I found this video online today and I just watched it three times in a row because it's that good. Someone has taken some of Carl Sagan's speech and also Stephen Hawking's and created a kind of techno trance song with it. The lyrics are AWESOME!
On a side note, recently I have been honored in a most wonderful way - one of my pieces of art was used in an exhibition in the Royal Albert Hall in London. The exhibition featured the work of a photographer who photographs astronomers, astrophysicists, mathematicians and other people who work in fields related to outer space. They chose my fractal-based image because it evokes the theme of the multiverse. I was particularly excited because my name shows up on the same page as Stephen Hawking! I am truly honored to have one of my pieces of art show up next to the work of an amazing photographer. (Names aren't revealed since I don't use my real name on this blog. If anyone wants to see it I would be glad to send the link to the exhibition page in a private email to anyone that requests it. Of course my ego loves this.)
35 comments:
Stay See Way Lee, who is Stephen Hawking?
How do you know my real name? LOL
Wow, you know who I am but you don't know who Stephen Hawking is? :)
Stephen Hawking is a very well known physicist.
If you see his picture you will recognize him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking
Does the Tao have a name?
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
~Juliet
"The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao." ~Taoism
Congratulations on the Art exhibition! I would love to see it.
cool video ..thanks for sharing :)
I hope you don't mind me asking...but why not use your real name here on blog?
Hi Kathy, I don't mind you asking. I am willing to answer just about any question as I'm a fairly open person.
I use my real name on my Facebook page but only because there isn't public access to its contents.
The reason I use "sophia" on this blog is mostly because I'm just not ready to let people do a Google search for my real name and find this blog. A lot of people don't understand what esotericism is and associate anything occult with "Satanism" or devil worship. I don't want to risk the publicity because there may come a time when I want a new job.
When I was younger and going to church the Sunday school teachers reminded us over and over again to stay away from the occult. It put a fear in my head that has taken a long time to erase. There are still moments when I'm worried about the occult studies I participate in.
The people that have this fear do not understand what esotericism is. Buddhism, Hinduism, or anything not Methodist Christianity is Satanism in their minds.
Only one bad thing about such types as Sagan and Hawking.
It will take people with broader outlooks than physics and astronomy to have any chance at unraveling the Big Questions.
Yes i see what you mean. I too came from a very religious family who believes that Satan in everywhere and in everything...because of their fears they never see anything with new eyes.
Don,
That's where philosophers come in. :)
Kathy, these people wouldn't believe me if I told them that the only demons or monsters that exist are the ones they create. Fear, anger and hatred are some of them.
I have known one or two people to be so influenced by superstition that they could barely function.
Going on a spiritual journey is like walking tight rope for some. There is a fine line they cross into insanity. I've seen it happen with two people.
Sophia,
So philosophers have the answers? I don't know about answers, but they're sure good at debate.
Perhaps the collective consciousness has them, aka - you know what.
donstockbauer *at* hotmail.com
Hi guys, thanks for letting me brag about my "accomplishment" and for taking interest. Sometimes I feel like bubbling over with joy. I guess I feel like a kid who just got an A on her math test.
I know a more humble and wise sage would keep their mouth shut about it, but I couldn't help myself.
Don, I don't know of anyone who has the answers. I just know that philosophers will go where scientists won't.
I know you're speaking of your beloved Global Brain. :) But let's not be so modest, Don. We're talking big, here, like REALLY big. Cosmic Consciousness big!
Sophia,
Consciousness can span the Cosmos if there is communication throughout it.
Who the speck is Stephen Hawking!
One way you can forget your self-image or ego is by not looking up to people with big egos and by not looking down on people who pretend to have little egos. But whatever you do people will always have an image of you. Knowing this is enough. There's nothing you can do about it anyway. Let it be.
There's no soul in the machine. Only thoughts. And the thoughts are not yours. Don't blame yourself for bragging. ;)
We are the world. We are society. We are family.
The ego is a like a mask that you will never be able to take off. Because the mask is the very self trying to hide itself. That self is called Society.
The Self or true self is a creation of the self. There is only the self and he is selfish.
It is. And what is is bad news.
There is only the self. The rest is Nothingness. The self within the Nothingness.
Don, I don't know all the answers. For you there is the global brain; for me there is Cosmic Consciousness. I get the feeling that for you your global brain is within the cosmos, while for me with my Cosmic Consciousness the cosmos is within that Consciousness.
Yes, like you say, philosophers are good at debate. :)
V,
"We are family."
:)
Yes we are. And with that I must say goodnight.
Sophia,
I believe that we're all talking about the same thing, iterating towards some sort of understanding of reality.
Glad you got out of the dumps.
Thanks, Don. For the past year or so I've tried to make it a point to speak less and less about life as a bipolar. I still go through as much depression as I did when I used to whine about it all the time, BUT one day it finally hit me that people don't NEED to hear about it. It's best for me to keep it to myself because negative energy is something that shouldn't be shared with others.
