DIGESTIVE TEA

In every civilization, from the ancient to our modern ones, we encounter the same questions that remain with no answer. But the important thing is that we remain close to the questions and far from accepting false answers. 

~I wrote this while traveling to Egypt and wondering why they were so obsessed with mummification.

How crucial it is, for us ordinary humans, to swallow some indigestible truths. Heavy truths that we wish we knew, but all we know is an assumption. Crazy times where more than ever we access information and plead for truth. Is it all fake out there, and inside of me?

We may long for a time long gone. Believe that the truest truth burnt down in a book in the Babylonian library. We may assume that once an ancient civilization had total command over all nature and could do the unimaginable. Or we may think that only the future will lead us to the most awesome of the findings: truth itself. The bittersweet “truth” I know right now is that I don’t know anything entirely (Hi, Plato). And I guess that was always the case…

Our relationship to the world, to the natural phenomena, and to our consciousness may have varied through times and that is a thought that I can’t avoid having all the time. I am always wondering how it may have been for different peoples across the time to experience life. How did the Ancient Egyptians see the world? I am not inclined to believe that they “knew” much more than we do now or that they may have possessed some lost knowledge. I do, however, share the idea that they may have had a totally different perspective to reality. They were more connected to the nature, eager observers of how it behaved and could more easily spot the patterns in it that also rules our inner existence. Socially they were probably also like we are today, with a hierarchy, with restricted access to knowledge and with institutions that would decide who should possess it and who should not. It is a shame that so much from Ancient Egypt has been lost. 

I can’t compare it to a remote past because I obviously never lived there and there is just so little remaining to us. But I do believe that in average our interest in understanding the nature of reality has diminished. For some time because of fundamentalist religions and superstitions. Today, less for these facts but more for the egoistic purposes of the ones holding the power and notably also our contentment with frivolous entertainment. Of course, it always existed, it is of human nature to be self-centered. What I mean is that there is a more detachable reaction to reality recently. We spend a lot of time in another reality we created, the digital one. And it is absurdly difficult for one to elevate oneself after a constant dosis of digital alienation. I am no Luddite. I do not advocate against the engagement in digital spaces. But are we acknowledging the fact that it makes us addicted to its effects? Also, the illusion it creates that we have unlimited access to knowledge and to TRUTH is what bothers me the most. We can check facts, but we can also create facts. It also distracts us from central questions in our lives, the daily observations of almost undistinguishable patterns. It is a beautiful tool; we just didn’t learn how to deal with it yet. 

We pose questions and feel comfortably satisfied with reasonable but shallow answers. But obnoxiously bothered by conflicting results. We desperately want to know who is right and who is wrong. For some small facts we can check with some accuracy by which point of view it was written and what can be proved or not. There is a methodology for it. The danger lies in believing we can find the so-called truths using search mechanisms. Or when it comes to more fundamental questions, echoing in politics and the nature of reality itself. There is just not perfect answers or flawless concepts. But there are opinions, different points of view.

Imagine the truth is a FLYING CUBE. It is huge and flying above us. It is so huge we can’t contemplate it in its totality. Each one of us see an edge, or a vertex. If you ask any and each one you would hear different answers. “The piece I see is like this…”, “what I see feels like…”. Yet we can’t possibly know, see or calculate the whole cube. And we never will! What I believe we can achieve is a higher level (of consciousness) that allows us to see from different perspectives and combine it, expanding our understanding of the reality. I believe there is just one truth, one source, it all emanates from the One, creating an infinitude of combinations and probabilities. Comparative Mythology can show us how much the beliefs and myths seem to have drunk from the same source. Maybe ancient civilizations like the Egyptians indeed had a greater expansion of the mind. I still believe we can slowly regain this enthusiasm and interest for the otherworldly. 

For now, and to begin with, I suggest contemplation.

How amazing is it, to be able to experience this reality?

It is a grace and an honor to be able to participate in this sublime reality.

Or to just enjoy the pouring of the mystical waters over our heads…

Contemplation is my digestive tea for undigestible truths.