quote of the day

As a sword cannot cut itself, nor a finger touch its own tip, so mind cannot see itself.

sufi aphorism


I read this quote today and it got alex thinking about the essential duality of human nature. The simple action of thinking about yourself implies two or a duality. The "two" being the thinker and the one being thought of. If you are essentially two then who is the true self? If you can observe yourself thinking and make judgments about yourself then who is the self? I guess this can lead you into the issue of pure being or pure experience that is free from thought and judgment. When I was sixteen I read the entire Upanishads and started meditating and was able to get into a place where there was no duality and no thought. most people laugh at this and think that it is impossible to have "no thought" because if you are thinking of nothing you are actually thinking of something. Through deep meditation you can get into a space of pure light where there is nothing except being. You cannot explain to someone how to ride a bike as riding a bike requires experiential knowledge you cannot impart with words. The old cliche about the sound of one hand clapping struck me one day as so simple and profound--The sound of one hand clapping is the sound of one hand clapping and nothing more. It is nothing else than what it is.