The use of negative integers, I discovered recently to my total fascination, are a sign of higher level intelligence. This is because negative numbers are purely theoretical and serve no practical function. you don't get -1 sheep, -2.4 kids, or -1000000 grains of rice. Although apparently they can be useful in book-keeping, but that is the work of the devil!
Negative numbers and a big fat zero have been playing on my mind today and trapping me in a cage of negative thinking. I don't seem to be enough with the force today to really get rid of my dark cloud. Oh the melodrama!
How typical that in a world of not just plenty but of total over consumption, that our minds can still get stuck ion what we think is missing. I can sit comfortably in my nice house, with my full belly, connecting with the world through my wonderful laptop, and yet still have BUTs, IF ONLYs, WHAT IFs, I JUST WANTs screaming in my head over and over.
And where is Mr Dogen with his infinite wisdom to share the dharma and rescue me from myself? well he's dead! Selfish pig. And don't get me started on the Buddha....
Maybe science will be my saviour. These thoughts are only neurons firing electrical signals through well worn circuits within the matter of my brain and nothing more. Hmmmm, nope that's a very underwhelming idea.
So coming back to zen again I resolve to sit it out. What other way to deal than to sit? Sit with whatever is there. Good or bad thoughts are just thoughts. The 'good' or 'bad' are ego preferences. I've built my own cage to trap myself in. I must have built a key to let myself out too. It must be around here somewhere. Maybe if I just sit here and wait I'll remember where it is.....
lol! I am not alone! Other people have adverse physical reactions to mathematics! I have the hardest time accepting math... not that 1 + 1 = 2, but that so many important mathematical "answers" for reality have components that do not physically exist in nature! How can it not be seen as an artistic expression? Dont get me wrong, I agree, it all works. But I cannot help but feel like a child who has just been told "Because I said so." as an answer to a valid question. I want to know why, and out of frustration, my mood always takes a turn for the worse. Fortunately, it doesnt come up very often in conversations... kind like religion and politics, lol. :D
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