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In a previous blathe (would_it_make_a_difference), while delving into the realm of the hypothetical..the main question posed was:
"If our purpose in this existence were to witness the universe, without unnecessarily affecting its course, how well have we done so far?"
Let's take a look around the room and see what we see, ok? If there is ANYTHING natural, unprocessed, unspoiled and in its universe-created state, list it in your mind. Count them. I have in this room, a skylight with a view of the sky. And I'd like to say, me..but I'm not unprocessed,(or in my universe-created state. What's up with this dental work?) That's it. Everything else I see is made by humans. I'm currently not witnessing much of ANYTHING that the universe made, unless I choose to stare up at the grey sky through the skylight.
And I could walk out to the living room and stare through a window. I'd see mostly houses, a shed or two, some cars and then there are trees, squirrels, birds, groundhogs, possums. Here and there. On and off. But my mind hasn't been conditioned that way. I can't see myself staring out a window for 3 hours waiting for a possum to come by. We have a houseplant or three. But are those unprocessed? Is that how the universe made them? In pots..to be watered, re-potted or die?
But let's try another experiment. Do you have a loved one around? Pets count. Go look at a picture of them. Now look at them. Is it the same? Go get video and try the same experiment. Is it the same? Now, and not to bum anyone out..imagine how that experiment works when it's a loved one who's passed on? Is the photo the same? The video? Is picking at our memories the same as experiencing the living event, as they transpired before our very eyes?
Once, I bought a telescope and looked up to find Saturn there. Now, I grew up with science. I was especially into nature studies, computers, robots and SPACE (part of my nature studies), so I had seen plenty of the best pictures available of Saturn at the time. Closeups from flybys. The rings in detail. I didn't expect to be at all impressed by the fuzzy yellow blob I was going to see through a 4.5" Newtonian telescope. Man..was I wrong.
It is practically IMPOSSIBLE to describe how, looking at even just a blob, with its barely discernible rings, took my breath away, because it FELT different than looking at a photo. I didn't expect that..at all. It wasn't even in the corner of my mind, until I looked through that lens and witnessed it for myself. (It's occurred to me that perhaps I HAD experienced this phenomenon EVERY time I meet someone, but that perhaps there are so many other layers of conditioning and emotion attached to the event, that the subtle exhilaration of witnessing is drowned out.)
Or perhaps, this post is still all just a hypothetical exercise, and I was hallucinating that night. (Like when we dropped acid and started pondering the age of the star light that was entering our eyes.)
So how well would we be doing our "hypothetical" job, of witnessing without interfering..if that's our purpose?
If all we see around us are mostly manufactured objects and human creations, how much actual witnessing are we doing? And if we're not witnessing, then what exactly are we doing?
Thanks for reading.
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