Spring Break
Mindfulness: East, West And In-Between
Bryan Murphy
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Commentary
The great thing about the Internet is the fact that it's pretty much an unsorted, unfiltered, non-hierarchical tornado of pure information. Of course, that is also the terrible thing about the Internet as well. This intrinsically chaotic nature is what keeps Wikipedia's founders and dedicated editors up at night, and what results in inattentive students writing research papers based on bogus data. Google's ability to sift through the madness has made it one of the most valuable corporations in America and in the world.
Still, the ups of pure information overload often out-up the downs. One of the few truly and purely enjoyable experiences provided by modern technology is traversing through a warren of digital link-clicking that one never would have replicated in the physical world - thereby stumbling upon a random factoid, bit of data or historical circumstance unexpected and incredible to such a degree that it leaves one's mind so blown that they half-suspect that their pre-frontal cortex snuck into a sorority house without telling them.
Such epiphanies are, by their very nature, subjective - a fact one knew previously or acquired mundanely is not nearly so startling as when one stumbles upon it themselves. Therefore, as personal anecdotes, I offer the moments when I first realized that bananas grow on herbs, that pineapples come from bushes, peanuts are legumes, and marshmallows are made out of the boiled corpses of large mammals.
Those examples are fairly old, however. At a certain point, one figures they've done, seen, read, learned and heard it all - or at least enough of it all that their mind is no longer so susceptible to incidental breakage.
Then one realizes that the fat little "Buddha" statue that one always sees around in Chinese restaurants, in souvenir shops and on postcards are not, in fact, statues of the true Buddha at all, but rather statues of a Chinese Buddhist monk named "Budai" in China or "Hotei" in Japan. This monk, upon reaching enlightenment, became a buddha, as anyone who reaches full enlightenment is called - Budai is commonly known as "the Laughing Buddha." Famous for his happiness, girth, and enlightenment, this monk became a minor deity in Buddhism, Shinto, and Taosim, symbolizing prosperity and joy. He never was, and never was meant to be considered, the actual Buddha. The shock of this blow to my purportedly worldly self-image was as severe as if I had been confusing Jesus with St. Peter for the last 20 years. My mind wasn't merely blown - it was shattered into dust.
Still, the ups of pure information overload often out-up the downs. One of the few truly and purely enjoyable experiences provided by modern technology is traversing through a warren of digital link-clicking that one never would have replicated in the physical world - thereby stumbling upon a random factoid, bit of data or historical circumstance unexpected and incredible to such a degree that it leaves one's mind so blown that they half-suspect that their pre-frontal cortex snuck into a sorority house without telling them.
Such epiphanies are, by their very nature, subjective - a fact one knew previously or acquired mundanely is not nearly so startling as when one stumbles upon it themselves. Therefore, as personal anecdotes, I offer the moments when I first realized that bananas grow on herbs, that pineapples come from bushes, peanuts are legumes, and marshmallows are made out of the boiled corpses of large mammals.
Those examples are fairly old, however. At a certain point, one figures they've done, seen, read, learned and heard it all - or at least enough of it all that their mind is no longer so susceptible to incidental breakage.
Then one realizes that the fat little "Buddha" statue that one always sees around in Chinese restaurants, in souvenir shops and on postcards are not, in fact, statues of the true Buddha at all, but rather statues of a Chinese Buddhist monk named "Budai" in China or "Hotei" in Japan. This monk, upon reaching enlightenment, became a buddha, as anyone who reaches full enlightenment is called - Budai is commonly known as "the Laughing Buddha." Famous for his happiness, girth, and enlightenment, this monk became a minor deity in Buddhism, Shinto, and Taosim, symbolizing prosperity and joy. He never was, and never was meant to be considered, the actual Buddha. The shock of this blow to my purportedly worldly self-image was as severe as if I had been confusing Jesus with St. Peter for the last 20 years. My mind wasn't merely blown - it was shattered into dust.
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