This wonderful world
"The world shall perish not for lack of wonders, but for lack of Wonder."(JBS Haldane)
The central premise of the books of Carlos Castaneda is that there's far more to the world than meets the eye; (consensual) reality is an agreement we've all made to render this weird, wonderful world navigable. This echoes what countless myths and religions have been saying for a long, long time, of course- the Hindu concept of maya, for instance.
Intimations of separate realities sourced from gurus / controversial yaqui sages reputedly stoned on hallucinogens /self-proclaimed avatars et al are fine as far as it goes, but what makes one REALLY sit up and take notice is when hard nosed scientists concur in this worldview. There's compelling evidence now that the school- textbook version of reality (what they like to call the “Newtonian paradigm” in more exalted circles) is outdated. Phenomena abound which are quite inexplicable by the Newtonian worldview. And by "phenomena", I don't mean alien abductions and the like....we're talking about predictable and reproducible experiments.
Fritjof Capra and his ilk had already made quantum physics and its metaphysical implications enter the domain of laymen a couple of decades ago, which fit in well with the then promising dawn of the Age of Aquarius (that particular revolution- pregnant with possibilities- turned out to be a stillbirth, but that’s a different story). The impact of publications like ‘The Tao of Physics’ or ‘The Dancing Wu-li masters’, however, didn’t percolate down into our everyday existence. Things may behave weirdly at the subatomic level, hinting at the possibility of magic and Never-Never Land and Oz and the ubiquity of a tender, loving god peeking at us ubiquitously from an electron microscope; but our daily lives were still humdrum; with bills and debts and nagging in-laws and painful office politics- all the drudgery of 20th century existence gnawing away at our souls., suffocating any hints of Wonder.
The idea of one’s own body: much-loathed, source of endless angst and self-doubts, with ramifications extending into one’s social life, mental well-being, self-esteem, and occasionally the director of one’s entire life-course (think models and film stars) – the idea of one’s body perceived as an immutable, unchangeable vehicle to be dragged through a lifetime, is pretty much as near to “real” as it gets. After all the philosophers and mystics and New Age scientists are done arguing about the ephemeral nature of our universe, that ugly blackhead on your nose still needs to be tweezed if you expect your metrosexual boyfriend to not swoon in disgust later in the evening.
Get this..... the idea of one's body as a solid chunk constant through space and time is a "phantom"....a construct of the brain. VS Ramachandran, a cognitive psychologist and neurologist, describes simple experiments which can fool one into perceiving totally impossible sensations, e.g. feeling one's nose as being suspended 3 feet in front of the rest of the body. In this brave new world, you take nothing for granted, least of all yourself!
Yup, it turns out you are constructing your reality after all. And if its ugly, better do something about it fast. No time to complain (there are NO survivors on this earth), no Distant-Supreme-Divine-Entity to curse for screwing up your fate and not constructing the cosmos as per your desired specs…..it’s all your show. You need to do something about it- and time is running out. They say that people who have NDEs (Near-Death-Experiences) return to life, charged with love and compassion, ‘cause they’ve felt a touch of the divine. They suddenly KNOW how precious life is. We have to go 1 step further- we urgently NEED to understand with every cell of our body, that NOW is a near-death-experience.
“…in a world where death is the hunter, there is no time for regrets or remorse. There is time only for decisions, and decisions aren’t good or bad. They’re simply decisions….
….for an impeccable warrior, every single act is his last stand, and thus the outcome matters little to him. Yet, knowing his will is impeccable, and with absolute trust in his personal power, regardless of whether it is small or tremendous, the warrior turns to his last battle on earth and laughs and laughs”.
(More- much, much more on this theme to follow, if we can get an intelligent conversation started)
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9 comments:
Re the impact of realizing the import of each moment...that's exactly what Don Juan's teachings were all abt- assuming responsibility. Fix yr attention on death which is constantly present behind yr left shoulder, waiting to tap u, but not in a morbid or fearful way, but as an advisor. Use death as an advisor and u'll cut thru the crap and pettiness, coz death will tell u that nothing matters outside its touch- and it hasn't touched u yet. Thus, with detachment and the power of his decisions, the warrior makes every single instant his last battle on earth. And (s)he adjusts his mood accordingly- u don't want to spend yr last moments fuming over a traffic jam or the maid not showing up, or the doings of the innumerable assholes surrounding us all.
