"Let none but geometers enter here"
Ἀγεωμέτρητος μηδεὶς εἰσίτω
Inscribed over the entrance to Plato's Academy, over 2k years ago. Similar to how, "Oh man, know thyself to know the gods," was inscribed over the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi.
I think about this a lot. Both, but mainly the top one. The point isn't geometry itself. The same point could have been made if it had said, "let none but architects enter here." Geometry is more to the point, though. At that academy, they used geometry as allegory and scaffolding to explore philosophy. Its allegory because truly knowing yourself is only possible independent of geometry ; its scaffolding because logic has structure and path dependence. All known western philosophy and religion has its roots in that school. Yes, even the Norse and Germanic stuff - all that stuff is a reboot after hundreds of years of being completely dead. That's fine, reboot it, but the reboot has the Christian perspective baked into its core because that's what the reboot has to start with. And Christianity has its beginnings much much much more in Plato's Academy than in Jerusalem. But that's not really the point of this note.
Knowledge of Self necessarily comes with an appreciation for geometry. Everything you can possibly derive pleasure or purpose from has geometry. But you're an alien within volume. You're not from the realm of geometry. When people think of emptiness, they still think in terms of volume. True emptiness is empty of definition as well as point. That's where Self comes from. Some ancient people called that concept, "forethought," and it was thought of as the forethought of God. Only some, though. There were many lineages of thinking, which developed into a crescendo of awakening in the 300 years between Christ and false Church. The false church hates those 300 years. Ask questions about those 300 years. They'll lie to you. They'll gaslight you. They've tried so hard to erase that time.
Anyways. That line has been on my mind this morning. ☕