That Old Devil Moon

The fortunes of us that are moon's men doth ebb and flow like the sea.

Shakespeare
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One of the most important scientific events of the 20th Century was the discovery of the subconscious mind. Though what it is and how it works are still being argued it is undeniable that the research and understanding of something influencing us that is hidden from immediate conscious view has been a great help for doctors attempting to cure mental and emotional problems, and the resourcefulness of doctors and others to utilize what is known to carefully affect cures.

I did a season of summer stock in a theatre on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Summer stock is difficult work. It's very busy and takes a lot of activity all day, every day. To prepare and perform a play a week demands intense concentration and discipline. In contrast to that there was a young man who came to the beach every morning, when it wasn't raining, with a quart of beer. He would sit down, stick the bottle in the sand and stare out at the ocean. Every now and then he would take a sip of beer, but otherwise he just sat and stared. At midday he would get up and go somewhere, presumably to have lunch, and then return with a fresh bottle of beer and sit staring at the ocean until the evening.

He never spoke to anyone and was never seen in any company. I was told he was a composer. Well, maybe he wrote music at night but his day was spent in a beer fueled contemplation of the ocean. I called him a "solatic," a solitary individual who was the opposite of a lunatic.

A lunatic is someone who is wildly manic, but whose insanity is supposedly affected by the phases of the moon. The term dates back to the 14th Century. I once knew a mystic philosopher who opined that since there was liquid in the body and the moon influenced the tides there was no reason why it couldn't do the same to us. Though it may not drive us crazy, he thought, it should have some result.

The human mind to me is like a combination of a well kept garden, a beautiful forest and a jungle. I enjoy reading books and articles on psychology: Freud, Jung, Adler, Laing and others. The study of psychology itself is a trek through the jungles. The unusual flowers and plant life, the strange and dangerous beasts, the unexpected and hidden beauties of nature are all to be found under the surface of our conscious mentality.

We all experience the phenomena of thoughts popping into our heads from nowhere. Strange and unfamiliar images and ideas occur to us and we don't know where they come from. We have also learned that similar things happen unconsciously. While we can discard the conscious thoughts as being not what we really think or want to think and thus avoid any effect on our activities and behavior, or at least we can choose to do so. But what if we are influenced by appearances out of the jungle that we are unaware of and hence unprepared for? That's where reason and a clear sense of morality come to our aid. We need to know who we are, what we believe and how we allow ourselves to behave.

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "Socrates established a permanent state of daylight against all dark desire - the daylight of reason." It's one of the reasons I enjoy reading philosophers. Great philosophers, like great playwrights, and great novelists are psychologists.

I was playing a scene with a young actor in which his character had a fit. I stood watching it. We were in rehearsal and in the note session the director wanted to know what I was doing during the fit and I said I was trying to figure out what his tactic was. The actor said there was no tactic and that "Sometimes a cigar is only a cigar." I said a cigar is always just a cigar but on the stage it means something and that there must be a tactic even if the character himself doesn't know what it is. The actor was impressed. He had just learned something about himself, acting and the workings of the human mind.

Reason is the human mechanism for keeping our sanity. A lunatic is one who loses it at certain moments. There was nothing apparently manic about the solatic on the beach, but, quite the opposite, a picture of a man who was unable to do anything but stare at the ocean as the tides rolled in and out.

Fortunately we have reason to protect us from the jungle creatures, to safely accompany us as we walk through the forest of imagination and to keep our fortunes from ebbing and flowing like the sea.

DB - The Vagabond
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AUTUMN QUESTION

(This is not a contest.)

At what event of the past do you wish you could be present? Why?

Only 8 responses so far. Let's go, let's go.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.
DB
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Dig We Must

The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think.

Edwin Schlossberg
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Anyone who is looking for quick and easy answers to the paradox of life is in for a shock. Look to a favorite book to tell you what to think and you're looking for trouble. Among the philosophers that I enjoy reading are Nietzsche, Hegel and Heidegger. Those are men with strong opinions strongly and clearly stated. What's difficult is following the thinking processes that brought them to their opinions. Nietzsche stated that the purpose of philosophy is not to tell you what to think but to get youto think for yourself. A good philosophy teacher would point out the observations, logic and finger posts of a philosophers thought and ask if there is a fault line running through it. He would ask if you agree or disagree, and if so, in either case, why?

It isn't necessary for everyone in the world to be a philosopher or even a reader of philosophy as I am (a nutcase if there ever was one). But it is necessary for people to think. I've written about this topic so often that I'm bored with it, as you also probably are. I have a quote here someplace that I might use someday which says that the reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.

The sad thing is that there is no result of honest applied thought available on most of our TV and radio programs, from news reporters, politicians and preachers, tal;k show hosts. No one is entertained by mindfulness.

