? You have Paul. And who else do you have?

Jesus was in hell? Jesus, yes, the chosen vessel. Jesus has been to hell. So it's almost like a special privilege where you don't die, but you still go to hell. It's only of your really, really, really a special person would you have that access? Okay?

So, I'm not worthy Virgil. I can't go into hell. And here, go away? First 34. Therefore, if I consent to start this journey, I fear my venture may be wild and empty. You're wise, you know far more than what I say. And just as he who unwhills what he wills

and shifts what he intends to seek new ends so that he's drawn from what he had begun. So was I in the midst of that dark land because with all my thinking I annulled the task I had so quickly undertaken. If I have understood what you have said, replied the shade of that great heart at one, your soul has been assailed by cowardice

which often weighs so heavily on a man, distracting him from honorable trials as phantoms frightened beasts when shadows fall, that you may be delivered from this fear. I'll tell you why I came and what I heard when I first felt compassion for your pain. Okay, so do you understand, like Don A.E right now, in his middle age, he is lost in the forest because of his fear, okay?

He has been ceased by fear. Can you keep on one? Verse 52, I was among those souls who are suspended. A lady called to me so blessed, so lovely, that I implored to serve at her command. Her eyes surpassed the splendor of the stars, and she began to speak to me so gently and softly with them. angelic voice. She said, O spirit of the courteous Manchuan, whose fame is still a presence in the world

and shall endure as long as the world lasts, my friend who has not been the friend of fortune, is hindered in his path along that lonely hillside. He has been turned aside by terror. From all that I have heard of him in heaven he is, I fear, already so astray that I have to come to help him much too late. Go now with your persuasive word with all that. that is required to see that he escapes, bring help to him that I may be consoled. For I am Beatrice who send you on. I come from where I most long to return.

Love prompted me, that love which makes me speak. When once again I stand before my Lord, then I shall often let him hear your praises. Now Beatrice was silent. I began. Okay, stop, okay, all right. So Virgil is telling Dante how Virgil came to him, right?

So Donnie is lost in the forest and Beatrice up in heaven, here's Dante's pain, fear, agony. And Beatrice, with permission from God, descends to hell where Virgil is and says Virgil, please help my friend Dante. If you help my friend Dante, God will give you a special consideration, okay? Why is Dante being helped by God? Why would God care? Yes? Because Beatrice wants him to be helped and to lift him out of hell.

Okay. So let's think about this, okay? All right. So why would God care about Dante? He wants him to write, he wants him to be a poet and write, see and record all these things. And how would God know that Dante is a chosen one? Like there's a lot of people in the world, why Dante?

Yes. Because of his love for Beatrice? Yes, okay, you understand the logic of this, okay? Regardless of Dante's fear, anger, and hatred, regardless of the fact that he's lost in the forest, He still has this passion for Beatrice that doesn't allow Beatrice to ascend to heaven, okay? God's like, hey, Beatrice, what are he doing here? And Beecher's like, well, Donny loves me a lot, so I'm here.

And then God's like, wait, wait, who is this Donny guy? Right? So Donny is special because he, for his poetry, is able to elevate Beatrice to heaven. And now that Donde is lost in the woods, Beatrice will now reciprocate, right? Says, well, you know, you are a special person who put me here, you're lost, and so we're going to help you find your way because your true mission is to ascend to heaven and write to divine comedy. Okay, doesn't make sense? Okay.

All right. But you appreciate why I teach paradise first, right? Because if I thought this first, we'd just be confused. But now that we know what the ending is, we can go back and see how it was constructed. But another way of saying this is like, think about the year 1,300. You didn't have a computer, right? How are you able to do that? You can see the entire thing in its totality even before you wrote anything down.

Right? You saw you see how the beginning connects so well to the ending. Doesn't make sense? Like how are you going to do this? It's like basically You know being able to write the entire TV series all ten up ten seasons Even before you begin to write episode one. Yes, do we know for sure Dante wrote the inferno first? Yes, yes, because he published Inferno first Yes, right? So he had patrons and he would write these manager forms for his patrons. So he first published the Inferno, then published Procatory, then publish Paradisle. But like what is shocking is that there are no inconsistencies. Do you understand?

