Is it really true that what is formless can't be grasped or committed to mem

Question: Is it really true that what is formless can't be grasped or committed to memory!?
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The first part of the question is what matters, 'Can the formless be grasped (perceived)'!. That is, 'What is perception!?' Remembering what is perceived is a different if related ability, insofar as memory is not static, but creative!.

The extensive work of the cognitive psychologist Leonard Talmy (who, incidentally, has been legally blind throughout most if not all his career) has rigourously demonstrated the Figure-Ground system of discrimination that pervades every type of perception, from the recognition of visual stimuli to the discrimination of meaning!.

When there is no Ground, no Figure may be perceived!. The mind may contrive the necessary 'Grounds' in astonishingly intricate ways!. In my opinion, artists and colour specialists cannot easily explain such remarkable phenomena as 'hue induction' without reference to Figure-Ground relationships, and to the special compromises that are sometimes set off with the process of assigning the Ground to allow discrimination of the Figure!.

SImilarly, the semantic structure of linguistic expressions may cause some items to be 're-centred', as the Gestalt psychologists of the 'thirties called the process under which the perceiver is compelled to decide which of several possible elements of meaning associated with an item should be the 'vantage point' from which the item is perceived!. No 'centering', no perception!.

For example, much as hue induction involves the effect of neighbouring colour patterns on the perception of a given area of contrasting colour and patterning, the context of an utterance can force the 'centering' of a lexical item on a specific sub-set of the meaning components associated with it!.

Thus, the word 'brick' in different utterances may be re-centered ontologically, teleologically, geometrically, peristaltically, and so on, as in

1) The brick-makers need a brick kiln (=where bricks are from, what they are made of)
2) They built a brick wall (=what bricks are for)
3) I have room for one nice brick of cheese (=what the shape of a brick is)
4) He went to pinch a brick (!.!.!.)

'Centering' and 'Figure-Ground discrimination' are obviously related, and if somone out there would like to help me to conflate the two, please do write to me!.

So, to conclude, none of the stimuli on this material plane can be perceived, never mind held in memory, if they have absolutely no form, by which I must suppose you mean that somehow they do not trigger the re-centering and Figure-Ground discrimination processes required by our organisms to perceive and grasp them!. It's not hard to imagine the application of the same principle to the perception of thought and of one's own meditation, as you are doing with this question!.

What may be creeping up on you is the question of whether all entities that exist must reliably and systematically engage the perception!. Can there exist anything that is 'formless' in this given sense, and if so, what kind of thing could it be!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

The word 'can't' is too strong!. I'd say it is difficult, almost impossible but it can be done!. Faith and effort are needed, maybe in equal proportions!. To be formless means to be unlimited, to be able to take on any form you want!. To have a specific form means to be limited to that one form only!. Once you have understood, REALLY understood, then you begin to appreciate and love the formless!. Committing Him to memory then becomes effortless!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

In Taoism it is the formless that "is" memory!. The basis of "Overcome by yielding" is is the Taoist key to a door that has no lock!. "Truth" is a concept which resides in validity!. Hence: " an argument is said to be valid when it is impossible for the premise to be true and the conclusion false", but this is to speak loosely!. Since, beyond "truth" as a logical construct there always was, is now and will always be the "way"!. Beyond Taoism there is Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam and all "religions", which purportedly have the panaceas to the experience of life on earth!. Much of what is said to be "true" is simply not known!. And to not know is only the beginnings of wisdom!. Beyond knowledge, which is distinguished from wisdom because it can be taught--wisdom cannot!. We think that it is impossible to have form without the formless!. The paradigm of "memory" is dependent upon the ability to reproduce, but if there is no void there can be no reproduction:The components for the model are: Sensory, Short Term, Long Term, Encoding and Retrieval: the seat of demonstrable memory!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I don't know, but I have always wondered if blind people dream, and how forms are portrayed and developed in their minds with out the benefit of a starting point!.

It may not be grasped, but I'm sure it can be committed to memory!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

No, otherwise there would be no formulation of religion, morals, ethics, or even philosophy!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Short answer: it is true!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

!.!.!. true!.!.!.but it can be committed to the soulWww@QuestionHome@Com