Thursday - July 07, 2005
Realisation #8: We shape reality to conform to our ways of
thinking
Being in the world is not a passive activity. We
engage with things and other people to create a reality that reflects our ideas,
conscious or unconscious, of how things are or should be. If our ways of
thinking are confused and fragmented then we create a world that is confused and
fragmented. If we do not understand ourselves and are full of turmoil, we create
a world where nothing makes sense and there is no peace. This is why it is
important to change ourselves before we try to change the world, and in so doing
we will find that the world has already changed.
This kind of self-fulfilling prophecy manifests
itself in all spheres of human activity. If you approach a situation full of
anger and aggression, you will find yourself in a fight. Approaching the same
situation with warmth and compassion may result in a completely different
outcome. We make the world the way that it is because this is the way that we
are. We cannot change one without first changing the other, and this is
impossible without an understanding of how the two are
connected.
When combined with the
realisation that the world reflects our ways of looking at it, we see that we
are trapped in a perpetual cycle of confirming and reinforcing our existing
perceptions. The only way to break out of this cycle is to change our ways of
thinking, which requires courage, creativity and a flexible
mind.
Posted at 09:48 AM
Thursday - July 07, 2005
Realisation #7: What we see reflects our way of looking
When we look into the world, what we see is
determined by the way we look at it. Because reality is more complex than our
ideas of it, we tend to focus on those features that we recognise, thus
confirming our existing beliefs about the nature of things. Physical appearances
are fundamentally determined by our ability to perceive certain aspects of what
is through our senses. Understanding is similarly limited by the ideas that we
hold, and the ways that we think and act.
If the physicist sets up an experiment to look
for particles, she finds particles. If she looks for waves, she finds waves. A
well known metaphor for this phenomenon can be found in the example of the blind
men and the elephant. Each one encounters just one part of the animal and draws
their own conclusions about what the entire creature must be like, but nobody
sees the elephant.
When we ask
fundamental questions about the world, the answers we get—or our failure
to obtain an answer—are often simply reflections of our way of thinking or
asking the question, and say nothing about the world as it really is. As far as
the ultimate nature of things goes, we are all blind men in a kingdom of
elephants.
Posted at 09:45 AM
Wednesday - May 25, 2005
Realisation #6: We impose language upon the world
Words and language are a way of describing
salient features of our world. As such, they are
approximations
rather than true reflections of reality. In some cases there is a strong
correspondence between our concept and the phenomenon that it is intended to
describe. In others, the link is much more tenuous. However, all language
requires a specific context and perspective on the world that is shared between
speaker and listener in order for our words to make any sense. Thus, our way of
speaking, and of thinking, is just one of the many possible ways of making sense
of the world, which exists independently to all our ideas of
it.
In a sense, language works something like the
grid reference system on an Ordnance Survey map. We can refer to features of the
world using their grid reference co-ordinates—words, in our
analogy—but in between the grid squares there may be many things that our
words cannot capture. The world is infinitely more complex and subtle than our
concepts, and there are many possible systems of reference that can be used to
describe it with varying degrees of accuracy. Above all, we must remember that
the world and our descriptions of it are not the same thing. The map is not the
territory.
Posted at 05:54 PM
Monday - May 02, 2005
Realisation #5: Everything counts
Each individual thought and action affects the
world. Even the smallest, most subtle of events can have major and unforeseen
consequences, changing the course of future events in ways that we can neither
predict nor understand. In a sense, reality
is
simply the consequences of all previous events, and so everything, no matter how
small, has a permanent and lasting effect on the world, even if we are not
always aware of how and where it will manifest.
The idea that something could make no difference
arises from our ego's wish to control and dominate the world. We place ourselves
at the centre of our universe and want our actions to have correspondingly large
effects. But it never a question of whether something will have an effect or
not, only a question of what kind of effect it will be.
Everything
makes a difference, and once we rid ourselves of the wish to dominate and
control, we can see that every single thought and action really does count, and
every single moment presents an opportunity for change and renewal that will
never come again.
Posted at 01:20 PM
Sunday - April 24, 2005
Realisation #4: Time is not a dimension
Everything changes. This is fundamental to the
nature of our universe. What we experience as time is merely a reflection of our
own mind's ability to structure our experience as a linear sequence of events.
This sequence is different—subtly or grossly—for each part of the
physical universe, and is assembled by the physical process of consciousness.
Time itself does not exist. It is merely a way of measuring
change.
