Awareness of Contrast
69
Being Aware
Virtue - Vision - Breath - Progress - Belief
We KNOW only by contrast.
What exists which we do not know, we take for granted
What may or may not exist, we do not KNOW for certain, so we frequently invent.
Our progress. When it's consistent, we are not concerned. When we meet a "brick wall" hindering our forward movement, we become quite concerned.
Our breath. So long as it is automatic, we give it no mind. When contrasted with shortness of breath, we struggle for and value easy breathing.
Our vision - In both our physical and mental ability to "see", so long as our eyes receive images, we give it no mind. Let us see nothing, we are lost and we value vision. So long as our mental images tumble over each other effortlessly, we simply record them effortlessly. But when we face "mental block", we know the value of mental sight and insight.
Our virtue - When we simply instinctively know to behave well, we give it no mind. If we become ensnared by temptation or rebellion, possibly giving in to it, we begin to value the ease of simply doing the right thing we've effortlessly enjoyed. If we lose that, it may be a long road back to the ease of trusting oourselves again.
Our Belief- When we are yet unawakened, we do simply trust. Upon the stirring of our curiosity and potential doubt and quest for acceptable answers which are not forthcoming in sync with what we sense or wish them to be, we may begin to theorize and to invent or to adopt more "pat" answers, either pro or con, in order to bridge our gaps in knowledge and our need to satisfy our urge to know.
The Contrasts
Let's explore. How do we perceive anything? Color, music, aroma, texture, sweetness?
We realize that in a black and white world, we wouldn't miss the color spectrum, the rainbow, the parade of colorful images on the various screens of our lives.
Without awareness, we would not be able to become touched by a Brahms Lullaby, nor coulld we be borne away to ecstasy by Chanel #5 or a garden of roses in a soundless, touch less world.
The experience of a baby's softness would go unnoticed if we hadn't also experienced the feel of burlap or of clinging to a rocky surface while scaling a mountain.
We would be content with bread and water had we never eaten Italian Cream Cake or Godiva's Chocolate.
Yes, - but now, so far, our exploration is incomplete.
These things we've considered are merely the physical contrasts or lacks thereof.
But what about the emotional, mental and spiritual awareness?
Don't we also "know" what is or is not quality, excellence and goodness by having experienced or been exposed to tackiness, sub-average and ugliness?
Consider teasing vs. serious? Recognizing the differences often depends on awareness based upon informed exposure to both.
Possibly nothing seems more embarrassing than to laugh at a truly serious revelation or to take a well-meaning "poke" too seriously. There are surely countless examples of the need for experience and applied awareness in everyday occurrences, but you get the idea.
Shall we examine some of those?
Does all this mean that we should seek out a contrast? But wow could we if we were unaware there was such a thing?
Should we try to ignore a contrast? If we're already aware of it, how could we erase that awareness? Why would we want to?
Does being aware of both "sides" of mean that we should shun and hate the "negative" contrasting the "positive". How could we, since they are flip-sides of each other? Should we set about to never "sin" and always be virtuous? How can we, in that they are joined inseparably?
So what about the typical vision of heaven as a place with no tears, no sickness, no negatives? Begins to sound like the description of unconsciousness or coma! One might almost surmise that the creative-force HAD to create contrast in order to be self-aware!
Certainly we know about that. Self-awareness starts early.
The first thing a newborn baby does is yell! The contrast of the new environment is so distressing, so scary! Would the dear little thing rather return to the womb and hide from the shock of contrast? How could it, with its little body so quickly outgrowing that snuggly environment?
The new human being MUST learn to appreciate the challenge, the excitement and the joy of the strange new place with its comfort/distress, its warmth/cold, its fullness/hunger, its movement/stillness, its smiling faces/frowns, its stimulation/boredom, its new experiences/old familiarity . . . and all the many growing contrasts which define LIFE.
LIFE will be its awareness for as long as LIFE lasts!
So what IS the contrast or opposite of LIFE? -Unconsciousness? Suspended Animation?, Death?, "Nirvana"?, Heaven?, Nothingness?, "Hell"? - - - WHAT?
Do we KNOW? Does anyone among us, as humans, KNOW this?
Does anyone really know for certain what it is to KNOW?
Not to worry. There will be no quiz!!
However, your thoughts and ideas will be welcome! Please pause to comment!
- Block Y Headquarters Ranch House
The original ranch house at the Headquarters Block Y Ranch
- http://nellieanna.com/nell-rnchshwr.jpg
- nellieanna in outdoor shower @ ranch - age 14
no indoor plumbing in those days. My brother built the shower near the willow tree.
