★This Short Life

Billions of people. How many people have lived and died? I don’t know. I guess I could look up an estimate, but, the point is that lots of people have lived and died. You and I will live and die. Most of you know who John Wayne was, but, ask a kid today who John Wayne was and chances are as good as not that they have never heard of him. Now, out of all those people who have lived and died, how many did you know? Not many. Percentage wise it would be a very low number. Is there something we can take from this? Maybe. And maybe it is something worthwhile. It seems to me that it is worthwhile to realize how short this life is and not only how short, but, also – in the grand scheme – how meaningless it is. Not to each of us individually, but, in a very short time your entire existence will not even be a memory. You won’t be here. Maybe you will leave behind some bones for a while. Maybe some of your dna will continue on in some other being, but, the reality is that we are but insignificant blips of consciousness – at least with respect to this earth, our country, our society. If we can dwell on the reality of that for a moment we realize that it is a freeing sort of thing to know. Here is why: because it can help us see illusions for what they are. We can hold in our hands the reality that the “meaning” of our lives is in the pursuit of and the living with the things that truly matter to us – not the pursuit of what some outside force tells us we want. Pursuing what YOU want is not selfish – it is the only road to meaning.

It is late so pardon my rambling. I’ll click my heels and sally forth anyway. We can look at what is real and what is unreal, if we want, in a reverse sort of way. The things we normally think of a “material” are really immaterial and the things that we think of as immaterial can be considered as real. It is the immaterial that transcends our “real” life, and it is the material that fades. When we pursue a thing – wealth, fame, nice car – the actual thing we are going for is an idea. The physical and short lived material thing is just a representation of that eternal idea. Love is what is real. Happiness is what is real. Perhaps we are part of the eternal and our real bodies are no different, in the end, than a rock. When we go about getting the things we want in this world, we are connecting with the eternal idea of what we really want. I know, I’m sounding kind of out there, but, just wanted to write these thoughts out somewhere. It is plausible that we, you and me, are not in the end just a pile of bones, but, we are a part of the idea itself. Part of the ideas. Part of the immaterial. And maybe our short “life” is the illusion.

˚needs/desires fulfilled  

Posted on 11/10/2015.

really enjoyed the sharing of these thoughts. Thank you SRWE(:

In response to Smart_Routines_With_Enthusiasm’s post:

If I understand you, most of us go about our insignificant lives, seeking meaningful lives. And true meaningful lives are accomplished by connecting with Eternal ideas such as happiness, love, etc. not material things of this world. So our short lives are significant in that we are part of the Eternal. Further, our short “life” is an illusion, and immaterial, because we are Eternal or Spiritual beings.

Am I close to understanding you? Or way off track? Community, what do you think?

Yes, that is what I was saying. I don’t know if it is how it actually work, but, it may be how it works. For example: wealth is not an end in itself, it is a means to an idea. Or ideas. We can substitute other words/things for “wealth”, all those substitutions are means to an idea/feeling. We should use the material things to get to the meaning, but, not confuse the thing with what we really want.

I think what I was really getting at is that I, you and me, identify ourselves with our “name” or “this body”, but, those things are meaningless in the end. Even for the famous among us. There is a futility in putting too much importance on our short life. If we recognize how insignificant we are it can be freeing. Don’t “worry” about your legacy or being remembered, just go for what matters to you. Even if your name is occasionally spoken ten thousand years from now, that is still but a blip. George Washington, Aristotle, etc., it is not the materiality of those men that matters, it is the immateriality of those men that mattered. Even those great names, in time, will be lost, but, not the ideas. The ideas are eternal. The love we share with others is what matters. As long as we are working on the things that really matter, the tools we are using don’t. Some tools are better than others, depending, of course, on what we mean by “tools”, but, I think you know what I am getting at.

More rambling: Working on the things close at hand expands our reach. Things out of reach come within reach when we work on the things already within reach. Our sphere of influence and our comfort zone begins from within our comfort zone, but, at its boundaries. Love, acceptance, etc. – the things that come after our basic needs of food/shelter – are expanded at the boundary. Whatever it is I am trying to gain through my music, for example, is gained at the boundary of what I know and work with. If I just keep playing the same chord changes, I’m working with stuff within my reach, but, not at the boundaries of what I know. To expand my reach and get more of the real thing I am after through my music, I have to work at the boundaries. A new set of guitar strings may help, maybe a certain effect pedal or some other “thing”, but, underneath that new “thing” is growth in my understanding. That intangible thing is the thing we grow when we work at the edges. I think sometimes our boundaries are closer than we like to pretend they are. I, for example, play with the idea that I am close to my friends and family, but, if I examine those relationships, the ones within easy reach, I see that those relationships are sorely lacking from real attention and care. How can I expand my reach for more love or acceptance or anything else when I’m not tending to the garden I already have. Tend the garden you have and expand it at the edge and you’ll have a bigger and better garden. I know I’m probably just saying the same thing over and over, but, I can’t help myself. I’m rather simple most of the time.

I personally don’t think you are being simple. Rather quite profound in your thinking. You are just playing that same chord over and over again at the boundary. The chord sounds the same to you, but it is changing, progressing. You can’t see the progression, because the chord is so familiar to you and close. You might need to move away just a bit, for perspective. I would also say you are tending your garden because you are examining your relationships. Again, not simple, but rather complex and profound.

Tags: Relationships,Spirituality

Thanks Poppy. On a side note, I notice that you put tags at the end of your post. That is a great idea. When we are discussing ways to improve the side, we should have tags.