If only these things were simple.
I’ve been sitting here contemplating the ideas of good and bad and I must say the vastness of it is blowing my mind.
Obviously, good cannot survive without bad (although I suppose nothing could survive without an equal opposite). There are always negative qualities to even the most practical or beautiful things in life.
When I first started thinking about good and bad, it started with behavior, emotions, and the like. It quickly (within a matter of seconds) branched off into evertything I’ve ever known to be true: people, trees, cars, et al. I can’t even begin to compile a fathomable list because I’m really talking about everything.
Imagine a large sheet of ice that stretches over the horizon. All you see is white. White to your left, to your right, straight ahead, as far as the eye can see. You take a small step forward to continue to explore the expanse and a small crack appears. Without even applying more pressure the crack spreads into a longer, larger crack. The tiny crack you’ve created starts shooting out ahead and off to the sides, forking off here and there and then here again. What felt like 20 minutes going by was actually just a millisecond.
This is what happened to my brain at approximately 7:13 pm yesterday evening outside of Safeway; hence the mind blowing.
Why can’t we find a balance between good and bad? Or is it just me that can’t seem to find contentment in life? It can’t just be me.
Talk amongst yourselves. My glacial brain needs repairing.
This reminds me of a day I had in college. I was walking back from philosophy class. I more than likely was sleep deprived and after contemplating many philosophical theories I felt as though I was in a seen in a scene in the movie The Matrix where the world just rippled in front of me and I had as Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) said in Pulp Fiction a “moment of clarity”.
Yet was it all really clear to me? Feel fortunate that you had this experience. Most people don’t “think”. Have you concluded anything since?
Comment by Eric Brown — February 22, 2007 @ 12:12 pm
I haven’t necessarily come to any conclusions, which would be nice.
But I was reading about Yin and Yang, and it basically pinpointed exactly what I was thinking.
I’m considering looking into Taoism.. just to expand my mind.
Comment by annie lou — February 22, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
In college we were required to read Tao Te Ching
. It’s short, cheap and very good.
I have also been reading about Buddhism and found this free PDF on the essentials
Comment by Eric Brown — February 22, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
Awesome! Thanks! I read part of one of the Dalai Lama’s books, it was interesting.
I enjoy pulling aspects from various religions that relate to me or that I believe in and applying them to my own life. Sort of like sewing my own religion quilt
Comment by annie lou — February 22, 2007 @ 1:15 pm