In the East, everything other than “Self” - seen from personal perspective as unexplainable - is called “That” although it still remains difficult to define the boundaries of individuality any more specifically than as a fragment of “That” moving through time/space until awareness ceases. Anything inferred beyond this is either imagination, speculation or belief, though there does appear  to be some kind of hierarchical order at work that pervades everything.

Sentience, construed as a state of subjectivity, emerges from oblivion. If there is a continuity beyond consciousness or unconsciousness, perhaps it’s just another tier of that same awareness, only partially revealed, making it difficult to articulate anything that remains unseen using language. Here is where Art and Myth in all its forms reflect its creators’ vision of the relationship between “Self” and “That”, illuminating philosophy.

Consciousness, can also be analogized to a super saturated solution created by dissolving large amounts of a substance such as sugar into water as it is heated in a test tube over a Bunsen burner. Add a substrate and at a calculable moment it will suddenly crystallize into a solid, a symbol of elevated state realized in an instantaneous moment when surrounded by chaos.

The significance of any experience, as with a chemical solution, depends on what is remembered from the unconscious as it awakens, revealing congregations of circumstances interacting with individual lives, each representing alternate realities of each other - a notion usually relegated to  literature and science fiction that portrays one step beyond the real yet close enough to it to perceive imaginative variations of what is separated by a translucent barrier.

The controversy over sentience is not about its existence, but to what degree it is containable by other organisms, given a series of conditions, proposing that if any manifested form can evolve some kind of awareness, then it should be treated as if it has the potential to be self-aware, given time and experience.

The Chupacabra (Spanish for goat sucker) is an animal indigenous to Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Latin American communities that speak Spanish in the United States. The name comes from the animal’s reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of goats. Physical descriptions of the creature vary. Eyewitness sightings have been claimed for centuries near Ponce, Puerto Rico and have since been reported as far north as Maine and as far south as Chile. It is supposedly a heavy creature, the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail.

The first photographs were taken in March 1995 in Puerto Rico by Madelyne Diaz don Diego who lost all of her 150 goats in an attack. Each animal she claimed had similar characteristic puncture wounds in the chest area and completely drained of blood.

In Coleman, Texas, a farmer named Reggie Lagow caught what he claimed was the Chupacabra in a trap he set up after the deaths of a number of his goats. The animal was described as resembling a mix of hairless dog, rat, and kangaroo. Lagow claims he delivered the animal to Texas Parks and Wildlife officials for identification, but reported in a September 17, 2006 phone interview with John Adolfi, founder of the Lost World Museum, that “the critter was caught on a Tuesday and accidentally thrown out in Thursday’s trash.”

Suppose it were possible to be “self” conscious and aware without ever seeing a reflection in a mirror or on a shiny surface. Then on a warm day, near a forest green, from a pond glistening as silver, gazing innocently from the spring undisturbed by cattle, sheep, birds, wild boars, beasts or even by branches dropping leaves from trees that arch over the water, yielding perhaps acorns, pine cones, a nut or two. Then, casting yourself down among the rich landscape, exhausted, on top the grassy verges to quench your thirst, you see such a beautiful sight in the water, irresistibly and immediately falling in love perhaps for the very first time, until realizing that this image is your own reflection.

An overly simplified description of the myth of Narcissus, which has numerous versions, all of which converge on self love, and although told about a boy, Narcissus could equally be thought as a girl.  “As she tried to embrace and kiss the beautiful girl who confronts her in the water, eventually recognizing herself, she lay gazing enraptured with the pool, hour after hour. How could she endure both to possess and yet not to possess? Grief was destroying her, yet she rejoiced in her torment: knowing at least that her other self would remain true to her, whatever happened.” So told Theiresias, the blind seer who spoke of Narcissus, “He saw his own shape and it was fatal, for he could only see through it.”

“Alas! Alas!” Narcissus cried, but Echo, a local nymph had already forgiven and grieved with him; then sympathetically echoing his last words, “Alas! Alas!” as he plunged a dagger into his breast, she said finally, “Ah, youth, beloved in vain, fare thee well!” as he expired. His blood soaked the earth, and there sprang up the white narcissus flower with its red corolla.

