All countries rule of thumb is cost benefit. Death, not the Stars, our destination. “Gully Foyle is my name And Terra is my nation. Deep space is my dwelling place, The stars my destination.” ― Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination
Of being larvae perhaps? of being bears? I read that during metamorphosis the entire creature essentially liquefies and reforms. Maybe they dream of the ocean, of water, the great waters of life....of when they were dolphins once....
IN ZHUANGZI 莊子, an ancient Chinese text written by Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi during the late Warring States period (476–221 BCE), a story tells that Zhuang Zhou once dreamed he was a butterfly, flitting and fluttering around, happy, and doing as he pleased. As a butterfly, he did not know he was Zhuang Zhou. All of a sudden, he awoke and found he was Zhuang Zhou, solid and unmistakably human. But then he did not know whether he was Zhuang Zhou dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou. In the end, Zhuangzi wrote, there was necessarily a difference between Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly; this difference was the ‘transformation of things’ 物化. The transformation is a change in consciousness between reality and illusion. The constant flux between dreams and awakening leads the ‘self’ to change from being unaware of the distinction of things to being aware of the definite distinction between and among things.
I am trying to enjoy not being an insect, the exoskeleton thing is def less appealing to me in my current mammalian form, hobbit toes notwhithstanding. But all of it in time. Ants and grasshoppers and beetles, crickets that sing me to sleep, ladybugs stuck to the tree sap on my car.....I would think, in the interests of cosmic fairness, that we experience all forms of life as we travel through the gauntlet....just to, you know, round out our resumes. Butterfly;s live but a few months...humans, decades upon decades, if we are lucky. All of it changing.
Cairn the bad news is reincarnation into a non human being is not the next life. One’s spirit is human. This does not prevent people suggesting otherwise of course.
I am still secretive and suspicious, because it is quite clear my country wishes me dead. This is logical.
All countries rule of thumb is cost benefit. Death, not the Stars, our destination. “Gully Foyle is my name And Terra is my nation. Deep space is my dwelling place, The stars my destination.” ― Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination
Hobbit me looks down at toes that look much like
Fred Flinstones....my wheels of rock
my animal skins I couldn't trade
for starship spins....it's here I'm in...
Butterflies do dream.
Of being larvae perhaps? of being bears? I read that during metamorphosis the entire creature essentially liquefies and reforms. Maybe they dream of the ocean, of water, the great waters of life....of when they were dolphins once....
IN ZHUANGZI 莊子, an ancient Chinese text written by Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi during the late Warring States period (476–221 BCE), a story tells that Zhuang Zhou once dreamed he was a butterfly, flitting and fluttering around, happy, and doing as he pleased. As a butterfly, he did not know he was Zhuang Zhou. All of a sudden, he awoke and found he was Zhuang Zhou, solid and unmistakably human. But then he did not know whether he was Zhuang Zhou dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou. In the end, Zhuangzi wrote, there was necessarily a difference between Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly; this difference was the ‘transformation of things’ 物化. The transformation is a change in consciousness between reality and illusion. The constant flux between dreams and awakening leads the ‘self’ to change from being unaware of the distinction of things to being aware of the definite distinction between and among things.
Zhuangzi is one of the foundational texts of Chinese literature and philosophy. Later interpretations of dreams in the Chinese literary tradition drew on this strange and radical story. Much discussion has focused on the nature of the atmosphere Zhuangzi created for this ‘butterfly dream’, and whether it was inherently optimistic or pessimistic. Two contrasting interpretative traditions have evolved: one drawing on the image of the carefree butterfly that hinted at a bright and soaring future; the other gloomy and melancholy, leading to a reading of ‘life is but a dream’. https://www.thechinastory.org/yearbooks/yearbook-2019-china-dreams/forum-illusions-and-transformations-the-many-meanings-of-meng-%E5%A4%A2/zhuangzi-and-his-butterfly-dream-the-etymology-of-meng-%E5%A4%A2/
I am trying to enjoy not being an insect, the exoskeleton thing is def less appealing to me in my current mammalian form, hobbit toes notwhithstanding. But all of it in time. Ants and grasshoppers and beetles, crickets that sing me to sleep, ladybugs stuck to the tree sap on my car.....I would think, in the interests of cosmic fairness, that we experience all forms of life as we travel through the gauntlet....just to, you know, round out our resumes. Butterfly;s live but a few months...humans, decades upon decades, if we are lucky. All of it changing.
Do we grow in wisdom through our dreams or are our dreams limited by our day job.
Is that you JS?
Do you have a split personality or have you just changed your avatar.
My eyesight isn't up to the job.
Cheers, Cairn ( I think)
Great idea to write a shrink report about oneself or might it be a taken as evidence of the schizophrenia itself.
Do paranoia and jaw clenching and general furies warrant a padded cell and straight jacket.
Was it because I was bottle fed.
Once I had a friend who was a psychologist and philosopher.
He worked at Vacaville mental hospital/prison. Manson was one person he worked with. We had philosophy chats over herb.
Cairn the bad news is reincarnation into a non human being is not the next life. One’s spirit is human. This does not prevent people suggesting otherwise of course.