The Veil of Thought (Sam Harris)

The following is a quote from Sam Harris. It’s a lesson called “The Veil of Thought,” and it’s one of many lessons about mindfulness, free will and consciousness available on his “Waking Up” app. (I’ll post more about the app, which I highly recommend, at another time.)

And now I give you…Sam Harris:

When you sit down to meditation, you will find yourself assailed by thoughts. Thoughts about what you need to do later in the day; Thoughts about the things that worry you; Thoughts about things you want, or don’t want. The moment you attempt to pay attention to your breath, or to the sound of the wind in the trees, you will meet your mind.

And your mind is the most rambling, chaotic, needling, insulting, insufferable person you will ever meet. It’s like having some maniac walk through the front door of your house and follow you from room to room, and refuse to stop talking. And this happens every day of your life.

It is possible to get him to stop talking for brief periods of time, and that can come with greater concentration in meditation. It’s possible to pay attention to the breath, for instance, and to be so focused on it that thoughts no longer arise–and this can be an extremely pleasant experience when it happens. But it’s a temporary experience.

Real relief comes when we recognize thoughts for what they are: mere appearances in consciousness. Images. Bits of language. The fact that a thought has arisen does not give it a necessary claim upon your life. It need not have any implications, psychological or otherwise. Of course, you’ll continue to think and to be moved to act by thoughts.

But meditation gives you a choice: Do you really want to follow this next thought wherever it leads?

Democritus, the laughing philosopher.

This guy had some good quotes! He was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, known as the “laughing philosopher” for encouraging people to have a cheerful outlook on life.

“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is just opinion.”

This is what my whole philosophy is all about. I think is is also called “metaphysical naturalism.”

“The needy animal knows how much it needs, but the needy man does not.”

When it doubt, look to “nature” for advice. (I put that word in quotes because, although we humans are also part of nature–technically–we tend to segregate ourselves as special and distinct.)

“Of practical wisdom these are the three fruits: to deliberate well, to speak to the point, to do what is right.”

I love maxims that read like Robocop’s Prime Directives.

“He who intends to enjoy life should not be busy about many things, and in what he does should not undertake what exceeds his natural capacity.”

This quote is the essence of Embracing Avoidance and Blissful Boredom. Say no to more things than you say yes to. Keep your days simple. You might not have a tomorrow, so why spend so much time today planning for the future that you don’t have a moment to just enjoy now? (Do you want your epitaph to read, “On his last day, John was running a bunch of errands. He sure loved errands.”)

“It is better to correct your own faults than those of another.”

Amen. If we all looked out for ourselves, tried to make ourselves the best people we can be, we’d all be better off. I think this might have been the original sentiment behind “he who is without sin” casting the first stone, but what gets misinterpreted about that particular Biblical quote is people tend to think it means that after you’ve assured yourself you’re in the clear, then you can cast all the stones you want. I think a better version of that quote would read, ‘Don’t cast stones.’

There. I fixed it.

(Democritus on Wikipedia)

 

Meditation #53: Photon Bullet, or: The Message We Send.

In an otherwise forgettable episode of SeaQuest, entitled “Photon Bullet”, young Lucas Wolenczak (Jonathan Brandis) is at an ethical crossroads and calls upon his father-figure and mentor, the inimitable Captain Nathan Bridger (Roy Scheider). Lucas asks him what to do when you know your actions are going to effect someone else’s life:

“How we effect other people is all we leave, Lucas. It’s the message we send forward into the future. I think that once you know what that message is–what you want to say–then you know how to behave. You got it?”

It’s an amazing mini-speech, and I think it’s worth spending some time contemplating.

What message do you want to send to the future?

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By the way, SeaQuest was such a good show. Sometimes it was terrible, sure, but sometimes it was great. And Capt. Bridger is, in my mind, every bit as outstanding a leader as Kirk, Picard, or Janeway.

Meditation #48: A quote from Zeno.

Well-being is attained by little and little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself. -Zeno of Citium

Meditation #43: A word to the wise…

“Half a tale is enough for a wise man.” – Scottish proverb. Maybe.

I read something online today that used this phrase in passing, and I immediately loved it. I tried to do some research to see where it originated, but I was surprised at how difficult it was to find. (Here I am using “difficult to find” in the modern parlance, meaning “Google didn’t have it on the first page of results.”)

I found several things that said “Half a tale [word] is enough for a wise man,” but I don’t know what that means. I also found several places that referenced the phrase, “A word to the wise,” and it seemed to have some relation to that. (e.g. “A word to the wise man is enough.”) But I like the phrase as I read it, so that’s what I wanted to find. For me, half this tale wasn’t enough. I wanted the whole thing.

Eventually I did find a website of old Scottish proverbs that contained the whole thing as part of a longer…thing. So, that’s what I’m going with.

Would Marcus Approve of the Five Things?

He’s clearly holding up five fingers.

Reading through Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, I came upon this little nugget [emphasis mine]:

Occupy thyself with few things, says the philosopher, if thou wouldst be tranquil.– But consider if it would not be better to say, Do what is necessary, and whatever the reason of the animal which is naturally social requires, and as it requires. For this brings not only the tranquility which comes from doing well, but also that which comes from doing few things. For the greatest part of what we say and do being unnecessary, if a man takes this away, he will have more leisure and less uneasiness. Accordingly on every occasion a man should ask himself, Is this one of the unnecessary things?Now a man should take away not only unnecessary acts, but also, unnecessary thoughts, for thus superfluous acts will not follow after.

I mean, he’s basically saying what I’ve been trying to say. That the fewer things you try to do with your time, the happier you will be. I can’t go so far as to say he’s advocating blissful boredom, because that’s not implied here at all. He’s just saying don’t spread yourself too thin.

In my own experience, pursuing too many things certainly leads to unhappiness. Sure, I might be happy in any given moment, but overall my enjoyment of life is diminished because I feel the weight of all the obligations I’ve given myself. If I commit myself to, say, building a bird house (something I’ve never done), and I go through the steps of buying the wood, finding the plans online, getting my tools out, and even cutting the pieces…but then I get distracted by other pursuits and a month later I realise I still have this bird house sitting there unfinished, that causes me great stress.

That’s why I will never build a bird house, and why I advocate The Five Things, specifically, and keeping your impulses in check, generally.