Reality exists on all scales at all times, from the subatomic levels to the galactic, even universal levels. Likewise we exist on all scales at all times, we are pieces of the cohesive whole that is existence, it is only our ignorance and a dependence on our finite senses that keep us shrouded behind a veil of illusion. This shroud over our minds is more ephemeral than smoke but can be absolutely opaque, keeping us ignorant of the true nature of our existence.
In much the same way that the philosophy of cyclic existence can be seen as a metaphor for the various states of mind that humans live their lives in, this multitude of scales ranging from the cosmic to the quantum can help us to understand the multileveled nature of consciousness. Just as I can focus my attention on the very real conception of my body as a collection of cells, molecules, or even atoms or my existence within the bigger picture of our earth, solar system or galaxy - all exiting simultaneously, so too can I direct my mind to varying levels of consciousness from being hyper-focused internally on my body or upon my surroundings, to daydreaming about the future and calling up memories of the past, from the foggy semi-attention that we spend the majority of our lives living in to the deepest meditative levels at which we become aware of the interconnectedness of all things.
Meditation is not a process that connects us to certain object like two cords being plugged into one another, we are always connected to things, to everything, at all times. Meditation merely allows us to access the levels of consciousness necessary to recognize this scale, the truest plane of existence. Like virtually anything we do in life, this process can becomes easier to complete through patient practice of meditation. This enlightenment through practice can be seen as another analogy, this one of the gradual enlightenment we each work to attain as we move across time, from one life to the next. Perhaps this is why humankind is living in an unprecedented state of enlightenment, technology, and social liberalism, we are carried forward as each new generation is born, slightly more enlightened than the one before.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Scales
Posted by Crystal at 4:13 PM
Labels: Buddhism, philosophy
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4 comments:
If I think too much about this stuff, I get lost and someone has to cattle-prod me back into the now.
They teach that each one of us is already an enlightened being, we are simply ignorant of this fact because of the suffering and attachment in our lives. For this reason we are all Buddha and any many people use amazing and inspiring people as 'their Buddha' to learn from and emulate...
You are my Buddha.
We always talk about how the universe is *so* expansive that there *must* be life existing elsewhere in its confines. However, people often overlook the fact that the macroscopic is complimented brilliantly by the microscopic - and most likely to the same exponential extent. If the universe is infinitely large, symmetry will tell us it is infinitely small - and therefore no fundamental particle could ever exist. If this is true, then people are right, the universe is so expansive that there must be life in existence somewhere "out there" - but only if there must also be a necessity for sentient life somewhere "in here" as well.
It is probabilistically the case that every writhing cell within our "body" contains entire civilizations, atmospheres, and galaxies withing it. Which means it is just as likely that our civilization, atmosphere, and galaxy are likewise part of some greater entity. And if the Buddhists are right about recursion and isomorphism, then this entity's moods and actions are dictated (even if in a miniscule sense) by our moods and actions.
Welcome to a universe where the largest collapses into the smallest and vice-versa, and where time is a single instant, which ripples throughout the scales of eternity, dilating experiences which are only to reverberate symmetrically back and forth throughout... well, strictly speaking, that instant.
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