The Life of The Mind

The Life of the Mind

Words are mystical unto themselves. To the untrained, unappreciative ear they are just solitary utterances that hold no meaning unless paired with a mate of two or three. And even that is just the beginning of what we are taught. As we grow older, we are coaxed into a world of complex structure with prepositions and predicates, compound and complex sentences; then the formidable paragraph! All of that, just to convey one solitary thought process before moving on to another knot of words, compound and complex sentences. But I admire a world beyond our perplexing stratosphere of language where, much of the time, words are used for no rhyme or reason what so ever.

OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ

PRAISE TO THE JEWEL IN THE LOTUS

OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ

PRAISE TO THE JEWEL IN THE LOTUS

OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ

PRAISE TO THE JEWEL IN THE LOTUS

OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ

PRAISE TO THE JEWEL IN THE LOTUS

When I was young and began learning the versatility and complexity of language, my mind was enchanted; I was bound to the mastery of this new realm with mental word exercises I created for myself. It involved counting syllables with right-left-right foot taps. Odd-numbered syllabics were most important and balanced; even-numbered syllabics left me feeling at odds, as if I was one foot tap away from being at peace with myself. It was such a potent force in my mind that it could only be described as an orphic mental Feng-shui, which I would later learn is a school of thinking in terms of balance. Modern Feng-shui focuses on the Qi (ch’i) as environmental and systematic awareness; essentially finding “the perfect spot” (Bennett). Without this balance, my mind would burst into anxiety. If I had a right foot-left foot-right foot, I needed to follow up with a left foot-right foot-left foot. There! Perfect balance. My yin and yang. Therefore, it became important for me to have a resource for substituting words with others that suited my needs, but were equally as efficient.

The word in itself is composed of various components that are capable of altering its purpose if used unwittingly. These components are syllabic, punctual, and karmic. The languages of the world have intertwined so heavily and broadly that cultures throughout history have inherited words, or parts of words, and with this, they also inherit the spirit of the word; as a part or a whole.

Nothing is without meaning. “No-thing” is very much in fact some-thing. There is something within everything and that is Kotodama; “the soul of language”.

OM TRYAMBAKAM YAJAMAHE
SUGANDHIM PUSHTIVARDHANAM
URVARUKAMIVA BANDHANAN
MRITYOR MUKSHIYA MAAMRITAT

WE MEDITATE ON THE THREE-EYED REALITY

WHICH PERMEATES AND NOURISHES ALL LIKE A FRAGRANCE.

MAY WE BE LIBERATED FROM DEATH FOR THE SAKE OF IMMORTALITY,

EVEN AS THE CUCUMBER IS SEVERED FROM BONDAGE TO THE CREEPER.

My muse; my undying love; Roget’s International Thesaurus. With each additional edition my adoration blooms. There is no word that can fully convey the feeling of this book resting in my lap and the power at my disposal. It is my morning coffee and my evening tea. Twenty-something bookmarks protruding the top of the book, sticky notes of every color; worn and flapping as I skim pages (none of which dare skew the thumb-index that is so vital to me). Roget’s was the unattainable object of my affection for many-a-year until I took the leap and made it entirely my own. It’s funny how something so fulfilling and inexpensive could slip my mind once adulthood paralyzing fist struck me down. It took me eight years of life in the real world before I would take up my pen, strike paper with ink, and thus remember the object of my affection, and it’s necessity.

My wonder never ceases in browsing its contents to satisfy that cramping need for balance in my skull. My Roget. My dharma.

No two syllables stand together by mere coincidence. “Some Japanese hesitate to pick up a kushi (comb) dropped on the street because it is associated with picking up both “ku” (suffering) and “shi” (death)” (Hara 125-160). It is, however, a matter of personal belief that allows these words to come to fruition and manifest destiny. “’A language synchronizes with the actual things or ideas it represents’ as those who hallucinate can see ghosts. In such sense Kotodama ‘exists’ as the pathologic phenomenon of hallucination ‘exists’” (Hara 125-160).

Man creates his own truth.

SÁ SEM ÓTTAST DAUÐANN KANN EKKI AÐ NJÓTA LÍFSINS.

WER DEN TOD FÜRCHTET KANN DAS LEBEN NICHT GENIESSEN.

HE WHO FEARS DEATH CANNOT ENJOY LIFE.

SÁ SEM ÓTTAST DAUÐANN KANN EKKI AÐ NJÓTA LÍFSINS.

