Altered states - higher planes

Our daily lives become routine; day in, day out, another week, month, year - the seasons pass, we grow older. But are we wiser? Are we growing in understanding? Living should all be about learning - always. Across all our endeavours. And yet, to quote Bruce Springsteen: "Some guys they just give up living/And start dying little by little, piece by piece" - we can see them all around us, the folks flopped out onto their couches to watch the football or the serials. Neither curious, not observing, not so much alive as existing.

Ultimately, we live to grow to unfold along with the Universe. There is Purpose. Our knowledge, understanding, wisdom are their own rewards, and this is what we should pursue. Sometimes pushing those boundaries takes away our peace of mind - we find new things that trouble us - and yet we must persist. Pushing beyond the comfort zone is the only way to grow.

I feel that the routine is about to grab hold of me and hold me down - and I must fight that feeling. Part of the routine is positive - the habits that help create a healthy mind in a healthy body. But there has to be a purpose for that healthy mind. It must constantly strive to reach ever higher levels of understanding. The negatives of routine need to be kept in mind. Repetition; going round and round in circles rather than rising in a spiral. You get round to that same point where you've already been - but feel you're no higher.

Part of my own problem is that I'm easily distracted - I must have done six or seven things, passed different thoughts through my head on different subjects - rather than Getting On With It and writing this post to the end. I should be writing this, not scrolling down Twitter or continuing to watch a YouTube film I started watching last night. Breadth vs. depth; generalist vs specialist. For me, I feel the depth and specialism will come with time, with age, hence my focus on staying healthy for as long as possible. Understanding is its own reward, but it takes - ooh, I've become distracted - I'm hungry - it's time for a sandwich.

Inability to focus on one task for any length of time means that I take longer to do them than otherwise - but then along the way, plenty of unintended influences pop up to make the journey more interesting (I note the obituary of Edward de Bono in last week's issue of The Economist - a champion of lateral thinking). 

Lateral thinking is one thing, but lifting the thinking to a higher - to the meta-level - is what's needed.

We all need to be able to transcend the here-and-now of Zoom meetings, mobile phones, credit-card balances, weather forecasts and breakfasts that set in.

Meditation makes sense here. Much scientific research has gone into the benefits that can be derived from meditating. These are said to include a state of relaxed awareness, stress relief, greater creativity and efficiency, as well as physiological benefits such as reduced risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.

It's not easy though. Last night I went to bed very early (around 22:00), dropped off quickly, then woke around 01:30, jotted down dreams (as usual), then went back to bed with the intention of meditating. But I couldn't focus! My mind was everywhere - not racing because of caffeine, just - scatty. This thought led to that thought - then onto another, then another... and then I fell asleep. Apparently, mantras help. Going 'om' all day long might work. I could always fork out $960 for a Transcendental Meditation course to learn the magic mantra. The answer is out there, I just have to look a bit harder.

We are biological beings, yet we must strive to rise up, rise above our mere biology and seek that higher state of mind.

Reaching those altered states - not out of boredom - but as part of a quest for understanding and wisdom, is a worthwhile goal. I've written before about alcohol - one should not drink 'empty units', but use alcohol as an accompaniment for social interactions, or to trigger more intense experiences, opening new pathways to creativity when you feel it may help. But never drink for the sake of intoxication.

In this context, meditation interests me - a natural way of losing the ego and rising above the day-to-day concerns of life, reaching a higher level of understanding.

This time five years ago:
Radom line modernisation, Czachówek

This time 11 years ago:
Ćwilin, conquered

This time 12 years ago:
Sunset across the tracks, Nowa Iwiczna

This time 13 years ago:
The storm the forecasters missed

This time 14 years ago:
Peacocks in the Park