Many of us go through existence presupposing things and assuming so many things because of the way we were taught (i.e., because of the way we absorbed patterns from others). We need to question more. We need to question things deeply, wisely, and passionately. There is a real art to questioning. One can easily fabricate superficial questions that are not of great meaning and depth. However, asking essential (fundamental) questions concerning the very essence of life and existence…. is not what a lot of people engage in. Many are caught in a rut, and their lack of significant questions keeps them in that rut. Often, when such people ask questions, the questions are a mere reflection of the limitation that they exist in (and “as”). To be trapped in a morass and just remain there — without ever realizing that one is trapped — is a sad thing; such may be the lot of many.
We take for granted that experience and knowledge — which is the accumulation of patterns over sequential time — is the one and only modus operandi that all of us must function in (and “as”) in order to succeed and prosper. Few of us ever really question as to whether there is an additional alternative. Many who evolved to realize that there is value in quietness and silence have (for the most part, unfortunatly) made this so-called silence into another form of “experience.” Along these lines, people (for the most part) practice methodologies — given to them by others — to attain so-called quietness or silence. However, it may be that any methodology or practice devised to achieve silence — via following procedures — is erroneous, if sequential patterns (no matter what they are) cannot, when practiced, produce what is truly beyond time and sequential paradigms. It may be that calculated causes and effects cannot produce what is beyond mere “cause and effect.”
Experiencing things often is a good, prudent thing. The truly wise mind, however, also goes beyond mere experience, doing so without any effort or methodology. (Engaging in experiencing is largely habitual, and one does not always have to depend upon habits. Deep intelligence doesn’t always merely remain as habits.) Experiencing things (in the ordinary way) involves recognition, reaction, labeling, interpretation, categorization, and (often) opinion-making. Experiencing, for so many, involves the repetitive recognition of patterns via stored (old) memory. If this takes place (ceaselessly), as it does in so many, then the “old,” the “past,” dictates current consciousness; there can be no renewal nor alive freshness in a mind merely bound to the old past in such a way. Often, on the other hand, the wise mind newly (i.e., without dependence on the “old”) perceives (without psychological space between an observer and what is seen). Oftentimes, one can sagaciously look without mere separation, recognition, labeling, and reaction. Oftentimes, for example, one can joyfully walk where there are beautiful flowers, being fully aware of them just by simply (effortlessly) looking (and deeply seeing their shape and color), but one need not necessarily label them as being beautiful, need not codify them as being flowers, need not see them from a “center” that is separate, nor classify them as being of a certain species.
The intelligent mind that questions fundamentally and prudently often functions as “experiencing” and “labeling” precisely, accurately, and compassionately; such a mind also often effortlessly goes beyond mere experiencing. Sequential, fragmentary patterns, for such a mind, fade into the background and there is a wholeness beyond the fabrications of man, beyond mere acquisition, and beyond mere causality. (This may sound esoteric or exotic, but it is really very simple, involving real integrity.) There is real bliss when psychological fragmentation and piecemeal acquisition ends; ironically, those stuck only in the sequential patterns of experience remain there to often contend with inevitable monotony and boredom. One can try to escape the superficial in so many ways, by so many different experiences. However, one cannot escape the superficial via endlessly more of the superficial.
****************************************************************************************************
[Note: The photo is of a Softshell Turtle. Their shells are soft and rubbery; they are very aquatic; they have pointed heads, are quite flat, and they are very elusive.]
Softshell Turtle. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2016
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 