Words and symbols are magical savers of time and effort otherwise spent in pointing at things, drawing them, or dragging them around in the intellectual equivalent of barter. It is no wonder at all that words have been felt to be supernatural, and because of their astonishing power, to have greater reality and antiquity than the material universe. But this, possibly superstitious, conception has had quite remarkable consequences for the further development of consciousness. It has laid the foundations for anxiety and guilt. It has made it possible for man to compare himself as he is with himself as he should be, and to realize that the world of events falls far, far short of the rationality, simplicity, orderliness and intelligibility of the world of words.~ Alan Watts in Beyond Theology: The Art of Godmanship ~
It's interesting how the human mind continuously confuses the various fingers pointing at moons to be the moons themselves. We too often treat words like love, hate, compassion, freedom, heaven, democracy, etc., as if solely the word itself is the tangible thing we're talking about. It's nothing more than a symbol or an abbreviation for a concept that defies words.
Words, we can say, represent a double-edged sword. On the one hand, words allow us the ability to exchange ideas and make complicated formulations. Words are the breeze that lifts our sails through the water and aid us in getting from point A to point B and beyond.
At the same time, words confine us -- they hold us as virtual hostages. We begin to think that we must put every feeling, every sensation, every sense of knowing into words or else these feelings, sensations and knowing-ness are useless.
But language belies true knowledge. Most of us understand this intuitively, but we continue to flail at trying to find the right words and phrases to express it. But when we try to express it -- both externally AND internally -- we cheat it of its very essential nature.
And by writing what I'm writing right now, I'm doing it too. So, I'll stop.
Words, we can say, represent a double-edged sword. On the one hand, words allow us the ability to exchange ideas and make complicated formulations. Words are the breeze that lifts our sails through the water and aid us in getting from point A to point B and beyond.
At the same time, words confine us -- they hold us as virtual hostages. We begin to think that we must put every feeling, every sensation, every sense of knowing into words or else these feelings, sensations and knowing-ness are useless.
But language belies true knowledge. Most of us understand this intuitively, but we continue to flail at trying to find the right words and phrases to express it. But when we try to express it -- both externally AND internally -- we cheat it of its very essential nature.
And by writing what I'm writing right now, I'm doing it too. So, I'll stop.
The words we use is a part of our character armor.
ReplyDeleteThe words (as well as the body) are like traps or obstacles between us and our own consciousness. I don't know but I use to think everything would be better if we could communicate by telepathy or something, like sensing others feelings before capture them in biased concepts.
ReplyDeleteRick,
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting perspective. I'll have to "think" on that a bit. I'm not saying I disagree -- I've simply never thought about it that way before.
Sojourner,
Another interesting perspective.
I went to checkout your blog. Was going to leave a comment, but it looks like you haven't enabled comments. So, re your post "Unspoken agreement", I just wanted to say that I think a lot of us felt the same way when we were young.
lol i like what you've written here. i think you've said it all. :)
ReplyDeletebut in order to accept this, humankind would have to agree that there are some things you just can't express to another human being. and i don't think most people will want to admit to that.
I don't know if I agree with your assertion or not. I think most people realize that the expression of love -- what we feel in our innermost being -- can't be adequately conveyed to the object of our affection. We can say words, sing songs, write poetry or create great works of art, but none of them do justice to the depths of the feelings felt.
ReplyDeleteThe Flower Sermon
ReplyDeleteThe lotus flower, the species of flower said to have been used during the Flower Sermon.
The origins of Zen Buddhism are ascribed to the Flower Sermon, the earliest source for which comes from the 14th century.[1] It is said that Gautama Buddha gathered his disciples one day for a dharma talk. When they gathered together, the Buddha was completely silent and some speculated that perhaps the Buddha was tired or ill. The Buddha silently held up a flower and several of his disciples tried to interpret what this meant, though none of them were correct. One of the Buddha's disciples, Mahākāśyapa, silently gazed at the flower and is said to have gained a special insight directly from the Buddha's mind, beyond words. Mahākāśyapa somehow understood the true inexpressible meaning of the flower, smiled and the Buddha then acknowledged Mahākāśyapa's insight by saying the following:
I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.[1]
Thus, through Zen there developed a way which concentrated on direct experience rather than on rational creeds or revealed scriptures. Wisdom was passed, not through words, but through a lineage of one-to-one direct transmission of thought from teacher to student. It is commonly taught that such lineage continued all the way from the Buddha's time to the present. Historically, this claim is disputed, due to lack of evidence to support it.