In a post today by Mr. Methodic over at A New Shade of Black, he writes,
One of the magnificent aspects of nature is that it can effortlessly illustrate to any of us that we are not the center of the universe. Try standing alone on a windswept beach; the vastness of the waves pounding the surf would make even a ten foot giant feel small. Walk through a green forest; the wide variety of flora and fauna makes the human species appear microscopic. Look up at the sky on a clear summer's night; the earth becomes lost in the light show. Heck, study the blades of grass in your front yard; there are thousands of them compared to you.
So, on a rational level, it's not difficult at all to understand that each being -- including ourselves -- represents one grain of sand on the beach of life or one raindrop in the deluge of existence.
But in our world -- the one we see and experience through our minds and senses -- we dwarf the picture. Every thought and every sensation begins and ends with this concept called me. We are front and center. We are, in essence, the gods of our own unique universe.
So, we lead lives that are dualistic. We are insignificantly tiny, on the one hand, and the size of great mountains, on the other. It is only in meditation, prayer or deep contemplation that the veil between these two worlds can be lifted...but only for a scant few moments.
It was at this moment I truly realized that Earth is just another planet swinging silently in space. Yes, I knew that already and so do most people, it is just that the true reality hit. The planet is very insignificant in the face of the universe, although this is the only place that we are aware of sentient life. Our solar system is nothing in the vastness that our best technology is capable of viewing. Earth is just a planet and I now see it as just a planet.For me, his observation represents the difference between our intellectual and intuitive selves. One side fully comprehends how each of us is mathematically insignificant, yet in the other, we appear larger than life itself.
One of the magnificent aspects of nature is that it can effortlessly illustrate to any of us that we are not the center of the universe. Try standing alone on a windswept beach; the vastness of the waves pounding the surf would make even a ten foot giant feel small. Walk through a green forest; the wide variety of flora and fauna makes the human species appear microscopic. Look up at the sky on a clear summer's night; the earth becomes lost in the light show. Heck, study the blades of grass in your front yard; there are thousands of them compared to you.
So, on a rational level, it's not difficult at all to understand that each being -- including ourselves -- represents one grain of sand on the beach of life or one raindrop in the deluge of existence.
But in our world -- the one we see and experience through our minds and senses -- we dwarf the picture. Every thought and every sensation begins and ends with this concept called me. We are front and center. We are, in essence, the gods of our own unique universe.
So, we lead lives that are dualistic. We are insignificantly tiny, on the one hand, and the size of great mountains, on the other. It is only in meditation, prayer or deep contemplation that the veil between these two worlds can be lifted...but only for a scant few moments.
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