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Mindlessly surfing internet a good thing?
Yeah, I know the subject makes no sense but in a way, today, it did.
A little less than an hour ago I was sitting here, blindly following links and looking at different things when out of the corner I spotted something outside. It's been very cold here in Massachusetts lately so things have frozen over, puddles, etc. There are some nasty one's at the end of my driveway and they are pretty sharp and whatever. There was an elderly gentlemen walking along, carrying a bag of cans and bottles he was collecting. I've seen him around town before and I'm sure he is homeless but that's not why I'm posting this.
So out of the corner of my eye I see him and then I don't. He had slipped on the ice. I went out, with phone in hand, to see if he was ok. He was bleeding from his hands and must have hit his head cause there was blood coming from under his hat into his face. He was pretty unresponsive so I immediately dialed 911. The ambulance showed up very quickly and took care of him.
So today, while mindlessly surfing the internet, a bad thing turned into a good thing. It also helps that my computer desk is near a window, but my blinds were shut!
A little less than an hour ago I was sitting here, blindly following links and looking at different things when out of the corner I spotted something outside. It's been very cold here in Massachusetts lately so things have frozen over, puddles, etc. There are some nasty one's at the end of my driveway and they are pretty sharp and whatever. There was an elderly gentlemen walking along, carrying a bag of cans and bottles he was collecting. I've seen him around town before and I'm sure he is homeless but that's not why I'm posting this.
So out of the corner of my eye I see him and then I don't. He had slipped on the ice. I went out, with phone in hand, to see if he was ok. He was bleeding from his hands and must have hit his head cause there was blood coming from under his hat into his face. He was pretty unresponsive so I immediately dialed 911. The ambulance showed up very quickly and took care of him.
So today, while mindlessly surfing the internet, a bad thing turned into a good thing. It also helps that my computer desk is near a window, but my blinds were shut!
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Comments
I remember C. C. Martindale saying something about our actions: that we are lucky that we can never be fully sure of their outcomes. If we knew the good that we were doing, we would be puffed up with pride, and if we knew the harm, we would be crushed by guilt.
Yes, interdependence is quite amazing Simon. I actually felt like I needed to peek out the window, it was strange. Besides this event I've been contemplating interdependence alot lately!
I have recently been reading some stuff by and about Teilhard de Chardin (again!) and reflecting on his take on evolution. He saw the uncovering of this truth as being the single most important event in the history of human thought: when, for the first time, humans turned back to look at the universe and question it. Whilst one may agree or disagree with his analysis, it is certain that the theory of evolution rests firmly on the basis of universal connectedness.
A clear-eyed view of such interconnection seems to me to lead to an image of a compassionate universe which functions to produce life in abundance. In my small corner, I may hate the cholestrerol that pours from my differently-functioning liver and blocks my arteries but the universe doesn't: it is all part of the unfolding. From that pov, I can even love my liver because, without it, I could not exist. It may not be perfect but nothing is. It is only one more stage in the process of evolution.
Teilhard suggests that we need to develop a new 'sense'. We have managed to achieve some understanding of the notion of infinity from our 'discovery' of the vastness of the cosmos. Now it is time, from our understanding of evolution, to begin to grasp eternity through our growing understanding of the depths of time from which we arise.
Only because we hallucinate do we come to believe that we are separate. One 'trick' that works for me is to turn my compassion on that very hallucination and understand how it served me well, even if, today, I want to pop it away in the closet along with other fanciful notions from childhood.
I like to read things like this. Seems to somehow provide some weird sense of really why we're all here.
And then again, it could have just been coincidence - but still a great story.
-bf
Could be coincidence, meant to be or whatever, I'm just glad I was peeping out the window at the right time.
Ever since I have started reading and studying Buddha's teachings it seems like circumstances have come about that seem to be mini "tests". A while back there was this woman who hit my car with hers as we were leaving work. It was not a bad accident but it was a "tense" situation none the less. I did not blow up (I actually told this story in another thread so I won't spell it out again) but it was (or seemed to be) a way of testing my patience and compassion for another person involved in the same stressful situation as I. There have been many other things that have happened over the past year that seemingly happen more often now. Whether they be stressful situations or what have you...
BF mentioned coincidence, could it be? Or am I more "aware" of my surroundings and the events happening around me? Honestly I'm having a hard time putting some of this stuff into words but I think most of you can get the idea I am trying to convey. Any thoughts??
Now, I'm not saying this was an instance of synchronicity, but I'm not saying it wasn't, either. Synchronicity's primary meaning seems to be "the relation that exists when things occur at the same time."
Growing up in a family of nine children spaced in ages only 12 years from oldest to youngest, we were often known to think and even say the very same thing at the same time. Then we'd holler out: "Owe me a Coke, one, two, three." It happened very often when we were kids.
Growing up, my brothers and I seemed to be in sync (haha I said n sync). Once, I was laying awake, and two of my brothers were asleep. I shared a room with one but the other had a room across the hall. They started talking about cards and stuff. One brother asked "Hey Andre do you have any aces?" And the strange thing is Andre said "No, I don't have any cards!" I got up to see if they were awake but they were both quite asleep.
Has there been any studies on this that you know of? And where may I find more info if so?
Whether it's the internet, at work (admittedly, goofing off at the moment), making dinner, etc.
Art, not science, I think, is more prone to supply meaningful answers. I'm thinking here of so many novels and movies. There are countless stories that tell us that we are woven together in a wondrous tapestry and only see hints of that at times. The universe, the world, is a very complex place, and we are all interrelated. More to the point, is the question of whether this synchronicity-thing might be a manifestation of our underlying INTERBEING.
Perhaps we'd see more of these connections if we didn't have so much time and attention tied up in making ends meet —and the like.
__________________
"BE KIND" - the religion of ShangriLa--from the movie, "Lost Horizon"
Meditate by emptying yourself and letting the universe fill you.
Go Green!!!
I believe the whole thing was based on the "interbeing" idea you mentioned. Since we are are "one" in a away it would seem my conscious was connected to the man's and this made me more aware of what was going on. Or maybe not... I'm still up in the air on it. Just glad I was there to see it and call the paramedics for him.