something to ponder at the beach this weekend....
i was recently reading michael talbot’s book “the holographic universe,” and stumbled across the following:
“Bohm believes the same is true at our own level of existence. Space is not empty. It is full, a plenum as opposed to a vacuum, and is the ground for the existence of everything, including ourselves. The universe is not separate from this cosmic sea of energy. It is a ripple on its surface, a comparatively small ‘pattern of excitation’ in the midst of an unimaginably vast ocean. ‘This excitation pattern is relatively autonomous and gives rise to approximately recurrent, stable and separable projections into a three-dimensional explicate order of manifestation,’ states Bohm. In other words, despite its apparent materiality and enormous size, the universe does not exist in and of itself, but is the stepchild of something far vaster and more ineffable. More than that; it is not even a major production of this vaster something, but is only a passing shadow, a mere hiccup in the greater scheme of things . . . . Bohm concedes that there is no reason to believe the implicate order is the end of things. There may be other undreamed of orders beyond it, infinite stages of further development” (Talbot, 51-52).
this passage caught my eye because it not only truncates the supposedly known and proven “vast expanse of interstellar space,” (as the episcopalians have called it) but proposes even more far-reaching and entirely unimaginable possibilities. for me, at least, and hopefully for others, this thinking can serve to once again deflate the overbearing EGO. it should remind the individual of the fleeting, transient nature of life: the ephemeral existence of one tiny grain of sand on a beach that might only begin to comprehend the existence of billions of other surrounding grains of sand, and perhaps the water that occasionally ebbs and flows over all of it—not to mention everything beyond that awareness.
yet, following this analogy, how many humans—as ‘grains of sand’—are aware of even one grain beside us, on either side? it seems that even those who think themselves intelligent may be dumbfounded by such a proposition. to be sure, so many human beings think they know everything there is to know. how often we masturbate our minds, exercising our faculties, proclaiming and clinging to knowledge of various sorts. in my estimation, we seem closer to cogs or chips in a machine carrying out prescribed tasks of behavior and thought. how much of our thought is dictated by what we have been taught? what do we really “know”? what CAN we possibly know? to think that we really have even a clue about a mere corner of some cosmic puzzle seems impossible.
as i had personally discovered previously, it appears to me again that the more i think i know, the less i am capable of truly comprehending anything. perhaps true “knowledge”—gnosis—is grounded in a lack of any such grounding. without the secure foundation of what i think i know to be “true” or “possible,” i feel so much “smarter.” yet, my newfound enlightenment rests solely on my constantly unfolding and progressive—and possibly eternal—recognition of forces in thought, nature, creation, expansion and universality of which i cannot possibly conceive, and most likely NEVER will. not only has the metaphorical rug been yanked from beneath my feet; EVERYTHING has been yanked from me. i now again question ALL that has been handed to me as FACT.
talbot proposes theories which transcend—and prescind—all that we think we know. which is it, though? do we think, or do we know? and what basis for validity do we have in blindly clinging to either, when discussing the possibility of anything? for cannot the same be said of ANY given truth, belief, thought, image, rule, law, commandment, dogma, creed, etc.? therefore, what can we possibly hold as true and reliable in a world where EVERY SINGLE OPINION has a polar opposite (not to mention a spectrum in between), and every thought on any matter can be augmented/diminished/expunged/perpetuated/bolstered/criticized/proven/debunked in 6 billion+ possible different ways??
at the very least, i believe it necessary for each individual to recognize and become aware of this, such that the individual self—the EGO—will relinquish the reigns of the universe and allow others a say in the unfolding process. this is one possible goal of what i have spent some of my time preaching, singing, writing and/or teaching, whenever i have had the the chance (and am not completely braindead from my full-time job): to encourage the individual to step back from the self/ego, which can only be accomplished through the individual allowing the ego to collapse in on itself. only by gaining such self-awareness can the individual begin to realize ONE possible truth: that there might be no such thing as a self.
so, for those of you who find yourself at the beach this memorial day weekend, i hope you enjoy your time off from your work-a-day crazy life. leave it all behind, and try to spend some time imagining yourself as just ONE of those small grains of sand on which you are lying. we really are that small.
and then, just then, look up at the ocean. holy christ that thing is massive. and POWERFUL.
really, truly just think about how small we are. join me, suspend your belief, if only for one second. because in the grand scheme of time, that second might just be eternal. and THAT second, of selflessness, a moment free of ego, is where it’s at.
i hope to see you there.