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It's not beyond the realm of possibility, kowality. But then, nothing really is beyond it.
If we believe in an omnipotent creator, then infinite possibility certainly seems to "go-with" that belief.
If not that belief, then if we think that what is known here in this realm (or think we know) is 'real' & happened spontaneously, then surely anything's possible, as well!
It almost seems rhetorical.
To me, what IS, whether I know or comprehend it, still IS, with or without my claim or belief in it, even if what IS - is not! (I know - it stunned me when I first thought of it!)
If 'illusion' as we think of it should be what IT IS, whatever it consists of - or if "nothing" - still IS what IT is & it has to be OK. Not like there would be a choice, huh?
It seems to me that since most of us would agree that it is good to experience THIS reality which we now experience, why wouldn't it be good to experience whatever is to come? Would be nice to consciously experience it - but perhaps this consciouness we know of is a mere preview of what fully knowing would be.
Thanks so much for the thoughtful comments which stir more thought here. Your always-welcome visit to my hubs is much appreciated.
Even contrasts are a matter of perception, don't you think? How I perceive something may differ hugely from the way another person will see or experience the same thing. Each to his own experience...and may he enjoy the process of discovery! :)
Oh yes, FP - that's so true of anything subjective - which, at the onset, going in,- everything one experiences is.
So - as you point out - it's possible that what seems a contrast to one person might seem more related & akin to another. However - in a way - that's my point too, that contrasts ARE actually the front and backside of the same things or ideas. The "heads" and "tails" of the coin, so to speak. Still, though, however one views the things someone else may view differently, the premise that it is in cntrasts that one does see that one becomes aware of things would still be applicable, don't you think?
Without knowing what darkeness is, we wouldn't be aware of light as light. it would just be how things are, rather than a specific experience we recognize in its own right.
I'm so glad you brought up that point! Because there are so many degrees and shades of meaning of a thing. They are seldom so clear cut as black & white. When we get into the gray areas or the checkered, striped or polka-dotted, they blend together more. So, yes - depending on different perspectives, yes - of course - each person's is experienced somewhat differently. A very valuable aspect of what we're considering here.
Really good point! Thanks! And thanks for reading my hub so thoughtfully, too!
I, of course, am just a poor peasant from Cyprus and this high level thinking is beyond me, but I thought that I would declare that I passed by in an effort to be educated.
In my humble opinion, just as we do not remember a previous life, the probability is that there is no OTHER life once we die. We live in a beautiful world. Let's enjoy it now. Let's enjoy what we have now without expecting anything else to provide something better down the road. Down a road which just might be ending in a chasm of nothingness…
Questioning everything is good, but sometimes too much questioning is self defeating and becomes an end in itself.
Thank you, DG, dear friend, for passing by and for your valuable comments. Everything you say is quite valid, though there is no either/or involved as it might suggest.
Pondering imponderables doesn't limit or invalidate other enjoyments of what we do have & do know. It's simply another facet and avenue of enjoying our world, our lives, and being human. Thought is an enriching and satisfying option just as literature, science, humor and camping trips are. None cancels out the others. They are not mutually exclusive nor are they mandatory. It's one's choice.
Thanks again for dropping by.
Hi Nellieanna,
Nice to see you back once more, all fit and well again I hope.
This is one of those questions; ‘if there is no one around to hear does a tree falling in the jungle make a sound ?’
It seems to me that if we are conscious of life and unconscious to death then can there be life after death ?
As you know I have researched the paranormal activity of regression to a past life and have read many, many accounts of people while under hypnotic influence have regressed to what some would have us believe to be a past life.
I suppose dependent upon your own personal belief and or faith such an experience or even just the telling of it may reinforce one’s own belief or hope that there is something to come and there is a hereafter.
My own personal feeling is that there isn’t, life as we know it is its own circle, I have long ago learnt not to fear death as is merely a natural conclusion of life.
Although I can also accept that for some a feeling that there may be something beyond gives them comfort and the necessary drive to help them overcome the challenges of this life.
This is a stunning article, Nellieanna! Thank you for sharing. One of the most interesting comparisons I found was when my friend, Catherine and I were talking about the opposite of love. I immediately said hate and she said, "No, because hate is still filled with passion,and emotion that is still connected to love and to fear, so it is too much like love. Empathy is the opposite of love," she said. "When you feel nothing is when you are at the opposite end of love." It was an eye opening moment for me and one that helped me grow inside - thanks again! Very thought provoking!
I am still recuperating, Merlin. Thanks for hoping I'm all over it. It's one of those maladies, though, which- I'm told - strikes when one's resistance is already low, so I guess it stands to reason that it doesn't go away in a short while like many "bugs" do. It's 2-part - the external rash & the underlying nerve which has actually been attacked by the virus. Each has its own particular effect & healing process.
