Khế Iêm (Vietnam): VIRUS AND ZERO DEGREES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

WUHAN VIRUS AND ZERO DEGREES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Khế Iêm

Every conscious action begins with one thought. But the thought comes from the outside world, through the five senses. Consciousness stops at awareness, and the next and final process is the function of the subconscious. The subconscious is over a million times more powerful than the conscious. 95 to 99% of our actions are determined by the subconscious. Less than 5% of what we do is driven by conscious thought. Thus, a very small percentage of conscious thoughts are repeated and subconsciously expressed over time, becoming attitudes or beliefs controlling our actions.
 

The neocortex, the thinking brain, which accounts for two thirds of the brain, is the control center for the utilization of the brain, divided into the right and left hemispheres. The problem with the neocortex is that it always wants to tame the underlying aspects of the brain, especially the emotions (the limic brain), although it rarely succeeds. The system (the subconscious mind), or the emotional brain, is the buffer between thought (in the neocortex) and instinctive action (the reptilian brain), in which there is the part which receives sensory information from inside the body (hunger, cold, pain, etc.) and the part which receives information from the surrounding environment outside the body (danger, food, pleasure, etc.)

Each person produces an average of 50,000 thoughts per day and 95% of these are the same ideas over and over again. Thoughts pass through mental filters, and an average of 80% of these are unimportant, and thus are discarded. The mind is based on the beliefs of the ego, beliefs about values, beliefs about experience, beliefs about ability to survive. In short, it is about experience and what we believe is true. When we were born, we were carrying the genetics of our parents, growing up, educated by our families and societies, and affecting the cultural, religious and political environment of our times. All of these elements constitute strong beliefs which are programmed subconsciously, which researchers of the brain have called “old habits” and religious people have occasionally termed “prejudices.”

The ordinary person each has a different mindset, and each sees the world through each one's gaze. Thus, there is no real world, only the virtual world. In the field of postmodern architecture, Charles Jencks has said, “There are no whole truths: all truths are half-truths.” Half of the truth, of course, is not the truth. It means falseness. That is why people must live alone, except with parents, because only parents can love and sacrifice everything for their children. The Buddha’s Teaching, “The ultimate good is nothing more than filial piety, the extreme of evil is nothing more than filial impiety” (the forbearance prayer) is true here. Parents give birth to a child naturally; some have not piety, and in return, they receive some piety. At any rate, no one can repay the gift of birth.

John Assaraf has written in one of his books, “Everything in the physical world is made of atoms. Atoms are created from energy. Energy is created from consciousness.” This means that matter is made of molecules, molecules are made of atoms, atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons, all of which are made from vibrations. Thus, everything around us, even our thoughts, is just an expression of a vibrational frequency, and, when analyzed to the sub-atomic level, we don’t see matter, only pure amounts of energy. Everything in the universe moves and vibrates, never ceasing.

The zero degree of consciousness is the zero degree of thought. Practicing according to Theravada Buddhism is usually prayed in Pàḷi, which means losing the thought, liberation from the misery of suffering, and peace of mind. The universe has yin and yang, light and dark. The thought, if born of suffering, also creates human life and civilization. Human nature is gentle, evil, and no one can change it on its own. It is fate. The human brain is divided into the left brain (the mind), and the right brain (the emotion), but connected by the corpus callosum. A big corpus callosum can easily transfer data between the right and left, thus, each side can equilibrium the other more. If a corpus callosum is small, a person is more assertive. So how to get rid of thoughts even if it takes a lifetime of practice?

Thoughts cannot be dropped, nor should they be, because they are a human characteristic. Good, evil, happiness, suffering arise from feelings, through nerves, turning into emotions, leading to thought, thought leading to actions. Except for birth and death, suffering is always caused by the actions of others. The self, depending on the nature of each person, knows only that it does not know the person, acting according to their nature, not having love, even with their parents and siblings. Actually, this feeling or thought does not belong to us. Each person has a different mindset; if communicating or living together, it is easy to cause collisions, crashes, and suffering. Suffering is not just suffering, however, it also leads to happiness. Because, if there is no suffering, how can we recognize human love and how can an artist create literary and artistic works which enrich each culture? Happiness and suffering are both elements of life. Whether or not the thought belongs to us does not matter. The problem is whether or not we accept thoughts? If not, are we not human?

Finally, we must not blame anyone but must consider others as ourselves, because no one can control other's minds. Everyone lives in different environments and situations at a cost. No one understand themseft but themselves. If they are aware of suffering, they will no longer suffer and will cause no suffering to others, but few people have such knowledge. We do not avoid suffering, but we accept it as human existence. Human life is short. Live it with the present moment and consider everything as fleeting as the clouds. As there is separation, farewell.

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Translated  from Vietnamese to English by Dr. William B. Noseworthy. ​​​​​​​

Iem, Khe (Vietnam) Khe Iem was born in 1946. Founder and editor in chief of Tạp Chí Thơ (Journal of Poetry from 1994 to 2004), Editor of online Journal for New Formalism Poetry Club, since 2004. He has published Hột Huyết (Blood Seed) play, 1972, Thanh Xuân (Youth) poetry, 1992, Dấu Quê (Traces of the Homeland), poetry, 1996, Thời của Quá khứ (A Time Past), stories, 1996, Vu Dieu Khong Van, essays, 2018. 

http://www.thotanhinhthuc.org/