Therapies of the Human Mind [Article]

There were times when I once considered writing as a great therapeutic aid. I once considered writing a safe haven which would protect me from the troubles of the world. I was creating a world which was perfect (for me) even if it was flawed. I had no image of perfection and therefore I created an imperfect world. It helped me. It gave me the chance to explore feelings, desires and questions. When I was in despair, I found that the power of poetry and its flowing rhythm would calm my senses and wash me of my pain. When I was enraged with the world, I found that the flow of a novella would bring me joy and happiness. It gave me something I cannot explain, something that is beyond understanding.

For some people, reading is their aid. For others, meditation is the key (although I practise this concept alongside writing). For each person, there is something that aids them when nothing else works. I cannot explain it. It seems that human nature has produced something that we cannot explain but we must all be thankful for. Without the beauty of yoga, people would find themselves in stressful situations without something to fall back on. Without the power of karma, people would act without act. There are so many things in this world that we cannot explain. There are things in this world that are just so...empowering.

To say the least, this post does not have the happiest of ending. I find that writing no longer offers me that aid. It has become nothing more than a chore upon my time. Once, I had very little to do and I required something to occupy my time. Now, I have something to occupy my time. I have a social life. What does that mean for my writing? Now, I feel I am writing out of necessity. In the first few months of my 'new' life, I could handle writing because it was pleasurable. It was a relaxant. It had some effect but it seems that effect is slowly diminishing.

I do not blame the writers themselves, though I am to blame in some respects. In truth, I wish that I could do more. I find that there is no time to resolve those issues which are at the heart of my misery. There are something in this world that are inevitable. Of course, nothing is unchangeable. I do not believe that we are destined to become a certain person, live a certain life, etc. Of course, this is an entirely separate issue and I will raise it elsewhere. What I believe is that our choices affect our life but we only have particular choices. I believe in Karma.

I want to be able to impact the writing process. I want people to return to their former glories. I want people to have that choice, to have a place to write, a place to read, a place to meditate. Everything is slowly diminishing. The world is in a transition period and we are at the pinnacle of it - human beings. We have the choice, here and now, to take it in one direction or the other. That choice is ours to make. We can watch the world slide into disrepair or we can make it a better place. It is your choice.

Understanding the Nature of Thought

One of the problems that all men have is that of the concept of the conscience. We are designed, and indeed programmed, to contemplate the deep meanings of those things which have the greatest importance in our lives. We are taught, throughout our childhood, that the greatest tool man possesses is his mind, the power of the thought. In fact, it was a seventeenth century judge who declared us as being 'reasonable creatures in being'. As far as one can understand the term 'reasonable', this judge was, in fact, referring to the concept of the power of reason, to understand the difference between right and wrong. It was the power of thought that made us reasonable.

Throughout the centuries and more so in recent decades we have come to argue as to what the concept of thought is, how it is that we induce thought and stimulate thought. Are our thoughts all the same? Are our values and attitudes similar to one another, ingrained in us by societal standards? For one sociologist, this was the case. Durkheim stipulated that our thoughts and processes related to a 'collective conscience' which was expressed through a number of different functions within society. For example, our values on the sanctity of life, the value of property and so forth were dictated through a common set of values known as laws, enforced by the function of the judiciary. He argued that our values and beliefs on children and childhood were reinforced through the education system, by a commonly held system of beliefs that was shown through different functions.

According to Durkheim, this collective conscience stimulated the concept of reason and therefore allowed us to create a harmonious society that was indeed based on consensus values. Of course, this does not answer the question 'where does thought come from?', it merely postulates as to what thought is, or at least, a form of thought. For the formation of thought, we must look towards religious scripture. Indeed, the Judeo-Christian religion believes that thought, the knowledge of good and evil, comes not from ourselves but as a gift from God. It is stated in the Bible, more accurately the Old Testament, or the Torah for the Jewish, that thought was a creation of man's curiosity, a desire to be 'better' than perfection. Religious believers hold that evil thoughts come from the devil and that he is to blame for the error of our ways.

For many psychologists, and for the growing number of atheists, this is an inadequate explanation. Scientists continued to be baffled by the neuro-processes of the brain. Psychologists explain that thought is merely a phenomenon of the human body, of the brain. For the far and few who have tried to define thought, there has been little success. What do people truly believe is thought? What do you hold to be 'thought'? Do you hold religious convictions and therefore hold that thought is a gift from God? Are you an atheist and continue to seek an explanation for those small processes which make up the matter of the mind?

Dreams and their Nature [Article]

The beautiful illusion of the imagination, entwined with the conscience to bring forth a delight of ideas and places that the world no longer holds within its palm. Life and all its problems no longer exist, replaced with pleasure and happiness within the world which our mind creates, to leave us free and unburdened with the troubles of the mind, allowing us to ignore the constant processes that echo in the deepest realms of our mind. Alas, this is but one side of the coin where the other is far more sinister and cruel that one could ever imagine, a place where the darkness envelopes us with a vice-like grip and our single escape is to delve into the reality of life where the darkness could be far worse, the contrast between the darkness of life and the darkness of dreams.

Dreams, the ironic form of escapism that millions across the world are often blessed with as their conscious state falls, replaced with illusions and majestic creations that the imagination has created. Nightmares, the cold and bitter troubles that are brought forth from the deepest realms of our heart and mind, where the pain and the suffering was once thought forgotten, instead to be revived in the mind and the greatest fears within our heart are brought to life in the twisted illusion of escapism; the question is, are the nightmares an escape from life or an escape from the true pain of life?