As for the questions you raise, I don't really know. That's the basis for leaving it wide open & one reason I barely touched on the belief aspect of how one experiences the things of this present life in this hub. They do arise as part of our earthly experience in a similar way that other curiosities and sensory effects do, so I included them - but it's not about belief vs. non-belief. It was about just what the lead-in said.
I personally avoid entertaining "feelings" about what IS or is not to the point of drawing unsupported conclusions. I only say that it -what's beyond this life - IS something, if only the progression of generations and otherwise what else may be may or may not be tangible. Its IS-ness may be no more than an illusion which is-NOT or at least is not accessible to earth-dwellers. We have a wee bit of evidence that there are some things beyond our scope, though. Whether any of those relates to another dimension we really can't say for certain. And it hardly matters, really - as De Greek said essentially in the preceeding comment - this is IT now. That much we are fairly sure of.
To me it seems futile & presumptuous to conclude that anything either does or does not exist beyond experience (and that is often debateable & doubtful, too!).
The premise of this hub was primarily about here-and-now things that we can and do experience & considering how it is that we are able to consciously notice them. Obviously an ant has a more limited perspective than we do & part of our advantage there is that we have more contrasts to help with our discernment.
I've thought about the tree falling in the jungle/sound classic question & my reply to that has always been it depends on whether the question is asking about the sending of sound waves or the receiving of them. The sound waves are emitted at the time a tree falls, just as a volcano's eruption disturbs the normal atmosphere and sets off a different pattern of sound waves whether or not there are witnesses. But obviously if no one is there to receive them - then that part of the relationship (and it's only a relationship which is important to hearers, not to trees or volcanos) - is obviously missing at that time.
We humans tend to be ego-centric so often that we tend to focus on how WE fit into a situation that we measure whether or not anything exists in its own right only by whether or not we (any of our species) has personally experienced it.
My idea is to try to sometimes suspend that assumption long enough to at least fathom that IT is possibly much bigger (or much smaller) than my own frame of reference can begin to relate to, but that it's OK. I don’t HAVE to know it all – and should not attempt to aver that I do by saying something must or must not be so when I I honestly do not know. Though humans have a wider horizon and better vantage point than ants, we do still have some myopic limitations ourselves.
I'm so glad you dropped by and commented, MF. You know I value your thoughts & I miss seeing you and hearing from you!
(*(*(*(hugs*)*)*) Nellieanna
mwatkins - OH, yes! That is such a great example of this premise! Hate is not the opposite to or contrast with love, just as your friend Cathrine so perceptively realized.
However - & it's likely a typo - the opposite of love is not empathy, but antipathy (dispassionately feeling no compassion) or apathy (dispassionately feeling nothing but indifference which is supremely the opposite of love. On the other hand, empathy is the deep compassion one feels when one has shared or is sharing a very similar experience with another and so, can truly feel what they are feeling. They are such similar words, but have such diverse meanings.
I hope you don't mind my clarifying that. I figured you meant to type one of the other words & would prefer to have it be clarified what you intended! I feel that yours is such a valuable point, it should be clearly understood by others who might also read these comments.
I truly appreciate your bringing up that point! It probably better explains what I was trying to express than I did! Because w all know when we are truly loved and when we're not. We relate to that almost instinctively. Even if people say they love us, if their demonstrations of it don't ring true, we KNOW the difference! It's a great example, Michelle. Thank you so much for coming by and reading my hub - and pausing to comment!
lovely images and take about life in general, Mam, you never cease to amaze me with the depth of understanding about human life behavior and how to live and preception of things,
We always live for NOW, Thank you Mam, Maita
You know it, Maita! Each now is what life is! Thanks so much for visiting the hub and commenting so kindly!
"There are more things in heaven and earth Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.. "
How right he was. Loved the hub Nellie..I consider it a work of art!
A fish doesn't notice water until it is taken out of it. The path of enlightenment is to become aware of both light and dark. And this moment, now, is all we have and yet it is a moment that is in a flow, a flow that we would only notice if it stopped - and then what would we know? Jane's quotation from Shakespeare is so apt.
Thanks for such a thought-provoking and interesting Hub, and the very appropriate pix.
Love and peace
Tony
Jane - yes - he was so often on target. And so timelessly. Thanks for reading my paltry effort and for seeing art in it! It has always seemed right to me that both the one side and the flip side go-together and that to try to be rid of one inevitably would take the other as well. Attempts to just weaken both and drain the supply of either.
