69. Getting that wonderful sea-feeling

January 29, 2018 Sticky Thoughts No Comments

“We look at things and see ourselves.”

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This phrase is nonsense of course, but then again: not completely. For instance, there is more information coming from the brain to the eye than vice versa. If you look at it this way then the eye itself, nothing more than the first stage of vision, is already looking more at the brain than at the environment.

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When I’m standing at the seashore and looking out over the ocean, I’m very sensitive to an oceanic feeling. It’s very deeply ‘relaxing’. It’s an invitation of course to meditate. Mind bent to infinity. No brisk thinking meanwhile. When I do think about it, afterwards, I like to think that the sea is there as a symbol of the deeper self. That is: I see the ocean outside but I’m really looking at the ocean inside. The ocean outside is of course ‘only’ a very big puddle filled with water, some fish and oil tanker waste. But to me it’s infinity. It’s alive. It’s the ‘goddess of the sea’ dressed as the sea itself.

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This is to me the essence of a non-materialistic viewpoint.

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I don’t believe there is a ‘goddess of the sea’, even though I can go to the sea, open my ‘third eye’ if you want, and definitely see her. Still I don’t believe in her. The point here lies in the verb: ‘believe’. I can believe that it will rain tomorrow. I can believe that someone has tricked and deceived me. In this sense, I cannot believe in Yemanyun, nor in any other goddess. In another sense, I do ‘believe’ in her. I can even talk to her. I can even love her. I can feel as close to her as humanly possible.

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Non-materialism is not a philosophical viewpoint. It’s a philosopher’s viewpoint. Big difference. In fact, a philosophical viewpoint has nothing to do with it. It is much too insipid, dry and clean. No way. A human being is needed, flesh and blood and cerebral fluid and pain in the legs for sitting too long in meditation at the beach. Stupidity is needed to become visionary enough to see the sea for what it really is. A philosopher is needed, not his academic schemes. A non-materialistic viewpoint is not an idea. It’s also not just some feeling. It’s a really very deep feeling.

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It’s to me what poetry is about.

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I look at the sea and I see the sea inside me. Two oceans flow together. I’m at the center of everything. As far as I’m emotionally concerned, I’m looking directly at my deeper self. Or: I am my deeper self, looking. Just looking. Apart from being very rewarding, this is also extremely inspiring. I ‘know’ nothing but I ‘feel’… an ocean of depth.

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