The frightening contrast between the two, the blissful wonder of dreams and the bitter revelations of the nightmares which we cannot escape; one night, we shall awaken, feeling refreshed and relaxed as our dreams were of our greatest pleasures and another night, the darkness shall surround us and our feeble figure will awaken in a feverish state, immersed in the darkness of light as our true escape was from the twisted tales of our mind that were once forgotten. Why is it that we dream if we are to suffer chaos in the midst of sleep? Is this another cruel form of torture, burdened upon us through the will of a greater being?

I ask myself this, are we blessed to have such an imagination that can create such illusions, the bitter winds of the landscape, tainted with crimson blood, soldiers dead upon the battlefield as explosions echo in the distance. Are we blessed to bear witness to the delights of our sweet love in our dreams, the radiant glow of their face and the comfort and emotion that such a person brings to our lives. Are we, in fact, even dreaming at all?

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1.02.05

Understanding the Philosophies of Love [Article]

The nature of love is a complex and confusion principle, one that has led philosophers to consider love with great thought and thus should be considered one of the true mysteries of life itself. It is a philosophical matter that transcends a number of disciplines including that of epistemology, metaphysics, religion, human nature, politics and ethics but still the matter is often argued amongst philosophers. Love, and the nature of, often draws upon central theories of philosophy and is often compared with the philosophies of sex and gender. The philosophy of love itself has the task of present appropriate issues in a cogent manner, considering the relevant theories of human nature, desire and ethics. The matter at hand, however, remains questionable; does love have a nature?

Those that propose that love is conceptually irrational, in the meaning that it cannot be described in rational or meaningful propositions often present a metaphysical and epistemological argument which would insinuate that love is the ejection of emotions which defy rational examination. Some critics also imply the principle of language such as Papuan, which does not admit the concept of love and thus negates the possibility of philosophical examination. In English, however, the word love is broadly defined and hence imprecise, which leads to problems of definition and meaning, resolved to some extent in the reference to the Greek Terms, Eros, philia and agape.

Implying that love has a nature in itself, it should be considered that, even in Greek times, few philosophers could fixate themselves upon a definition of the term love. Plato, in his writings, defines Eros as a common desire that seeks transcendental beauty whilst is also referred to as constituting a passionate, intense desire for something, commonly defined as a sexual desire which leads to the modern notion of erotic. Aristotle, however, implied the notion that love entails a fondness and appreciation of the other, incorporating not only loyalties to friendship, but to family and one's political community, job, or discipline, commonly known as philia. To further confuse the matter amongst Greek philosophers, a final meaning was implied in the reference to the paternal love of God for man and for man for God, known in the Greek language as agape.

Accepting that love has a nature, despite the confusion between philosophers, it should be, to some extent, describable within the concepts of language. Love, to some, may be knowable and comprehensible to others, as understood in phrases such as I am in love with you' or I love you', but it still remains a mysterious concept in itself. It still remains clouded in confusion, deriving from Greek language itself to that of English language but few can define love with such a simple basis. In definition, love is not a nature that is describable except in basic language but the true meaning, both of the emotion and the nature, must be further considered to understand such concepts, including that of romantic love and the ethics of such love.

In a final consideration, the definition of love itself is confused as the ethical aspects are included. The subject raises questions as to whether it is ethically acceptable to love an object, or to love oneself or whether love, in principle, should be considered a duty. Love, to some, can be considered as an instantiation of social dominance in which the structure of language and etiquette of love is designed to empower men and disempower women. If the language and notions of love were discarded from social dominance, women too would be empowered and thus it further confuses the nature; should love be considered dominant to a single group?

Conception of Ideas [Article]

I find it quite amusing that people continue to believe that their life is the exact reality which they have shaped over numerous years, placing their greatest efforts in the prospect of success, wealth and (wo)men. I find it ironic that people continue to believe themselves absorbed in the reality which is life, only to later have the veil swept from their eyes. Their reaction? They simply grasp at the wool and pull it over their eyes once more. They cannot bear to see the reality, the reality which has been downgraded by the force and the impact of the Media upon our lives. Do you not find it distressing that there is an external reality which you are yet to see? Do you prefer to live in ignorance, your life being dictated and perpetuated by the ignorance of your own mind and the delight that is the media?

What you live in, as sociologists have coined it, is known as a hyperreality. This is the reality of images and illusions. In other words, this is the virtual reality for humans. A hyperrealty is created by the media. How, you may ask, can I prove this? Take a look around. The world is nothing but a mass of images. Images of perfection and imperfection. Images of war and peace. Images of life and death. This is the world of images and we are dictated by it. Models are dictated by the hyperreality of fashion. Intellects are dictated by the hyperreality of computers and art. There are none who escape this hyperreality. It is the inevitable fate of life yet, there is a loophole. We cannot escape the media nor can we escape the images which continue to control and dictate our lives with frightening accuracy but we can realise its true intention. We can become our own person.

We are like the lost sheep, seeking a leader in this world of chaos. We found one in the media. What were their intentions? Were these intentions good or evil? Once, they may have been good. This intention has been lost to time. Instead, the media has become a grotesque, realistic image of the devil himself, a spawn of evil that seeks only to promote the chaos of life so that they might continue their existence and bathe in the misery of the masses. This is not poetry. This is reality. War is a reality and yet it is perpetuated by the media. It is an illusion. It was not a campaign for world peace. It was a campaign for control. Why not realise this and become who you are meant to be.