“There exists a panoply of minds from time immemorial who have indicated a better and wiser comprehension, which anyone, scientist or not, can verify. Only such comprehension for verification demands a certain investment –say– that Perceptronium or other energetic entity as valid, if not more so, a venture wherein most humans, entrenched in present professions they are loathe to quit, are equally loathe to invest.”
Sādhaka Mātra
Are we a subset of the community of people Sādhaka Mātra refers to as “entrenched in present professions they are loathe to quit, are equally loathe to invest”?
The notion of “mental block” has tickled my mind for a year or so now.
IMO it is somewhat analogous to the notion of beginners mind …
The idea behind this notion of “beginners’ mind” is that we take all of the things we know–all of our brilliant opinions, all of our reason and logic, even our cherished beliefs–and we put all this stuff on the shelf for awhile. Beginner’s mind is simply recognizing that this wonderful intellectual thinking mind that we all have may, at certain times, block things off from our view.
OTH … the notion of mental block may well be a survival mechanism. Perhaps our “vast library of patterns” would be more easily shattered if we too readily internalized concepts that are diametrically opposite to our lifetime beliefs … leading to madness. The nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty as an illustration of the second law of thermodynamics.
Dan … reminds me of some counsel St Francis of Assisi apparently gave his early followers … “Preach the Gospel where ever you go … even using words … if necessary”.
I wish I could say I don’t care if other people can relate to my thoughts/perceptions … I do … kinda reinforces my humanity eh!
When I read Sādhaka Mātra’s words … “wherein most humans, entrenched in present professions they are loathe to quit, are equally loathe to invest.” … cut me to the quick!
I am Roman Catholic … for a long long time the dogma, doctrine and rituals of the RC religion was my “profession” … and I was loathe to quit. Over time, I became increasingly uncomfortable inside the ‘box’ of the RC religion … the pressure increased until one day … like a pressure cooker … my inner self exploded.
After reeling from the shock for some time I came to perceive the blessing disguised as a crisis … only outside the RC ‘box’ could my perceptions continue to evolve.
Once again some Chinese notion helped me recover. The Chinese characters (pictographs) for the English words ‘crisis’ and ‘opportunity’ contain the same pictograph. Some people take this to mean one cannot have a crisis without some opportunity lurking in the shadow. Unfortunately, during a crisis, most people are too focused on the pain caused by the crisis to look for an opportunity.
A Western expression that seems to hint at the same phenomenon is “don’t waste a good crisis”