WER DEN TOD FÜRCHTET KANN DAS LEBEN NICHT GENIESSEN.

HE WHO FEARS DEATH CANNOT ENJOY LIFE.

SÁ SEM ÓTTAST DAUÐANN KANN EKKI AÐ NJÓTA LÍFSINS.

WER DEN TOD FÜRCHTET KANN DAS LEBEN NICHT GENIESSEN.

HE WHO FEARS DEATH CANNOT ENJOY LIFE.

Having a limitless companion of words at my side, the entire world is my oyster and I will no longer live within the dark shucks of a yin without seeking balance; my yang. The world of language is becoming all the more fascinating as the days progress. The numerous variances of words I thought I had known are wiping clean my verbal slate. Looking back, I am surprised. I thought I had a handle that was exceptional but I was merely a novice with high hopes. My respect for the complexity of the word is much more profound. I see just how important every stroke is. There is no such thing as a useless word. There isn’t a mark that does not demand respect. There is a distinct arrangement for everything that will lend absolute precision to a complete meaning.

It is with this same strict, extravagant, all-inclusive ideology that the mantra is put to use. It serves as a sacred link to The Gods and a means of achieving higher understanding. It allows man the means to alter his sense of being, and shift destiny within the oneness of all things. Through repetition of chant, sacred prayer, or even song, the mantra serves to “[create] not only a sense of spiritual quietude and goodness but also captures the cyclic nature of time, an important attribute of Hindu cosmology” (Alves 139). Many of these mantras are thought to be handed down from Buddha himself. They serve as pleas for wisdom or peace of mind, and bravery in the empty face of death and tragedy.

Man creates his own truth; his actions are a direct reflection of his moral truth. He creates his own destiny with karmic goodness and good will, thus he has no reason to fear his future.

AKAL, MAHA KAL

UNDYING, GREAT DEATH

AKAL, MAHA KAL

UNDYING, GREAT DEATH

AKAL, MAHA KAL

UNDYING, GREAT DEATH

I have come to a crossroads at this point in my crusade of the mind. As I read; research; study; seek-out, and learn, a faint glow grows nearer to me with each passing day. My mind's cogs turn tirelessly; contemplations for which I shall not mention, but with these considerations the strange glow swells. While dissecting and coming to terms with life on a daily basis, this is my salvation; the gentle humming light. It is my answer to life's great riddle. It is the spirit of the word. Our wavelength to the Gods. The life of the mind.

OṂ BHAI ṢA JYE BHAI ṢA JYE MA HĀ
BHAI ṢA JYA SA MU DGA TE SVĀ

OṂ BHAI ṢA JYE BHAI ṢA JYE MA HĀ
BHAI ṢA JYA SA MU DGA TE SVĀ

OṂ BHAI ṢA JYE BHAI ṢA JYE MA HĀ
BHAI ṢA JYA SA MU DGA TE SVĀ

MAY ALL BEINGS BE AUSPICIOUS!

I MAKE MY PROSTRATION TO YOU WHO DESTROYED
THE ENEMY OF NEGATIVE LIFE CYCLE CHANGES,

WHO HAS THUS GONE TO THE STATE OF
ENLIGHTENMENT LIKE OTHER BUDDHAS,

WHO PERFECTLY ACCOMPLISHED THE QUALITY OF
THE BUDDHA,

THE SUPREME PHYSICIAN WHO IS FULLY LIBERATED AND AWAKENED,

THE ENLIGHTENED ONE, MEDICINE BUDDHA. BEDURYA, KING OF THE PHYSICIANS.

It is with the utmost sincerity that I believe our words bind us to everything in all of creation. We are but mortals on this earth and we have just an inkling of understanding for the power of the mind. It is an instrument that we take for granted in every single one of our smallest moments; it is not until we understand the power of word and the cosmic ability it wields that we could possibly appreciate what it affords us.

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA

KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA

RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

Bibliography

Alves, William. Music of the Peoples of the World. Boston, MA: Schirmer Cengage Learning, 2010. 139. Print.

Bennett, Steven J. "Patterns of the Sky and Earth: A Chinese Science of Applied Cosmology."Journal of Chinese Science 3 (1978): 1-26. Print.

Hara, Kazuya. "THE WORD "IS" THE THING: The "Kotodama" Belief in Japanese Communication." Dokkyo Working Papers in Communication 21 (2000): 125-160. Print.