A Crowd of Thoughts
4/18/2005
I've discovered something (though it isn't new, and I seem to keep rediscovering it about every 3-4 weeks). Much of my day-to-day anger, feelings of rage, insanity and general unhappiness is the result of the news I read about the world around me.
Granted, I read a LOT of news. And so I deduct with a high probability of accuracy what is 'going on' in the world. Though sometimes I get the feeling that I'm just being sent for a ride by the Ministry of Propaganda, it's hard to dispute the reports of 20-30 reputable gloal news sources when their facts line up. Once you distill the facts, connecting the dots is usually fairly simple.
I am also very proud of my 'gut feeling.' When I don't have all of the facts, my intuition usually doesn't let me down. Still, I try not to take most of this crap seriously, and if I'm wrong, then it's not the end of the world (and so what if it is?) - we can all go about our business. Most of the time the world is just repeating things that didn't work the first time, over and over.
It's no surprise that I tie my general feelings of depression to the news I read. In my experience, thought creates the world around us, and I'm soaking myself in bad news nearly all the time. I can't help it, really. Just living here means I've got no choice really but to sit in the 'apocalyptic stew' with the rest of humanity.
For those who don't believe me about thoughts creating reality, just think about this for a minute. Where do we think all this crap comes from? Somebody had to think of it first. Plastic tampon applicators didn't just pop into existence all by themselves. Some clever person had to think of it first. And where does that thought come from? Perhaps it emanates magically out of Robert Tilton's holy ass, or perhaps in an infinite universe, infinite possibilities will arise at every point of experience?
Besides, we've got to have SOMEBODY to blame when we get suckered into spending 8 bucks to see another remake of another semi-interesting '70s horror film (ala the dumbed-down yet somehow more suspenseful remake of Amityville Horror with a sappy Waltons-esque ending).
I create the world around me, and I need to take responsibility when it craps out on me. Everything else is sheer speculation.
This is basic stuff in the realm of philosophy, of metaphysics, of general human behavior and of computer science. Garbage in, Garbage out. GIGO. Surprisingly, I learned about GIGO from a wild Christian evangelist during a seminar back in 1982 (Willie George). This guy used magic tricks, 'flaming bibles,' goldfish-swallowing and an annoying penile-looking purple puppet to spread the word of G-O-D. But at least he grasped one aspect of the Truth that many people just don't see (probably because they're too busy yakking on their fucking cel phones or looking at clocks or wasting their lives on pointless ego trips and pleasure pursuits). Though the whole religion thing might work for some people, the cinematics, the self-righteous flare, the aggressive, pulse-pounding 'christian soldier' attitude, it detracts from the real message. And everything else is circumstantial.
Back to my point.
Because everyone has a different point of view, a unique subjective experience, (to borrow a phrase) Another Man's Trash IS Another Man's Treasure. Therefore, the absolutist fundamentals of GIGO work on a system-by-system basis, meaning that each mind/brain unit is funcionally unique. Unlike so many fire-and-damnation spewin' evangelists, I'm mostly concerned with my place in the universe on a personal level, a way to translate MY experience as somehow connected or affecting the universe around me, and less concerned about 'fitting in' to an impossible mold. This is the difference, I think, between the 'religious' mind-set and the person being honest and rational and impartial and truly searching for testable hypotheses. And once someone can 'get a feel' for how they affect change, how their ripples crash onto the shores of others' experience, then they can perhaps learn to grasp and appreciate the idea of responsibility as well as how to genuinely give of themselves.
Ernest Holmes, founder of Science of Mind, says this:
"What you will really learn in life will be what you tell yourself, in a language you understand, that you accept... because it is rational enough to accept, and inspirational enough to listen to with feeling..."But perhaps Ralph Waldo Emerson says it best in his essay on Self Reliance:
"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."
Crowd being not just people, but activities, habits, thoughts. Crowded thoughts.
Of course, my biggest battle, the one that will probably KILL me, is my torn desire to embrace metaphysics a la Emerson, and at the same time embrace the harsh, calculating and intellectual postmodernism of existentialists like Nietzsche. It's difficult for me to disagree with him, even when he contradicts things I know to be self-evident.