No doubt an interesting story with unanticipated twists and turns, possibly echoed in Hamlet, Shakespeare’s masterpiece of the Prince of Denmark, one filled with numerous connotations especially the prophecy of the seer, incapable of seeing his physical world because of blindness yet one who is also wise of sight, quite capable of viewing only what lay beyond the existence of the five senses.

Since it is not possible to see oneself other than as a reflection off some external surface whether an inanimate object, or the opinions and attitudes of others, the myth of Narcissus is poignant in its scope about what it says concerning self, the ego, and whatever attributes are chosen to embellish the character most pleasing to see, or taught from negative experience, to mock.

Judgments about “self” begin, absorbed from childhood, and initially from “the other,” before being formulated as part of an individual reflection,  once again returning attention to the effects of parents and family that are the initial basis for these impressions, later reinforced or balanced with other things comprising experience. Self confidence, traced with narcissism provides an empowering quality to ascribe value and “self”  worth, worthy of living for.

Pathological narcissism can be a reflection unseen by “self,” a blind spot that can be disguised by loathing as well as misguided love also characterizing its invisibility of presence and the absence of “self” esteem so visible by others, describing yet another echo of an echo, caught between the surfaces of the three dimensions reflecting each other as it moves through Time/Space, as much a topic for mythology as is Science.

Asking a question without expecting an answer is a difficult challenge since the initial inclination for wanting clarification is the basic reason a query is made. A response, perhaps in the form of an Epiphany, divine revelation or emerging creative impulse, is not an unreasonable expectation as long as whatever appears is recognized for what it is.

A nebulous answer is as good as no answer since it’s often so vague and formulaic with liberal doses of unanticipated ironic twists that come out of nowhere to be of any appreciable use, although they are ideal for those who love cryptic responses with symbols steeped in the mystery of occult design.

We also have myths and legends, grand tales of hero’s, instilled with moral struggles of human traits, lurking in literature, art, and philosophy, so obvious they lie invisibly surrounded by distractions. Whatever the basis of conclusions from events, preconceived notions of what is thought to exist can noticeably effect judgment and outcome. Some occurrences such as a rainbow, comet or eclipse, at a key moment, can be interpreted as a sign from some divine source woven by hope and optimism for an unknown future.

Whatever the case, there is too little time to obsessively worry about what a void contains before it appears. There is not enough information to say anything about it except perhaps to convey an opinion regarding what its substance is, since no one who goes there and stays has ever come back to tell about it, so it seems pointless to speculate and simply avoid a void, until it finds you, as the pull of the vortex gravitates closer and closer, until the only option is to surrender.

Walking on water has long been an ability attributed to enlightened souls predicated on their ability to master thought, energy, the laws of physics and surrounding space as they become increasingly aware that pre-existing physical boundaries can be challenged.

How to get to that point of awareness, let alone achieving it, depends on many factors individually defined and externally effected, all variable based on how one interprets the signs along the path.

Levitation above water, earth, and air, are all related and can also be achieved using scientific devices such as super magnets. However, this is not the same as evolving the ability to do it as a spiritual attainment, claimed by some as a feasible accomplishment that has no general formula of discovery since it can only be approached singularly.

Every person is constrained by gravity and time, the effects of which have profound impact. We begin not knowing how to master the movement of our own body as it grows to maturity, learning coordination and cognition developing over time and experience.

Thought also has the capacity to effect physicality when used as the basis to link with the atoms, cells and organs of the body. With a tempered mind and heart, capable when focused, of curing disease by restoring balance to imbalance, this revolves to a state the body already knows how to maintain by mobilizing whatever systems it needs to return to homeostasis although sometimes it forgets and needs to be reminded.

The mind has the capacity not only to connect with this process, but also to modify and direct it. If one person is capable of doing something, than others can do it too, recognizing that what may work for one might not for somebody else. This limits what science can substantiate since reproducibility is what makes observation, fact. But an inability to quantify the extraordinary things people can accomplish doesn’t negate it but does suggests an introspective experience.

