Detached . . . Attached
Are we bodies, minds, or something more? A pair of parallel articles.
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About a quarter of a century ago, someone asked me the difference,
and rather than think about the question, (or why I was being asked), I wrote the following.
Detached . . . Attached You must realize You must realize where you are where you are in you. in you.
Most of the You aren't your
sensory inputs you have body or any of its
are situated in your head sensory organs
(tongue, nose, eyes, ears) or internal organs
which makes sense, because you use them.
because where all Lose an eye and
these inputs are registered where are you?
is in the brain, Lose all five senses
and if you have and where are you?
only a short distance to go, Stop thinking
the less problem and where are you?
with garbled information Your thoughts,
and cut circuitry like your eyes,
you will have. are tools you use.
"Where are you" If you try to
"Right here." think yourself
The body in which to that point
you presently reside, it will be like
you usually mean. swimming up a waterfall...
because your thoughts
emanate from that point.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Science says
I was somewhere else." a nerve-synapse takes
How? In your head? a certain amount of time,
You can't go anywhere, some fraction of a second.
but there are times... How many nerve synapses
where are you when are there to a thought?
you're dreaming or asleep? How long does it take?
Time.
Usually, in a dream,
your sensory inputs You're at least that
are less detailed, time and distance away
but you don't stop from the point you are.
to think about Time and space prevent
how "unreal" it was your touching your self.
until you "wake up." But this delay is hardly
Well, WAKE UP!... preventing you from living.
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Oh, you're not dreaming? Living goes on
How do you know? even if that SELF
When I dream, of which you are aware
and when I realize ceases to be
it was a dream, aware of itself.
I wake up.
The animal processes of
Oh, you're not dreaming? Living go on
How do you know? even if that SELF
When I dream, of which you are aware
and when I realize ceases to be
it was a dream, aware of itself.
I wake up. The animal processes of
Dreaming is another seeing, sensing,
state of consciousness reacting, surviving,
that you play around in and propagation
while your body rests. are continued.
Wakefulness is the Any bush or cow
state of consciousness does that much.
utilizing the Mind is what?
"rational" levels Even plants seem to react
of your mind. to violent intent.
When dreaming, There are levels
you're detached where the border between
from your body. living and non-living
You aren't using seem to dissolve.
your normal senses, Where all this leaves us,
but sometimes as an existent
sound and feeling, and experiential
and sometimes light, physical being,
from the "real" world is a set of
will cross electrical, chemical,
into your dreams. and mechanical reactions
which can be reproduced
in a well-equipped laboratory.
But wakefulness:
is it any more real This makes
than a dream? every physical thing
How real is something you sense or do,
you see in a dream including your thoughts,
while you're dreaming? inextricably bound to
Perhaps as valid and real the physical plane.
as what you see
around you right now.
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But if you accept
But you don't use your eyes that that SELF is not
to see that dream world. your senses
If light and senses or body or thoughts,
and thoughts of this where can you possibly be?
state of consciousness Either self-awareness
are affecting your is just thoughts,
dream-consciousness, and natural animal nature
how much does is all there is,
your dreaming world and this page is a
affect this one? useless diversion from
Which of these reacting, surviving,
are you living in, propagating,
really? or self-awareness,
If they affect each other that self-aware point
constantly, is something
we are living in both outside space and time
states of awareness which therefore
all the time. sets man free
It's just more of one of his mortal animal nature,
and less of the other (or rather gives him
depending on the freedom to be free of it)
how you're attuned. and makes him a human being.
Ever been deep in thought
and fall into a dream?
Now, if you are not
your body, or your senses,
Now, what if or your thoughts,
there are other or your emotions,
states of consciousness... or your desires,
just that close, if you aren't any of that,
just that real, what good are you,
all the time? and what are you up to?