The YouTube project Iâve been thinking about for at least a year is finally taking shape: The Tavern.
I’ve always enjoyed making videos, and itâs been part of my plan to pick up that interest from the beginning. Now I am committed to a challenge of making seven videos in seven months.
You can âwatch the first one hereâ – or continue the newsletter to read the script đ
âOh, sorry, Sir, no dogs bigger than the mark on the sign are allowed.â
A sign at the door reads: âNo pets taller than this.â The mark sits roughly at a human waistline.
âThatâs not my dogâ, says the guy who just entered the tavern.
The tall dog passes the guy and approaches me.
âIâm not a pet, and Iâll take a hot milk as an apology for your improprietyâ, says the dog. His accent sounds posh, he must have gone to one of these fancy schools.
âSorry, Sirâ, I say. âOf course, right away.â
Better be polite to talking dogs, they might be best friends with a powerful wizard.
âWould you like some honey?â I ask and turn around to start preparing the milk. The last talking dog loooved honey in his hot milk.
âWhat kind of honey do you have?â the dog asks skeptically.
I add his hesitation to my growing body of data regarding the taste of talking dogs for honey in their hot milk.
âNothing fancy, Iâm afraid. Theyâre all mixes of hives from the blue forest.â
I fetch a jar of honey and show it to him.
âAs long as itâs localâ, he says. âIâm allergic to any products that come from south of the river.â
âNot a single pollen from the south, Sir!â I assure him and finish up his hot milk.
âThanksâ, he says and enjoys a deep breath of the scent.
âWhat brings you to my tavern then?â I ask and pick up a glass to polish.
âMy researchâ, he answers between sips of his milk.
He must be from the university then, I reckon. I inspect the glass.
âWhich subject?â I ask.
âConsciousnessâ, he says, finishing his drink.
âWhat about it?â I ask. Having consciousness as a research subject is like investigating the whole world.
He leans back and takes a deep breath. I know this look all too well from my decades in the tavern. I asked the right question and will now hear his entire life story.
âI vividly remember receiving the ability to use and understand language,â he says.
âI was only two years old, even though at the time I didnât know that. Itâs not like there wasnât a past and a future, but they werenât separate from the present.
In fact, nothing was really separate from anything. Just as the eastern philosophers describe the Self with a capital S.
A unified field of experience.
Then suddenly, after visiting a wizard, the voices my humans made began to take shape. I heard them all before, of course. But instead of slipping right through, now it was as if language had a place in my mind to attach itself to.
I learned quickly, but also helplessly. When I understood what was happening, it was already too late.
Naming things became addictive. I couldnât help but keep carving up my world into smaller and smaller pieces.
I knew it wasnât good for me. But when I turned my attention towards that feeling, the process only accelerated. I studied everything I could find about psychology and the mind, collecting even more words while trying to understand how to stop.
All I wanted was to return to my original state of bliss, before language and thought.
But all I had was my ability to name things. Whatever I turned my attention to, I sought a name for it.
So I decided to use it to my advantage: I applied to the academy – much to the dismay of my owners, who were only hoping to talk about dinner with their favorite pet.
After years of studying the philosophy of mind, I am now working on my final paper to become a faculty member. Itâs about the very nature of consciousness. Iâm certain this will help me and many others to reconnect with the Self – again, capital S.â
I ponder his words for a bit, polishing my glass.
âSo youâre still using words trying to get away from⊠words?â, I ask.
âYeah, I guessâ, he says.
âAnother milk?â I ask.
âYeah. I guessâ, he says.
âDonât be stingy with the honey.â
âïž Quote of the Week: âI prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.â -Frederick Douglass
đ Article of the Week: âA whole listâ of non-duality
đ§ Song of the Week: âJoseph Ray – Cos Of Youâ
I want to expand this newsletter’s format by responding to reader comments and questions. Of course, Iâll need some comments and questions first đ So Iâd love to hear from you!
Did something in my writing catch your attention? Was there an idea you found particularly intriguing? Or is there a question thatâs been on your mind related to these topics?
Just comment here or write to me at mail@urth.blog đ
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