Instead of thinking of yourself as moving
‘through’ time, as if it were a dimension, think of the world as a
static, constantly regenerating whole that occupies only a single point in time:
the Now. What you experience as the passage of time is the continual process of
creation going on all around you. Only what is present exists. The past and the
future are merely traces and potentialities of what was and what is to come.
They are not here. They are not real. The Now is all that there
is.
Posted at 04:35 AM
Wednesday - April 20, 2005
Realisation #3: The universe is one, not many
Contrary to appearances, the universe is a single
integrated whole rather than a collection of independent parts. At the most
fundamental level, everything is connected with everything else and so
distinctions such as subject / object, mind / body, God / the universe have no
ultimate basis in reality. Whenever we try to pick out one thing by itself, we
already miss the point because no one thing is truly independent of anything
else. Rather, what we take to be things are defined by their relations to and
interconnections with everything else, to which they are essentially
joined.
Like a tree, every object has physical
boundaries, but if you were to remove everything with which it was connected
(the air, soil, sunlight, etc.) would you still have a tree or just a lump of
inert matter? Even shape is defined by the space around
it.
Quantum physics teaches us that no
observer is truly independent of its subject. The very act of observation is a
form of connection and interaction with what we are observing, and itself
changes the nature of thing we are observing. Even objects separated by vast
distances are inextricably linked, causing changes to one to affect the other
instantaneously and without any visible means of communication. We are
constantly bathed in an invisible sea of light where everything is reflected in
everything else to create a great web of cause and effect that binds us all
together.
Posted at 01:41 PM
Saturday - April 02, 2005
Realisation #2: You are not your mind
The mind is not your self. Like all other
concepts, the self is essentially without substance and is in fact an illusion
created by your own thought processes in order to prop up your own idea of who
you are. But it is just an idea. It is not who you are. You can let go of as
much or as little of it as you like and you will not stop being you. You can
observe the mind and learn how to control it. It is not you. You are not your
mind.
The emptiness of the self, egoic mind, or
ahaṁkāra
in Sanskrit, is one of the most profound and fundamental teachings in all
spiritual traditions. In Buddhism, it is traditionally learned through
meditation on the emptiness of all things, but this truth may be realised
directly by reflecting on the meaning of the word 'I'. Notice how your sense of
self expands to include other things, such as your work role or possessions,
people, such as a partner or loved one, memories, habits and dispositions. Are
these really part of you or of something else? What is part of
you?
Posted at 11:13 AM
Sunday - February 27, 2005
Realisation #1: Everything you know is made up
All thoughts, ideas and abstractions are
inherently flawed. They are approximations of the real, unknowable nature of
things, which is beyond the capacity of our minds to comprehend. Concepts are
illusions, supported by our languages and culture, and have no objective basis
in reality.
To realise the truth of this, reflect upon the
idea of a law. What is a law except a fiction created by people to uphold the
idea of the common good? Think about natural objects: rivers, sky or a blade of
grass. Are these really so different? Where do these physical objects start and
stop and what makes them separate and distinct from one another? Do they exist
like that in themselves, or only as a result of our minds reflecting upon
them?
Posted at 11:32 AM
Friday - February 25, 2005
About the Realisations
I am starting a new weblog category called
Realisations
in order to record some thoughts about the fundamental nature of the world, mind
and reality. Each realisation is an idea or thought that I have reached through
careful reflection and observation, using the techniques of philosophical
analysis, meditation and direct experience, that may not be immediately obvious
in itself, but that I have strong reason to believe is true. I will leave out
any arguments, justification and rationalisation of these ideas as I would like
these thoughts to stand on their own as a stimulus for further reflection, and I
hope to use them to chart my progress through the study of philosophy, and life
in general.
Many of these realisations may seem
counterintuitive when taken at face value, although in another sense they also
exhibit a simplicity and direct appeal that is often the sign that there is a
deeper truth at play. I would like to avoid over-conceptualising where possible,
and if anything, the aim of this thread is to sweep away the common conceptions
and assumptions that cloud my thinking and reflection in order to try and reach
a more direct and accurate awareness of how things really are (whatever that
might mean).
I hope you will join me in
this journey and I welcome any thoughts, comments or questions that you might
have, which you can send using the
Feedback
button at the end of each post. I aim to proceed with an open heart and an open
mind, and hope that the results may also be of interest to others, no matter how
strange they may sometimes sound.
Posted at 01:46 PM