There are actually no inconsistencies between the Paradise and between Inferno. How is he able to do this? Does anyone know? I mean, he has to have a preconception, either it's divine, or it has to have a preconception of the structure that he's going to use for all of this, right? Right, but I'm saying like, how he was able to do this? Do you guys know? Okay, so let me explain how he's able to do this. And again, I'm not him, I don't know, okay?

But for Dante, the world of Inferno, Pergatory, and Paradiso are real worlds with real people. Does that make sense? They're more real to him than his own world. And so when he traveled in these worlds, he was meeting these people, and these people were separate from him, and they were real people. So he was actually meeting Virgil and talking to Virgil. And Virgil was talking to him, not as a figment of Donny's imagination, but as Virgil, the real person who wrote the Indian end.

Does that make sense? Because there's no other way to do this. How else could you construct something so vast, so complete, and so consistent, so coherent? unless it was a real world to you and you wanted this world meeting real people with real psychology, real motivations. Does that make sense? All right, let's keep on going. First 76. And again, again, like, we have already read Paradise, so we know exactly what happens.

So we can spot any inconsistencies, right, in Inferno. And I'm telling you right now, there is none. There have seen no consistencies in, in any of the divine comedy. And again, if you are able to use imagination, you can reason out everything within it. It's all logically coherent and consistent. This is pretty amazing, okay, because you can't actually do this with any other texts.

Actually, sorry, Homer. You can do this with Homer, okay? Keep on going. Line 76. Oh, Lady of Virtue, the sole reason why the human race surpasses all that lies beneath the heaven with the smallest fears. So welcome is your wish that even if it were already done, it would seem tardy. All you need to do is let me know your will.

But tell me why you have not been more prudent, descending to the center, moving from that spacious place where you long to return. Because you want to fathom things so deeply and I now shall tell you promptly, she replied, why I'm not afraid to enter here. one ought to be afraid of nothing other than things possessed of power to do as harm, but things innocuous need not be feared. God and His graciousness have made me so that this your misery cannot touch me. I can withstand the fire's flaming here.

In heaven there's a gentle lady, one who weeps for the distress toward which I send you, so that stern judgment up above is shattered. And it was she who called upon Lucia, requesting of her, now your faithful one has need of you and I commend him to you. The Sia, enemy of every cruelty, arose and made her way to where I was, sitting beside the venerable Rachel. Again, remember, we've been in paradise, we know exactly where Beatrice is, right? Beatrice is sitting next to Rachel.

And it says it here as well, okay? There's actually no inconsistency in divine comedy. Keep on going. Verse 103. She said, you Beatrice, true praise of God, Why have you not helped him who loves you so that for your sake? He's left the vulgar crowd. Do you not hear the anguish in his cry?

Do you not see the death he wars against upon that river ruthless as the sea? No one within this world has ever been so quick to seek as good or flee as harm as I when she had finished speaking thus to come below. Why doesn't Beatrice know about Tani's agony? Why? So, Dane is in agony and someone else had to tell Beatrice. But why didn't Beatrice know for herself? They're all in heaven, they can save everything together.

Why didn't Beatrice know for herself? Why did someone have to tell her? Dante is in pain. He's in pure agony. He has become overwhelmed with fear, doubt, anger, hatred. And Beatrice is allowed us to know, right? Even though there's cosmic divine connection together. Because you love this person so much, you don't want that person to know?

Exactly, okay? You understand. It's because Donny loves her so much, he does not want her to know he is in pain, okay? Again, the consistency here, right? Think about how consistent this is. All right. Let's keep on going. Line 112.

To come below down from my blessed station, I trusted in your honest utterance, which honors you and those who have listened to you. When she had finished with her words to me, she turned aside her gleaming, tearful eyes, which only made me hurry all the more. And just as she had wished, I came to you, I snatched you from the path of the fierce beast

that barred the shortest way up the fair mountain. What is it then? Why? Why do you resist? Why does your heart host so much cowardice? Where are your daring and your openness as long as there are three such blessed women concerned for you within the court of heaven and my words promise you so great a good? As little flowers which the chill of night has bent and huddled, when the white sun strikes grow straight and open fully on their stems, so did I too with my exhausted force. And such warm daring rushed into my heart. that I, as one who has been freed again, began. O she, compassionate, who has helped me, and you who courteous obeyed so quickly the true words that she had addressed to you. You with your words have so disposed my heart

to longing for this journey, I returned to what I was at first prepared to do. Now go, a single willful both of us. You're my guide, my governor, my master. These were my words to him when he advanced. I entered on the steep and savage path. Okay, so to summarize, Dante is lost, he's afraid, and he's confused. And he doubts everything, right?

