Saturday, June 23, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Illusion as Entertainment
Today, the name of this blog changed to Illusion as Entertainment. I thought the previous Blog title might offend some people so I have mellowed out the name. The illusion refers to my perception of reality and the entertainment is what I get from writing and hopefully on occasion you get from reading.
Everything we believe is,... wait,... let me own this and not project it on you. Everything that I believe is true is based on my experience of all prior moments through the retaining and processing of that information and then applying it to the present moment. My experience of prior moments is based on the perception of that experience filtered through a brain that has been formed by prior experiences, ad infinitum back to my birth (some might think to previous lifetimes).
When humans perceive something in the senses (nerves get stimulated by an outside influence), the nerve signal is sent to the brain. The neurons, in the most complicated computer know to us, processes that information and somehow projects a concept on the screen of our awareness and our mind says "aha, a cat, or a crisis, or rain". Emotion, reaction, response or filing for later recall (memory) ensues. All of these processes in the brain are effected by prior memories, beliefs, reactions and experiences. How a brain puts together actual sense perceptions into recognizable forms (light, sound, feeling into objects, words and known sensations) also depends on how a brain has developed and how well it is functioning at the moment.
So, everything that I think is true about this world has been influenced by my parents, siblings, teachers, spiritual influencers, education, friends, weather, neighborhoods, that guy/gal next door, illnesses, jobs, emotional reactions, and probably the emotional reactions and global consciousness of those around me at previous times and present times
What does any of this have to do with the absolute reality of the moment now? Absolutely nothing. The filters or rose colored glasses that the structure of my brain provides, creates the illusion of this present experience. I "think" this is reality. Or perhaps it is absolutely everything - perhaps this is "my" reality.
Another human being standing right next to me, may perceive a situation completely differently, due to their filters of life, hence a different reality. I wonder if these are the infinite realities of the present theoretical physics quandaries. But I digress.
Is there a true reality unadulterated by my mind/brain? I suspect that there is and that it can only be known when the egoic, reactive, neo-cortical mind slows down enough for awareness to shine through and simple "be" in the moment. I miss the moment, when I live in the constant thought waterfall of the mind. I experience reality more purely with an awakened mind. But "being in the moment" is a subjective bit of popular lingo from the latest pop culture dictionary. What does it really mean?
How did we as a species (I am projecting this on all of you now) get into this illusory way of experiencing the world? Does it need to be different? What is "being in the moment"? What is an awakened mind? What is an awakened brain? Is mindfulness all it's hyped up to be? I will ponder these and more questions as we go along.
Remember: Don't believe anything you read.
Don't believe anything you think!
lisa
Everything we believe is,... wait,... let me own this and not project it on you. Everything that I believe is true is based on my experience of all prior moments through the retaining and processing of that information and then applying it to the present moment. My experience of prior moments is based on the perception of that experience filtered through a brain that has been formed by prior experiences, ad infinitum back to my birth (some might think to previous lifetimes).
When humans perceive something in the senses (nerves get stimulated by an outside influence), the nerve signal is sent to the brain. The neurons, in the most complicated computer know to us, processes that information and somehow projects a concept on the screen of our awareness and our mind says "aha, a cat, or a crisis, or rain". Emotion, reaction, response or filing for later recall (memory) ensues. All of these processes in the brain are effected by prior memories, beliefs, reactions and experiences. How a brain puts together actual sense perceptions into recognizable forms (light, sound, feeling into objects, words and known sensations) also depends on how a brain has developed and how well it is functioning at the moment.
So, everything that I think is true about this world has been influenced by my parents, siblings, teachers, spiritual influencers, education, friends, weather, neighborhoods, that guy/gal next door, illnesses, jobs, emotional reactions, and probably the emotional reactions and global consciousness of those around me at previous times and present times
What does any of this have to do with the absolute reality of the moment now? Absolutely nothing. The filters or rose colored glasses that the structure of my brain provides, creates the illusion of this present experience. I "think" this is reality. Or perhaps it is absolutely everything - perhaps this is "my" reality.
Another human being standing right next to me, may perceive a situation completely differently, due to their filters of life, hence a different reality. I wonder if these are the infinite realities of the present theoretical physics quandaries. But I digress.
Is there a true reality unadulterated by my mind/brain? I suspect that there is and that it can only be known when the egoic, reactive, neo-cortical mind slows down enough for awareness to shine through and simple "be" in the moment. I miss the moment, when I live in the constant thought waterfall of the mind. I experience reality more purely with an awakened mind. But "being in the moment" is a subjective bit of popular lingo from the latest pop culture dictionary. What does it really mean?
How did we as a species (I am projecting this on all of you now) get into this illusory way of experiencing the world? Does it need to be different? What is "being in the moment"? What is an awakened mind? What is an awakened brain? Is mindfulness all it's hyped up to be? I will ponder these and more questions as we go along.
Remember: Don't believe anything you read.
Don't believe anything you think!
lisa
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