A Distracted Mind
Friday, Dec. 23, 2005
I arise each morning to w atch the sunrise. Never do I question whether or not there will be a sun rise today; only whether or not it will be visible or hidden by clouds.
Yesterday, I came across a website that could calculate the moon phases of a particular day centuries ago; and likewise, predict what the phase of the moon would be on a given day centuries hence.
Certain principles of science are built on the assumption that the laws of nature will not change; e.g. the actions of the planets around the sun and the movement of the moon about the earth.
I have always been fascinated and curious about the backdrop of permanence against which change takes place. In college, I wrote an essay, in which I argued essence was an illusion of the mind. Essence was simply the characteristics of an object which were selected to categorize and classify; that irresistible tendency of man to thus explain and control his environment.
Now, I could write an essay arguing the opposite point of view. Does it matter how I understand reality or is my reality my interpretation. Concepts are tools to help us organize our world. When we become too attached to the concept rather than what it points to, we become sidetracked.
Similarly, if I become too caught up in mental masturbation about the meaning or even purpose of reality and is there a God and if so what is the nature or essence thereof, I get so sidetracked, I miss the whole point of it all: to simply BE and enjoy the Becoming all about me.
A more common day to day way of looking at the same thing is the way this morning, I could not enjoy the sunrise for wondering whether the fast moving "clouds" were really clouds or was it smoke I was seeing. Obviously, this mental exercise would have a meaningful purpose if I intended to call the fire department had I concluded it was indeed a fire. However, these "clouds" were so distant, I had no way to verify the nature or essence of what I saw. But the wondering ruined a sunrise; the purpose of which I had gotten out of bed to begin with.
My mental activity ruined my reality. So often this happens with me. "What's that sound?" Or "what kind of bird is that?" Or "what is that odor?".
I too often waste too much time in thinking about the world about me rather than being in the world about me. I don't mean to come across as anti-intellectual, anti-science, or anti-religion; simply, anti-Sandra-thought-skipping. It's sort of like the game I played when younger of skipping a rock across the water and counting just how many times I could make it skip. But throwing a thought about my mind and letting it take me too far away from my present reality is a dangerous game for me to play. Like the skipping rock, after so many skips, I sink to the bottom.
And now, after all this mental distraction, I see the clouds were indeed clouds, not smoke, and that the sun is far up and off the horizon. No sunrise through beautiful floating clouds for me today.
I arise each morning to w atch the sunrise. Never do I question whether or not there will be a sun rise today; only whether or not it will be visible or hidden by clouds.
Yesterday, I came across a website that could calculate the moon phases of a particular day centuries ago; and likewise, predict what the phase of the moon would be on a given day centuries hence.
Certain principles of science are built on the assumption that the laws of nature will not change; e.g. the actions of the planets around the sun and the movement of the moon about the earth.
I have always been fascinated and curious about the backdrop of permanence against which change takes place. In college, I wrote an essay, in which I argued essence was an illusion of the mind. Essence was simply the characteristics of an object which were selected to categorize and classify; that irresistible tendency of man to thus explain and control his environment.
Now, I could write an essay arguing the opposite point of view. Does it matter how I understand reality or is my reality my interpretation. Concepts are tools to help us organize our world. When we become too attached to the concept rather than what it points to, we become sidetracked.
Similarly, if I become too caught up in mental masturbation about the meaning or even purpose of reality and is there a God and if so what is the nature or essence thereof, I get so sidetracked, I miss the whole point of it all: to simply BE and enjoy the Becoming all about me.
A more common day to day way of looking at the same thing is the way this morning, I could not enjoy the sunrise for wondering whether the fast moving "clouds" were really clouds or was it smoke I was seeing. Obviously, this mental exercise would have a meaningful purpose if I intended to call the fire department had I concluded it was indeed a fire. However, these "clouds" were so distant, I had no way to verify the nature or essence of what I saw. But the wondering ruined a sunrise; the purpose of which I had gotten out of bed to begin with.
My mental activity ruined my reality. So often this happens with me. "What's that sound?" Or "what kind of bird is that?" Or "what is that odor?".
I too often waste too much time in thinking about the world about me rather than being in the world about me. I don't mean to come across as anti-intellectual, anti-science, or anti-religion; simply, anti-Sandra-thought-skipping. It's sort of like the game I played when younger of skipping a rock across the water and counting just how many times I could make it skip. But throwing a thought about my mind and letting it take me too far away from my present reality is a dangerous game for me to play. Like the skipping rock, after so many skips, I sink to the bottom.
And now, after all this mental distraction, I see the clouds were indeed clouds, not smoke, and that the sun is far up and off the horizon. No sunrise through beautiful floating clouds for me today.
posted by Sandra | 8:42 AM
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