#inthought - Duality is Physics of the Mind

 "Part of understanding the world comes from learning that the world is undefinable. It is made up of goo and prickles, sometimes one may say that it is made of gooey prickles or prickly goo. It is really dependent on how you look at it." These are the words of a famous philosopher and scholar of the early 70's who goes by the name Alan Watts.

To anyone who is not vaguely interested in philosophy or the arts, will see this or hear the statement and immediately rubbish it as banter worthy of a kindergarten audience, however, this may play a very important role in understanding the human mind in the 21st century and how it as developed or evolved as a result. A more relatable explanation of the statement may be that in life, some experiences may be good and others may be bad, and one may state that life is one bad experience with moments of good experiences; while another may state that life is one good experience with moments of bad experiences. In the end the experience is the same, that is one will have gone through the same motions and emotions as the other individual, but will have two completely different interpretations of the experience which they may have just had. While some may argue this statement, the arguments will always stem from the same place within the mind, and thats the part of  the mind which deals with the experience one has, this is a part of the mind which is always present and working, if it was not we would have trouble seeking to function in the modern day existence. To operate a vehicle we need some sort of experience in operating it, to instruct a computer we need some experience in computing to cook we need to have experienced cooked food, this may be extrapolated to many aspects of our life albeit with varying complexity.

The human mind, with its incredible and often infallible complexity cannot be understood using mere text and books, one has to dive into the experience of life fully in order to even have an idea of how the brain may work. This does not, however, stop one from attempting to understand even a small part of how this organ works. So far it has become prevalent that there is a function to the brain which is common to most if not all humans, it is what is passed down from adults to new born babies in the process which we refer to as upbringing and it is the same processes we instill in practices and institutions in which we call culture. It is important for man to cooperate together with himself, nature and animals for his survival, the mechanism which has been developed is called culture, and this cooperative mechanism has changed the way the brain works, but not in its entirety, but rather in the areas which we recognise as being necessary. This means there are certain rules of the operation of mind which most of us are aware of, these rules are complex and varied and they change very little, over the course of our lifetimes, they may be analogous to the laws of physics. The physics we refer to is classical mechanics, which is the description of objects as they interact or move about in free space.

One such law which has been part of the acute awareness of everyday existence is the law of opposites, which simply describes that everything has its opposite which means there only two forms to the experience, nothing more. Just as light is opposite to dark, fast to slow, clean to dirty, good to bad and the list goes on. This is something which many religions of the east, particularly Buddhism, and vedic philosophy have been aware of as one of the common features of the physical mind, and that is what they have termed as duality.

Duality is one of the functions of the mind which overlays what ever it is that one experience to a mechanism of judgment and catergorisation of objects and movements. Depending on what one has learned in their early years right up to the present moment of their life, this categorising mechanism operates to varying degrees and intensity throughout ones experience, while everything in the prevailing reality is fundamentally neutral. All categorisations form the basis for even more experience which allows the mind to form even more categories of experience even if the experience has no direction or motive. One such mechanism of duality which we learn in our early years is that of dividing human beings into one of two categories, which we know as man or woman. This mechanism has been translated down the tree of life and all living organisms can be classified as being male or female, and these classifications relate only to the recreational or reproductive nature of the organism and nothing else; if we wish to understand the organism even further the mind divises even more classifications for which it can use to place several other attributes of the organism, and this is what is referred to as learning. It is easy to see how the early forms of dualistic learning can propagate through the years of the learning mind which is what can form the basis of experience and learning and this is what forms the basis of the conditioning of the mind. This is a very important and beneficial aspect of the mind in the search for intelligence, but intelligence is a very tricky aspect of the human mind which we have not come to understand to this present day, despite the fact that we use our intelligence in our daily existence.


Intelligence like all things in nature has its limitations, and the limits of intelligence are subtle and varied, and only the intelligent human being is able to be aware of these limitations and transcend them, the most obvious limitation to intelligence is to be aware of the problem of clinging to one particular aspect of what the mind knows, because what needs to be known is constantly changing and moulding to the constantly changing reality.

