Wednesday, May 6, 2009

 
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A: 99% of all species that have ever lived on this planet are now extinct. Nothing is strange if also humankind will disappear. We're all going to die. Why bother about the climate change? Why bother about anything?

B: Isn’t that just a depressing thought. Depressing thoughts leads to nothing but depression and misery. It is much better with an optimistic outlook on life and death. Optimism makes you happier and healthier. Depression creates all sorts of physical ailments; coronary disease, cancer, hives, you name it. An optimistic and positive person lives a longer and better life than a negative person does. It has been proved scientifically. We are not made for negative thinking.

A: I suppose you’re right. The purpose with religion is to create a meaningful fantasy that make our life worth living. I shall not complain if you find a fantasy that makes you happy. However, some people can’t stop wondering what the world is really like. Fairy tales and belief systems doesn’t satisfy them. They need to know the truth. Hindus and Buddhists who look deeply into their religion, talk about relative and absolute truth. Relative truth is for the masses. The masses are satisfied with explanations about going to heaven when they die, or reincarnating. Those who look deeply into what life and death really is, know that life is short and that there is no part of you that lives on after death. They know that there is no permanent self. The self, or ego, you experience now is already is gone tomorrow, in this life, how could it be passed on to another life? The one you are today is not the same you as you were fifteen years ago.

B: All this is just thoughts. Also the clever thoughts are nothing but thoughts. Clever thoughts and stupid thoughts are made of the same stuff. Those who really look deeply into things know that thoughts are not the same as the truth. They know that the map is not the territory, no matter how accurate it is. The menu will not satisfy your hunger. If fairy tales doesn’t satisfy you, you can look deeply into the now, like the mystics. Have you ever heard of a mystic who explains that life has no meaning, that life sucks and then you die?

A: I think that the mystics are completely caught up in nonsense and delusions. What we perceive as the present moment is a distorted representation of what has been processed in the subconscious mind. You are aware of just a small fraction of what the sense organs pick up. Unconscious blinders filters away tons of stuff. And the sense organs only pick up a small fraction of the totality.

B: Well, then you have to look deeply into what the scientists have to say. The physicists discovered more than seventy years ago that the reality is not at all like we think it is. The quantum physicists discovered that in the real world the electron both exist in a certain place and doesn't exist in that particular place. Serious scientists of today admit that they don’t have a clue about anything. They admit that the reality is totally weird. They have nothing but theories to offer. When you realize that a thought is just a thought, or a theory is just a theory, it is to wake up for a moment from hypnosis. When you realize that you are driven by a crazy idea, the crazy idea loses some of its power. It is wonderful to wake up from crazy ideas. We don't have to eat the menu cards.
Words are not just words. Words are magic spells that hypnotize you. They can turn you into a right-winger or a left-winger, they can turn you into a Protestant or a Muslim, they can turn you into a miserable loser or a high cast Hindu. Words can turn you into almost anything. They can change the world around you; they can make you believe that you are absolutely right about things that are all wrong, they can take you in completely and ruin your life. Seriously, what are you without your story about yourself and what the world is like?

Words are useful, though, when you say things like, “The hammer is on the kitchen table.” or “ She will be back tomorrow.” However, it is difficult to put into words what potatoes taste like, or explain how to swim. It is like discussing colors with someone who is blind since birth. “What does it feel like to be happy? Explain it to me in simple words, please. I don’t know what you talk about. I have never experienced this what you call happiness.“ To explain with words what you mean with awakening or non-self is impossible. Sometimes it is better to keep the mouth shut.