Tony - your comment says it so well too. It seems obvious that everything has its contrast, doesn't it? Yet so many attempt to eliminate it. Yes -understanding such basics is part of enlightenmet. Makes one wonder if it's so complicated or just so simple that it's often missed! Thanks for you kind words as well as the visit!
I just love this Nellianna....and it reminds me of William Blake and his Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, hence contrast. But Blake invites us not to choose, he says we spend too much time in duality, and need to spend more time just unifying.(this is put very simply, he was considered an odd duck!!) But Blake was really metaphysical! He saw his "dead brother" and made some wonderful plates of images. I see similar things in Jung's "Red Book"...oh well, do not mean to get off subject!
We do learn by contrast! We just need to remember not to stay categorized...
Just love your words, and ideas...thanks for a lovely Hub.
Aley
Yes - I quite agree. Getting polarized is what I meant to caution against, in fact. Glad you saw that - and you've stirred my interest in going back into Blake. I admit that I've not been a much of a student of his since required in college or stumbled upon since then! I should delve! I like that you got into that - it's not getting off the subject; it ties in well. Thanks for the lovely comments!
My mate and I have what we call our Squirrel Satsangs, LOL. We actually go to the park, feed the squirrels and come up with discussions on Truth. We live in world of duality, so its the nature of this world to be filled with contrasts, and everything literally is happening in our minds, our perception creates our reality. I believe Awareness experiences life through all of its creations moment by moment, and as for illusion, I believe the world is not what it appears to be, not even our physicality. Hopefully, one day,I will be sure what this thing called life is really about, but in the meantime I will just ponder! :)
Great hub- Glad to have met you!
Yes, VS - it's wonderfully unanswerable - keeps us pondering imponderables and perhaps that is what best defines OUR human life. We have to wonder and ponder. Whereas the ants go about their busy lives doing their thing and never wonder about those huge creatures who sometimes come along and wreak havoc on their lifestyle, going out of their way to kill their queen and interfere with their industries or ponder why life is so unfair, sending devastation to their world at times but allowiing it to flourish at other times as though to give false hope - - - we do wonder about the forces which seem to have unlimited control over our lives at times and yet seem to want to give us a chance, as well. We see the contradiction and wonder why, why, why.
I don't doubt that if human life continues long enough, a modicum of answers may even be found in this manifestation of "reality" we call this world and this life.
However - as you say - we also hope that we, individually will, in fact know & understand its mysteries one day when our "eyes" are not limited to their human function, just as ants' eyes & understanding are limited to theirs.
I won't be at all surprised to find that we always knew but for the term of our life here, we were provided an illusion convincing enough to cause us to have to ponder and find our way to an understanding of the truth, if not full knowledge of it. To me, that is the definition of faith - not knowing but understanding and accepting it that way. It surely serves a higher purpose to have this opportunity. Anyway - it's what we do have so may as well give it credence. (with an open mind). ;)
Thank you so much for visiting Violeet. I truly value your thoughts and interest.
A great read. Thanks...I'll be back.
Thank you Joshua. I popped over to "meet" you and read a couple of your hubs, so I'm aware that your comment is not trivial. Thank you! I look forward to any and all return visits!
Contrast. I met a young man Paris when I was backpacking across Europe. I had just lost millions in the "crash" of the 80's and experienced an expensive divorce. Given this backdrop, the words of wisdom from this self-proclaimed "hitcher" of three years across Europe, never spending a single night under the stairs shared a powerful point-of-view: "Life is contrast. You do not appreciate the mountains unless you have walked in the valleys. If you have never been hungry, you do not appreciate food..." Your hub reflects this philosophy. Another great sharing of insights.!
Hi,Nellieanna,
Lovely hub and great presentation. Thank you.
Indeed it is by contrast that we experience sensations in this the phenomenal world. Light and shadow, hot and cold. Gain and loss, praise and blame, fame and shame.
To live on this plane, on earth requires that we have a physical body and that is one of our traps. The body demands the sensations. The ego requires the pat.
The best example of this that I can think of is the one I read and I cannot quote the exact source, apologies.
Once Indra, King of gods was trapped inside the body of a pig. He had a she pig and many piglets and was happy wallowing in the mud. He had forgotten that he was a god, much less King of the gods.
The gods were very unhappy...They talked to him and appealed to him and he told them "Leave me alone! I am happy being a pig."
The wise gods slew the pigs, Indra came out and thanked the gods for it.
We humans identify with our bodies and the sensations that the body is programmed to do. The get out of this identification, hard work, manual labor is required.
In the mental and spiritual worlds, different games are played. In there, the beings are no longer trapped in sensations. The only games that they play are those where all players win.