There are two simple ways to levitate. One is to change the weight of all the cells of the body to be lighter then air, and the second is to alter the polarity of each atom to be a charge that will cause gravity to repel. Each approach requires the ability to use thought to communicate with all elements that comprise the individual, perhaps even identifying aberrant cells and systems, and mobilizing and fixed on the innate instinct to restore harmony. A simple thing, like levitation, is possible to do if one is disciplined and focused enough to know how to do it.

Dharma is often thought of as one’s mission, a life task picked for the soul accomplishment of enriching existence in some way or another, usually revealed by an unknown source as personal destiny. The call is to rise to the charge - a status - or vocation, all of which seems at most times unattainable, and yet confidence seems to be bestowed by some mysterious authority, the beneficent gods of lore; or perhaps it’s all just a grandiose self-delusion despite never losing hope that great things are within grasp if personal sacrifice for the greater good is placed as the top priority, a noble thought.

The thirst for encouragement and validation is always present and unquenchable, a source of self confidence and conceit. And any person who expresses uncommon knowledge may be of some help by introducing external perspective, however that can often be mistaken for cosmic wisdom. History is filled with people placed on a pedestal because they had a charismatic way of articulating a message other people felt but couldn’t put to words or art. For them, a parallel path is an illusion. They recognize that lives intersect at several points, the crossroads for each lying in a non-linear universe, attracted by some unexplained circumstance.

Sometimes dharma is revealed at a peculiar time when least expected, a prognostication that displays unusual individual precision during a time when the search for a direction seems most acute, usually for lack of finding an answer from within. Uncertainty prolongs indecision, often leading to paralysis; yet any reasonable force of authority might vaguely point to the distant horizon and declare: “Go forth and follow your destiny,” and get away with it. The instinct is to resist, especially when attempting to master an unknown dharma that will have to be figured out and attained on one’s own, if not alone. After all, it’s not for the gods to make it happen, nor do they exist to be depended upon - that’s what it means to be a co-creator.

Once the solitary nature of ‘independent’ accomplishment is understood, panic sets in and the looming question “How am I supposed to make this happen in the first place?” becomes an obsessive thought as the strong desire to crawl under the bed becomes an overwhelming yearn. It is difficult to do something that you’re not really in the mood to do or have to explain why you really don’t want to be selfless in the first place.

It’s more compelling if dharma is chosen from a process of self-discovery, perhaps an idea that strikes while crossing the street during a thunder storm, avoiding getting hit by a car while distracted deep in thought about life’s plan. Then it happens as an inspiration akin to a lightening bolt that strikes, “Oh, now I get it!” Then the next thought seeps into consciousness: “But did that come from me or some unknown source?”

Tangents In Karma

“Doom and gloom has to be logical, carefully presented and designed to reach people who exist in a basic state of denial. It requires eloquence, a well articulated, diplomatic build up, objective assessment of the events, whether economic, cultural or personal, dispassionately without emotion or it is lost,  hence influencing judgment. Learned lessons as wisdom to an open eye…” [unidentified source]

Originally found in an old timeworn text, translated from its native French, words perhaps handed down from one generation to the next with a dubious claim that names Nostradamus as their source, while saying much in less than fifty words.

Thinking about the future distantly, so many unanticipated events have to occur for a future to evolve. Is it possible to envision all of them or even know which ones are most important to (a) specific outcome(s)?

Perhaps the place where creative ideas originate, also the source of invention tapped by some with capabilities thought impossible, becomes the “stuff” of future dreams. Trends suggested by individuals, often described in cryptic terms transformed into concepts that happen in some ironic way introducing new possibilities effecting the future and defying credible prognostication.

A reasonable conclusion to reach until one encounters “the genius” capable of composing music before anyone of comparable age can verbalize complete sentences for example. What comprises those indefinable talents, which are vague inspiration to some, while a tool for another acting as a conduit.

Doom and gloom usually draw more attention than “they lived happily ever after,” a common ending to most fairy tales, hoping that along the way something not currently known will introduce itself into the gloom that changes enough of the circumstances to create the happy ending most sought.

