krept
02-17-2005, 02:21 PM
Two monks were watching a flag flapping in the wind.
One said to the other, "The flag is moving."
The other replied, "The wind is moving."
Huineng overheard this. He said, "Not the flag, not the wind; mind is moving."
Although I believe zen koans are left best to speak for themselves, this one serves as a good example related to being lost in thought. Two monks were observing phenomena, living in the present moment. When they analyzed the event, they argued about its nature and thus became separated from the present moment.
At any given time, we are bombarded by stimuli from each of our senses... we can choose to hear the whirring of the fan above the processor in our computer... can choose to read these words... smell the odor of food or dust... feel the fabric of our clothes against our skin. When we attune to one of those, the others naturally are ignored for the most part but we are still aware of the phenomena in the present moment.
I believe the reason for this is that as children, we were overwhelmed by the constant barrage of the different phenomenas from all of our senses. To adapt, our mind had to focus and choose which sense to pay attention to. Without this ability, the world was a sea of chaos... or was it? ;)
Nonetheless, at one point thinking comes into play. When we think, something odd happens. It is like all of the senses are still working, yet they are not being processed by our consciousness. To me, we become unaware of phenomenas in the present moment the more we stop to think about them.
Having said that, the collective "we" I refer to are people in general. Those who are more like the warrior type... who carry weapons and know martial arts or who simply use the color coded awareness system (red, yellow, green, white, etc.) are on a slightly different level.
In deconstructing the wall that was built during infancy that causes us to focus on one sense at a time, I feel our awareness expands accordingly. I feel that examining the concept of being 'lost in thought' is worthwhile and has real life implications.
koans are awesome
One said to the other, "The flag is moving."
The other replied, "The wind is moving."
Huineng overheard this. He said, "Not the flag, not the wind; mind is moving."
Although I believe zen koans are left best to speak for themselves, this one serves as a good example related to being lost in thought. Two monks were observing phenomena, living in the present moment. When they analyzed the event, they argued about its nature and thus became separated from the present moment.
At any given time, we are bombarded by stimuli from each of our senses... we can choose to hear the whirring of the fan above the processor in our computer... can choose to read these words... smell the odor of food or dust... feel the fabric of our clothes against our skin. When we attune to one of those, the others naturally are ignored for the most part but we are still aware of the phenomena in the present moment.
I believe the reason for this is that as children, we were overwhelmed by the constant barrage of the different phenomenas from all of our senses. To adapt, our mind had to focus and choose which sense to pay attention to. Without this ability, the world was a sea of chaos... or was it? ;)
Nonetheless, at one point thinking comes into play. When we think, something odd happens. It is like all of the senses are still working, yet they are not being processed by our consciousness. To me, we become unaware of phenomenas in the present moment the more we stop to think about them.
Having said that, the collective "we" I refer to are people in general. Those who are more like the warrior type... who carry weapons and know martial arts or who simply use the color coded awareness system (red, yellow, green, white, etc.) are on a slightly different level.
In deconstructing the wall that was built during infancy that causes us to focus on one sense at a time, I feel our awareness expands accordingly. I feel that examining the concept of being 'lost in thought' is worthwhile and has real life implications.
koans are awesome