I notice two side of enlightenment. One is a sudden flash of knowing, the Zen Satori, as the Japanese call it. I imagine everyone experiences this to one degree or another, at various time throughout life. I’d say it is almost guaranteed; one’s awareness has to fall from their fortress of belief every once in a while.
The other side of enlightenment, as I see it, is sustained knowing. Here impartiality is essential. It might even be the key to sustain knowing in the first place. In any case, without sufficient impartiality, see the “whole” would drive one insane I expect. Impartiality opens the window of awareness wider; the wider the widow the more awe full the view; the more essential impartiality becomes to maintaining sanity. Continue reading ‘So, You Want Enlightenment, Eh?’
Jungle church in Malaya
Well, why not! But seriously, this is a question I have not heard asked much… if at all(1) Debates mostly focus on whose God is best, the nature of God, or does God even existence. Asking “why do we believe in God” is more of a zoological approach to this issue. That is the place to begin; after all, we are animals first.
I’ve long see the God idea as an emergent property of our social need for leadership, i.e., ‘alpha male’, the decider. All social primate groups have some individual serving this unifying role. Being a thinking ape, it is natural that we would image the existence of a super-leader in a super-home (heaven). Being social apes, it is also nature that we’d enjoy gathering to share the experience. A recent article in Science News, Connected at church, happy with life, offered some support for the why of it all. Continue reading ‘Why God?’
Last Sunday’s 60 Minutes’ segment, Tucson: Descent Into Madness, on the recent shooting in Arizona airs an interview of two friends of Jared Loughner.
Their observations offer deeper insight into Jared Loughner. I’ll quote their main recollections below in case that link above doesn’t work.
What caught my attention was when they said how “Jared literally believes in nothing, nothingness”, and that “He was obsessed with how words were meaningless”. That comes awfully close to how I’d describe a Taoist. Indeed, that describes me, albeit without that worrisome “literally believes in nothing” and “obsessed with how words were meaningless”. Continue reading ‘Belief in Nothing is Dangerous’
This Science News piece, Many unhappy returns for wandering minds, packs a big punch for its small size. (It’s so short I’ll paste it below.) Science News and the Tao Te Ching are my two best resources for reducing the risk of ‘the blind spot’. Together, they offer point of view from opposite ends of the awareness spectrum. Each balances the other. Alone, either can mislead. Better yet, having an eye on both keeps my mind from wandering too far.
I have wondered at times why I’m such a stickler for what I call watchfulness (paying attention, mindfulness, seeing what I’ve not seen, being moment to moment, and so on). Frankly, all the common ‘spiritual’ reasons were too pie-in-the-sky for me. Continue reading ‘Wandering Mind Is Unhappy Mind’
1961, In the barracks beginning yoga
I was recently reminded of the battle smokers go through to quit. My story may contains more twists and turns than most, however, and ends with an ironic finish. This post is a bit long, so skim some and then go down to “The End Of A Long Journey” for the Taoist meat.
It all began when I came down with strep throat while in the Air Force. The sergeant told me that smoking would help with the pain. It did. That I took him up on the offer was ironic for I was seriously into yoga(1) at the time: vegetarian, postures, and what seems to me now like goofy cleansing practices. Oh well, no one ever accused me of being consistent, especially in those teenage years. Continue reading ‘My Battle With Tobacco’
The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1563)
Keith posted a link to this article, “Does Your Language Shape How You Think?” in reply to my post Thinking Clouds Consciousness. Surely this is a no-brainer kind of question. Put simply, language and thinking are inextricably linked; it takes one to do the other. If you can, flip off the language switch in your mind. Well? When I do that, I’m unable to think.
Continue reading ‘What Shapes How You Think?’
Emergent Termite Cathedral
Biology (among other disciplines) makes use of the emergent property concept wherein simple structures, processes and order form a foundation upon which more complex properties (structures, processes, order) can emerge. Frankly, I notice this principle behind everything. I see each layer of existence as an emergent property modeled on something more primal. That’s not surprising really, for I’m always on the lookout for mysterious sameness. Continue reading ‘Tao As Emergent Property’
The movie of life
I go on and on about the folly of trusting word meaning. Yet, I write. That seems at least odd, if not hypocritical. How does one get away with that, and still maintain intellectual honestly? It is not that difficult really. In fact, it is no different than being engrossed in a movie, and yet knowing that it is all ‘make believe’ – an illusion. In the case of a movie one suspends belief for awhile. In my case, I suspend disbelief for awhile (like right now). I trust word meaning as it exits my consciousness and lands on this computer screen. After that, there are no guarantees. I suppose it all depends on what I want to see.
Continue reading ‘The trick lies in not believing, yet believing’
I had a discussion recently with a Christian friend of belief. Personally of course, pondering the process of believing is more curious than the content of any belief. So you won’t find me debating the existence of God, for instance; my question would be rather: How and Why does one believe in a God, or gods? Even more basic questions lurk deeper about the belief-in-words process our mind uses to formulate its belief in God (or any thing else) in the first place. Continue reading ‘Think what you believe? Believe what you think?’
Recent Comments by Post