I Accept

[Singlestack]

Friday night my wife and I were playing cards with another couple. The conversation turned to Zen and abstract thought. I brought up BE's current tag line "Perception without a Perceiver is a response".  I had a understanding of what this ment because I felt like I knew where BE was coming from.  My buddy's wife has a Masters in Psychology and while she was very open to the conversation, she had very different definitions of the words I was using like "concious" and "subconsicous".  This led to a very good conversation that lasted no less than 4 hours! We had the dictionary out and disected that simple phrase every possible way. She never could grasp the concept of acting on a "perception" without acknowledging the "perception". She even had a perfect analogy. She was walking to work and some kids kicked a ball in her direction and she put her hand up to block the ball from hitting her head without consciously thinking about it but, in her mind, since the hand went up, there was thought. She had trouble with the concept that there was no concious thought involved.

After many hours of trying to verbalize my understanding of subconscious control the light came on very bright in my own mind. I now understand and accept what a "Zen" follower is seeking. I still have a great deal of diffulculty grasping abstract thought but I can now accept it and know that it does not matter because I accept.

Whenever it was that BE first changed his tag line, the first time I read it, it annoyed me. I only skimmed it, got annoyed, and moved on. Then I went back and read it again. I could understand it only because I knew (or at least thought I knew) how BE ment for it to be applied to shooting. I can now accept how it applies to "being child like" and, to me, it defines the whole concept of "Zen like thought".

I never had even thought about the fact that my concious mind was something that I developed and controled. I knew from experience that there is a way to remove concious thought from what I was doing, but I could not grasp the whole concept. BE has made comments like "practice it while loading bullets". I could not understand this. I can now accept that it is my concious mind that I developed that is the problem and that is in the way of what I seek to use.

The light is on BE. I Accept.

Thank you for that simple , yet ever so complicated phrase.

[benos]

SS,

Wow, sounds like a quantum leap! Cool deal. Thanks for sharing your experience with your friends - I enjoyed reading it. I've spent many hours reading definitions, only to end up going around in circles when dealing with words like - conscious, unconscious, mind, perception, aware, unaware, known, unknown,...  

Who applies the meaning?

Sounds like it's time for a new signature...

be

[Singlestack]

BE,

"Quantum leap" is what it felt like when the light came on. It happened and I felt it!

The "moment" happened Sunday while driving to the range. My buddy and I were still discusing the phrase and he said something that did it. I felt a flash and it was like I was a deer trapped in the headlights for a few seconds by the brightest light  I could imagine. I can not remember the words that triggered it, only the way it felt and how my mind was racing faster than it ever had. I feel strange saying this, but it was a life changing moment like I have never had.

I have, and so has everyone else, felt it before to a smaller degree. Everytime you  (anyone) thinks about something they do not understand and after a while come to that point where you say "oh, I get it" , has experienced it.

I'm just glad he was driving at the time of the "moment"  

(Edited by Singlestack at 9:01 am on Mar. 5, 2002)

[benos]

SS,

That's awesome - I can relate. Thanks for sharing!

It's difficult to fathom the significance of the principle of realization.

be

[Steve Moneypenny]

SS, its even cooler when it happens during a stage... best one i ever had, all i can remember was thinking."do i want a quarter pounder with cheese, or a big mac ....think i will have a butterfinger mcflurry too..." and i finished and DAMN that was a good run came from everyone... i looked at my buddy, and said... i'm hungry. i didn't realize HOW good it was until later.

deep conversation, but is it really conscious thought... maybe it is conscious, just not deliberate thought. things happen that area conscious, but you don't tell them to happen, intend to happen, or plan on.. but they aren't yet sub-conscious. .. just a thought.