Limitations of the mind may lie in the way it functions. One of the most compelling attributes of this philosophy may be able to be used to observe the mind itself; which is a supple and often steady organ which moulds itself according to its experiences and will mould its function according the experiences it has had. One of the most common features of this function is memory, which while it may be useful in most instances, sometimes functioning through memory may have its effect on limiting the way it functions. One such instance is in how it defines the reality in which it exists, in that the world is either one thing or another, good or bad, fast or slow. It separates variable character from the dynamic world into understandable categories, based on what it has experienced, which gives rise to what we have called learning.

Learning itself is a very complex activity which cannot be described simply by the ability to store memories, as that categorisation itself has limitations. The reason for this assertion may be derived from the observation of a computer, which is an instrument with tremendous capabilities of memory, but we do not say that a computer is intelligent. It may be intelligent in one area of operation such as mathematical computation, but it cannot learn to play Beethoven's 5th symphony, it can only recall the human recording. So by this logic we may extrapolate to the mind that such learning by intense categories is limited, it is so because of the overuse of memory, which dulls the mind into thinking in terms of memory, and operating in that way leaves no room for something new, something never before experienced or catergorised. The world is not black and white, rather it is made up of many shades and colours which in themselves may transcend the limits of category. Just like the human brain, reality is vastly complex and often un-understandable by the same method of operation, and to say there is only one way of operating, is like saying there is only one law of physics, but when we observe the open reality we often see many laws of physics operating on objects some we know and others we do not understand.

Just as to your organism, which the mind has tried to understand is often operating under many laws and patterns, some we know others we do not even know whether they exist or not, and are often subjects of intense debate. The brain has tried to understand our organism through this same dualistic method, by separating is as body and mind; that is to say, the body is different from the mind and that is the limiting operation of this idea. This is because one may think that the body operates separately from the mind and vice versa, in this way there will always be conflicts in the way one tries to understand their self. Some religions, particularly of the far east, or the Asiatic reigions have been able to transcend this paradigm, they have always known other rules of conciousness, and have communicated them using various symbols and teachings, and one of the most famous symbols is that of the yin-yang.

The symbol has many interpretations depending on the direction from which we are observing, one could look at the black dot in the white space, or the white dot in the black space and infer that there is a mind in a body, just like there is the body in a mind. The two cannot be separate, therefore the conflict can be resolved and new learning can take place, through further questioning.

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#inthought - The Reality of Objects

Simple observation will prove to us that reality is a rigid and fixed structural motif that changes very little with time. The change we may observe is the change of birth, growth, thriving and eventually death of living organisms; when we observe static or solid objects, whether natural or man made, it would seem like time takes its toll on them and gradually wears out its original luster, uniqueness or shine. That is to say, we know objects are solid because one of its properties inherent to its material goes through some kind of wear, tear, degradation or some other withering of the structural form.Never do they seem to be born, grow, thrive and die only to be reborn again; that is how one can know an object to be alive, and only then it ceases to be and object, as it is part of the universe which is constantly moving and has inherent within it a certain quality of beauty, something to be appreciated.

Changing our lens to the reality of energy, we would see that all energy exists within our view and it is with the trained mind that we give boundaries to all these different forms of energy. Boundaries help with understanding because, in essence all it helps with is to allocate what we see into a prescribed box within our mind, this has given rise to names, classifications, and judgements. It follows with logic, that we can see that solid objects are just boundaries that contain a specific type of energy, of something that is either living or dead.

It is important to understand this aspect of the mind, because its operation leaks in to areas that it should not, and that is in human relationship. It is often that one would come across spiritual teachings that state that man is currently consumed with a fetish for objects, and an ignorance to living things. That is, it seem that most would easily love something that is an object as over a living thing such as a plant, or another person; love in this context would refer simply to a quality of attention, care and loyalty to the particular.

So why do we need to differentiate  between the reality of objects and of living things? From this perspective it is important to understand the way we relate to our outside reality which has a primary influence on the way we relate with nature, people and animals. From the onset of experience, in this context, experience being all that we see, hear and feel. All this forms part of our memory and eventually makes us who we are. Experience shapes our state of being, and that influences the relationship we have with our reality, it is through the primary differentiation of object vs living thing that determines the relationship with the particular.

