Conversations with the Grasshopper

>>> GhostDog 5/25/2009 12:16 PM >>>

“It’s all a matter of perspective” I said to my son. “You see son it is a matter of how you see the cup, do you see it as half full or do you see it as half empty? Our perspective in life can be either positive or negative and how you see the cup will be an indicator of how you perceive the world.”

My son replies to me with “When I look at the cup I see JUST THE CUP.”
I said to him “You don’t realize the enormity of the statement you just made. You have no idea how profound and intelligent your statement really is.”

NOTES: The basis of this conversation was the decision to take action in doing or not doing something and the emotional or physical reaction of those actions or decisions by others. “Everything we do echoes in eternity”. You ‘will’ be accountable for your actions one way or the other. You choose not to do something and you may offend someone or hurt their feelings, you choose to do something and you may be unhappy yourself doing it. So, there in, lies the dilemma. This is why the statement “I only see the cup” is so profound. The reaction of others ‘Feelings’ is only a figment of our own (or their) imagination, our own thoughts and those thoughts have no reality. Therefore the cup being half empty or half full is only the image our mind perceives, the creation of a false reality our own mind creates. If we are to truly look at the reality of it, it is just a cup with some liquid in it. This is how we should perceive everything in life, just as it is. But because we are inundated with other peoples perceptions and beliefs since birth it is difficult for us to see the true reality of things, it is hard for us to live in the here and now, in the absolute present. It should not matter the “feelings” of another, for those “Feelings” I have no control of. All I have control of is me. My “Feelings” have no reality unless I create this false reality in my own thoughts, causing me to have physical reactions. Without outside tactile stimulation how can one have physical reactions to thoughts, dreams or the non-reality of our imagination? These things created by the mind have no substance, no reality, it cannot be felt, it cannot be heard, tasted or seen. If we cannot sense through our senses these thoughts then how can thoughts be real? So the reality of it all is “There is just the Cup” is absolutely a profound statement from a 17 year old. If only he knew the gravity of his words. “Go or No Go” There or not there, these are the absolutes. The cup is either there or it is not there and the content level of its void is irrelevant. To much talk and to much contemplation over the ‘Void’ and existence of emptiness. Absolute inner peace may be found in the absence of thought and just the reality of things as they are. Ahh, but the human mind has been conditioned to emotion, feelings and thoughts and giving up on this habit energy is … well it is what it is, and giving thought to it is a distraction from peace of mind and peace of spirit. If only to live without the feelings of guilt or how ‘someone’ else may feel about things. “No thought, no reflection, no analysis, no cultivation, no intention; Let it settle itself.” Natural Law, you don’t see to many deer contemplating the most appropriate and logical way to cross the road.

Peace be with you - GhostDog