2012.07.10 _ 91

Musing on whether discussion of spiritual topics is just a waste of time. Unless someone is ready and receptive to what you say it won't sink in, i.e. a total waste of breath. I apply this to myself also of course. I had to jettison so many intellectual beliefs that merely obscured my view of existence and am probably still doing so. Yeh, still all about 'dropping' but that seems silly to some.

Today I spent a number of hours in an Emergency Room with a good friend who had been having major headaches for a number of days. I brought with me "Strangers to Ourselves" and read nearly half the book, quite impressed.
One thing Timothy Wilson comes back to again and again is the idea of hidden prejudices. IOW, filters of the 'adaptive unconscious'. Most people have them but cannot see their own, only those of "others". We may think of prejudices as being confined to race, gender, or class, but it may simply be that a bad memory from another time sets into motion a filter toward an experience that "looks like" one similar, or that a good memory of a victory from our past causes one to make a 'rule' about own ability to judge ... this sort of thing. Then, there are also prejudices that might come as a result of fears... we may see some topics not taken seriously by people we admire, and therefore place ourselves in a category that doesn't take [whteveritis] seriously.
It is all quite fascinating, and plays out in groups as well as individuals. Much of the book seems to deal with the "narratives" Bruce brought up recently as well, among many other things. edited 20:48, 10 Jul 2012

Zen, I agree. It reminds me of this:

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Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"
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Eliza, I have a bad memory. Or at least that's what I think I have. I don't quite recall... But maybe that's not what you meant. ;-)

Today, two lots of Karuna-metta... and I almost forgot to write about it. Case proven - ha!