Tuesday, May 16, 2017

no me without you.


"there is no me. i do not exist. there used to be a me, but i had it surgically removed." peter sellers.

'if a tree falls in the forest with nobody around, does it make a sound?' the real question is, of course: 'can something exist without being perceived?' i think about that a lot as i skulk around my house like a spectre in the night. do i exist since, by and large, i'm not being perceived? if nobody reads this blog, has it even been written?

the desire, the natural compulsion to be noticed is basically and ultimately a futile attempt to avoid the question, that most existential of philisophical quandaries. it drives us in so many ways: to keep friends, partners, children, dogs, cats, keep anyone close, to reassure us of our very existence. it compels us to 'make our mark', be a great success, become well-known, famous. it all comes down to a rather understandable attempt to avoid facing the possibility that we aren't really real.

in my opinion, a better question would be: 'if a tree falls in the forest and nobody's there to hear it, where the heck are they?' are we ever completely continuously and conclusively alone? or are we, as great sages, philosophers and new-age pundits have stated, actually never alone? actually not alone!? as i check the locks on the doors and peer under my bed, i feel strangely reassured. after all, if i'm not actually alone i don't need a puppy. i guess i do exist, or not.

"as long as you think of your real self as this person you are, of course you'll be fearful of death. but, what is a person? a person is a pattern of behaviour, of a larger awareness. you know, the two-year old dies before the three-year-old shows up. the three-year-old dies before the teenager shows up." deepak chopra.

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