In
reading about various modern philosophers, such as James, Dewey, and others,
what appears is the notion of “our thoughts” as “ours” as distinct from “our
thoughts” as “not ours” but, rather, as coming at us and into our minds, thus
causing us to “reflect upon them,” to “think about such thoughts.” This reminds
of James’s metaphor of consciousness or thinking as a flock of birds (or of
thoughts) in flight, but only thinking when the flock stops and perches, thus
“thinking about itself,” “gathering its thoughts,” as it were. One
understanding, perhaps of the Greeks, is that our thoughts comes from the gods,
who are seemingly interested to see what we will then do with them. Isn’t this
supposed to be a great source of their entertainment in Olympus? So we receive
the thoughts and then try to “make sense” out of them, try to determine how
they might be best applied in our lives or even in the lives of humanity.
These “thoughts that comes at us” seem
like they very well could be sent to us by the gods or by God for those who
“believe,” or that they are the thoughts, the overall penetrating collective
consciousness of humanity as a whole, perhaps having been initiated by those
overlording gods watching down. Having had many “organizing thoughts” that
seeming came “out of the blue,” I am willing to subscribe to some overweening
source of such thinking consciousness, be it divine, collective, or both. How
many times in my life has “something” stood directly between me and impending
death? How many times have I “sensed” danger and moved instantaneously in my
muscular intelligence with nary a single thought? Is this the body’s wisdom of
survival and preservation or could it be my literal auric “guardian angel”? Am
I to find myself, an unbeliever in the manufactured “blue-eyes Jesus” or the
“protector of the good Catholic (or even simply Christian) sheep,” paying
homage to my guardian angel, who could very well be right here in some kind of
fashion at my side? That something could so personally care about me brings tears
to my eyes and a hope welling in my heart. And it could also be an inherent,
even divine, part and aspect of myself. Could such a self-caring and
self-protective aspect be a vital element of each of us? Is this seeming
metaphysical reality a literal part of our physical being, seeking to protect
and preserve us from harm? All I can honestly say is that I am clearly aware
that I have been saved from harm and from death many times in my life, and it
seems as if that protection was even external to me, or at least external to my
awareness, my consciousness, my thinking of it.
I
believe in what I would call “the fatefulness of each moment,” in one’s
responsiveness to “what happens” in each moment. It’s not that things are
“meant to happen,” but rather that we can mean ourselves to respond accordingly, which
is to say, to comprehend ourselves enough to know how to respond in the moment.
In other words, we learn from
whatever occurs; we learn to respond in a way that enables us to be who we are in life. It is as though, when
something happens, we ask “What is this that’s occurring?” “What is happening
right now?” And we take it in as though we were observing it not so much as
ourselves, but from a distance. “How best do I respond to this if I do not have
to be limited to being myself with all my known responses?” So whatever
happens, we are able to transcend our reactions, our limited responses, and
incorporate a more knowing, a more inclusive response that is therefore more
effective, more appropriate, wiser. Thus, I am able to truly learn from
whatever happens how to be a better human being, on a personal scale and also
on an interpersonal, collective scale. “Not-self” becomes a very good
vantage point from which to respond. If “I” am not there to react emotionally in
anger, hatred, vengeance, fear, desire, craving, habit, etc., the response does
not cause one more chain reaction. I may attain a level of acceptance and of
understanding, even appreciation, or even wonder and mastery. There is no
“hope,” no “God,” no expectation that the outcome or result must be any
particular way. It is as it is. To attain this level of understanding is
profound.
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