Some believe that the future projects itself onto the past by using signs that already exist in the present. What makes the future happen is unknown, even after it happens, a confluence of limitless possibilities that makes more sense when viewed retrospectively as taught lessons, hopefully to avoid making repetitive mistakes that are predictable.  Recognizing that any prophecy, mystically or religiously based, is made so that there is enough time to make the necessary changes to prevent it from happening.

The problem with being a dictionary worm - reading sequentially the words from the unabridged Oxford volume cover to cover - is that it misses all the words added or changed over the time it took to read it from cover to cover, leaving knowledge incomplete, perhaps the call of a perfectionist who simply missed a page somewhere.

One overlooked word was concupiscence. I first heard it when a colleague was accused by someone else for making it up, trying to imply that they were stupid for not knowing it. I was astonished that I had no clue what it meant either except that the prefix “con” means “with”.

I embarked on a search and what I discovered is a word with many more shades than revealed by the dictionary, including a theological schism profound to fundamental philosophical belief. Con*cu*pis*cence,  n.  1- sexual desire, lust. 2- ardent, usually sensuous, longing.

Christian theology defines it as the selfish human desire for an object, person or experience, and yet Catholics and Protestants have conflicting ideas.  For Catholics, in its widest sense, “concupiscence is any yearning of the soul for good; in its strict and specific sense, it means a desire of the lower appetite contrary to reason.” For Protestants, “concupiscence refers to what they understand as the orientation, inclination or innate tendency of human beings to do evil.”  The word is derived from the Latin word concupiscentia meaning “a desire for worldly things.”

A want for anything corporeal is implied as being innately selfish, according to biblical interpretation. It can also be distracting, especially with original sin and guilt floating around overhead as the search for the inner divine nature consumes philosophy and theology alike, while science aims to quantify or repudiate it all in a neat reproducible package.

On the other hand, if the difference between selfishness and selflessness is understood, earthly desires would not be the temptations they have historically been, suggesting the middle path, where good and evil balances each other is the best place to be, since the desire for good can also be selfish depending on what one considers good.

A sole carried by the body
Heart aching deep to the call
Desire that draws one closer
Into a forest of want
Playing to its hum
Is anything ever enough?
Another barrier
The immoral soul!

Socrates left no written record of his teachings, as far as we know. His students’ words are the only way to assess his theories of knowledge or lack of, “I know nothing except the facts of my ignorance.” An apt description to characterize all that is unknown by a scholar of his stature.

Implicit within the phrase is the concept of ‘Infinity’ as the reason for the ignorance. Observation, perspective and experience, perhaps only give a partial grasp of the immense scope of what is not knowable by attributing more precision to the limitations of the physical body and human mind evoking continual questions whether from a deliberate search or from curiosity, effectively focusing attention on more queries. Mathematics attempts to quantify aspects of that which doesn’t end, starting from here and progressing into an existence that transcends physicality.

In religion, ‘Infinity’ is more closely equated to Eternity, a quality of divinity that transcends earthly understanding while encouraging its approachability. Spirituality suggests a development and refinement of the senses as a way of enabling movement towards the immeasurable, recognizing that the difference of each individual path is a function of karma and the ability to deal with a variety of challenges that will be faced.

Knowledge explores what is possible by exposing those things that are beyond its reach while simultaneously putting them within grasp if attention and creativity is applied, pushing the boundaries beyond its current limits to absorb more of the infinite, also known as the unknown.

What lies down the road will always remain uncertain until it’s reached, as the potential to evolve to another level with additional senses capable of perceiving things with different sensibilities change. In any event, the path of philosophy, religion, science and mathematics intersect at the point where attempting to understand the infinite consumes the search. Until then, “I still know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.”

The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook.

As an ancient saying goes, “when you don’t know the reason something happens and the cause remains unknown but continues to consume time, blame it on karma.” This point becomes visceral when a rapid sequence of events has occurred and every single one has gone wrong, expressing only obstacles that suggests “the fates” have somehow conspired against me, doomed to struggle, making any reasonable task seem insurmountable. A truly karmic way of looking at it, except that it’s all based on the assumption that I am important enough for “the fates” to be so focused.