There are other differences between now and then, such as the fact that I've learned better how to cope.
I don't think the journey to enlightenment is a cure for depression but it makes depression easier to live with.
Sophia,
I find myself less compulsed to talk about it, too. Sometimes I do, if I think it will be of benefit to the listener.
Don, I used to say that I couldn't see the point of counseling. I couldn't for the life of me imagine how simply talking about "problems" could bring any relief. I believe differently, now. Once I get it off my chest I no longer have the need to keep repeating my story to other people. That's what therapists are for - they get paid to deal with the negative energy. I am thankful, too, that I had a really good friend that delved deeply into everything about my past and myself so I was able to speak of it and get rid of it. I mean, this went on for months and was very therapeutic. God I wish I could do that for someone else. It seems like the need to tell my story to others is gone; I no longer need the attention or for people to feel sorry for me. In fact, I've reached a point where I am bored with telling that old story and anytime someone asks me about myself I feel like running in the other direction because my story is only the story of an ego; I'm just a collection of memories and thoughts, and to speak of myself and my sad past stories is to keep the ego alive and breathing. That's why it's hard to have friendships because most people want to go out to have coffee and chat about dramas or mundane things related to egos. I am more interested now in meeting and knowing authentic people, and they are few and far between. At the same time I must also try to practice understanding for those who are suffering in the prison of their egos. I think that's what helping humanity is all about - it's about freeing oneself from one's ego and then being supportive of those who are still lost.
I still need the company of others sometimes, though. And I still love to communicate online as long as I'm mostly telling good stories and/or philosophizing or intellectualizing. Intelligent discussion is always fun.
Sophia,
I find that I don't tell many stories about my past for I rarely meet new people and the ones I know have heard them and let me know they're not too interested in hearing them again.
I've been trying to say more about all this but the words aren't coming.
Not out here publicly, anyway.
Hi Don, do you need to say something privately? You know my email address. You also know I'm not very good at writing back normally but at least you will know it's been read. My mind seems to only be able to handle writing back short and sweet emails so when people write me long emails I procrastinate my responses for so long that eventually I just don't even respond. It's unintentional but I always think people expect long emails from me in response to theirs.
Sophia,
Maybe it is not so bad that our words pretend to be us, as long as we remember that we are not the picture that they paint.
Hi Mossy, maybe it's not so bad for the time being, because it's hard to carry on conversations by constantly reminding people that we're not who we say we are. :) "What I'm about to say is the story of an ego." Can you imagine the funny looks we'd get? :)
How does one speak authentically? That's what I want to know. I want to give up the ego but is it possible to lose all signs of it in conversation with others? I don't want to give up discussions. I am not going to shut myself off from the world so much that I turn off the Internet too. I'm already living as a hermit.
I guess the point is not to deny that we are the ego, that we are the thoughts going thru our heads as much as we are the body. We don't have to keep reminding ourselves we are not this or we are not that. But to realize that the self, or the ego for that matter, is the mischiefmaker, the wrongdoer. And therefore we should be careful with how we live our lives, that we become aware of our our thoughts, our emotions, and our actions. That we are responsible for them and take responsibility for ourselves, our thoughts, and our actions. And not keep denying that we are not what we think and not what we do for the sake of feeling better or feeling enlightened. Realizing we are our thoughts, emotions, and actions should give us the insight to take resposibility for them, and make us more careful not to harm others and suffer the consequences of irresponsible action. This is how we can overcome the law of karma. And improve ourselves and eventually attain enlightenment.
Denying that we are the ego will only lead to false sense of transcendance, of being pure, saintly, enlightened when in reality we are still full of pride, greed, lust, ignorance, etc.
The insight that we are the self and that we are selfish should make us humble and make us more aware of our thoughts and our actions to avoid causing harm to ourselves and to others. Otherwise we would remain irresponsible, inflated, and false.
Old religions have always taught us to separate ourselves from the world, in order to keep ourselves pure, blameless, and other-worldly. But this idea has only led to pride, holier-than-thou attitude, hipocrisy, false piety, judgement, even egomaniacal attitude towards those who don't believe in our God, Savior, Teacher, or our Way.
Sophia,
Yeah, I know all that, which is why I very seldom write to you. Writing has to be a mutual thing, and if one side or the other isn't into it it fades away.
Hi V,
I really liked your most recent comment and I appreciate the time and thoughtfulness that you put into it. I especially am glad to see you mention the importance of being responsible in how we treat others.
Hi Don, I hope you can forgive me for that. The truth is that I find communication much easier by blogging because the messages are short and sweet and I can more easily keep up with them. I get lots of emails and I can't keep ongoing back-and-forth email relationship with everyone that sends emails. Sometimes I don't even have time to respond to my own family. It's not so much that I'm not "into it" as it is that I have limited time.
Thanks for being understanding!
Sophia,
No issue at all. The way I look at it, there's 7 billion people now on Planet Earth, one just has to search through that space to find someone who shares an interest.
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