Existential wimp

Yesterday in a coffee shop in Inverurie attention returned to the deep question captured in the lyrics (by Hal David) of a soundtrack to the 1966 movie “Alfie.” “What’s it all about Alfie, is it just for the moment that we live?” The traditional, academic approach to finding, or not finding, an answer lies in philosophy and religion.

Some key western philosophers who tackled the topic include Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Jean Paul Sartre. The essence of the idea is captured in this quote from Wikipedia:

“While the predominant value of existentialist thought is commonly acknowledged to be freedom, its primary virtue is authenticity. In the view of the existentialist, the individual's starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world.”

I first locked horns with the problem in the late 60s and this prompted my credos:

• ·         The only certainty is doubt.
• ·         The only constant thing is change.

·          

These made me aware of the huge numbers of “neurotic nihilists living in existential vacuums”. Monty Python captured the essence of the ego problem in the “Life of Brian” where a multitude was chanting, “we are all different”, and a little man noted that he wasn’t. The Western cult of the individual. Fanatical followers of frivolous fads and fashions.

So I spent a few decades with the Eastern way of thinking, doing and being. Lao Tzu captured the essence with the notion that “the reality that can be described is not the real reality.” Language is recently evolved and it is limited about what can be spoken. “He who knows does not speak and he who speaks does not know.” (Lao Tzu again.)

Then along came meditation. Being still. Just sit and “drop off body and mind”. (Dogen Zenji). And thus know that the mind has a mind of its own – in fact it has several ‘minds’ that have been shaped by nature, nurture and serendipity as you make the journey from womb to tomb. What is the structure, function and location of “me”?

One of my early moves away from 20^th century Scottish Presbyterian was towards eastern patterns of thinking - mainly Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Zen. I read many of the classic texts, and many comments on them from both eastern and western gurus. I also made time to sit by myself, and with a Thich Nhat Hahn sangha in Findhorn once a week for almost 10 years.

Then along came Jon Kabat-Zinn and mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR). This is Buddhism without the toot and it is now racing around the western world. It is not thought of as a religion but rather as a branch of positive psychology. The idea is to set aside quiet time and to witness what goes on in your mind.

Then along came the evolutionary psychology crew and the realisation that your various minds have evolved and are there for a purpose – even the negative ones.

Then along came the scanners of the neuro-science brigade and the discovery that the mind can change the brain and vice versa. There is neuro plasticity. David Eagleman tells the tale with effortless erudition and humour.

SO?  All our thoughts, feelings and moods are mind-made. And their origins are in our nature, nurture and serendipity. As evolved entities we are located in cosmic time and space. We are part of an ongoing serendipitous process that is not planned in advance. In retrospect we can see what looks like ‘progress’. But who is the ‘I’ that ‘sees’?

Six tables in the Inverurie coffee shop were occupied - mainly by chattering couples. Several were Teresa May look alikes – unreformed Tories – Nasty?

I do not know what they were chatting about. I was inclined to feel that they were unreformed existential wimps - parochial and xenophobic - and immune to the meaningless absurdity of it all.

But a more positive and wholesome “existential attitude” has evolved in recent times. There is no forward planner or plan but some awesome stuff is happening at all levels of cosmic space and time – and this includes what happens inside your brain. It seems reasonable to be amazed and grateful and thus to have ‘peace of mind’ more often than not.

“Sitting quietly doing nothing
Spring comes and the grass grow by itself”

Be still and know.

It’s never too late to change your mind.