First off, I did not wake up this morning with the intention of taking hallucinogens. It was happenstance that brought me to my vacation as I'm going to call it. It was nice. Very mellow and relaxing. Right people, right place, right time for once in my life lol. I will admit I was a bit nervous.
It has been over a year since my last trip. Back then I knew what to expect. I knew what toys lay in the toy box, i.e. thoughts, perceptions, hallucinations, etc., But when faced with the knowledge I have come to know in recent time, I was born again tripping in a matter of speaking. I feared that I would come to have ill feelings about society, people, morality, behavior, and a plethora of other matters that personally concern me since my body has been filled with an enormous amount of new information and translates things quite differently then before.
No you did not read the sentence wrong, I consider my body(vessel) to be separate from my awareness/consciousness(Mind). You'll find this truth when you let go enough of what you think you know and just become an observer.
Yeah, yeah hogwash. If you haven't been there it's hard to explain with out sounding like you've flown to the moon one too many times in your backyard spaceship, but to those who have the experience, it is common knowledge. Best visual I can give you to represent this is what I call Operation. Some people call it other things but I find this to be the easiest way to explain.
Now, In order for you to get what i am saying you are going to have to follow the figurative comparisons of the body(vessel) as a machine [which I might add, is indeed a machine, a very complex system comprised of many different organs(parts), each with its own task, working in symbiotic correlation with other organs(parts) with differing tasks, to create a functioning body(vessel)[Machine] Whole that serves a function to its operator], In this case the basic function of the Human body(vessel),is to survive, adapt, and reproduce in whatever environment its exposed to.
Now here's where it gets to something familiar. Subject A: the human body(vessel), Lets call it Chris(for ambiguity purposes). Subject B: your average automobile, Lets call it a Truck. Both subjects are machines as described above, but lets get more specific.
Chris (A) Truck(B)
Subject A: has Hands and feet. Subject B has wheels and tires.
Subject A: bones and muscles Subject B: Frame and suspension
Subject A: stomach Subject B: gas tank.
Subject A metabolic processes(combination of organs used to break down fuel and convert it into usable energy.
Subject B: the engine/ drive train and its components.
Subject A: Intestines etc. Subject B: Exhaust system.
Subject A: Brain Subject B's: Computer
If you are still with me and understand the functions of each component and the relationship it has with each other and its importance to creating a functioning Whole then we are on the right track. But here comes the bombshell. Neither "Machine" will run without an operator. It needs external input to know which function to perform. Trucks don't drive themselves do they? It is a tool for transportation with the inherent need of someone to input commands to a desired outcome as is the body(vessel). The trucks computer cannot do this nor can the human brain. It can autonomously regulate the functions of the system, but it does so with preprogrammed commands to oversee those functions, but the operator can override the preprogrammed command by holding your breathe until you pass out or decide to breathe again, all the while your brain and body scream for you to breathe. The brain works on logic and preprogrammed command and its purpose is to manage your bodily system to survive, which is contrary to what the operator is making it do at that time. When the operator decides its time to breathe again, the system regulates itself and again runs autonomously.
Proof of this lies in thought.The instant you notice a thought, you have observed an action in the brain thereby separating the two from each other(Operator and Brain). For example, All of the sudden you get a thought, "I'm hungry". Well that is your stomach sending signals to the brain with the intent of translating those signals to be read by the operator in order to give instruction back to the brain to feed yourself. The act of feeding yourself is conscious action with purpose guided by the operator through the brain that manages the nervous system. As an Operator, you decide how to deal with the thought and act in accordance with your psychological conditioning, the brain just supplies the data and delegates the signals from the Operator to the necessary parts of the body involved in the process of feeding yourself. If this weren't true you would have to consciously remind your heart to beat and to breathe making It impossible to function. A little more morbid comparison but I think a good one being a dead human body with no damage done to its vital organs. Its still a functional machine, but the operator has left the post so to speak. Say they reanimate the body but the brain has suffered damage. The tool is now broken but awareness is clearly present. Say he can speak and says, I want to move my arm but I can't. Well that sector of the brain has been damaged and no longer responds to the operators commands. He is aware of this but unless the damaged tool, i.e the brain, is fixed it, it will not function no matter how hard he "hits the switchboard".
Which brings me to my next part of the trip. After thinking about this for some time, I noticed a tree swaying in the breeze and I asked myself," Do trees every get tired of standing?" I thought about this for a while, stared at the tree, listening to the creaks and moans of the fiber rubbing inside the trunk and it hit me. This tree is alive. Duh right.
So I keep staring. I know I am watching this tree, I am aware of it. Then I think, Well when the sun moves the leaves will follow the sun to catch as many rays as it can to maximize photosynthesis. If something were to damage the tree, It will repair the wound. When the seasons change, It prepares itself for the coming hardship/bounty. Is this not awareness? Is this not some form of intelligence? The tree actually KNOWS! This blew my mind. How can this be? A tree has no higher functioning brain as most animals do. So what is operating this tree? Where is this awareness coming from? What kind of intelligence is this? Are there different levels of awareness or consciousness?. It was then I realized it must know that I am there. It would have to. If it is aware of itself and its surrounding, surely it knows I am staring at it. How could it not?
It has a purpose. Its a tree. It has formed a perfect symbiotic relationship with the environment its grown in. It converts Co2 into O2, which we all know animals breathe. It provides food and shelter to the animals that live nearby. It takes from the earth only the nutrients it needs to grow, then replaces them every fall by the decaying of its leaves. It reproduces, and in some cases forming adaptations to use other animals as taxis for the seeds. Its perfection.Which leads me to again question...Whats operating this tree and why has it fit in so well in its environment. How did this tree get it right? What has made this tree so intelligent? It does exactly what it needs to do to preserve itself, its offspring and the environment and the creatures it shares it with. In that sense, Is this tree smarter than we? What about this tree has allowed it to be perfect and almost, dare I say considerate? And the ending question to which I cannot answer is What do we as humans lack or have abundance of that keeps us from the ultimate logical intelligence this tree exhibited to me today.
And so ends my trip, as it usually does, with many many questions. Finding the answers should prove to be fruitful...pun intended
|