PS:- Milan Kundera too had said smthing to the same effect as yr q- "the myth of eternal return" in the Unbearable Liteness....
Yow!
I Just Cannot Understand why the vast majority of mankind [in my personal experience, it amounts to everyone other than me], seem to live as if bad things, especially death, are what happens to other people. They actually believe it, and live in complete denial, and think I am being morbid when I say that maybe there isn't going to be another chance.
In a minority of one, it is easy to believe that you, and not the others, are insane.
Huck, Frank Zappa said it best:- "u aren't necessarily wrong just coz a few million ppl say so".
After decades of seclusion, Castaneda became accessible to junta in his last yrs. After a seminar, sm middle-aged woman....y'know the kind- vapid, shallow caucasian...twittered that despite all material comforts and domestic bliss, she didn't have a spiritual life. Cld CC tell her how to go abt getting a spiritual life?
Castaneda is sposed to have said- "Every evening, sitting with yr husband and children, watch them,laughing and playing or watching TV idly, and understand that they're ALL going to die...IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER. U'll have a spiritual life".
"Now is a near-death experience...".....( n hence act....?)
Does that echo the KabirSpeaks from our childhood textbook!
At school, when asked to write a short personal review on " The Last Deeds of the Dying" , a young lad wrote......
" ...when I know I'd be dying soon, and can do nothing abt it, I'd do no deed but wait to be dead......" (for.... soon,how would
anything matter to me anyway?)
Can death be the impetus for life?Is defying Death an xcuse for living? Which side does Death take in one's Equation?
Death is having no Equation!
The Warrior would never know if its the Last, unless he is past it! And once past the Last, what else is left to cast?
The Warrior laughs and laughs, and pray, why? ....... because he's gonna die? No,probably not ; Okay, because he's going to live
till he's dead? Perhaps.
But wouldn't the most plausible explanation be...... because he loves himself....and knows, it doesn't hurt at all to laugh? Does
one need an impending Death, to learn to laugh? No, certainly not.
So, whats the rationale behind any deed?
Development,improvement, betterment, upgrading, progress, , fulfillment,achievement,pleasure...... exaltation! (and evolution too,
in a Cosmic and perhaps,an extraneous sense)
Any deed that defies it, is a 'sin' against one's own self! But then, sin too is a deed.
Every deed is accounted for- not sure about the theological sense, but certainly in a Cause-n-Effect sense.
Freud says, "We are but our desires", Religion says,"We are but are deeds" and Newton would say," We are but a Function of our desires,deeds and contingence " - Do they all mean the same? ( Can the Newtonian Paradigm ever be ousted? Try expelling it from the system, and what would be left is pure chaos and entropy.)
Such Newtonian Functions can bear values that range from Buddha to Bin Laden. One such value was Hilter. Now, can Hitler be censured for his deeds? He was ,after all, seeking his own form of exaltation; He had his life,....power,glory and
pleasure.... prime n time......his own share of self-exaltation! Of course he died- allegedly, killed himself, but only after enjoying
himself? I bet he enjoyed his years, probably more than any plebe of his time or our time. Maybe he let every other soul around him to be damned to hell, but what did it matter to him? Nothing ever reached him- the cries of jews, the grief of'orphaned' mothers, the anguish of japanese cripples, the suffering of millions, ...- Nothing could ever touch him! He had his fun and left.
What is Life, unless its filled with pleasure, in the most hedonistic way? People would go to any ends to seek pleasure.....and
when they are convinced they can't anymore...they seek an end to life. So seek every pleasure? Emulate Hitlers, Junkies n Topers- smoke marijuana, inebriate your senses.....visit every brothel.....screw every whore........seek all pleasures of life.....till death comes by you.
Consume all resources, burn every drop of gas, indulge in excesses, devour all veals n whales.....damn the environment, damn the ecology,damn the ozone.......you would anyway be dead by the time they come back to hit you. You would have lived most of the years allocated by the present Life Expectancy and in great pleasure n comfort too.
So whats stopping you? Go do it.
Doc, does it sound monstrous?
Was the Life-Death Cycle 'invented' to check such monsters? I don't know.
