Hmmmmm
Forgive me if I get off topic....many ideas have come up while I've read your responses...

I feel I have to put in my Westcoast, hippie, psychoactive substance taker perspective.

Part of what is missing is the concept of magic.I don't mean card trick magic either--call it soul, spirit, the "force"...

Naturally, we have this tendancy to want to nail down our understanding of the way things work.
We like to define the concept of time in linear terms, define the function of the brain as "firing neurons".

In doing so we take a complex event and make it "simple" by defining it with language and scientific theory.

I see it as soooo much more than that..

But it requires a mental shift..an ability to look outside normal conventions.

I like your example of meditation.When you really get into a deep meditation, your experience of time is altered greatly.What seems like an eternity, can only be minutes(by the clock). Your physical boundaries become expanded, the relationship between the brain and the body changes.Even your relationship with the "universe"; the energy of nature, the connection to the collective human existence--it can all be manipulated!

Phew--am I losing any of you yet?

So--having said that I approach it from a "student" perspective.I try not to define it, but rather focus on the potential. If I open up my consciouness to such a degree--will I enter a whole new level of understanding?One that can not be explained by mere words?

There is a lot of this type of discussion occuring in the circles of people using psychoactives to explore these ideas.Yeah--its a big word for drugs--but its not done with an idea of getting wasted, but rather to use certains substances as tools to unlock new doors of perception....Its been done by the Shamans and seers throughout history. It can also be done by the meditators and monks, but heck I'm too lazy for that route.

Regardless of the path you choose--I think you discover truths that are larger than what can be defined.Everyday terms of reference can't represent it.And I'm ok with that.

The question "what are we" becomes less of a frustration, and more of a gift--a beautiful challenge to figure out.

Ooooh I've been reading too much Zen.....

I'm gonna zip off to lunch now, but I wanted to just put in my .02 cents....

Shim




If you're happy with nothin', you'll be so very happy with me -----Ben Harper