French philosopher Rene Descartes famously remarked that, "I think therefore I am". But he might as well have said, "I feel therefore I am". Thinking is no closer than feeling is to being.
Or better, he could have simply said "I am", though that would have seemed less logical. However, it is possible to build upon the "I am" statement, without restricting ourselves to the valley of thought.
As Ken Wilber has observed, having noticed that "I am" one can notice that as well as an "I" that is being noticed, there is a noticer who is - well - doing the noticing, and now, hey presto, we have the "subjective self" and the "objective self".
However, we can go further in a particularly interesting direction. Better than "I think therefore I am" or "I feel therefore I am" is "I feel therefore we are". To adapt the saying "beliefs divide, values unite", we have "thoughts divide, feelings unite" or even the mind analyzes, the heart encompasses.
Better still, would be to notice that there is "one that is" and one that is "noticing that there is one that is", even if the latter turns out to be part of the former.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
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I love this philosophy."I feel therefore we are"
ReplyDeleteI wish this would be taught at schools from an early age. Yogic philosophy could be the way forward to evolve as human beings. God bless you all. Keep up the good work of discovering the depths and heights of this unique "spiritual being experience in a human form"(Yogi Bhajan) We are One.