"You Live in the Past" 80 milliseconds

[Sydney]

A bit about the physical reality of how we experience the present moment.

[Jundo]

Hi Syd,

Very interesting. Something all drivers may know is that the brain is actually aware of the surrounding scene (for example, a child running into the street after a ball) and starts to hit the brakes before we become aware of it consciously. (Hopefully even though the rest of the brain is still fooling with the cell phone and radio! ) In fact, your brain will often reach a decision long before you are aware of the decision being made!

http://exploringthemind.com/the-mind/brain-scans-can-reveal-your-decisions-7-seconds-before-you-decide

Oh, this barely scratches the surface of how our perception of reality is fundamentally a "virtual reality" created from the sense impressions processed by the mind ... categorized, assigned names and borders, judged, interpreted, filed away into memory and all the rest. You see a chair here? It is as clear as clear can be ... a chair, furniture, something to sit in.



Now, however, try to imagine for a second how a slug or bird would perceive such thing if crawling or perched on it. Imagine a space alien with a body that does not have legs that "sit" as we do, perhaps with different interpretations of color and border. Would they even see the item as more than a meaningless shape? Certainly, they would not perceive a chair much other than as a random pile of sticks or lump of naked matter fit for perching or crawling, maybe like these cubist chairs when viewed by us ...





Now continue the process, slowly removing each of our senses, and ways of categorizing and appraising the world. How about to someone who knows the world only by touch and sound and taste, as in the "dark" restaurant that Daizan visited (http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...8259#post98259). The deconstruction goes on and one. So many thiings in our life ... our joys, our problems among them ... we think of as being "there", and as real and solid as a chair, when such may be in "the eye of the beholder" much more than we know. This is Basic Buddhism 101 really.

Gassho, J

[Myozan Kodo]

Syd, Jundo,
Great stuff!

But listen to me. I have the truth! An elephant is an animal that is long and tubular ... like a snake. When will people relaize finally that I am right?

Gassho
Myozan

[MyoHo]

Nono, you are quite wrong my dear Myozan! An elephant is long and thin, with something hairy as it's head. Much like a smelly broom. I'm sure that is the truth!



Gassho

Enkyo

[flybat3]

I'll have to share this with my husband. Its really thought provoking.

[polarbear]

Everyone blames everything on lag!