The subject of this article hinges upon the separation of the terms "brain" and "mind". The brain, while quite complex, is not the focus of this adventurous excursion, for even though it houses most of our perception it cannot be said that the "self" rests wholly in the brain. Thus, we are comparing the idea of a "self" to the term "mind". The "mind" is the part of you that makes you who you are; the inexplicable sense of "me" versus "everything else" that cannot be located by pointing to a diagram of a brain. This is the area in which your true self resides. Which brings us promptly to the point: where is the "you" in you?

Endowed with five senses, and the five ways we receive these senses, the typical being will define the limits of themselves as compared to his or her surroundings based on what we can see, smell, taste, touch, and hear. Using these senses, and what information the brain receives from these senses, helps us better understand our position in the universe. Thus, typically, a general statement can be made that because of our senses, we define who we are. But where in our senses is the "self"? The ancient Egyptians believed that the ears served the functions we now know the brain to serve. But we know that just because we hear, doesn't mean the "self" is in our ears. Nor because we see is our "self" in the eyes, nor mouth, and so on. So what does this say of our sensory organs and the brain, or "hub", which merely receives, perceives, and conceives the data fed to it by the senses? It is believed, by many, that all of these are completely void of a "self".

One accepted theory is that the data we receive from our senses and categorize with our brain isn't actually helping to define who we are, instead it actually works against us, creating a false illusion of a self amidst the torrent of things that are in the universe. It makes perfect sense, day in and day out we perform countless tasks that could be viewed as desperate attempts to confirm our "individual identity" to ourselves and to others. We talk endlessly wanting our "voice" to be heard. We crave the attention and company of others so we may feel safe in a system of "like" and "unalike", the categorizing of others as compared to you seems a vague attempt to confirm that we are unique to a certain point, but not unique enough to be the only one. Take the very act of "blogging" and such social networks as Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook. Here is the electronic means in which we can constantly remind others that we exist and we are important. (The conundrum of this very blog itself acting as one such confirmation can prove to be a real headache)

So if our "mind" or "self" is not in our brain and not in our senses, then where is it? A strange and elusive truth might be that because our body, with it's "ideas", "senses" and "feelings" is altogether void of a locatable "self" (just as the objects, people, spaces, and places around us do not house a "self"), then perhaps our self is something greater, or smaller, than our bodies and the world they inhabit. Perhaps the self that I call "me" is the same as the self you call "you" sense we, like our surroundings, are all made up of this same emptiness, or lack of self.

Calling it a mind, a self, a soul, or God, is concurrent with every civilization in history. It seems a universally accepted idea that there is something inside us that makes us different and that science cannot account for. The beautiful thing is that the universal emptiness of which I previously spoke is what makes us all different. For we only know who or what we are in relation to someone, or something else. So we name it, we believe it, we live it, and try really hard to forget that we are all the same, that we, like everything in creation, are all one.

Labels: origins, rantings, writings

It is now 1:00 AM, one day deep into the new regime. The 44th President of the United States was sworn into office early yesterday and I don’t feel any different. He was elected on the hope ticket, which is all anyone cares about now. If there is no hope, there is no country. We simply cannot survive without some glimmer of hope. And what better embodiment for that hope than a black President? Hope for change like the kind we’ve seen in the Civil Rights movement over the past forty years. He’s black! He’s white! He could be a goddamn Rottweiler for all I care, just so long as he breathes the much-needed life back into this country. America the Mighty has run on nothing but fumes for nigh ten years now, and that’s not even dipping into the fuel problems. The spirit of the people is divided and practically crushed to dust. Those old enough to remember “the good days” are too senile now to do anything to help. Most of us, the ones who matter anyway, see nothing but a dim fog up ahead. And those who look past the fog are no more at ease.

It’s not that I don’t feel we can persevere, we’ve got a good history for that. It’s more of a feeling that the countdown has begun and no one can see the clock. Like Rome before us we are at the verge of ripping ourselves apart, all our enemies will have to do is pick up what’s left, like grave-robbers pillaging the corpse of our once-great nation.

But that’s not what yesterday was about. Yesterday thousands upon thousands of American citizens, from all walks of life, gathered in the nation’s capitol to be a part of history. It wasn’t the color of his skin that drew people in, it was the magnitude of the idea his skin represents. In only a handful of generations, the black community has gone from winning their freedom, to seeing one of their own take the seat as one of the most powerful men in the world. Yesterday a one-hundred year old African American was there when President Obama was sworn in. In his lifetime, he has seen the change that comes with perseverance, and he turns his thanks to God for letting him live to see this moment. That is a power you cannot buy. That is a hope you can’t help but be a part of. The old way of thinking is becoming the new. The unmistakable idea of possibilities this country is supposed to represent seems to be on the mend. This is why black, white, yellow, and red alike gathered yesterday. This is the hope that we are so desperate for.

President Obama certainly has his work cut out for him. I feel correct in saying the very fate of our country is now resting in his hands. His actions will either inspire us to become the great nation we once were, or doom us to the realization that there is no hope, that we’ve already lost. I, like many of my generation, lacked the proper motivation to get off my ass and vote this year, a mistake I will not make again. If I did vote, would I have voted for Obama? In all honesty, I cannot say, but I’m part of “the people” and the people spoke for me…and I’m glad. I’m happy that everyone got what they wanted and I’m moved by the same power that has touched us all.
I leave the official running of business in our country in the hands of the 44th President, Barak Obama. And I myself will make an impact, in my lifetime, and do my very best to secure the blessings of liberty to myself and my posterity. Do ordain and establish this proclamation for The United States of America.


Quinn Allan
Wednesday January 21st, 2009

Labels: america, economy, politics, ravings, writings