"We are but our deeds"......perhaps,it means more than what we can concieve?
yes,doc,I totally agree with you.....you don't want to spend your last moments fuming over a traffic jam or the maid not showing up, or the doings of the innumerable assholes surrounding us all.........
........but how would have it mattered, had it been any different, once you are past your last? maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't!
Maybe there are better pleasures in life- dandling your smiling child, holding your love in your arms, watching a flower bloom in spring, running the ball with your friends,feeling the patter of rain, the scent of wet earth, a deep refreshing slumber,waking by the side of your wife, witnessing the dawn, doing work that you love, relishing food, going for a drive,...etcetra......all those things you ought to be doing , rather than fretting over how mankind reacts or thinking of deaths and deeds or debating over better ways of life, et al.
Everyone has his own way of life, pleasure, joy,ecstasy,exaltation- go,discover your own,seek your own- stop listening to people-to shrinks, to me- listen to your Self!
A spiritual saint once remarked, " Work as if this is your last moment, and live as if this is your first"
... this brings it back to the square one? or maybe to the other side?
Sorry, doc,as you can understand, I'm neither intelligent nor can I converse.
But I like to read, so keep it going! :-)
Heyyyyy writefully, i ain't answering u till u identify yself. C'mooooonnnnn...be a sport! Who's this?
And I promise to rebut every single 1 of yr points 1 by 1 after u tell me who u are. I disgree with yr self-assessment though.
yes!!! i do agree only one that has the ability to churn the world is just a decision!!! one decision that can make and mar an individual. its like.... the whole unievrse forgets to revovle and is lost in slumber flick of second.
..aww..doc, sorry that you couldn't catch the hint of sarcasm in that drivel ( yeah, that's
what it was...most of it...except for the last few lines!)
Chill,there were no 'points' in that, atleast none were 'offered'... n surely none were meant to be taken!
It was just a show of convoluted, specious reasoning - that's how one can get away with things, when one ain't sure of one's own basic premises!
Of course, this one.....I really meant it...
"Everyone has his own way of life, pleasure, joy,ecstasy,exaltation- go,discover
your own,seek your own- stop listening to people-to shrinks, to ME, to others - listen to
your Self!"
Rebut that,if you care! :-)
But before indulging in such inutile exercise, ..........go,construct and check your own premises- whats driving you and to where......n why? Know your Self, learn your Self- start from the scratch, dont presume things, make no assumptions, you've got only FACTS to start with, facts established purely based on your own perception, your awareness- within the limit of your five senses, the mind and memory - they all could go wrong, but thats your present limitation- maybe it can be overcome- go seek the Truth yourself, you can't trust anybody- they all could go wrong! So can you......but you have no other choice,do you? You are your own limitation- but don't make yourself a bad xcuse for your Self!
How old are you, doc? 25? 30? 35 or more?Why, you have another alternative too - stop discussing Life,Death and Philosophy, stop delving into such nonsense altogether,stop wasting your time over inanities and go about your ways, whatever they have been all along, stick to them,your 'brass tacks' ....and the yada yada! But ,again, don't make yourself a bad xcuse for .....atleast yourself!
-chuckling mischievously- :-))
But the best thing for you would be to delete this comment forthright and throw me to the devil!
-grinning-
I still say the same.....don't listen to me or to anyone....listen to your Self! :D
Sorry,doc, I already told you, I ain't all that intelligent... nor can I really converse;
(but I do have my own survival strategies,it seems! :P)
( Btw, don't bother yourself about my identity, how does it matter? yeah, you don't know me, nor do I know you, for that matter! We happen to have a common friend- old one for you and a not-so-old one for me! But it seems, she ain't really in great terms with you, and I don't intend to drag her into this! So please let go, if you can.)
Realisation:
Now I realise why it is fun, making people read whatever trash one cares to produce!
-fiendish grin-
Bottomline:
I enjoy reading your stuff, so do keep it going,and as you anyways would, despite anything! :-)
writefully,
WHEW! So it wasn't just me, then. Now that u've admitted it was all drivel, I feel less insecure about it all having gone way over my head. No problems re not revealing yr identity, but I can only come up with 1 name for sm1 who's "not on grt terms" with me, so I'll be watching carefully to spot any clues in yr posts. Meantime, shine on and keep dropping by.
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