“Bohm believes the same is true at our own level of existence. Space is not empty. It is full, a plenum as opposed to a vacuum, and is the ground for the existence of everything, including ourselves. The universe is not separate from this cosmic sea of energy. It is a ripple on its surface, a comparatively small ‘pattern of excitation’ in the midst of an unimaginably vast ocean. ‘This excitation pattern is relatively autonomous and gives rise to approximately recurrent, stable and separable projections into a three-dimensional explicate order of manifestation,’ states Bohm. In other words, despite its apparent materiality and enormous size, the universe does not exist in and of itself, but is the stepchild of something far vaster and more ineffable. More than that; it is not even a major production of this vaster something, but is only a passing shadow, a mere hiccup in the greater scheme of things . . . . Bohm concedes that there is no reason to believe the implicate order is the end of things. There may be other undreamed of orders beyond it, infinite stages of further development” (Talbot, 51-52).
this passage caught my eye because it not only truncates the supposedly known and proven “vast expanse of interstellar space,” (as the episcopalians have called it) but proposes even more far-reaching and entirely unimaginable possibilities. for me, at least, and hopefully for others, this thinking can serve to once again deflate the overbearing EGO. it should remind the individual of the fleeting, transient nature of life: the ephemeral existence of one tiny grain of sand on a beach that might only begin to comprehend the existence of billions of other surrounding grains of sand, and perhaps the water that occasionally ebbs and flows over all of it—not to mention everything beyond that awareness.
yet, following this analogy, how many humans—as ‘grains of sand’—are aware of even one grain beside us, on either side? it seems that even those who think themselves intelligent may be dumbfounded by such a proposition. to be sure, so many human beings think they know everything there is to know. how often we masturbate our minds, exercising our faculties, proclaiming and clinging to knowledge of various sorts. in my estimation, we seem closer to cogs or chips in a machine carrying out prescribed tasks of behavior and thought. how much of our thought is dictated by what we have been taught? what do we really “know”? what CAN we possibly know? to think that we really have even a clue about a mere corner of some cosmic puzzle seems impossible.
as i had personally discovered previously, it appears to me again that the more i think i know, the less i am capable of truly comprehending anything. perhaps true “knowledge”—gnosis—is grounded in a lack of any such grounding. without the secure foundation of what i think i know to be “true” or “possible,” i feel so much “smarter.” yet, my newfound enlightenment rests solely on my constantly unfolding and progressive—and possibly eternal—recognition of forces in thought, nature, creation, expansion and universality of which i cannot possibly conceive, and most likely NEVER will. not only has the metaphorical rug been yanked from beneath my feet; EVERYTHING has been yanked from me. i now again question ALL that has been handed to me as FACT.
talbot proposes theories which transcend—and prescind—all that we think we know. which is it, though? do we think, or do we know? and what basis for validity do we have in blindly clinging to either, when discussing the possibility of anything? for cannot the same be said of ANY given truth, belief, thought, image, rule, law, commandment, dogma, creed, etc.? therefore, what can we possibly hold as true and reliable in a world where EVERY SINGLE OPINION has a polar opposite (not to mention a spectrum in between), and every thought on any matter can be augmented/diminished/expunged/perpetuated/bolstered/criticized/proven/debunked in 6 billion+ possible different ways??
at the very least, i believe it necessary for each individual to recognize and become aware of this, such that the individual self—the EGO—will relinquish the reigns of the universe and allow others a say in the unfolding process. this is one possible goal of what i have spent some of my time preaching, singing, writing and/or teaching, whenever i have had the the chance (and am not completely braindead from my full-time job): to encourage the individual to step back from the self/ego, which can only be accomplished through the individual allowing the ego to collapse in on itself. only by gaining such self-awareness can the individual begin to realize ONE possible truth: that there might be no such thing as a self.
so, for those of you who find yourself at the beach this memorial day weekend, i hope you enjoy your time off from your work-a-day crazy life. leave it all behind, and try to spend some time imagining yourself as just ONE of those small grains of sand on which you are lying. we really are that small.
and then, just then, look up at the ocean. holy christ that thing is massive. and POWERFUL.
really, truly just think about how small we are. join me, suspend your belief, if only for one second. because in the grand scheme of time, that second might just be eternal. and THAT second, of selflessness, a moment free of ego, is where it’s at.
i hope to see you there.
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