Obstacles are rarely the same, testing each time just a bit differently to reinforce awareness of how they differ from past experiences, all of which doesn’t guarantee finding the right solution this time. Many expose some kind of impediment that was thought to be already resolved even though it’s easy to identify patterns that are expressed cyclically. All this does is to provoke the need to find a resolution, hoping it becomes a basis for growth, an opportunity to spiral to another level by adding intensity to new and similar situations.

Dealing with uncertainty can be overpowering, also a basis of hesitation, hoping that somehow, someway, the future will shed more light and reveal additional certainty that will result in making better choices. However waiting too long runs the risk of missed opportunities, sometimes with great regret that reinforces procrastination. Whether the effects of these actions are good or bad is largely due to how one interprets whatever happens and the behavioral patterns perpetuated as a consequence, setting the stage for future “re-actions.”

Thoughts and deeds, the basis of cause and effect, have a magnetism all their own, whatever reaction is manifested. Perspective can either clarify or obscure the distinction between the two, magnifying elements of each to a point where there is no difference. This is where the balance of intuition, instinct and experience, if trusted, can be a helpful vehicle precipitating the introspective search, but the ability to be honest with oneself to the point of pain can reliably help only as long as it is not overly embellished with self deprecation, guilt or depression, all of which generates neurosis.

Looking at a thought as an action that already exists somewhere on another level makes it possible for it to be idea-ted in the first place. Whoever thinks “it” can become the conduit and invent whatever is imagined using the tools of the physical plane to make it concrete. It’s possible for two or more people to be thinking the same idea independently at the same time in which case the credit for the invention will go to whoever creates it first.

The power of thoughts, although more subtle than actions, can be just as powerful despite the argument that they are less amenable to scientific documentation, which only supports those people that would rather deny that something invisible can have tangible effects. Although exact measurements are probably not possible, underestimation of their effects should always be a consideration before dismissing them as insignificant to warrant attention.

Fame, for example, brings attention of varying degrees, sometimes annoying when it compromises privacy, anonymity and personal space, until experience leads to the development of the ability to function while bombarded by the influx of many demands. Unless a balance is maintained, firmly grounded in self-confidence and trust, critical thoughts can have a major impact on objectivity and judgment. Some seek out drugs as a buffer from being the subject of intense focus, or as an escape from desperate boredom caused by isolation and repetitive tasks, just two of many attempts to adapt, becoming self-generating, forming the basis of more complex habits based on the direction thoughts accumulate.

“Reaping the effects of what is sown,” another way of describing karma, makes more sense as a generic formula to fit infinite events influenced by “Cosmic Law,” describing relationships between “Things,” the basis of mathematical equations, logic and religions’ doctrines. All contribute to an awareness that develops the basis of behavior.

Some people are drawn to others in ways that fulfill turbulent, often destructive relationships, exhibiting co-dependence. Others, viewing this cycle of attraction, question the behavior of those that keep getting into the same situation over and over again, a self fulfilling destiny characterized by low self-esteem and lack of confidence.

On the other hand, it is much easier to see someone else’s blind spots than it is our own, a caution to those who have a tendency to judge others by reminding us all that the reason these spots are blind to the person displaying them is because they are too close to see them. Confrontation does nothing but increase denial and runs the risk of lost trust. Lasting insights tend to come best from realizing things on one’s own, not being told them by someone else.

Patterns in nature, when connected to individual behavior and perception, can lead to predictions based on some kind of order that initial appearances didn’t reveal. A different structure not previously seen, or one that has changed. Whatever the case, observation becomes acute when it’s possible to sense what was once thought invisible, connecting cosmic principles to things that correspond to the mundane world. The instant it all makes sense, it simply all makes sense, without complication or controversy regardless of paradoxical appearances.

Fundamental change in the cause and effect relationship is the refinement of karma starting with a conscious attempt to alter thoughts opening up the possibility of different solutions previously unseen that filters into actions with a more deliberate direction. Awareness will sharpen with increased sensitivity to what one does and thinks, but responsibility also increases, until the wheel of karma is broken, leading to another existence less influenced by tangents, perhaps on another wheel expressing a different type of karma.