Thought, both rational and daydreaming, is equivalent to riding a bicycle. We are mostly unaware how we’re keeping our balance on a bicycle unless there’s a surprise that requires quick thinking. We are equally unaware of our thoughts, the how and why we’re thinking them. We mostly just see the results - words sometimes just fall from the mouth. You can watch it happening if you pay attention.
To notice your thoughts also takes quick thinking, but you don't get a heads-up about it like a looming pothole while riding a bike. And the word ‘quick’ says more than fast or rapid. The antique meaning of quick, to be alive, also needs to be included. Those quick moments, when you’re self-aware, are when you’re more alive, more in this world.
Sometimes I worry about death, and then a voice of wisdom says to me, “Of course it does, that’s what they do.” The wisdom resides in the strangely casual “it does” and “they do”. That “it” and “they” is what I would normally think of as me, but the voice of wisdom presumes it’s not me. It presumes I am not the thing that will die. Death seems undeniable for that kind of thing, that kind of bodily “me”.
Perhaps we have misplaced our personhood, whatever that is. Our I isn’t where we think it is: It isn't our body, it isn’t our thoughts, it isn't our beliefs or faith, and it isn't our memories and relationships. It’s pure awareness, it's that which does the noticing. It’s untouched, unmoved, unharmed awareness. It’s universal mind.
That's why it dies, but I do not - awareness is fundamental, it's always there, all you need to do is remember to notice. The practice of self-observation, and many other meditative practices, lead to this understanding of mortality: I am observing it, I am experiencing a “material” world with an avatar as if it were a dream. And when I awake, the avatar will dissolve and my point of view will expand into what is real.
But whatever it is that has the beliefs, it must be something other than me, otherwise it wouldn't be separate from me, it wouldn't be observable. In fact, it's the avatar that has those beliefs, it's the mortal part that will pass away, it’s the part that changes every day.
I'm aware of it all, I bear witness. All things will be remembered, including the avatar-person I’m observing. There’s more to me than what I'm aware of. To be is to know.
Here is a sculpture planned on “February 4, 2024 11:23:41 AM” according to the photograph I took. This sculpture looks like it may be about the the illusion of a three-dimensional, material world: The hole in the hexagon is at the point that would be the forward corner of a cube. So a three-dimensional, transparent hexagon presents itself as a two-dimensional rendering of a cube.
I never actually know what a piece is about at the time I make it. I don't have a concurrent working interpretation - thinking like that would just get in the way of making art. When I make things, it just seems like a good idea and I'm grateful for that. Peace be with you.