Very interesting comments, Melinda! I'm inclined to think it is the ego which trips up the spirit the most, though. Of course the body needs the sensations - but they are for the support of this life, which apparently has value and a purpose. Were it not for the sensosry ability to distinquish the sharp from the soft & the burning from the freezing we surely wouldn't last long enough to do whatever we're here to do. That it can also give pleasure is not altogether a bad thing. Pleasure has a sufficiency level, which I'm not sure ego has. One can have enough chocolate but it seems there is never enough praise in the world to fill that need. Whatever we overdo in either realm, we must work to bring into balance and harmony, for sure. Anyway - we shall know at last, we hope. I always respect and admire your thinking!! Thanks for the good food for thought!
Oh, yes, Nellieanna,only as a human being can we truly be free.
As gods we cannot.
Much love, Melinda
Absolutely!! :) Thanks for that great comment!!
"Whatever we overdo in either realm, we must work to bring into balance and harmony" - this strikes me as such a basic truth that we don't usually see it. Fact or fantasy, truth or lies, if one exists then by necessity so does the other and judgement can't apply. Gives new meaning to "pornography is a question of geography" and if this is true, what is its opposite? I'd better stop now - I'm beginning to hear Horton Hears a Who in my brain and enjoying it far too much!
hahahaha!! Oh - to have a little graphic - a laughing jester rolling on the floor, kicking his pointy shoes in the air in mirth! That's so wonderfully funny - and also astute, SilverGenes!
Well it's true. Pornographgy IS a question of geography. Dirty-minded little grade school kids used to get the National Geographic and titter at the pictures of topless natives in faraway places, where everyone went topless! They may still be doing it, in fact! (both going topless there and tittering here)
That was quite an interesting read. I'm glad I took time from my regular programing of "Castle" on ABC 7 to read it :)
I like your work.
Thank you, kaltopsyd! Goad you did too, and that you liked it.
"Castle" is a good one I watch sometimes, though I must admit to watching less and less TV. I can multitask and watch as well as Hubpage - but many things here really deserve full attention. And they're so inexhaustible that they're almost never fully explored or "used up" so that I seldom if ever go "shopping" for a good show on TV these days but just try to remember to tune in to my favorites. Unfortunately - (or fortunately as one may look at it) one of my most favorites seems to be on only in reruns (I didn't get hooked till it was no longer in Prime Time, though) - and when it does come on here is late at night and only on weekends! "Boston Legal" is the one I refer to.
Given our perception of reality is filtered by our life experiences... Contrast provides the fabric wherein we can weave our silver needle with golden threads into our fabric of life. Given I have experienced hunger, I can appreciate being satiated with food experiences. Given I have been in life's "valleys," I am now equipped to appreciate the mountain tops of life! Another great hub..!!!! I too learned the opposite of love is not hate: it is not caring...
Exactly,Dallas! Perhaps the opposite of any feeling is not feeling in the appropriate situations. Opposite of anger could be indifference, for instance. What was that old saying, "I'd rather be hated than ignored!"- how true!
Thanks for the visit and comments. I value them!
What a beautiful hub, and the photos are great! I guess, you do have a point there. Contrast is important to get to ''see'' things as they really are. Comparisons also have their importance, at least, in my life! I think death is the opposite of life :-)
You are right, but perhaps even more contrasting LIFE is not living even though breathing. Because one can be aware of it and the contrast. We don't know what death brings, whether it's just the cessation of life. Of course it must be cessatation of life as we know it; - but it could be another consciousness which might be better or worse. We just don't know. You've made me think! Must one be aware of contrast for it to qualify? Hm . . .
Anyway. Thanks for the visit and comment!!!
My regards, Nellianna mam-I have no words to comment here.
Thanks for dropping by, Suny! Always nice to greet you!
I missed this great hub, but I am glad I found it. I totally agree with you; we value things by contrast and we establish our own value scale according to personal experience and taste. Light can only be seen in the dark
Oh, Petra - what a great comment! Thank you! Some of the earlier hubs seem to become buried in the archives. I'm so pleased that you looked and found this one!
You ve a thoughtful, wonderful, imaginative sense of reasoning which stands you different among many writers i ve met. Sincerely, you re unique
Ubani - thank you, kind sir! You've honored me by ferreting out some of my earlier hubs! I truly appreciate that! It demonstrates your own versatility! Your compliment is truly appreciated!
kowality 2 years ago
Hi Nellie. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out if this existence is real or illusion. We seem to wander around numb in the early years and take direction from anything that is sensual or appeals to our sense of recognition. Maybe after-life is just another form of illusion that we can create after we hang up the gloves.