We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between an all-powerfully causative past and an absorbingly important future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other experience than present experience. We are therefore out of touch with reality. We confuse the world as talked about, described, and measured with the world which actually is. We are sick with a fascination for the useful tools of names and numbers, of symbols, signs, conceptions and ideas.
Well, sure. But what Al kind of glosses over here is that human Reality - includes great gobs of past memory, fantasy, and worry. Us humans do that.
One of my favorite bits is from the book "Powers of Mind"; the author, undergoing experimental meditation process #46 (or something) suddenly arrives at the satori-like blinding realization that "My brain is full of SH*T!" Which makes him very happy. :-)
My current personal problem; my brain IS full of old, um, stuff; which I have to DO something about in the near future, and shutting it off, so I can sleep, is incredibly hard.
Bill Shakespeare nailed it as neatly as any: "What fools these mortals be."
The role of the "court jester" - was actually to speak truth to power; disguising it as humor. That really has not changed- only our great Stand Up Philosophers like Mel Brooks and the Pythons and Colbert, are licensed to speak naked truths and yet live. We deal with it all - poorly.
What did he have to say about the eternal reality that your "truth" and mine- don't match at all? :-)
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWe are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between an all-powerfully causative past and an absorbingly important future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other experience than present experience. We are therefore out of touch with reality. We confuse the world as talked about, described, and measured with the world which actually is. We are sick with a fascination for the useful tools of names and numbers, of symbols, signs, conceptions and ideas.
Alan Watts
Well, sure. But what Al kind of glosses over here is that human Reality - includes great gobs of past memory, fantasy, and worry. Us humans do that.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite bits is from the book "Powers of Mind"; the author, undergoing experimental meditation process #46 (or something) suddenly arrives at the satori-like blinding realization that "My brain is full of SH*T!" Which makes him very happy. :-)
My current personal problem; my brain IS full of old, um, stuff; which I have to DO something about in the near future, and shutting it off, so I can sleep, is incredibly hard.
Bill Shakespeare nailed it as neatly as any: "What fools these mortals be."
The role of the "court jester" - was actually to speak truth to power; disguising it as humor. That really has not changed- only our great Stand Up Philosophers like Mel Brooks and the Pythons and Colbert, are licensed to speak naked truths and yet live. We deal with it all - poorly.