Perhaps we can't find new thought with thought. Is new thought the aftermath of new perception? Is perceiving the key and we perceive less and less with screens and media to inform us and take our attention?
There are many more than 5 senses but we do not perceive them. The intuitive clutch in the gut. The sense of time passing. The sense of being located in space. The sense of moving. The sense of being moved. The sense of being lifted up. The sense of an eternal moment. The sense of being present.
"Looking is a trace of what we are looking for.," Rumi. Can I see that I see?
When I read Basho or Rilke, I discover new perceptions, new possibilities of sensing and knowing, and from this new thought may arise, mentation which runs along the rails of perception, held fast by impartial attention. Not associative in nature. Vertical rather than horizontal.
In any given situation, or question, the stage is the stage, the set is the set. But the actor changes position, moves vantage point. The vantage point is all we can ever change, in a given situation. A 'new' thought about existing conditions. Changing one's vantage point on any given subject or issue seems to me to be an essential skill. I think it also relates to the fact that our eyes are placed on our head in such a way as to give us depth perspective. This is not an accident.
And I thought the binocular vision was to facilitate our role as predator. We don't need eyes to change point of view. We do need experience, though...experience that is not contrived.
Great article. I am more white pilled though, there are always thinkers, though you won’t find them at Universities, international conferences, or trade fairs. They live apart in the wilderness, even if that wilderness is their own thoughts in a basement apartment in a city.
Is it truly a thought, if it is kept to one's self?
Your question, though, you have already answered. Because there are no teachers. I don't think we are born knowing how to think, so if we are not taught, we will not.
Ramana Maharshi saw Mt. Arunachala as a teacher. Rupert Sheldrake discusses the morphogenic field that informs us. We are human and to be learning is human. Original humans autodidacts and then teachers. TV teaches well. Not parents. Not indoctrination centers called school. I agree that we have to be taught and a human teacher who knows is best and at the same time “Rise Above.”
Open is key. I have been enjoying hours of Terence McKenna conversations online. I dismissed him initially. I did like Food of the Gods when he published so this was a turning towards his thought but never bought in to his Archaic Revival nor his utopian tech fantasies. I am open minded so I can hear him and politely question some deep assumptions about post-modernity being able to also turn to the Archaic Spiritual. Naturally after the invention of COVID as a death machine and it’s ongoing use almost all archaic revival discussions are way off base. Unless you go full Huxley Brave New World and see tourists tripping to the places of psychedelic deportment to meet John Savage shaman.
TV, movies, documentaries. I think they are the most powerful form of communication we have created, once the 'talkies' came out. With sound and vision (!) combined, you have 2 out of 5 senses conveyed. I suppose before movies with sound, there was sculpture that combined sight and touch. (that is when you are allowed to touch sculpture which is rarely the case, sadly). But certainly the maker of the sculpture touched it a lot. I did go to a movie once where there was a scratch and sniff card, a John Waters movie. Unfortunately, I was so drunk at the time, I had to go out and wretch when I smelled the vomit sample. So the example of a movie with sound and smell covered 3 bases of the 5 senses. Joke on me I suppose. Thanks for the memories, folks.
Haptic suits are here, too. And there is an entire community, mostly gamers and their offshoots who are primed for this. They already live their lives as avatars in digital realms (metaverse) where they have digital property, all kinds of digital currency and become very hostile when faced with losing access. I think they could be sold on the idea of uploading their soul to the cloud in exchange for immortality and 24/7 grinding without the need to eat, sleep or pee.
Some good comments in this thread.
Perhaps we can't find new thought with thought. Is new thought the aftermath of new perception? Is perceiving the key and we perceive less and less with screens and media to inform us and take our attention?
There are many more than 5 senses but we do not perceive them. The intuitive clutch in the gut. The sense of time passing. The sense of being located in space. The sense of moving. The sense of being moved. The sense of being lifted up. The sense of an eternal moment. The sense of being present.
"Looking is a trace of what we are looking for.," Rumi. Can I see that I see?
When I read Basho or Rilke, I discover new perceptions, new possibilities of sensing and knowing, and from this new thought may arise, mentation which runs along the rails of perception, held fast by impartial attention. Not associative in nature. Vertical rather than horizontal.
In any given situation, or question, the stage is the stage, the set is the set. But the actor changes position, moves vantage point. The vantage point is all we can ever change, in a given situation. A 'new' thought about existing conditions. Changing one's vantage point on any given subject or issue seems to me to be an essential skill. I think it also relates to the fact that our eyes are placed on our head in such a way as to give us depth perspective. This is not an accident.
And I thought the binocular vision was to facilitate our role as predator. We don't need eyes to change point of view. We do need experience, though...experience that is not contrived.
Great article. I am more white pilled though, there are always thinkers, though you won’t find them at Universities, international conferences, or trade fairs. They live apart in the wilderness, even if that wilderness is their own thoughts in a basement apartment in a city.
Is it truly a thought, if it is kept to one's self?
Your question, though, you have already answered. Because there are no teachers. I don't think we are born knowing how to think, so if we are not taught, we will not.
Ramana Maharshi saw Mt. Arunachala as a teacher. Rupert Sheldrake discusses the morphogenic field that informs us. We are human and to be learning is human. Original humans autodidacts and then teachers. TV teaches well. Not parents. Not indoctrination centers called school. I agree that we have to be taught and a human teacher who knows is best and at the same time “Rise Above.”
A mountain can teach objective lessons about one's self, if open to them. So can an old house. Or even a poor human teacher.
Open is key. I have been enjoying hours of Terence McKenna conversations online. I dismissed him initially. I did like Food of the Gods when he published so this was a turning towards his thought but never bought in to his Archaic Revival nor his utopian tech fantasies. I am open minded so I can hear him and politely question some deep assumptions about post-modernity being able to also turn to the Archaic Spiritual. Naturally after the invention of COVID as a death machine and it’s ongoing use almost all archaic revival discussions are way off base. Unless you go full Huxley Brave New World and see tourists tripping to the places of psychedelic deportment to meet John Savage shaman.
TV, movies, documentaries. I think they are the most powerful form of communication we have created, once the 'talkies' came out. With sound and vision (!) combined, you have 2 out of 5 senses conveyed. I suppose before movies with sound, there was sculpture that combined sight and touch. (that is when you are allowed to touch sculpture which is rarely the case, sadly). But certainly the maker of the sculpture touched it a lot. I did go to a movie once where there was a scratch and sniff card, a John Waters movie. Unfortunately, I was so drunk at the time, I had to go out and wretch when I smelled the vomit sample. So the example of a movie with sound and smell covered 3 bases of the 5 senses. Joke on me I suppose. Thanks for the memories, folks.
The Feelies are coming. VR headsets are first step to total immersion. Every hair on the bear skin rug as Huxley said.
All that stuff looks too fake to me. I can't stand it, not for a second would I wear one. The talkies are bad enough!!
Weirdly the ultra tech converges on psychedelic hallucination but without any soul or spirit. The dead world we must avoid.
Haptic suits are here, too. And there is an entire community, mostly gamers and their offshoots who are primed for this. They already live their lives as avatars in digital realms (metaverse) where they have digital property, all kinds of digital currency and become very hostile when faced with losing access. I think they could be sold on the idea of uploading their soul to the cloud in exchange for immortality and 24/7 grinding without the need to eat, sleep or pee.
Hmm. Updated Zippies.
smels like de ja poo