If it's true ... that what F. Scott Fitzgerald said (and no - he's not the guy in the picture: that guy's just some guy who looks puzzled - which is thematic to this blog; I think) - in that, “The ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function, is the sign of an intelligent person" ... well then, pop the bubbly baby, because news flash, I must be one relatively smart dude. (Oohh: I knew it! If only those persnickety SATs would've known that as well - I'm talking Harvard man! But I digest.)
So you ask: What are you getting at Scott? Well, here's what I'm getting at. If you've been playing along with my last umpteen blogs, you'll know that I've been on a bit of a "brain bender" - in that I've been harping on the importance of using our brains, and embracing/promoting all of those brainiac words/actions like thoughtfulness, mindfulness, smarts, intelligence, thinking, no-duhs, etc, etc, etc..
But now, I beg to differ with myself. (Well, maybe not differ entirely, but certainly challenge that 24/7/365 brain game. )
Here's what happened. I just finished the best-selling book, "The Power of NOW; A guide to Spiritual Enlightenment" by Eckart Tolle. Believe it or not (and frankly, I struggle with the believe it part), this book has sold over 2 million copies, and my guess is - helped propel the bottled water industry, as it was as bone-dry as the Sahara - in August. And while it may have parched my thirst, it quenched my assumption of always thinking mind-over-matter.
You see, according to Tolle, "the brain/mind" is our problem. It's what messes us up, and inhibits our ability to be the best that we can be. To be one with the universe. To "Being."
To paraphrase Tolle: not only are we NOT our mind, but our mind is the obstacle to enlightenment (aka: to Being). To be in harmony, and to really see/experience/feel/be - we need to disengage the brain; set it aside; leave it alone; put it in time-out.
Now, for those into and capable of meditation (yea, I try, but that darn brain gets in the way) - you get it, and know what this "Being" stuff is all about. Its about achieving "consciousness" which comes from being basically, unconscious. But hark ye meditators who think (proverbially speaking, of course) that me don't get it - I do now. And at the risk of coming off as some new age, hoity toity, Mensa intellectual, wheat-grass slurping, ummmm to the world, meditative expert - which I clearly am not - I get it too, now, and more so, agree.
Hence - my ability, and declaration - to beg to differ with my over thinking self.
Yea, the brain is good. Thinking is good. Smart is good. Mindfulness is good.
At the same time - it's good to put the brain away, and just let the body be.
In other words: I think, AND, I don't think - therefor I am.
By doing both ... thinking, and not thinking ... we're better at "being."
Being is Good.
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