Objects are static or may exhibit limited or even mechanical movements that are defined within the limits of their inherent design, the observation of which determines the nature of our relation with the particular object. Objects have little or no sense capability and thus make the perfect candidate for use as a tool or material to be manipulated so as to perform a specific task. Therefore, our relationship to objects is that of assistance in performing a particular task, and specially formed objects may provide us an advantage within a specific area too. What of living things? First of all how would we know when something is alive? Life is something that is difficult to put into words, it is part of the universe's whole and as words are mere abstractions, it may seem like a task in futility to put into words what a living thing is. We do however, know certain properties exhibited by a living organism, first of all is sense capabilities. Biology has over the millennia evolved specific molecules that give the particulate nature of the molecule the ability to sense specific characteristics of the environment, these range from protein receptors for hormones, and smells, to the ever more complex temperature and pressure sensing nerves, and the most complex of which, the eye almost which all complex organisms are associated with. The complexity of an organism has to do with the detail to which it can comprehend the complexity of reality, and it can be easy to see that the Homo Sapien ape man that we are is the most complex organism we know of.

It would suffice to state that the complexity of relationship also varies between organisms of different complexities, and the most complex relationships that we have are between two humans. This might be attributable to the fact that we are able to sense a complex cacophony of signals ranging from simple light to somewhat capricious human emotions and ideas that one has to wonder if they can fathom the order to which all these signals are processed. Emotion is one such signal that serves as a guide to navigating the reality of relationship be it with objects or living things. Many philosophers over time since writing have warned of the dangers of  disconnecting with emotion, and how it could be detrimental to how we view our reality.

The pursuit of technological progress in the name of development has led us to trust more in the objective reality over the subjective reality of emotion. This has led to a drastic way in which our minds define relationship, and this may have been the cause of conflict within man for thousands of years of history as evidenced by the endless stories of war and conflict right till the present day. Wars may not be as prevalent but conflict persists in our everyday scenario and this may be due to the attention we give towards the particular. A lot of attention is spent on creating objects that may satisfy our desires that it leaves little left non-formal experience of human relationship, some may  argue a relationship with a girlfriend/boyfriend or spouse is somewhat enough to fill the discrepancy, but even that may be subject  to its own disorders and conflict as mind assumes the same reality. 

A case in point may be observed in the objectification of women by themselves, which has been cheered on by men since the dawn of the commercial enterprise of ego marketing, self glorification and the pursuit of comfort. It is not to say that women have not been in the forefront against their objectification but these messages may have been met with futility as they did not speak to the central desires produced by the need for gratification by external objects as opposed to emotion. The assimilation of external objects requires that one invests a lot of attention to the objects so as to maintain them, for example spending a disproportionate amount of time at the gym to sculpt the body will only result in a relationship that is more based on the body than other aspects; therefore one forms a relationship to those objects and not with the living thing and this is where the conflict arises.

...just a thought.

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#inthought - Perception

#inthought with perception

I'd like to touch on a bit about perception, it came to me as I realised that for most of the topics I will be talking about, we will need an understanding of perception, deep at its core and what it really is. This would put things into context for understanding of the some of the concepts to be outlined. I always like to start with a quote, mostly because it puts the idea into context, it also confirms the observation as has been by others, since most of these articles are just postulations created from my observations and learning as accumulation of knowledge.

"What is perception, what is seeing? How do you see that tree? Look at it for the moment. With what sight do you see it? Is it solely an optical observation, just looking at the tree with the optical reaction, observing the form, the pattern, the light on the leaf? Or do you, when you observe a tree, name it, saying. “That is an oak” and walk by? By naming it you are no longer seeing the tree—the  word denies the thing. Can you look at it without the word?"
     The flame of Attention, p34 Jiddu Krishnamurti,
                           
The world that exists outside of us also exists within us, this is one of the fundamental laws of the observable universe, which we make a part of. Our minds connect to the outside world through the senses that lay all over our body. Sight is an optical connection that our mind has with the outside world; hearing is the connection of sound; taste and smell the connection of essence; temperature and pressure sensation the connection of feel and the list of sensitivities in our body is ever vast.

