Involved

Judging by my frequency of entries this might be my last post before I leave for Ottawa, something tells me that will not happen. I had a moment of clarity some time ago, the sober kind mind you. I realized that throughout life, no matter how long or how short there are varying degrees of being a spectator vs being involved. From the moment of birth we are 100% involved with our surroundings. We are as much a part of them as they are a part of us. And at that point we have little to no independence because we are at mercy of our basic instincts: hunger, comfort, sleep, and attention. As we grow older we become more involved and are able to control these instincts, little by little we chip away and carve out our independence with the guidance, or lack there-of from our care-takers(parents, friends, institutions, etc.) Keep in mind that I am trying to be as general as possible so that this "truth" encompasses as many examples as possible. And then there comes a point of "true" independence when our choices directly impact our lives by our own doing. After that moment passes, no matter how long it lasted, a choice is presented: continue participating or ease off. If participation is chosen, then the person will continue being involved in the life around them. This is often seen in the example of a worker that rejects retirement and dies working. It happens to both young and old. The more hostile the work/living environment the more often this choice is made. In the case of easing off, the person starts to become less active in their work life and becomes more accustomed to a hopefully comfortable set of surroundings. And by "work" I do not simply mean a job. It can mean a number of things depending on the circumstances: travel, family life, student, etc. Simple stated, it is what you choose to occupy most of your time with. And so as you become less involved you turn into a spectator. Drawing upon your past life experience, you watch the world around you continue and comment on it just like anyone else should.

I realized all this sitting outside a Starbucks with an iced coffee in hand and sunflower seeds on the table. It was a pretty cool night, I was longboarding home from Bloor street. And so as I got to my seat, sat down, started chewing on my seeds and saw the moon, I realized that it was as if I was a spectator. Like someone who watches a movie. They find a good seat, bring their popcorn, sit down and enjoy the view. I did something similar, it is just that this time the show was all around me. Now this is only 1 point of view on what life may be like, so take it with a grain of salt. But I do not doubt that this is an interesting point of view. I hope your day is/will be terrific.

Cheers, MarkL

Alan Watts: Episode 1 - Our Image of the World

Recently I've been listening to a series of lectures by Alan Watts, a British philosopher renowned for his ability to adapt Eastern philosophies to Western thought. In the following few posts I'll be dictating and analyzing his series of lectures entitled "Out of Your Mind: The Nature of Consciousness" Why am I doing this exactly? I've learned that it is easier to understand concepts when you explain them to an audience or even yourself. There is a difference between knowing and understanding, knowing them is step 1 and that will lead to understanding through explanation. This will be done chronologically, as the lecture itself is broken up into segments that discuss similar topics in each segment. I will keep doing this until I either give the whole thing up, or finish at some point.......whichever comes first. Also, if you'd like to listen to the lecture yourself first before you read this (which is highly suggested because it'll be easier to understand the discussion afterwards) here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIUTFeE2Trk

The format of these post will be edited as I listen to more and more lectures so that it's easier to understand each of the topics before I get too deep into them. Also, he has the most charming voice you'll ever hear.....or you know that's just me. Ok, let's get to it.


In order to understand the further discussed topics we must first understand the background of the fundamental notions of what life is about. And by this I mean we have to get right down to the stepping stones of what we call this life, what is its makeup? Simply stated, everything is interconnected. There are historical origins for the notions and assumptions and facts that exist today, these connections are stronger than most people realized and are often ignored. Ideas of the world, built into the very same language that we use today, are myth. Myths not in the false sense, but myth in the sense that we use the myth as a symbol in order to make sense of the world. And we at present are living under 2 very powerful myths (symbols). Which are, in the present state of scientific knowledge, inadequate. And one of our major problems today is to find an adequate image of the world.

The 2 images which we have been working under for the past 2 centuries or so is that of the models of the universe: ceramic and fully automatic.

The ceramic model is based on the book of Genesis from which Judaism, Christianity, and Islam derived their basic picture of the world. And the image of the world in the book of Genesis is that the world is an artifact, it was made. As a carpenter takes wood and makes tables out of it, so did God with the universe. Don't forget that Jesus is the son of a carpenter. The image of God and the world is based on the idea of God as a technician, who has in mind a plan and fashions the universe in accordance with that plan.

So in the book of Genesis, God creates Adam out of dust and then breathes into it as the "clay figurine" comes to life. On its own dust has no form of intelligence and therefore it requires an external intelligence and energy to bring it to life. In this way we inherit a conception of ourselves as being made, and it's perfectly natural for a child in our culture to ask "How was I made?". It's a very powerful question, however it is not shared by the Chinese or Hindus. A Chinese child might as its mother "How did I grow?" which is an entirely different process than making.

When you make something you put it together, you work from the outside in as a sculptor works on a stone. But when you watch something grow, it works from the inside to the outside. It expands and it blossoms, the original cell of the growing thing complicates itself. And so because of this there is a fundamental difference from the made to the maker.

P.S. This was simply an intro as to what the talks will entail, as you can see it starts off very generally but that's simply to introduce the next episodes. So yeah, if you feel compelled please share your thoughts in the comments. Also keep in mind that these recordings were compiled in 2004 from a series of lectures ranging from 1960-1972, so if you notice any inconsistencies with language or are somehow offended by his talks then you've been warned. Why am I even bothering to offer this warning? Because if I've learned anything from the internet, it's that people will find a reason to be offended if it's remotely politically incorrect. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first post and will continue to read on. Oh and yes I'll be making an "update" post as to what I've been up to all this time, it'll be done shortly.

Cheers, MarkL