Unspeakable but knowable

The dharma story is deceptively simple. Quieten the mental chatter and the compassionate, non-egoic peace will be cut loose. The non-egoic peace is the natural state. It is hard wired into the nervous system and has been part of the human condition for millions of years. We share this foundational mind state with other animals. 

cerebral cortex

BUT … in more recent times, in humans, the cerebral cortex expanded and language and self-consciousness evolved. In the beginning there would not have been many words. But they would have been used to label the patterns and agencies that appeared notable and useful to our language building ancestors. Nurture (learning and reasoned response?) began to override nature (instinct and robotic reaction)!

BUT … man is a social animal. Much of the early language would have been about human relationships and interactions. Patterns of supposed cause and effect would have emerged. There would have been discussion and debate which selected the fittest concepts and words. Some of the ideas withered away while others flourished. Once the process was set in motion, cultural evolution was quick to follow. 

hunting and gathering

Languages began during the days of hunting and gathering. They helped make the change to settled agriculture and thus to city states, empires and nation states. These economic systems created more food than the individual farmer needed to support their family and this enabled the creation of social roles other than farmer. 

As the division of labour developed many jobs and professions were created. These would have included kings, priests, and businessmen; craftspeople and money lenders; sages, shamans, and soldiers; poets, policemen and prostitutes; and many more.

At a more intimate level there would have been roles for husband and wife; and for children and their parents. Various patterns evolved. Note that, in the absence of a welfare state, larger and more extended families are the rule and that an African proverb reckons that “it takes a village to grow a child”. 

Human cultural evolution has created many complex, fast-moving life styles. Language has fired that growth. Many stories have been imagined and told. ‘Patterns’ are identified and ‘agents’ are hypothesised based on metaphors from the human condition. (eg God the Father). 

 

god the father

Many stories are egoic because of how language has evolved. There are me and them stories; them and us stories; I, me and mine stories. The minds of most modern, capitalist consumers are filled with endless chatter using concepts and words that provide viewpoints and world views that promote parochialism and xenophobia. Nurture (the spoken) eclipses nature (the unspeakable).

But the unspeakable is knowable. When the mental chatter is allowed to settle the compassionate, non-egoic peace is cut loose. The non-egoic peace is the natural state. It is hard wired into the nervous system and has been part of the human condition for millions of years. We share this foundational mind state with other animals. It is our birthright.

Be still and know.