The current mind relates to the world through a variety of classifications of various objects, emotions, decisions, patterns etc. It does this through a conditioned self, which its goal to divide each of the senses through a naming or a classification of some sort, and this operates throughout daily activity, all to gain simple understanding for action.While this may be useful for efficient navigation through reality, it may in someway become a somewhat problematic way to live upon the time one reaches an impasse within their quest for whatever that may be which you set for yourself. It is at this point that one has to confront their tools and knowledge and somehow come to the conclusion that there is a limit somewhat in way of the current mind operation.

The limits may lie in perception; which in my thought is a concept that has to be explored within this context. So the  question one may be faced with, when vaguely casting reference to the quote at the beginning of this script a question that begs the mind is "how does naming limit perception?" The first place to begin is exploration of the five senses which we have become accustomed to. First of all naming, for example, the feeling of touch requires the mind to characterise the sensation of touch, such, texture, temperature, dimensions etc, same with smell, taste, hearing, and seeing. The more complex the experience of a sense, the more we break it down into its different characters, simply to understand, communicate or take action from what it is we see. This leads the mind into a complex array of measurements, characterisations and descriptions of seeing something, even if it is something as simple as a box, this takes up a lot of space in the mind by preoccupying it with details that may not be necessary. A cosmic rule that exists is that: "divisions create limits", and that is the very thing which is happening when this is taking place. The opposite of this idea is the combination of these senses to create a synergy, which is simply creating a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts.

Synergistic combination of the senses, does indeed involve combining the signals from each of our five senses to create something more that what we would have if we observed our senses separately; that is what being in the moment truely is; seeing things for what they are; which is seeing, which has an influence on hearing, which has an influence on feeling, and therefore acting, this action may be from the mind being free of all prejiduces and therefore allowing it to use a vastly different intelligence. That is what perception really is. There within this there is no mention of the use of words or descriptions all which are the activities of our thoughts, which have their place in daily existence.

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#inthought - Everything as Energy

"Everything is essentially energy"

this is a quote that has been seen passing around through the pages of the interwebs, and there has been no proof who the original Author of the quote was but it has mostly been attributed to Albert Einstein. This is not the important part, what is important is what the statement is trying to share as a trail of thought. Why would Einstein be attributed to this quote? my 2cents:

I will say this with a scientific mind, this is an easy base for understanding, as in my view science is the observation of our physical reality in broken bits. We break it up to study it, and then eventually compile the whole. When observing everything, all that is happening is simply looking, looking at everything, matter, objects, plants, insects, trees, everything came into being because energy was converted into one form or another. Energy is never still, it is always moving, and therefore this statement makes a profound shift to the way one would see things. It would mean, everything, absolutely everything we see is all energy, and is all moving, even the seemingly solid non moving objects are moving all the time. Physics studies all matter, and the way this matter is related to energy, and the famous equation by Einstein famously related energy to matter with his equation that changed the modern world:

                                            Energy = mass x the speed of light x speed of light

The basics explanation of this equation with a non scientific mind, for easy understanding is that mass that interacts with light in space has energy within it. Where it may seem that the equation may not hold place in our minds is how this can all be. The simple way of looking at it is that, any object that can be seen has energy, the proof of this was observed by a famous scientist Max Planck who related energy to frequency with his equation:

                                       Energy = h(Planck's constant) x frequency

While avoiding to put this into a mathematics class, the simplest way to understand this equation is that all energy is frequency, so why Plancks constant?, well remember in Einsteins equation, the fact of the seer proves the energy mass balance, so Planck was the seer, so to keep the equation true, we have to incorporate the one who made the observation, and that is through the constant. It is actually a calculated number and Planck was the person who calculated it, and the number will never change therefore he is the observer of the number. The study of sound has shown all matter to be vibrating at its own specific frequency from the chair in your room, to your cell phone, to your television and even you as the individual, and you probably vibrate at the highest frequency pf everything around you, which is what brings about interaction.

