Fool's Philosophy - by Nate Bartling

The Age of Noise

October 17th 2006 13:34

Jiddhu Krishnamurti

For thousands of years great teachers, from Buddha & Jesus to Krishnamurti & Aleister Crowley, have told us that the main obstacle preventing us from achieving enlightenment is our inability to achieve true silence or stillness. Today, this is truer than ever.

We live in what is possibly the noisiest society in history. All of our technology is thrown into battle against silence as we are bombarded with soap operas, advertisements and pop music. This is far more than mere physical noise, it provides the foundation for our inner-dialogue through conspiring to stimulate our cravings and the desire to conform & distracts us from the true goal of life.

Drug of the nation

We are obsessed with the in's and out's of 'everyday lives' lived by fictional characters, we are told that nobody will like us unless we wear designer clothes and smell like Calvin Klein and we expect our girlfriends to look like Christina Aguillera or Beyonce Knowles. Our consumer based society requires us to crave for more than we have, to believe that these products are essential for our survival and to form attachments to material desires. While we are constantly telling ourselves what products we need in order to function succesfully and worrying about impressing our peers so we can climb the next rung of the corporate ladder it is virtually impossible to achieve the inner silence that is characteristic of contentment.

Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali once asked "What is a television apparatus to man, who has only to shut his eyes to see the most inaccessible regions of the seen and the never seen, who has only to imagine in order to pierce through walls and cause all the planetary Baghdads of his dreams to rise from the dust?", but all the same television has become an idol, worshipped in homes across the world daily. We all gather round ritualistically to see what wisdom the electronic prophet will preach to us today.

Buddha says that "Happiness comes from within, do not seek it without" and that "Attachment is the cause of all suffering". Television tells us that happiness comes in the form of a well paid job, an expensive sports car or a tub of ice-cream.

Who do you believe?

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Comments

18 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Deorre

October 17th 2006 15:19

Stress Alive
Man Lessons

Ssilence is indeed golden. Yet, so many are uncomfortable with it. It takes practice this day and age to find the peace that can come with silence.

Cool post.

Comment by Deorre

October 17th 2006 15:19

Stress Alive
Man Lessons

Ssilence is indeed golden. Yet, so many are uncomfortable with it. It takes practice this day and age to find the peace that can come with silence.

Cool post.

Comment by Gareth

October 17th 2006 15:48

Yes it does take practice, but it is definitely achievable. Its kind of paradoxical that it takes practice to do nothing, its surprisingly hard at first but a simple meditative practices like counting breath can help a lot.

Thanks for the comment.

Comment by Anonymous

October 17th 2006 17:58

what is our true goal i life? how do we know this isnt how its suppose to be?Does silence exist...if music and telivision didnt exist, or we learned to block it out arn't we still making noise through thinking in our heads...can people honestly clear their mind of everything...if your counting breathing arn't you still making noise in your head through doing this?and is silence a sound?

Comment by Gareth

October 17th 2006 18:36

I believe the true goal of life is happiness. Everybody wants to be happy and virtually everything you do is done with the intention of making yourself happy, even selfless acts give you a feeling of happiness.
Your right, even without television we still have noise in our heads, which I refer to as inner-dialogue in the blog. The idea is to minimize and eventually be able to completely silence this inner-dialogue. Counting breath is helpful in this respect as when you are entirely focused on your breath and nothing else, you have achieved what buddhists refer to as a one-pointed mind. At this stage all you have to do is stop counting to be totally silent (theoretically). Although to be honest, in practice its rarely that easy but if you wish to take my word for it, among countless others, it is possible. On the rare occasions that I have achieved this silence an overwhelming feeling of peace and contentment comes with it.

Thanks for the comment.

Comment by Anonymous

October 17th 2006 18:53

hope you didnt think i was having a pop, i think your right, but i bet its really hard to do!!!!!i enjoyed reading it and hope you write more in the future!

Comment by Gareth

October 17th 2006 18:59

Oh no, i didnt think you were having a go, but even if you were then you are entitled to your opinion and its just as likely to be correct or incorrect as mine.
Buddha himself once said "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."
Yes i will definitely be writing more and I look forward to hearing your comments.

Thanks for commenting and taking the time to read it.

Comment by somu

October 17th 2006 19:10

I have 2 thoughts in my mind:
this one is actually off-topic. But I really liked your pic. Suits very much to this post.

how did you know about Krishnamoorthy?

Comment by Gareth

October 17th 2006 19:23

Hi Somu,

thanks for the comment.

I first heard of Krishnamurti through Bruce Lee's writings and documentaries. If you're interested in that sort of thing I would recommend reading any of Bruce Lee's writings. Most of them are avilable by clicking here.

Comment by somu

October 17th 2006 19:42

Hi Gareth,
thanks for the quick reply. this is great. I will take a look at it.

cheers.

Comment by Gareth

October 17th 2006 19:55

My pleasure. If you enjoy them i would also recommend 'The Tao of Gung Fu' and 'The Tao of Jeet Kune Do' also by Bruce Lee. They're written from a Kung Fu point of view but are applicable to everything. Think 'Zen and the art of archery'

Comment by the best

October 17th 2006 23:25

a good blog gar

Comment by Lilla

October 18th 2006 23:20

From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop

Hello again Gareth,

I loved this post. Interestingly, I wrote a poem about this subject about the same time and I do hope you get to read it. "Schhh, said life, receding ...."

Lilla
envirowarrior

Comment by Gareth

October 18th 2006 23:45

Hi Lilla

Thanks for the comment

I'll look forward to reading your poem, which blog is it on?

Comment by Lilla

October 19th 2006 02:47

From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop

Thanks for asking, sorry, G,

it's on Envirowarrior,

'Shh the earth said, receding ..."

I welcome your opinion.

Lilla.

Comment by Adrian

November 8th 2006 13:54

Philosophy Blog

Aleister Crowley?

The satanist?!

I guess I should actually read him one day, and not judge by reputation.

On your post in general, I quite agree; and it is a worthwhile point to keep making.

I personally believe that television, like the internet, or any other media, can give you access to a lot of experiences and information that your life would otherwise have lacked.

But, yes, it's true that you don't need these things for contentment; and it's true that they are a key part of the apparatus of consumerism and population control...

Comment by Gareth

November 8th 2006 14:51

Hi Adrian,

Yes I think these things (TV, internet and even money) can be used to add variety and enrich our lives, but its important to remember that they are means and not ends.

Coincidentally, I am in the process of writing a blog about Aleister Crowley and his life in an attempt to dispell some of the myth and sensationalism that surrounds him. While his lifestyle and beliefs can certainly be considered offensive to some, Crowleyy made an invaluable contribution to western mysticism and I think the label of satanist is unfair and a common misconception. watch this space.

Thanks for the comment

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