On the Nature of Things, Book 2

“The vital forces conquer, or in turn are conquered”

Apologies, if I get a chance (I’m lacking a keyboard at the moment) then I will include the text.

First thing – Lucretius is unbelievable prescient about some “modern physics” principles and ideas. The preceding paragraph, Lucretius is semi-concluding an exposition on what sounds like atoms, molecules and so forth.

The proofs are a bit different. No stats and figures, no spreadsheets, no citing of sources in fine print. So… does it count as science then? This is a whole different line of thought that I will cut short and say only: The Master and His Emissary is a book about the evolution of the human brain through history and the dude makes a compelling case for what I wish more people would see like a red barn – our period in human evolution, we’re too left brained, too much breaking things down into logical units, too much of an insistence that this the only “true knowledge” or “real science.” Iain McGilchrist is his name – smart dude, good book (but I confess, I listened to it, it’s kind of a long one) I hope Iain would not disagree with me saying that in that book he makes the case that the dominance of the left hemisphere of the brain (of the past couple hundred years, from the Enlightenment? Or Industrial Revolution? I forget exactly the “this current age” starts, anyway…) the prominence of the left brain and current beliefs about … knowledge, “real science”, etc etc – this is responsible for a lot of the big human problems in the world today.

The hemispheres, they need to “get their yin yang on” That is such a horrible sentence… but I’m going to let it be.

The paragraph from Lucretius – I read it to my son and asked a question or two to draw out “yin and yang!” The exclamation point is for dramatic effect, he was not ecstatic, FYI.

Philosophies and religions, when you left brain ‘em to their little units… Well, it is exactly like Lucretius is saying with “first bodies” forming ever more complex structures – from a couple of these “first ideas and beliefs”, you can build up the modern religion of your choice.

When I started thinking of a Christian principle-of-yin-and-yang example, I landed on the opposite – that bit about the rich guy getting more and more, and the little one with little has? That will be taken.

What’s a good Christian example? My readers (I’m partly writing this post bc I saw an email about a WordPress bill and I haven’t made a post in quite a while…) – I’m speaking to you (!), my large audience of adoring fans: please leave in the comments an example that illustrates how the concept of yin and yang is embraced in / by one of the worlds religions.

P.S. Lucretius here reminds me of Prospero (that’s right, I know the name of the character, no search required) with his “cloud cappd towers… all ye inherit, the great globe itself”, “pageant faded”, something about the actor’s vanishing into thin thin air…

Excerpt from the essay The Spirit of Violence and the Matter of Peace in Does It Matter? by Alan Watts

This quote about Israel captured my attention because of the war that broke out these past couple weeks. I’m astounded that this psalm was so prescient.

More and more, the scientists are saying that man must now take his future evolution into his own (i.e., the ego’s) hands, and rely no longer upon the caprices of “natural selection.” Yet those who speak thus do not seem to realize that this is going to require increasing violence against “deviant” forces within the individual and within society. The aspiration to direct evolution is also the aspiration to be “as God,” and thus—as God is generally conceived in the West—to be dictator of the world.

But, as the psalm says, “Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” This is really the same as the saying that “There is no peace for the wicked,” for those who, like the tyrant-image of God, take the law into their own hands. For our traditional model of the universe is basically military.

– Alan Watts, Does It Matter?, The Spirit of Violence and the Matter of Peace

A couple pages later this paragraph caught my attention:

Only a supernaturalist would deliberately press the button to set off nuclear warfare, in the belief that his spiritual values are more important than material existence. And this involves the open or tacit supposition that the spiritual dimension is immortal, that in heaven or on some higher level of vibration unaffected by bodily death he will continue his existence, congratulating himself on his fidelity to principle and wagging the finger of reproof at the surprisedly immortal souls of dialectical materialists, eating crow in the sky instead of pie. This simply goes to show that belief in the superiority and final authority of the rational, intellectual, conceptual, and symbolic domain as the ultimate reality may be inconsistent with the survival of mankind.

– Alan Watts, Does It Matter?, The Spirit of Violence and the Matter of Peace

It is perhaps the truth that the most horrible people have the best intentions.

I’m reminded of Alan when he talks about the priests who burned people at the stake in the hopes that they would repent because they truly believed that they had a chance of saving them from eternal damnation.

“Kindly let me help you or you will drown said the monkey putting the fish safely up a tree.”

– Alan Watts (Goodreads.com link)

Excerpt from “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” by Sogyal Rinpoche

“You’ve lost everything. Your restless, agitated mind is then stunned, and thoughts subside. And there’s a sudden, deep stillness, almost an experience of bliss. No more struggle, no more effort, because both are hopeless. Now you just have to give up; you have no choice.

So one moment you have lost something precious, and then, in the very next moment, you find your mind is resting in a deep state of peace. When this kind of experience occurs, do not immediately rush to find solutions. Remain for a while in that state of peace. Allow it to be a gap. And if you really rest in that gap, looking into the mind, you will catch a glimpse of the deathless nature of the enlightened mind.”

– Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Chapter 7: Bardos and Other Realities

I was taught that “giving up” was the same as failure. “Nothing can take the place of persistence” was a quote I heard often in my childhood. But perhaps there is a “middle way” that is best.

Strangely, there have been instances in my career as well as in personal relationships, where when I was trying my best, the outcome was… not great. And then when I threw my hands in the air and adopted more of a carefree “what will be, will be” attitude, that’s precisely when the things I had tried to make happen seemed to come about by themselves, with a much smaller effort on my part.

I’m reminded of a time when a Christian friend told me to “give it up to God.” I find it very interesting that religions often thought of as very different seem to have very common precepts when one looks a little closer.

And I’ve definitely felt the peace of mind Rinpoche describes after realizing the futility of a situation and “letting go.” Today actually. For the past few days I’ve been thinking about how to communicate and come to an understanding with someone who seems to not understand my point of view at all… It was a frustrating couple days prior. I had very strong emotions that occupied my thoughts relentlessly and completely at times.

I find it very strange that those strong emotions… seem to come in waves, lasting different periods of time. But during a strong emotion, it feels like it will never change. And then… when I see clearly the futility of the situation… the anger and frustration seem to pass so completely that it’s strange to think that I was so consumed with the emotion a short amount of time prior.

I have been meditating consistently. I genuinely feel like the practice of letting my thoughts be present, but then pass, and returning my focus to the breath, is having a positive effect on my life.