Lets simplify,

how does this all relate to you? If all is energy, and we seek knowledge of all these energies, but where do we study them, the beauty of this observation is that when everything is moving, and you keep still, you can observe all these types of energies as they move through you.That is the beauty of being human, all these energies are contained within you. Heat, as warmth, electricity and magnetism as your heartbeats, sexual energy, wind energy in your lungs, light in your eyes. . . . all one has to do to see them is to be still. In a world where everything is constantly moving, it can be easy to see how we are all channels of energy, and your state of being determines which energy you channel and where the energy goes, and what it creates. Being aware of this may fundamentally change the way one sees their reality.

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Faster than the speed of shutter

It was a summer morning spending time on a little garden of flowers, aimlessly drifting away in thought. Lucky for me I had a camera when many of the butterflies and little insects came to feed on their pollen. Now this post is not about the subject of the thoughts but rather an amazing little insect or bird that passed by.  Tiny as it was, the speed of the flutter of its wings gave it the look of an insect, but the finesse of its flight with a beak as thin as the head of a needle and the segmented body of a sea creature this wonder of nature still has me wondering whether it was a bird. To probe into the creature was to keep it still in time with the camera, it turned into a battle of capture as it jumped from flower to flower with the speed only a high shutter speed could conquer.

It seemed success would be achieved through a quick shutter speed, and pulling it tighter and tighter would only limit the image as it got dimmer and dimmer, as I feared it would slowly disappear and be just a mere memory the  rays of the sun pierced through to save the day and illuminated the flowerbed as if the storm has just passed, but the ballet had just begun as now armed with a quick shutter it became a game of chase, clicking away in and around the shadows  it would be until later that I would see the bounty as I got hints of the creature, here I share the spoils….enjoy this wonder I share.  

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Bird in the Bush

Birds are wonderous little creatures that give nature its voice. Ive set out to discover the many species of bird on the Southern African tree tops. The following pictures have been shot in various locations from Rustenburg, South Africa to Rasesa, Botswana. I'll be adding more as I come across and capture the many little birds that capture my eye.

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Mopipi o thuntse

Mopipi is a popular tree in the southern african region, and can mostly be found in semi-arid locations of the region. Largely concentrated in the south eastern part of Botswana, the trees rarely grow in clusters and would usually be found dotted around the land. Noticably always on ploughing fields standing lone and strong as it is the culture of the people to never cut the tree down. It does seem to have a sacred and mystic aura about it, even when one sits in its cool shade shielding the strong Botswana sun that we all love to hate.

So, why the topic mopipi o thuntse?, well in the setswana language o thuntse is a verb used to describe the state of the tree, which is the time it has produced flowers, which translated to saying that it has blossomed. I wondered why the blossom of this tree was so important and something spoken about with the people of the region. It was interesting to discover as i had the opportunity to during the last couple of months, which is the transition from winter to spring to summer, which happens rather quickly in these parts.

Rainfall had been irregular and on a massive decline in the past two or three years, and the land had been very dry with dams almost empty on a cold July afternoon when taking a bush walk with a friend when we noticed this tree that was lush green with bright yellow dottings that resembled cotton balls strewn all over the tree. Now this being an unusual sight during the time of the season i was in doubt as to wether it was natural. As we approached the tree there were flower stems made up of thousands of tiny little flowers that would bear the fruit known as motlopi. I asked why this tree seemed out of place with flowering like the rest of the plants in the area and was later told that the tree grew only where there was lots of underground water, and the flowering of the tree is a sign that the lands thirst was going to be quenched with bountiful rain. Something that was hard to beleive since it was the middle of winter, but as time progressed I was shown many more signs in nature that showed the rains were coming such as the falling of a chichiboa from its nest tree the acacia was also a sign that rains were coming. So i waited and observed, and months later in november rains are showering the bush and the knowledge say that this is the earliest it has rained in four years and it was a sign that the skies were plenty with rain.

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