In between... a quote

I've been busy, wanting to post so many things and finding myself without time for it... So in the meantime here is this quote:

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious; it is the source of all true art and science."
Einstein

More to come - soon!

A thought... on memes and trends

Little thought machines aside, a theory about how thoughts travel is that of memes. A meme, according to the dictionary is a cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behavior) that is passed from one generation to another by nongenetic means (as by imitation); "memes are the cultural counterpart of genes".



There is so much to see on this, but for now, my current interest stays in the way trends are carried by groups of people. It is interesting to notice how trends gain intensity and are adopted or rejected: flows of ideas (and thoughts) that sweep through communities and take root in their lives, becoming the ground for their actions, moods and more ideas. So, from exploring a single thought and how it shapes a person, I am now curious about how groups of thoughts shape societies.

What comes first though? The chicken or the egg?

The more I think of these, the more I feel so tiny, a small bubble in a vast ocean...

My thought, your thought, our thoughts...

There is nothing new under the Sun... they say.

Another cool machine I would like to have is one that color tags the thoughts or has some cool function, like that of spreadsheets that trace the origin of a particular result, in this case of a particular thought. A machine like this would put little lines in the minds of people (from all over the world, from all eras) and bleep, bleep, bleep when it found a thought never thought before. Perhaps I would discover really old thoughts that have been traveling from mind to mind generating actions, moods and other ideas for decades, centuries or millennia. Perhaps it would signal to really original thoughts, never ever thought before, that completely catapult entire civilizations into different directions. Perhaps it would be just a waste of time... as at the end of the day thoughts always come from the outside, don't they?

But since this blog is all about curious musings, I'll entertain the idea a little longer.

I wonder... what was the first thought ever thought? And most importantly, who thought it?

:)

And another thought...

One of the most fascinating discoveries about thoughts is that when really being aware of them, their origin starts to reveal itself.

I remember the first time I heard someone say that thoughts had forms, my eyes grew bigger and my ears became more attentive.

It is true. Often when I am with someone, and I am quiet enough inside, I can feel their thoughts and I can feel other thoughts enter my consciousness.

This is not new and it is a common experience for people that meditate. Thoughts become tangible things with forms and substance (a different type, not the material one, but a substance in itself). For some it has had such an impact that it has become their ticket to enlightenment.

One such person is Sri Aurobindo, which I often quote in this blog. I guess he was just prepared, because when he sought help on the topic (a long story made very short here) he just got it. Lele, (short for Vishnu Bhaskar Lele), suggested to Sri Aurobindo that he sit three days in solitude and watch his thoughts and that he would notice they came from the outside. On Sri Aurobindo's words:

I did not think either of questioning the truth or the possibility, I simply sat down and did it. In a moment my mind became silent as a windless air on a high mountain summit and then I saw one thought and then another coming in a concrete way from outside; I flung them away before they could enter and take hold of the brain and in three days I was free.

I am a long way from attaining this, but the possibility exists. Ahhh, silence, endless silence...

Have you tried watching your thoughts?

I would love to hear your experiences!

Another thought on thoughts...

If I was given the choice, I would definitely choose silence versus thoughts.

I remember when I first started meditating, really meditating, it did not take long for something to let go. Before this, there were times when I would be talking to someone and my mind would race at a hundred per hour, thinking incredibly judgmental thoughts, that where totally embarrassing. I would then judge the thoughts, adding extra weight to the internal chaos and hoped that the person in front of me would never guess what I was thinking. Thankfully this is completely gone and I can say there is fresher air to breathe inside my mind.



Another result of meditating was a complete silence. Not just less thoughts, but no thoughts... the lightness that results from that is invaluable and to me it was such a gift. Worries dissolving, a sense of space inside, calm and peaceful, without it being anything in particular really, a sense of fullness. Wow. I admit, however, this is not constant and there are times, still, when raging thoughts take over (in or out of meditation).

So, why ramble on meditation? The more I meditate, the more thoughts become something different... and so does the world around me.

A thought on thoughts...

Have you ever noticed how many thoughts surface inside your mind every hour of every day (of every month of every year of your life)?

After asking myself the question, I decided to do a little research. Apparently a person has between 2000 to 6000 thoughts on average, per day. I think (there goes another thought) it would be great to have a little machine (just for fun) that counts and labels each type of thought. It would be so revealing, not so much to the rest of the world, but to oneself. [Now that I think about it more though, perhaps a prelude to that little machine exists already: Twitter.]

How many of these thoughts are negative thoughts, positive thoughts, neutral thoughts? How do they affect my actions, the actions of others? How much of these are actual helping me accomplish my goals?

Anyway, the fact is that most of us are completely oblivious about what's happening in our minds and that just by bringing a little awareness, the mind actually slows down. I know that for me being conscious of my thoughts has given me a lot of insight on not just myself, but the world around me. At times it takes me by surprise, where did this thought come from? I bet that if someone else could actually hear my thoughts, they would think I smoke pot. (Just in case someone's doubting out there... I don't.) I bet too, I am not alone here.

I have noticed that at times, the thoughts I thought were mine, were not necessarily so. The more I observe thoughts, the more I ask myself, "Where do thoughts come from? What creates thoughts?"

A little food for thought. More to come...