But that's another long post...
posted by Edward Svengali @ Monday, April 18, 2005,
2 Comments:
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At 12:53 PM,
:: miss m :: said...
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The problem is that, while we do create our own personal reality - in my belief, it is because we are all part of a unifying One and therefore have the power to "create" because we are at once, a part of all things and all things are a part of us - we must also exist in a shared reality.
I often say it, but the simple-minded can not grasp it. If, one day, enough people believed that planes would fall from the sky, they would. They get caught up in science and physics and forget that they're just all collective agreements; someone made those just as someone made the plane.
Our personal reality bubble affects us; our probibility, our roads and routes and, what most would call, our "luck." The problem is that it's all too easy to get oneself in a rut; to expect bad things and thus continually have them happen to us.
Beyond those personal reality bubbles though, is the collective reality; the one in which we all interact based on common acceptance of certain facts. And while it is possible to force changes on other people's realities and/or the collective, it's very hard to do. (Which is why "magick" and such generally has such limited effects; it's the focus of Will to cause a change. Problem is that if you have 1 person who believes it can be done with 20 who believe it can't, it's near impossible to overcome those odds against you.)
I may or may not have made sense. It's a simple concept, but one hard to full realize into words. A friend of mine wrote it in a shorter format here which may or may not further clarify and build on my ramblings.
Either way, the point is to always remember to move forward and positively with one's own path while doing what one can on improving the forward momentum of the conscentual reality as well. (But accept you may only really see the impact in your own and know that often, that has to be enough.) -
At 2:40 PM,
Edward Svengali said...
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Miss M, you really ought to get together with my wife and I for some metaphysical discussion. Next time we're in the area, of course (in 2-3 years, lol).
Generally speaking, I practice what Science of Mind calls "Scientific Prayer" or "Spiritual Mind Treatment." This process has 5 steps (Recognition, Unification, Realization, Thanksgiving, Release). While it serves a similar purpose as prayer, incantation, or guided meditation in various faiths and traditions, it is also different because of its distillation of five major principles 'generally agreed upon' that make up the act of co-creation (haha, there's your consentual reality at work).
After recognizing the One, the Universe, God, etc. (the first step), I affirm my unification with it and then proceed to making my declaration (followed by thanksgiving and release). It's not a petition to some angry bastard sitting up in a throne in the sky; it's an affirmation of what ALREADY IS (time being nonlinear and the universe being infinite).
My former mentor suggested to me that I avoid affirming myself as "a part" of the One during 'unification.' While generally it makes no difference (I believe that intent is ever so much more important than phrasology), when one is determined to affect specific change for specific results, it's usually best to cover all the bases and avoid implying separation. A part = apart. This is metaphysics at its most meticulous, I agree, but the devil can sometimes be in the details, and this sort of oversight can give more weight to the 'consentual reality' side of the process you mentioned, and less weight to the ability to affirm or declare a manifestation.
Like the genie in the bottle, it may be best for some to cover all the bases. Especially people like me who suffer with a large amount of subconscious chatter. I agree that affecting change in a 'magical hocus pocus' sort of way, defying natural and physical laws, is an over-reaching expectation. However, I do know that thought is creative. And in an infinite universe, where all things are possible, some things just take a little more time and resources than others.
As I said before, I believe INTENT is what is important, not the verbiage. However, sometimes the brain latches onto specific phrasology for good reasons we end up discovering later (that is, if we remember that far back). Stating "aspects" or "embodiment" or simply "unified" provides a more effective way to 'feel' what I'm affirming, because for me it accentuates a higher 'Truth.' But the principle is the same as you mentioned.
While I agree to a point about being bound by 'consentual reality,' I also know that limitations are not always such. Sometimes, finding limits changes what we want, while other times 'what we want' is to NOT be bound by certain limitations. I don't think we'll get past natural laws like gravity, thermodynamics, things of that nature. But those things aren't necessarily limitations. Knowing how the system works is part of the process of affecting change, not limiting it.
In principle, one of the best ways to affect change for me is to expect 'right action' and leave the 'form' to Mother Nature. I'm not usually hell-bent on specifics; On the other hand, I really do enjoy it when things manifest exactly the way I expect.
