“Now grant me wisdom and knowledge…”
2 Chronicles 1:10
It’s harder to rule ourself than it is to rule a city. We are complex creatures and are subject to many overt and subtle influences. Trying to reign in on them all is a nigh impossible task. The mind is always running so attempts to still the mind and void it of thoughts means to think about voiding it of thoughts which in turn means to entertain at least one thought, which is pretty maddening. The best that we can hope for is to strive to maintain a balance with the manner of our thoughts and neither allow too many to flood the mind or try to rid ourselves of them altogether.
The mind void of thought is like the body void of blood. We need thoughts, and we need to entertain certain thoughts while ignoring others, but again, all in a spirit of balance. Constantly thinking can be a blessing when being productive, and a curse when such very thinking starts eating us alive. There comes a strange point along the path of progression where if we’re not balanced in our thinking then what might be mistaken as progress is actually it’s opposite. That seems to be precisely what Alan Watts refers to when telling us about the troubles of overthinking.
“A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts. So they lose touch with reality, and live in a world of illusion.”
Alan Watts
The same blessing and curse applies to how connected the world is today. The blessing speaks for itself, but as for the curse; whatever is to be done when access to the internet, social media, and information in general is perpetual and eats away at our peace of mind? Humanity once sought to find a means to transmute base metals into gold. This desire fueled the proto-science of alchemy, and eventually became chemistry. Nevertheless, this proto-science continues to enjoy the light of day among occult enthusiasts despite the locus of its operation shifting from the external world to the internal world.
At its lightest alchemy offer a glimpse into how our ancestors understood the world, and at its heaviest it has become—or maybe always was—an intensive psychological exercise that aids us in the path of progression. The trouble seems to be that people don’t want to make progress, despite making wide-sweeping claims that they do. Plenty of people are simply content with their state without ever wanting to accept that for themselves. Progress is hard; actually it’s terrifying. Carl Jung puts the issue into perspective where he tells us that,
“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
Carl Jung — Psychology and Alchemy (Collected Works Volume 12)
Who are we when we aren’t in touch with ourselves? Maybe we’d rather not know, because life is safer that way. The old adage “ignorance is bliss,” can serve us well if increasing in knowledge means increasing in sorrow. Besides who wants to add to their suffering willingly? If there’s anything that can be done about it then why not not know? A thousand people, and ten thousand others might try and tell us who we are based off of their perceptions of us. Yet, how do we know what wonders or horrors the psyche is capable of if we’ve never come face to face with our own reflection in the mirror and taken a deep look?
Looking without can only ever lead to more questions and a greater vexation of the spirit, for as John Keats writes in his Ode to Psyche, “Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none.” Clueing into that subtle scratch; that subtle whisper we so often ignore is to pay attention to the genius, genie, and djinn within. Sufi teachings will tell us that the psyche is like an “empty cup,” composed of ego and intention, and serves as reflection of its observer. The ancient Greeks were well aware of the problem that besets the individual and the psyche.
Γνῶθι σεαυτόν — Know Thyself
Μηδὲν ἄγαν — Nothing in Excess
Ἐγγύα πάρα δ Ἄτα — Surety Brings Ruin
Maxims inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi
We are incredibly connected and yet despite being connected it’s kind of bizarre to find ourselves more out of touch than ever before. We’re constantly engaging with a screen, instant gratification has become excessive, and we’re more sure of ourselves than we’ve ever been with a constant stream of information channeling our way. We’ve effectively broken all three of the Delphic maxims, and that might be one of the reasons why we struggle to come to grips with our own nature. Our ancestors may not have had access to the same achievements as we do, however it is likely that they were far more in touch with their inner selves than we are today. Even then they knew the immense challenges of trying to remain disciplined and balanced in our thoughts.
There’s an artificiality to the connectedness available through technology and it will always leave us wanting. Rather than throw ourselves headlong into more media and distractions it might very well be to our best interests to disconnect and get back in touch with ourselves as our ancestors innately knew how to. Alchemically speaking we seem to have reversed engineered what inner gold we have at access back into a cheaper base metal. We’ve traded genuine connection for artificial connection, and our sense of well-being suffers tremendously for it. The solution to that problem lays within, and the path within begins by taking a good hard look at ourselves.
mgchoudhary 
Very nice
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