Monday, December 22, 2008

Shadows of the Mind

"By understanding the Self, all this universe is known."

When confronted with the idea that the selection of this universe represents a choice, I am also confronted with all that is painful in the universe, and forced to ponder questions about the meaning of all the suffering in this world.

If my conscious experience is self-contained - that is, if I am not subject to any constraints put upon the states that I observe by other observers - then how do I explain the existence of pain and suffering (my own and that of others) in my experience? Is the suffering I see in others simply a shadow of some level of my own suffering? I do not suggest that this is an excuse to become indifferent to suffering, especially the suffering of others. Indeed, if this solipsistic vision of reality is correct, then the observation of suffering may only go away upon engaging both the internal forces that propelled me to this particular universe, and the external manifestation of suffering. Perhaps the internal forces that pushed me to a place where I am suffering or I observe suffering may only be understood and mitigated by engaging the external manifestation in attempts to alleviate the suffering.

If, however, I accept a model wherein state selection is function of multiple observers, then I wonder how it is that we have not evolved into a state where we can collectively select better outcomes... I wonder if it is possible to attain such a point in the evolution of our species, or if we will remain constrained by factors yet unknown. In either case, we cannot become indifferent to suffering simply because we view ourselves as powerless to stop it completely.

In Buddhism, suffering is considered one of the three marks of existence. It is suggested that awareness of the impermanent, codependent nature of observed reality is a means to alleviate one's own suffering, but I have a hard time believing that simple awareness on my part has a material impact on the suffering of others. Seeking to alleviate the suffering of others is consistently viewed across all major religious and mystical belief systems as being the mark of having attained the ultimate state of being/awareness...

"Having realized his own self as the Self, a person becomes selfless... This is the highest mystery."

This suggests to me that the suffering that I observe in others is indeed, in part, a shadow of my own mind. It also suggests that this type of selflessness/altruism is selfishness of a sort, for once you have opened yourself to understanding how it is that you participate in the selection of the states that you observe, you cannot escape a feeling of responsibility for what you find.