One of the first quotations I learned was that Absence makes the heart grow fonder. As all of us who have ever tried to meditate know, to keep something absent is to grapple with its presence. Absence is in many ways related to presence, and in many cases absence underlines a presence- such as the dog who did not bark in the Sherlock Holmes story.
There are fun ways to learn philosophical ideas, and Slavoj Zizek, a Slovenian intellectual seems to enjoy this sort of approach. In one of his books, he uses a joke to demonstrate how absence and presence are never apart in our consciousness.
In an art gallery in East Europe, a guide is conducting a few tourists around the paintings collected there. One of the paintings in titled, "Lenin in Warsaw". But Lenin is nowhere in the picture. Instead, it is a handsome young member who shares the bed with Lenin's wife. So, one of the visitors asks the guide, "But where is Lenin?". To which the guide replies, "Lenin is in Warsaw!".
Baskar, very true.
ReplyDeleteEvery attribute has also its counterpart contending for our attention. To cultivate good habits is also admitting the presence of vices....to heightening our inner strength is also to admit the existence of vulnerabilities.
VP singh said something like politics was management of contradictions or words to that effect....life is bookended by polarities within, and without, in the the stimuli which ping us, and is lived within that range.
Yes, of course. That is why it is not advisable to be fanatical about anything. I think someone has said, don't stare into the abyss too much, you will become the abyss. It is the same with trying to negate things.
ReplyDeleteits all the work of amygdala. which copies anything of sensory pleasure it seed and tries to emulate the same actions even against the logical centre of the brain the cortex.
ReplyDeleteAbsence and presence are never apart. So the consciousness or awareness of presence is stronger during absence. This interplay makes the heart grow fonder.
ReplyDeleteAnd in presence, the fear of absence underlines togetherness. Alas, when is the time to live in the moment!
Alas, when is the time to live in the moment!
ReplyDeleteWhen indeed?
"Alas, when is the time to live in the moment!" - I think it was Milan Kundera who calls one of his novels, "Life is Elsewhere"!
ReplyDelete"its all the work of amygdala" - Is there no escape from its machinations?
Regards, all. Good day.