This Saturday finds us on the North Sea island of Helgoland, 
one time recuperative retreat of Werner Heisenberg, 
he of the eponymous "uncertainty principle" fame, 
and now at the center of a controversy in which a previously unknown
tree surgeon, Hans Dearem from the nearby isle of Scharhorn 
claims that this founding block of quantum mechanics is actually an 
appropriated variation of one of his own original propositions that states:
"You cannot know both: Where a person is --  AND 
what they're doing." 
And in that our interest is in the physics of man 
rather than in that of matter,
let us take an exploratory climb into 
the latter chap’s axiomatic hardwood.
All efforts above the sophomoric, pre-Newtonian level
to alter one’s state of consciousness
are based on the precept that the way to accomplish this is through 
a man’s developed ability to stop, or to at least, willfully control his thoughts.

To this end, inter alia, men have: 
for years sat motionless;
taken drugs not found at Walgreen’s;
unblinkingly fixed their eyes on an icon;
and tried to allow in their mind but a 
single magical word, or idea.
Such approaches have at various times
been variously christened, and described as:
"being Mindful";
"the holding to The Beloved";
"stilling the water",
and, "self-observing" and, "self-remembering,"
yet they are all based on the same attempt to either 
stop the automatic flow of thought through consciousness, 
or else to bring it under a man’s willful control.
Any man personally familiar with the reality of 
the goal to, "Wake up", to "achieve Enlightenment," 
to "gain Liberation" 
cannot these condemn,
for everyone must begin the journey some where,
and everyone must have something to do that
apparently promotes their aim.

No matter the participants’ interpretation of the 
diversely named noted approaches, 
they are all based on the attempt to either 
stop the flow of automatic thought through a man’s conscious mind, 
or else bring it under his willful control.
And again there is no fault with the goal itself,
but few who apply themselves to such efforts
ever look deep enough into the activity they have shouldered 
to ever see the reality OF the activity.

This failure does not stop followers from the enjoyment of their particular discipline,
but it does present a glass barrier that they never see 
which keeps them from the REAL fun.

Any sane student of any of the mentioned methods
will insist that he clearly understands, (for instance), the goal of:
"being eternally mindful", or of, 
"always self-remembering,"
but none can do it,
yet none wonder why.
If they are asked, their response is that they 
lack sufficient experience;
or else they are simply too weak,
or it is because of extraordinary, distracting events 
in their personal life.

To, "be Mindful", or, "self-remember"
momentarily interrupts the automatic flow of thought
through your conscious mind;
your most personal, private inner reality 
comes to a sudden stop,
and at such an entirely anomalous instant
you are certainly not in man’s ordinary 
state of consciousness,
(as the mystics would say: "At that exact moment,
you are not asleep!").
But no sooner is the state there -- than it is gone.
You were "mindful" for a moment -- but no more.
You "self-remembered" for a second -- but no longer.
You had a brief taste of being "awake",
not enough to change your life,
but sufficient to know that the goal is real.

A man can have such experiences for years,
and yet never actually learn anything 
ABOUT the experience.
He will believe that he continually learns
something FROM the experiences,
but few ever learn anything ABOUT it -- 
about the actual nature of what is going on 
in his brain.

First off, such people fail to recognize an always present, 
salient characteristic of the experience, (which is):
when they are, "Mindful"
there is suddenly no "they" there to BE mindful,
and when they, "self-remember" 
there is no self there to BE remembered.

Even though I call this a 
salient feature of these events, 
it is yet damn near impossible to ever see it
unless you are prepared beforehand to do so.
The natural, ceaseless flow of thoughts through a man’s consciousness 
is interrupted in these cases for such a brief period 
that unless he has been told what to be aware of,
it will escape his notice entirely.
And there is a totally delicious, and
I-popping reason for that.

Remember, The Dearem Theorem?:
"You cannot know both: Where a person is – AND
what they're doing," -- well –
here is where the axiom meets the asphalt,
and the dilettante drivers go round in unnoticed circles.
When you are asleep, 
and in a normal state of consciousness -- 
you have a "self",
a self comprised entirely of thoughts,
but when, 
through one of the methods to awaken,
such as, "self-remembering,"
you momentarily stop the brain’s production of thoughts,
Voila! -- you no longer have a "self".

Then as soon as you have ONE thought regarding this 
extraordinary event -- Voila!
self reappears, 
and -- Voila! -- 
it’s still fast asleep.
Everything is back to normal.
You lost the thread of "self-remembering,"
but self IS back, and 
self IS back to sleep.

A man experienced in one of the sundry attempts to awaken
can have this described to him, and he will look blank, 
shrug his shoulders, and say: "So?!"
and miss the point completely. 

You can only "know" ("know" being in SERIOUS quotation marks),
you can only "know" where your self is at those times when
you do NOT know what it is up to,( i.e. when it is asleep),
and you can only "know" what it is up to
when you have momentarily stopped thought and it has disappeared.
Only THEN do you know, "what it is up to" -- nothing!
It is gone, vanished, vamoosed. 
That is why being "mindful", or "self-remembering"
or doing any of the other tricks to interrupt thought
feels so double-damn good & refreshing!
For a second -- just a second -- 
you have the stifling weight of that illusionary 
non compos mentis "self" 
off your back, and out of your nervous system.
As long as you think that your self can be "awakened",
or, "Enlightened" you are doomed to frustration
due to an easily cured, but serious misconception.
Why does everyone realize that you cannot 
train a dog to, "Sit" 
if you do not know what a dog looks like,
but everyone pretends they do not know 
what I am talking about here?!

If you have a "self" in your head -- you are dazed,
distracted and confused.
If you really wanted to "wake up" and smell the reality,
you would be better hungry for the redemptive liberation
gained by your murdering of the never born.

Okay, everybody who doesn’t want a false self,
raise both hands.

Okay, everybody who has the potential to see that the
modifier, "false" is unnecessary -- raise both feet, and
float over to the prize table where Mrs. Dearem has nice
parting gifts for you -- the leftovers of Hans’ old "self".
 

                                                    Jan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

It is really simple & straightforward,
which is the problem.
In the brain’s production of thought
there is a corollary creation;
the sensation that there is someone in there
DOING the thinking.
Not recognizing this situation in his head
is the normal state for man’s consciousness,
and he cannot think his way out of it
any more than a person can ever stop thought
while operating with the idea of "stopping thought."
Thought-comprised-self cannot perceive of itself
for what it is while it is thinking about it,
since that supports the ILLUSION of what it is,
yet if thought stops,
then there IS no self there for it to study --
-- even if it was still present to DO the studying.
 

                 Neat, huh?!