What is it that we
really want? …. more of reality … or less? For what the mind actually
grasps and makes use of, the concepts of infinity and eternity are less than the finite reality out of
which these concepts were derived.
Why is it that the more essential facts underpinning our
lives are “boring”? Without a brave
orientation, those facts which do not relieve the mind of this reality trigger
reflexes which propel thought away and
into distractions of a “More” that is actually so
simplistic it is closer to being infinitely
less. Being sold on a singular claim
ticket for a box with all the items in the world is not the same – in number,
quality, and type -- as owning a real box of tools and prizes.
There is a difference between a word and what the word
designates, just as there is a difference between a stimulus-response circuit,
and what the conditioning attaches itself to. If you want to dodge the labor
required by your own reality, then let philosophy and religion sell you a grand
claim ticket for “Everything.” Be conscious
only of the cognitive response but not of the unexamined stimuli, thus surrendering your mind and life to unconscious reflexes.
Don’t worry, the unexamined machinery will take care of you, converting the
randomness in your life through concept juggling in the memory. In exchange for
an intelligent understanding of your own reality, you will have a guided tour
down the ancient corridors of surviving ignorance.
But if you love your life,
love it enough to examine its machinery. Own
your reality and labor over your own cultivation. To Socrates’ prodding, “The
unexamined life is not worth living” … we must add, “The unexamined life is not
really lived at all.”