Friday, December 30, 2011

Do we have Too Much Processing Power?

OK, you would expect a title like that from a geek like me but I’m applying the geek computer stuff to the human brain stuff. While reading Everyday Zen by Charlotte Beck, it occurred to me that maybe we humans have too much processing power upstairs. All that extra processing power gets us into trouble and at times can make us miserable. But at the same time it’s responsible for propelling humanity forward, allowing us to walk on the moon. Much time is spent in Beck’s book and other Zen books trying to explain “zazen”, Zen meditation, with the goal being no real goal other than non thinking. This is harder than it sounds. Brad Warner explains it best in “Sit Down and Shut Up” as grabbing onto those spaces between thoughts (this is simplified, just read his book). To me, it helps to quiet the brain down and discard some of this extra processing that’s always going on.

More to Come

No this BLOG is NOT dead.  I plan on posting more thoughts.  Look for new ones on Zen, and my upcoming article, 1000 conversations.