So Virgil comes to him and says, Dante, let us, I will guide you forward. And Donne is so consumed with fear that he doubts everyone. He says, Virgil, I don't really belong in hell. I really don't believe we can journey this way. And Virgil says, I see your fear, I see your doubt, but let me assure you that the person who is really helping you is not me, but Beatrice. And at the mention of the name Beatrice, Dante is able to fully trust Virgil now and fully trust himself. So not not, so by helping Beatrice ascend to heaven, basically Dante has imagine his own salvation.

Right? Okay, so that's it for today. Are any questions about today? Yes? Why did Virgil agree to help Dante? What does Virgil say? Virgil said a Beatrice sent him? No, no, but I'm saying,

what did Virgil, what did Virgil tell Dante? Okay. Do you guys remember? It's actually why most guys do stuff, by the way, yeah? Like the three ladies ask the Virgil to help. Not the three ladies, one lady, right? It's actually the reason why most guys do stuff in life, okay? Seriously. Right?

Why? Why? The God will reconsider to put him out. No. No, it's why guys do stuff in life, okay? Why? Some ladies ask them to do. beautiful lady asking to go do it, right? You understand? It's like, it's beautiful. It's like, she's really hot. I'll go do it. It's really that simple, okay? Don't overthink guys, right? Men are not that complicated. If a beautiful woman comes to me and says, hey, I need to go do something.

I'll go do it. I don't care what it is. Right? Is this a revelation to you? Did you not know this before? Okay, so the divine comedy, I'm The reason why it's so powerful, the reason why it's lasted even to the day is its truth and beauty, right? Because it's able to resonate with you because the people inside the divine company are real people. Right? Virgil's motivation, his psychology, it is what a real person would do. A real guy, the really hot lady said, go help my friend. The guy would go do it, okay?

He's not like, oh, well, maybe maybe she should give me a million bucks or maybe, oh, hey, maybe, you know, should get me in heaven. He doesn't care. Okay. So again, this is a remarkable achievement. And by the year, this year, 1300, right? So this is before Mars psychology. This is before we know so much about human emotions. Yes? On top of, the reason why we started with paradisial, on top of the structure, are there any other reasons that you started with paradisial? Yeah. So the main reason is that, and this is really hard for people to appreciate, because they only with the infernal. but Virgil is an unreliable narrator to understand. So everything that Virgil tells Dante is not true.

And it's really strange. And this is why people don't really understand it by in comedy. Because they take Virgil's words as Dante's words. And it's not true. If you read Pyrgyzio and you hear what Virgil says about God, about hell, about love, it's all in contradiction with paradise. Okay, do you understand? And like, once you understand that, then you understand what's really motivating Dante.

Donnie's real mission is to displace Virgil as the poet of the universe and replace him with his poetry. Because does that make sense? That's what his real mission is. That's what the real battle is. Cardizio is Dante in his Paris form, whereas, starting from Inferno, he's kind of learning how he wants to write the real battle. the divine call or at the beginning of his connection. No.

So what Donnie believes is the role to truth, you must first pass through untruth. You understand. You must learn what's wrong and figure out why it's wrong for yourself before you can actually access the truth. That's why you have to go through hell, right? In hell, everything is going to lie to you. And every you believe is going to be wrong. But then for purgatory, you slowly begin to reveal the truth to yourself.

But you have to pass through that path of miseducation in order to receive education. You must embrace the lie before you can actually seek the truth. Okay? So again, something that you will notice is that what Virgil will say throughout the infernal is completely contradictory to what we will know in paradise. And unfortunately, again, the way that divine commonly is taught is wrong.

You're just taught in inferno and that's it. Without actually knowing and fully experiencing this journey from infernal to parlor, to Paradise, you can't actually appreciate Donnie's message. All right. Okay. So that's it for today. I will see you guys tomorrow.

Okay? And please, please, review everything that we've learned just so that you can test what I've been teaching, okay? Make sure that what I've been teaching conforms to the actual text. If it doesn't, then bring this up, okay? Because then you'll be helping me learn as well. All right. Okay, I'll see you guys tomorrow.