I watch the Observer
dissect into me,
dualistic transparency.
Siphoning the impurities
disintegrated from the Earth's callous skin.
Parallel reciprocity
sifted through emotional dirt.
Bottled and up and served
in cheap plastic containers.
Satisfy your thirst for knowledge.
Is this fountain of life
still safe to drink?

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

I was having a conversation with my dad today about depression and what drives people to the brink of insanity, and it got me thinking about the different realms of religion and science, that we use to justify and maintain status quo within our lives. This in turn got me to thinking along the lines of existential psychology..
In Existential psychology one garners the concept of who they are based on on the concepts of "here and now". Every moment allows a person the choice to be whomever and whatever they desire. a Key feature to this type of thinking is that it doesn't take into account our past lives, childhood or karma that we have built upon. Another factor that has no major bearing is genetic inheritance. More importance is given to how the individual is able to interpret and cope with what is presented at any given instant. by rejecting biology as being the foremost blueprint to our lives, conscious choice and responsibility become the central doctrine, with unconsciousness having very little game play. In this way, by rejecting sex (procreation) and death as fundamental motivation forces . the cause for peoples existence is explained through the realms of existential anxiety( negative) and existential freedom( positive).
From a negative standpoint people fear meaninglessness. A fear of non existence manifests itself into a fear of danger death sickness etc. A basic Fear for being alive. so in essence it is not a fear of pain or loss but a fear of the end of all possibilities FOR pain and loss. NO overall purpose in life equates to no ultimate justification for being.
On the positive side the crux behind self actualization or self discovery is the inherent ability to seek out possibilities to try ways of being that suit ones own goals ideals and life circumstances. This allows for a continuous need; independent of a fear for meaninglessness/death. To be able to become more then a whole at any given instance.
All of this is reflected through curiosity, extroversion and self introspection. being able to basically "broaden ones horizons". By creating stagnation( the failure to continually "become") we create a harmful impediment to our mental health. We we lose the ability to work towards a goal, allow joyful experience s and strive towards betterment- we lose ourselves. people are anxious about meaninglessness because they know thy have the freedom to make their life mean whatever they want it to mean, which includes the freedom to make it meaningless. People are also anxious about existence because they know they have the freedom to end it as well. Hence the concepts of existential anxiety and freedom becoming closely intertwined paradoxical worlds within our psyche.
"If all consciousness is subject to essential laws in a manner similar to that in which spatial reality is subject to mathematical views, the these essentials laws will be of the most fertile significance investigating the facts of the conscious life of humans and brute animals..."----Husserl
"Immanent and transcendental experience are nevertheless connected in a remarkable way, by change in attitude we can pass from one to the other. " ----Husserl

    Sometimes we need not to argue, ponder with our words, it only frustrates and leads to more confusion, angst and  mental stress. The problem is we do not open up our world to silence; to just open our eyes and stare. There is power in just a gaze. There is power in touch. We need to allow ourselves to open our senses. Let the energy of our mind, our soul and  our hearts flow through our skin and through our senses. there is so much more to understand through experience, rather then argumentation of what should, may or has been done. It's very easy to just sit down and focus on our flaws and self pity. Allow yourself to be taken over. Allow your senses to be alive. Close your eyes and just listen. Listen to the air , the sounds of the energy fields surrounding us. Take a deep breath and allow that energy to become a part of you.
    What we fail to understand is that our actions our thoughts our very being, is all interconnected. We are constantly gaining and giving off energy vibrations. Allow yourself to experience them. Experience these cycles of karma.
        Our existence can only be summed up as being instantaneous.The earth is steadily revolving around its axis, as well as our our thoughts and our bodies are in a constant process of fluctuation, who we are and what we are can only be experienced within each moment.
According to Zen philosophy : "If we entertain no personal version of what we think existence is,if we hold no subjective interpretation of what existence is, at the moment we are free of any notion at all, we will experience existence instantaneously, spontaneously."

    In essence we are not really experiencing existence, because we are too caught up in our own world of subjective living. In order to experience existence in all its purity we need to create existence.The existence will simply be there. Sadly as humans we are constantly trying to create our own version of what we feel the world is, and whatever existence that is created becomes limited and loses all sense of what existence is. allowing our minds to have unecessary thoughts and angst causes our being to become clouded and we become aware of each moment, rather then allowing it to take its course and simply be as it is. Remember to allow your mind to be still. Allow your senses to explore and experience. Allow these changes to take place in the "now".Break the habitualization of 'should I and 'this is wrong', and allow yourself to listen; letting ourselves live.

So I've been reading this book on Cultural Psychology and its been really interesting, especially the topic of gender stereotypes across cultures. It reminded me of this discussion session we had at college once about how what defines "homosexual behavior" can be so miscontrued across cultures. What is socially acceptable as normal behavior in one society can be see as being overtly homosexual in another. Does this mean that if you're "heterosexual" in one culture you can become "homosexual" in another.
What really is the basis of these so called labels on behavior.
the thing is we've all been guilty of it, even me on numerous accounts. One's personal preference in music, aesthetic beauty, and such interests should not be what defines them as a certain "sexual stereotype". Sexual preference has nothing to do with whether you find a perticular person good looking or happen to like a specific style of music.
It seems that society over the ages has over the years tried to further and further make definitive segretions among itself, which is causing even more self confusion. Back in the times of the ancient greeks/romans, or even in present times amone the Asian and European societies. we see that there isn't a severe distinction between male-male , male-female and female-female interaction. Though predominately it seems that such stereotypes seem to affect the male population a lot more severely. Its ok for a man to wear tight matching clothing, or listen to "girly music", to walk arm in arm, even kiss, and still be considered a " full fledged male". If that is the case, why is there such fear of the same in the US? why is it the need men feel they need to be macho and tough. Its ok to cry, its ok to have emotions and express how you feel.
Ultimately what its important is the your role in attaining what you want to achieve out of life. Not of your physical perception by others. WE should cultivate our relationships and lives by what makes us happy, gives us pleasure. Feelings which cause us to act upon them define who we are. Feelings which are caused as a direct product of our society or simple thought do not define who we are. Just because you think that you are something doesn't necessary mean you are. I can think all I want that I am the most intelligent person in the world, but it wouldn't make me so. I need to act upon that emotion and cutivate it to make it happen. Also what we must see is that beyond all this there definately is a greater unknown force which is driving us, be it alternate universes, "M" matter etc.


Hmm more thoughts on this, as I continue to read this book further.