Jim posted: > Hey Curtis-- its been a fun one, and I cannot resist responding to > your statement above: in terms of mastery of consciousness over > matter, it is far easier to prove-- close your eyes, and plug your > ears. You are suddenly in a vast black void-- no objects sensed > except perhaps air and gravity-- you could be on the moon suddenly, > or surfing an asteroid (with oxygen) in outer space, and yet your > mind convinces you that you are standing here on earth. That to me > is mind over matter.
In philosophy circles, this is known as the "I have my eyes closed and my ears plugged...I can't HEAR you, I can't SEE you, therefore you don't exist" theory. When it is proposed by an adult, it is usually followed by the same gales of laughter that would follow it when proposed by a petulant four-year-old. In Eastern spir- itual traditions, it has a more formal name, Tantrum Yoga. I proposed my serious "take" on this whole discussion earlier, and no one picked up on it. I honestly believe that the whole issue is one of semantics -- Jim does not know the difference between the word "perceive" and the word "create." What happens when he practices Tantrum Yoga and closes his eyes and plugs his ears is that he has affected his *perception* of the world. He has not affected its exis- tence in any way. That he can't understand this is a matter of some amazement to me. Jim seems to honestly believe that when he *perceives* the world, he is *creating* it. I say that he is perceiv- ing it. The world does not really go away when he closes his eyes and plugs his ears. It only goes away *for him*. I have *no problem* with each of us *perceiving* the world differently, and that therefore *for us* (for *each* of us) we could as easily be living in different universes. We can affect our perception of the world in many ways -- meditation is one, drugs are another, various techniques of Tantra or magic present more ways, and I guess that if you are Jim, closing your eyes and plugging your ears and saying, "I can't HEAR you, I can't SEE you" is another. Jim not seeing or hearing the world does not make the world cease to exist, merely his perception of it. The world is not affected one whit by his perception of it or by his non-perception of it. He does not "create" the world when he perceives it, and he doesn't make it "go away" when he practices Tantrum Yoga and ceases to per- ceive it. The world is still there, just as it will be when Jim closes his eyes and plugs his ears one last time, and dies. The issue here is Jim's use of the word "create." It is inappropriate for his relationship to the universe. He is a participant in the universe, not the creator of it. Jim no more "creates" the world than his absence will destroy it when he dies. What he does with the world is perceive it. When he dies the world will continue to exist without him, and other perceivers in that world will continue to perceive. And the world will continue to exist whether his consciousness and ability to per- ceive is "elsewhere," still perceiving, or has snuffed out altogether. His death will affect it no more than his non-perception of it did early. Neither will my death or anyone else's here. Our perception of creation will cease or "change positions" (depending on whether you believe in an afterlife or not), but creation will still be there. We didn't create it, and our absence will not destroy it.