Great music is a glamorized experience of original deep thinking. Listen carefully and find your way through Debussy's La Mer, You can't do it on one hearing. Only a genius can do that.

Why is thinking like digging in the back yard? Because you might be surprised at what you find there. Carefully study Da Vinci's Last Supper. Forget for a time it's religious significations and look through it with an open mind. Can you find the knife?

Read any Shakespearian play. The story, the characters and Shakespeare's own amazing intellect are so completely bound harmoniously together that it is easy to miss the profound wisdom as it flashes by.

My life changed considerably one day when I discovered that not only was I opinionated but that there was so little thought that supported my opinions. Facts are one thing, ideas are something else. Most people want to just deal in facts and leave the ideas alone. "Just the facts, ma'am." They want to know the what and the how but not the why.

The amazing thing is that there is an infinitetude of ideas, music, poetry, art, inventions, systems, philosophies, programs and solutions still existing in the mind waiting to be discovered. Writers write to lead us, through the inadequacy of words, to the places where those discoveries can be made. A good writer provides the back yard and the shovel.

DB - The Vagabond
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SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?

3 responses so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.
DB
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Famed Formula 6/28/09

Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written in the tablets of history.

James Forude
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Welcome to my world.
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So what is the moral law? It has been stated by many writers, speakers and philosophers over the years in many different ways. Very simply put it comes down to this: Humility in the presence of deity. Respect for others. Honesty with oneself.

If it's so simple why is it so damn difficult to understand and practice? When I first started to read philosophy, a subject which covers every aspect and experience of human life, it was the study of Ethics that attracted me. I wanted to reduce ethical thinking to a very simple statement, something I could mentally digest and use as a rule of life, such as "My freedom to punch you in the nose ends at the point where your nose begins." But the more I read the more I realized how complicated the subject is. Different circumstances require different actions. But every action or reaction should be directly related to a basic rule of behavior.

Humility in the presence of deity. One does not have to be a theist to understand that rule. The mistake we often make is to imagine that somehow we are greater then the sum of the parts. If we really understood and could utilize the vast intelligence that operates the universe there would be no need for science. Almost any scientist and thinker will admit to being amazed at the discoveries still to be made in every area of investigation into the workings of the natural world. With an infinite, unmeasured universe in front of us, how can we not be humble, even given our abilities to discover. If you are pleased with the idea of relating those discoveries to the process of understanding more about God, then good for you.

Respect for others. This poses an interesting question. Does everyone deserve our respect? I have a former friend in California for whom I no longer have any respect. I initially respected him very much, in fact I looked up to him for many years. My loss of respect for him is solely related to his treatment of me, but there are many things about him that project a sterling character. The lesson I learned is that I put my respect where it didn't belong. I trusted incorrectly, I needed to learn to respect him for who he is and not tie it to a betrayed trust.

The respect for others should also include animals and plants, even down to the lowly weed pushing its way up through the cracks in the sidewalk. Loving the weed or the skunk is not necessary, but giving it its right to be what it is is essential.

Honesty with oneself. Ah, here's the tricky one. I am reminded of two famous quotes. "This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man," wrote the amazingly intelligent Shakespeare. While Abraham Lincoln said: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." How often do we fool ourselves? Some of the time? Or all of the time? Why is it so important to stop fooling ourselves and how do we go about it?

I think understanding ourselves, which is no small enterprise, is a combination of all three moral codes: humility in the presence of deity, respect for others and honesty with oneself. Immanuel Kant taught that one of the most important reasons for philosophy is an investigation of what the human being is capable of becoming. Thomas Hobbes wrote at length about our ethical responsibilities and relationships to other people and the society in which we live. And Friedrich Nietzsche dismissed doxological thinking for an investigation and realization of the indwelling intuitive and instinctual abilities of humans.

Yesterday I wrote about the supposedly 85% of the brain we don't use, and yesterday's Vagabond Jotting asks if the soul is something living inside the flesh. If you look at yourself squarely in the face when you approach a mirror and ask "Who am I?" be still, and let the intuitive portion of your mind, the 85%, answer. When the honest answer comes and is the real revelation of a creature that is part of the infinite universe, with an invisible nature, a soul, outside the flesh, indissolubly linked to light, space and all other creatures, and capable of becoming at one with great goodness, then you are alive. in every way.

If you reach that goal, or even approach it, "thou canst not them be false to any man" including yourself.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
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Have a nice sunny Summer Sunday
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Weekend Puzzle

_ H _ / _ T E /N _ _ _ _ E _ N S / _ _ T H / _ _ S E _ H _ N E /

( _ H E N /_ _ N _ _ _ _ T E/ _ _ S / _ _ _ _ ) ?

Ask me for a letter, fill it in and voila, you have a song title.

We have two winners.

C'est l'amour. Bon chance.