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“You—in your fundamental existence—are the total energy that constitutes this universe, playing that it’s you… Playing that it’s this particular organism… And even playing that it’s this particular person… Because the fundamental game of the world is a game of hide and seek. That is to say that the colossal reality—the energy that is everything… that is a unitary energy… that is ONE—plays at being many.” ~ Alan Watts
If, as Carl Sagan famously intuited, “We are a way for the cosmos to know itself,” then it stands to reason that we get to know ourselves better through a personalized unfolding of the cosmos –that is to say, interdependently. Understanding that we are the tip of the spear of the universe interdependently shooting through space will get us further than getting hung-up on being a divisive counter-force independently moving against space.
It’s absolutely mind-boggling that everything is connected. And yet it must be the case. Perceptually, it defies logic and reasoning. And yet, actually, despite our perception of things, it is perfectly logical and reasonable. It’s like squaring a circle in our heads, using the power of imagination, and somehow succeeding despite the limits of knowledge. As Frank Herbert said, “Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.” So it goes.
Truly grasping the fact that we are the universe looking back at itself is a powerful tool in our ontological arsenal. It brings more wonder and astonishment to our curiosity knowing that the stars we see “out there” are the same atomically as the stars inside us. It comes around full-circle. Self-as-cosmos and Cosmos-as-self, interdependently looking back at ourselves looking forward through us. Wow! What a ride!
Let’s break it down by comparing and contrasting the difference between cosmic insignificance and cosmic significance, while keeping in mind that “we are all just scientists, trying to make sense of the stars inside us” (Christopher Poindexter).
Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat http://philosophers-stone.co.uk