Re: virus: Silence

Robin Faichney (robin@faichney.demon.co.uk)
Mon, 29 Mar 1999 14:01:45 +0100

In message <v02140b25b32460d85ef0@[128.103.96.185]>, Reed Konsler <konsler@ascat.harvard.edu> writes
>The reason that I'm a little ambivalent about Buddhism (and
>the derived vision in _Island_) is that...to be honest...I don't
>believe it. I can meditate myself into a state of nothingness
>but the moment I move <I> move.

If you move, you're not meditating. But if <you> realise there is no you, then you are not moving.

>There is no Cartesian <I>
>seperate from my physical existence.

Well, there's one point on which you are in perfect agreement with Buddhism, anyway. And with Susan Blackmore (see below). (Or to accurate, we all believe there is an <I>, but no I.)

>I've spent a lot of time
>contemplating <stillness> and it isn't so attractive to <me>.

That's fine, but it is only a means to an end, remember. If <stillness> doesn't do it for you, maybe something else does?

>So, which meme should <I> favor, <Me>, <Myself>, and
><I>...a holy trinity, no? What am I offered as an alternative,
><silence>?

How about <MeMe>? :-)

>Is my meta-message breaking through here? Let me not
>be accused of being obtuse. The central meme of _Island_
>is the parable of the white lotus (or orchid?) Speaking of
>utopia, or of the clear light of understanding, in WORDS is
>futile.

Not so. Words are not the lotus, but they can help prepare the ground for it. The best words are memetic weed killers.

>The MEDIUM is the MESSAGE.

Is that a weed killer or a weed?
If it were a rose,
would it smell as sweet? :-)

>Using this forum, we each automatically accept the rules
>of phonetic language and memetic transfer. The inherent
>message of stillness can't ever be expressed, except as
>David indicated...in silence. But, as Emerson tells us,
>silence is death.

To face death is to appreciate life.

>Which is, of course, why Susan Blackmore wrote a book
>recommending that we all weed our minds and practice
>silence...so that OUR MINDS MIGHT BE BETTER
>VECTORS FOR THE MEMES IN HER HEAD.
>
>To paraphrase:
>"Would you all just be quiet! I can't hear myself think!"

Are you saying Blackmore is guilty of this? That she propagates the "there is no I" meme because she wants "her" memes to succeed? Have you really worked through the consequences of saying "there is no I"?

>Can you see it? It never ends, it escalates. It is never
>still except as preparation for the next expansion. There
>is no single clear light, there are many...each a flash
>before the darkness of the next confusion.

That's very nice, Reed. Do you believe that those who spread confusion ultimately do as much "good" as those who shed light?

>That is why a flower is such a good analogy...it's always
>unfolding.

And dying, and being reborn...

-- 
Robin