Regardless, the Victorious Ones have said that those who hold emptiness as a view are incurable =)

*I’m glad top (or even good amateur) Go players have still yet to be beaten by computers.

Perhaps you can shed some light on this. Why am I constantly harangued to become more enlightened? Newly Buddhist yuppies, aging hippies, Baptists, agnostics, optimists, pessimists all want to convert me to their form of enlightenment.

I find enlightenment boring because (as my calculus grades can attest) once I have something figured out I completely lose interest. What’s the point in solving a problem you already know the answer to?

I find I’m most clear headed and able to analyze multiple patterns using multidisciplinary means when I’m lying in bed at night. Its like my mind turns up the dial instead of turning off. Probably has a lot to do with why it takes me forever to fall asleep.

However, the closest experience that I recall having to your description is when I’ve played the piano. Oftentimes when I was memorizing and repeatedly practicing a piece (especially for recitals), I might reach a similar state. Usually when playing I’m concentrating on playing the piece, where to position my hands, what’s coming up next, keeping the tempo. However, there have been times where my mind would slip up, a brain fart, where I’d just forget what was next, or lose my place. But because the piece was so well rehearsed, I could keep playing through, my hands and fingers still moved, but I was not making any conscious choices. The music came out like it was supposed to be there.

Of course my rationalization is ‘muscle memory’. It was only for a brief moment that I feel my mind/self was really blank. But being who I am, rather than stay in that moment, I snapped back into myself, analyzing the phenomenon. It then became more of a multi-tasking event as I was playing, while my mind was off thinking in another direction.

For instance, I, of course, am aware that there was an earthquake in Haiti. I know some things about Haiti (politics, government, economics, culture), something about non-governmental and governmental responses to humanitarian crises, and something about earthquakes–which means that watching ‘news’ stories that show various things unfolding (as they always do) or–even worse–personal reactions from people either in Haiti or with family in Haiti–do not help me form a new opinion.

That said, if I happen to stumble on a headline that is likely to inform me of some aspect of the situation that I don’t already know (or can’t deduce for myself) then I’m likely to read up.

And you know, I worry about myself in terms of the career and pattern-finding that you mention. Since I started working, I’ve never stayed in the same job for more than 2 years. It almost feels like cheating once you’ve figured it out–then the thought goes out of it and you’re just repeating the same process (which freaks me out completely so I leave).

That said, I can do things like painting, digging, weeding, cooking or cleaning for long periods of time because it doesn’t require all of my mental activity and it allows everything I’ve taken in during the day to kind of decompress and form into original thought.

Anyway, cool post, I’ve been craving something like this.

@hickchick – Bear with me. I’m a writer. I can make trivial things fill pages and pages. In an upcoming post I will write a 500 word essay on a brick in a wall. Actually, I have done several of those already.

On Tuesday last week, I rented a two bedroom apartment to a lady, whom at the time seemed a “tad” bipolar in nature. In business, we fail to question people about such tendencies as “stupidity” in the sense that we are after their money, but I like saying that instead of money, I am giving a value for money made. (My emphasis on that point).
Anyway, I told the lady I would clean her carpets prior to her move in and I would have the cleaner here on Friday. That could not have possibly been misunderstood by her as I made the time and date crystal clear. Come Friday, I arrived at the door with the professional carpet cleaner and lo and behold her apartment was full of her furniture and many boxes and things. Only a tiny path could be cleaned, as neither the cleaner nor myself move anything. I went from feeling sheepish, to stupid, to angry to insanely angry. I recounted each piece of the conversation I had with the woman over and over. I could not believe she had moved her stuff in with the cleaning scheduled. I have to pay the cleaner for a total cleaning ($125.00) allbeit he cleaned only a walking path in the apartment.
So–here are your experiences, even at late life, and your enlightenment as well!

Your description of a self falling away feels more like a pure absorption in an activity. There’s no self that wills or does, it just happens on its own. Is it enlightenment? I’m not quite sure. But it’s still a good place to be.

Also, the enjoyment of pattern finding and leading only when needed sounds like more INTJ/Mastermind talk =P

p.s. I’m bad at Go, but I’d love to have a few rounds with you over yahoo games.

Perhaps you should look into spiritual practices such as meditation.

Merely aging, thinking and hoping for the occasional flash of inspiration is a random and unreliable method of heightening consciousness – if that is what you are truly interested in. There are techniques that give verifiable and proven results. No faith-based religious beliefs are required

Give me an e-mail if you are interested.

Simon