Problem solver

There is no such thing as a problem too big to handle. The more so that problems are human creations (whether directly or indirectly), and hence their resolution lies within human reach. The answer lies within, so keeping a calm, clear mind is where solution begins.

“That is why the Buddha taught us to meditate by sitting down and straight, breathing normally, and calming one’s mind.”

 

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Problem solver

There is no such thing as a problem too big to handle. The more so that problems are human creations (whether directly or indirectly), and hence their resolution lies within human reach. The answer lies within, so keeping a calm, clear mind is where solution begins.

“That is why the Buddha taught us to meditate by sitting down and straight, breathing normally, and calming one’s mind.”

 

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Enjoying philosophy

I recently heard another philosopher interviewed on the radio. She stated that ‘philosophy should go hand in hand with enjoyment’.  I’m not sure I follow her in this. More than ever, it seems that today we avoid discomfort at all costs.  Philosophy, as the reflection on (one’s own) life should allow confrontations from time to time; those are – to me – the strongest learning moments.

However, it is true that, before you get to philosophizing, a certain level of personal comfort is needed. If you continuously need to invest your energy in mere survival (shall I get food today? where will I sleep tonight?), or run through the day head spinning, there is no room for philosophy.

“And all this despite ascesis?”, one could say.  But ascetics do not philosophize; they are interested in faith, which is a different thing altogether.  Or is it all in the end just something between the ears?

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The seeds of consciousness?

Information. It is a word which, like many others today, is used in all sorts of contexts and has been embedded in our daily language to the extent that we no longer think about its original meaning. Literally, in-form-ation refers to being ‘in the form’ (formed, made), or to giving form (to an idea or inspiration). But without exception, information can be observed only when something (some thing, fact or experience, for instance) can be distinguished from the rest. To state it briefly: if everything were the same, homogenous mess, there would be nothing to say about it.

So it starts with differentiation. And the first differentiation happens very early in the history of the living universe: when the first cell surrounds itself with a membrane, it distinguishes itself from the rest of the world. Would it be here that we find the seeds of consciousness?

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Easter Egg

I was singing Easter mass with the choir today. Listening to the priest saying the ritual words and prayers, it struck me that the entire religious framework is centered around the concept of death, and specifically in my culture, its denial.

And then it hit me: the basis of religion is ‘angst’, i.e. the fear of losing life. Krishnamurti is right when he said that in the end it all comes down to our fear of death.  We can invent entire systems and theories about life and death, but they are all screens we put up to hide our existential fear.

So, I guess that if we should be doing anything in this life at all, it is learning to accept the natural cycles of growth and decay - and most of all the ultimate total decay - as equally inherent to nature. It would likely bring that peace everyone keeps talking about…

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Out of Time

The rush of life.  We pack our lives with action: ‘action is life’.  What an illusion!  The transition from the natural rhythm of time to clock-time was a big step.  It is there that we have disconnected from our roots and started running.  And still we run: off to work, to school, back home, to the shop, to the fitness, chasing happiness…  We overuse our life energy by not aligning to the natural rhythms of days, seasons and years. No, we rather keep close on our clocks just so as not the miss the rat race. No wonder our minds whirl, avoiding silence.  Because silence is the absence of action, and that…. smells of laziness, is not productive, does not yield results.  Silence is even starting to belong to the domains of psychotherapy. “The healthy influence of two minutes of silence,” I heard it earlier today on the radio.  John Cage already knew, of course. When will we?

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Killer

Our bees, basis to our agrarian culture, without whom no flower gets pollinated, die ... How can we possibly just let this happen?  Already there are areas in the world where human hands need to pollinate blossoming fruit trees using feathers, flower by flower, because all insects have disappeared. This is not a joke.

And where voices are raised to use more vegetarian alternatives for food, in order to reduce the environmental pollution and methane emission produced by the cattle industry, that plan can then also be parked.  Should we go for the 100% synthetic menu instead?

That the bee would be on the list of fauna threatened with extinction is something no one has ever conceived until now. Just one small animal, no?  Now they die in masses, thanks to our wonderful chemical industry who has found a market in the poisoning of long-time delicious nectar-producing plants.  The bee is the ‘indicator’ to the state of health of Nature. A different approach is very, very urgently needed – we cannot just let this pass and remain unmoved.

Imagine: this is of the same level as killing all the men and women in the world…

Dead planet.

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