NYMuse

Know Thyself

Already almost a week into this exercise of "What Would A Wise Person Do", and I still can't really figure out if it's of value or not to me.  I'm supposed to determine from direct experience if I find this to be of value.  Let the question rise, and just see what the effect is.  Put it to the test.  Well, I keep putting it to the test, but it's exhausting.  I guess I can say that it's raised my level of awareness by asking this question -- which is what I think is the main point anyway.  But the more I question, the more I question.  The more thoughts I have.  The more I reflect.  And it's an endless cycle.  Maybe being aware is not such a wise thing after all?  Or maybe it's just the beginning of truly "Knowing Thyself."

Plato said that wisdom is a virtue that is innate in all of us.  And wisdom is what ultimately allows for clarity, by illuminating and enhancing our sense of awareness.  So if all that is true, then this exercise is helping me get there: to what is simple, to being present, to recognizing what is true, to knowing myself.

Today Is A New Day!

Someone told me yesterday that today would be a new day.  That yesterday was over, and today would be a new day.  And it is.  What a wise thing to say.  I was having such a stressful day yesterday that I didn't have much time or energy to think about what a wise person would do in that situation.  Actually, I didn't really care in the moment.  All I could do was ask myself 'what the hell am I doing here?'  And I just wanted to be done with the day.  But a wise person would've realized that every day is a new day, and every day is a chance to start all over again.  A chance to start from scratch....hmmm...like baking a cake from scratch: just starting with the raw ingredients each time and aiming to create something great!  What happens along the way depends on many things, but you can always choose to start fresh and start with good intentions to have a great day.  A wise person would know that just shifting your attitude a bit is all it takes to get going down the right path to a good day. 

Today is a new day, and as little as I feel like being my positive peppy self today, I will do it anyway...because I have a choice to be the one who takes control of what my day will look like.  I'm planning my day in advance to be a good day.  Let's see how wise a decision that turns out to be....

Quiet Your Mind & Just Observe..

Why is the mind always so active?  Why doesn't it ever just shut up?  I mean even when I'm sleeping, my mind manages to stay incredibly active constantly dreaming the most insane things.  This morning I did the sitting still exercise they gave us at Philosophy Works.  I'm supposed to do it twice a day until I go back to class next week.  So, for those 2 minutes that I sat still, it was amazing to see how my mind really did quiet down completely.  With just a little effort to focus on my breath, the weight of my body in the chair, the play of air on my face & hands...it all just totally captured my attention and calmed me, calmed my mind. 

As soon as I came out of this focus, it was as if a switch was turned back on instantly, and my mind started up again at warp speed.  A list of all the things I had to do today was racing through my mind and suddenly everything was moving fast again.  I wonder if the more I practice the exercise, the more things will just slow down a bit in my mind.  I guess we shall see.

So I was on the subway yesterday (aren't I always?), and I decided I'd put the "What Would A Wise Person Do In This Situation?" phrase to the test.  I was standing in front of a woman who was seated.  I kept my eye on her, because she had all the signs of someone who was clearly about to get up at the next stop:  she was fidgety, looking toward the door as the train was pulling in to the station, slightly leaning forward from her seat about to spring forward out of it.  At the same time, she was doing something interesting with her newspaper.  Actually, it was that she didn't know what to do with her newspaper.  She took it and wedged it on the seat between her and the person sitting next to her.  Then she got up and watched it slide into the spot where she'd been sitting.  Not satisfied with where it landed, she reached for it and slid it further to the center of the seat.  She didn't like that either, and so then pushed it into the corner.  Still not happy, she finally reached for it again, this time sliding it under the seat and onto the floor below.  Done. 

I watched in silence.  "What Would A Wise Person Do In This Situation?"  A wise person, I thought, would definitely give her a dirty look.  A wise person would call her out on it, embarrass her so that she'd do the right thing and take her paper with her and throw it in the trash.  A wise person would screw with her and hand her the paper & say "I think you dropped this."  But I did none of that.  Instead, I shook my head and judged her inwardly as I watched her exit the train.  I took a seat in the now empty seat she & her paper left behind.  Then I thought to myself, a wise person might realize that this woman has many layers to her and is not only the person I just witnessed.  A wise person would see that clearly this woman was unsure & nervous about what to do with her paper: Maybe leave it on the seat so the next person could have the benefit of reading it...a nice gesture indeed.  On second thought, she may have thought the next person may not want it, and instead may just want a seat to sit in....and decision #2 came into her mind to get rid of the paper to make room.  Perhaps in her flurry of nervous thoughts to make a quick decision, thought #3 -- to trash the paper in the trash -- never had time to enter her mind.  A wise person would recognize that she went through a similar thought process before ultimately doing what appeared to be simply & completely thoughtless and rude.  A wise person would not judge this person or situation, but merely observe it all.

What Would A Wise Person Do In This Situation?

 

"What Would a Wise Person Do in This Situation?"  This is the question I'm supposed to ask myself all week, and see what "arises."  See what "awakens" I guess is probably more the point.  And now that I think about it, it'll mostly be an exercise of simply becoming aware more than anything.  It's not that I'll necessarily have an answer for what a wise person would do, but I'll be aware of my surroundings and situation so that I'll actually be present and in the moment.  Aha.  I think that's it. 

Anyway, last night was my first class of Philosophy Works.  I'd seen the posters for it in the subway for years, and I finally decided it was time to act on it.  I guess advertising really does work.  And not only for me, but for practically everyone that was there last night, because it seemed that's how everyone was led there too.  So you see, the subway has finally done something good for me.  The subway brought me to a place where I can reflect on things and maybe even become more "wise."  Actually, the subway has been doing that for me for a long time now -- always bringing me somewhere, and always giving me time alone to think about stuff, to pause in my day and really think.  Though "thinking" as we learned last night, is quite a useless activity as the mind is mostly a tyrant that just won't quiet down ever. 

And that brings us to the next exercise which is to "quiet" the mind and awaken the senses.  I'm supposed to do that twice a day for 2 minutes each time by just sitting still and observing all the senses.  Practice.  Do the work.  It always goes back to those two things everywhere in life, doesn't it?  Hmm...realizations.  So many realizations I come to daily.  But never as many as I could or should have as when I'm learning -- learning about the world and myself, reading, opening my mind, accepting new things into my thought process, exploring, discovering...that's when I come alive.  That's when the senses truly start to awaken for me.  That's when I smile and say 'this is what a wise person would do.'  [Insert smiley face here.]

 

Have You Realized Your True Potential?

 

"According to Aristotle, man's proper goal in life is to fulfill his potential,to realize his true nature or personality to the utmost and thus to attain perfection.  An individual who fails to do this will suffer discontent as a consequence of his thwarted goals;  his sense of frustration will show itself in the form of illness or unhappiness.  On the other hand, the person who has realized his potential nature will experience happiness as a concomitant of fulfillment."       

~Ideas of the Great Philosophers, pg. 34, by William S. Sahakian