Introducing Limits of an Infinite Self
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 by the BCth
Welcome!
This blog is a project that's been lying dormant in the back of my mind for some time. I've often wished I could share my thoughts with people in a structured manner like this, as I feel so deficient at expressing them in person. ;/ I'm determined, though, to not bite off more than I can chew here, so against my perfectionist tendencies, I am keeping my expectations low, at least to start.
Those of you who know me personally (probably 98% of you at this point) know I am rather an oddball type in some ways. I keep a lot of secrets. It's not intentional, just a consequence of the way things are. Part of my inspiration for blogging is the deep-rooted desire to be better understood by the people in my life - egoic, yes, but valid just the same. I've also had a very vivid, compelling dream which strongly pointed me toward taking this course of action.
One reason for my seemingly secretive manner in person is that the thoughts in my head, to a large extent, simply don't fit the parameters of conventional, mundane conversation. The fact is, I have never been satisfied with just the conventional and the mundane. I have rather sought to discern the deeper meaning in things. Questioned the established order. Tried to pull back the curtain to see the hidden workings of reality. And in the past year, especially, this drive to seek knowledge has catapulted my understanding of how the universe works and why we're here to the point where it's no longer enough to just learn. Now I feel I must also diligently share - and apply - in parallel with the learning.
We are all teachers, whether we know it or not. :)
This blog is a project that's been lying dormant in the back of my mind for some time. I've often wished I could share my thoughts with people in a structured manner like this, as I feel so deficient at expressing them in person. ;/ I'm determined, though, to not bite off more than I can chew here, so against my perfectionist tendencies, I am keeping my expectations low, at least to start.
Those of you who know me personally (probably 98% of you at this point) know I am rather an oddball type in some ways. I keep a lot of secrets. It's not intentional, just a consequence of the way things are. Part of my inspiration for blogging is the deep-rooted desire to be better understood by the people in my life - egoic, yes, but valid just the same. I've also had a very vivid, compelling dream which strongly pointed me toward taking this course of action.
One reason for my seemingly secretive manner in person is that the thoughts in my head, to a large extent, simply don't fit the parameters of conventional, mundane conversation. The fact is, I have never been satisfied with just the conventional and the mundane. I have rather sought to discern the deeper meaning in things. Questioned the established order. Tried to pull back the curtain to see the hidden workings of reality. And in the past year, especially, this drive to seek knowledge has catapulted my understanding of how the universe works and why we're here to the point where it's no longer enough to just learn. Now I feel I must also diligently share - and apply - in parallel with the learning.
We are all teachers, whether we know it or not. :)
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"Limits of an Infinite Self." I chose this title because it pretty much sums up the situation as I see it: I'm an infinite self experiencing limitations.
Also, as the Tao-inspired tagline suggests ("the I that can be named - is not the true I"), "limits" also refers to the quandaric nature of language. To understand something with the rational mind, we must name it - that is, we must reduce it to a set of symbols. The essence of the thing itself, however, simply is. The symbols we use are only tools for our mind to process the idea of the thing - they are not to be confused with the thing itself. Anything we might say about the thing is less than the truth, a distortion or a fragment of it. This quandary is of negligible consequence in everyday life - thank goodness! - but becomes less trivial when we are dealing with issues of "Truth" (with or without the capital T [mmm... tea...]). And that's not a bad thing, it's just something to be aware of. :) Because this blog is going to deal with stuff under that category a lot.
Hah hah. That's funny. 'Cause I don't have the slightest idea of what "Truth" is. ;)
Back to the infinite self, under its gazillion apparent limitations. The infinite self is the ultimate essence, ungraspable by any stretch of human understanding. I am a distortion and a fragment of it, and so are you, and you, and you. All of us. Which is why, when we really look, we see the reflection of ourselves in others. It's all consciousness experiencing itself under the illusion of separation.
What these seeming limits do, then, is to allow for a universe that is infinitely more interesting and diverse than just plain ol' timeless oneness. God made the universe because he was bored. :P And so, long story short, here I am, little old me wearing this meat suit on planet Earth. And boy, do I have limits!
Well, I'm here to test those limits. See if I can't bust a few while I'm here. Sure, I've probably got some ridiculously ambitious life plan all laid out in advance, but I'll be darned if I know what it is. Besides, as they say, the best laid plans of mice.... So I'm just going to try to do what I've got to do, go where the rabbit hole leads, and not cop out too much. Lord knows I've mastered that skill in this life. XD
That's about as much introduction as she wrote, so I'll leave good enough alone and start rolling some thoughts together for the next entry. (Maybe I'll get some sleep, too, if I'm really lucky.)
P.S. Don't forget to subscribe! The link's at the bottom.
Also, as the Tao-inspired tagline suggests ("the I that can be named - is not the true I"), "limits" also refers to the quandaric nature of language. To understand something with the rational mind, we must name it - that is, we must reduce it to a set of symbols. The essence of the thing itself, however, simply is. The symbols we use are only tools for our mind to process the idea of the thing - they are not to be confused with the thing itself. Anything we might say about the thing is less than the truth, a distortion or a fragment of it. This quandary is of negligible consequence in everyday life - thank goodness! - but becomes less trivial when we are dealing with issues of "Truth" (with or without the capital T [mmm... tea...]). And that's not a bad thing, it's just something to be aware of. :) Because this blog is going to deal with stuff under that category a lot.
Hah hah. That's funny. 'Cause I don't have the slightest idea of what "Truth" is. ;)
Back to the infinite self, under its gazillion apparent limitations. The infinite self is the ultimate essence, ungraspable by any stretch of human understanding. I am a distortion and a fragment of it, and so are you, and you, and you. All of us. Which is why, when we really look, we see the reflection of ourselves in others. It's all consciousness experiencing itself under the illusion of separation.
What these seeming limits do, then, is to allow for a universe that is infinitely more interesting and diverse than just plain ol' timeless oneness. God made the universe because he was bored. :P And so, long story short, here I am, little old me wearing this meat suit on planet Earth. And boy, do I have limits!
Well, I'm here to test those limits. See if I can't bust a few while I'm here. Sure, I've probably got some ridiculously ambitious life plan all laid out in advance, but I'll be darned if I know what it is. Besides, as they say, the best laid plans of mice.... So I'm just going to try to do what I've got to do, go where the rabbit hole leads, and not cop out too much. Lord knows I've mastered that skill in this life. XD
That's about as much introduction as she wrote, so I'll leave good enough alone and start rolling some thoughts together for the next entry. (Maybe I'll get some sleep, too, if I'm really lucky.)
P.S. Don't forget to subscribe! The link's at the bottom.
