When I pass on from this world, "I" will cease to exist.
Yet "I" have never existed.
"I" is a construction of our intelligence and self awareness.
It is a product of the near death experience of our species one hundred thousand years ago.
"I" is what brought us back from the brink.
Yet it is only a side effect of our cognitive capacities.
"I" enables us to experience untold joy, and unimaginable suffering.
Yet we have a choice, offered to none others but ourselves.
The choice is to let go of our ego and attachment to the now and fear of the unknown.
We can give ourselves to God and the Universe as we approach the ocean of our birth.
Or we can expend the remainder of our lives paddling madly upstream against the current, and when we reach the ocean, look back upon the magnificent land we traversed and pine for the experiences and joy we never had.
We are all footprints in the sand, washed away by the tide.
Our contributions to the world we live in will live on past the tide, for all to see.
Yet "I" have never existed.
"I" is a construction of our intelligence and self awareness.
It is a product of the near death experience of our species one hundred thousand years ago.
"I" is what brought us back from the brink.
Yet it is only a side effect of our cognitive capacities.
"I" enables us to experience untold joy, and unimaginable suffering.
Yet we have a choice, offered to none others but ourselves.
The choice is to let go of our ego and attachment to the now and fear of the unknown.
We can give ourselves to God and the Universe as we approach the ocean of our birth.
Or we can expend the remainder of our lives paddling madly upstream against the current, and when we reach the ocean, look back upon the magnificent land we traversed and pine for the experiences and joy we never had.
We are all footprints in the sand, washed away by the tide.
Our contributions to the world we live in will live on past the tide, for all to see.
Today I witnessed something beautiful. Whilst my partner cooked dinner for us (my eternal gratitude for this act of kindness), I did something unusual. I turned off the television, and instead turned to the garden through our windows, our very own 1000 inch widescreen television boasting clarity unrivaled by the most expensive entertainment system in the world. And in surround sound as well.
In our garden was our magpie family. The baby magpies are growing quickly and approaching the size of their parents. They really are incredibly cute. I watched as one followed it's mother (?) around the garden, sqwaking and begging for food. Instead, the parent almost completely ignored it's offspring, and instead led by example, foraging our newly mowed lawn (care of a last minute dash before our rental property 'inspection' the day before). Patiently ignoring it's offspring, the mother would forage ahead. I observed as the child poked and scratched tentatively at the ground as did it's mother, learning how to feed for itself, and some day, possibly next spring, raise it's own offspring. However, the incessant begging of one brought down the violent wrath of it's parent, sending the child on it's way. The remaining child was left alone in the garden as the parent flew off to have a stern word with a competing bird.
Flying on to the clothesline, there the lone child remained perched, looking toward the sky for it's formerly loving and attentive parents, unsure of it's place in the world and it's chance of survival on it's own. Yet I remained distant at this crucial juncture. For to intervene may threaten the long term survival of this bird. Emotionally stirring it surely was, invoking natural feelings of compassion and concern for the welfare of this bird I have watched grow from infant to adult through the spring, yet uninvolved I remained.
It is a reminder of the cycle of life, and what is life? The magpie perched precariously upon my clothesline is constituted of matter that only a few months ago was lying in my garden and throughout the neighborhood. Matter turned by life in turn in to complex molecules from elemental dust and gases, which in turn was created in the searing heat of a star (the likes of which ITER will seek to emulate), from elemental particles, and prior to this from raw energy and hyperdimensional string (?), possibly in turn created from the collision of our universe with another in the bizarre unimaginable space that our universe is possibly encased within.
The cycle goes on, cosmic music vibrating in coherant notes like an orchestra, creating matter, and ultimately the magpie I see perched upon my clothesline.
Einstein once claimed that he was consumed in his work not for an instrumental control over our environment, but to understand "the mind of God", and perhaps he did.
And the treasures that lie all around us every day, are truly remarkable. To be alive and have good health as I do is the greatest blessing I could ever have bestowed upon me.
And now that I have completed my studies for this year, I have resolved to obtain my SCUBA diving license and continue my journey onward in to the deep. I have read reports in to the intelligence of certain species of fish and octopi in particular. My goal is to go SCUBA diving in order to attempt some level of communication with the most intelligent fish I can find, which I am hoping will be native to the waters of tropical Queensland as this is also the ideal location for a holiday :-)
I will obtain a water proof case for a digital camera and take photographs, and post images of any successes on to this blog.
Treasures all around, for but the price of a single Windows Vista upgrade. The best high definition television in the world will never compare with such an experience.
The cycle of life, witnessed in my own backyard, beautiful.
In our garden was our magpie family. The baby magpies are growing quickly and approaching the size of their parents. They really are incredibly cute. I watched as one followed it's mother (?) around the garden, sqwaking and begging for food. Instead, the parent almost completely ignored it's offspring, and instead led by example, foraging our newly mowed lawn (care of a last minute dash before our rental property 'inspection' the day before). Patiently ignoring it's offspring, the mother would forage ahead. I observed as the child poked and scratched tentatively at the ground as did it's mother, learning how to feed for itself, and some day, possibly next spring, raise it's own offspring. However, the incessant begging of one brought down the violent wrath of it's parent, sending the child on it's way. The remaining child was left alone in the garden as the parent flew off to have a stern word with a competing bird.
Flying on to the clothesline, there the lone child remained perched, looking toward the sky for it's formerly loving and attentive parents, unsure of it's place in the world and it's chance of survival on it's own. Yet I remained distant at this crucial juncture. For to intervene may threaten the long term survival of this bird. Emotionally stirring it surely was, invoking natural feelings of compassion and concern for the welfare of this bird I have watched grow from infant to adult through the spring, yet uninvolved I remained.
It is a reminder of the cycle of life, and what is life? The magpie perched precariously upon my clothesline is constituted of matter that only a few months ago was lying in my garden and throughout the neighborhood. Matter turned by life in turn in to complex molecules from elemental dust and gases, which in turn was created in the searing heat of a star (the likes of which ITER will seek to emulate), from elemental particles, and prior to this from raw energy and hyperdimensional string (?), possibly in turn created from the collision of our universe with another in the bizarre unimaginable space that our universe is possibly encased within.
The cycle goes on, cosmic music vibrating in coherant notes like an orchestra, creating matter, and ultimately the magpie I see perched upon my clothesline.
Einstein once claimed that he was consumed in his work not for an instrumental control over our environment, but to understand "the mind of God", and perhaps he did.
And the treasures that lie all around us every day, are truly remarkable. To be alive and have good health as I do is the greatest blessing I could ever have bestowed upon me.
And now that I have completed my studies for this year, I have resolved to obtain my SCUBA diving license and continue my journey onward in to the deep. I have read reports in to the intelligence of certain species of fish and octopi in particular. My goal is to go SCUBA diving in order to attempt some level of communication with the most intelligent fish I can find, which I am hoping will be native to the waters of tropical Queensland as this is also the ideal location for a holiday :-)
I will obtain a water proof case for a digital camera and take photographs, and post images of any successes on to this blog.
Treasures all around, for but the price of a single Windows Vista upgrade. The best high definition television in the world will never compare with such an experience.
The cycle of life, witnessed in my own backyard, beautiful.
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