The Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci
Who is this person (self) who wakes from sleep each morning, becomes aware of wakefulness, stretches, begins to assess the needs of the day, and devises a strategy for living life to its fullest potential?
This person named Charles Patrick Woliver is as old as life itself and is simultaneously a continuum of change. This “I” is a human body-mind, an autonomous and dynamic system that arises in dependence upon human culture (what we are taught and learn) and the natural world (our evolutionary journey) (Mackenzie 2010).
This individual is a physical structure of matter and energy.
The coherent and solid “I” is actually built from many subsystems over the course of development, with a control center-the human brain.
This “I” is a triad of three elements: Information, Intuition, & Intention.
Let's explore this "I", and run a couple of exercises.
In-FORM-ation
This structure that contain's me is a miraculous bundle of cells. The cell itself is just a compartment…and of itself is as nonliving as any other room…The heart of the cell is the nucleus. It contains the cell’s DNA…Every cell with a nucleus in your body holds two copies of your DNA…DNA exists for just one purpose-to create more DNA. A DNA molecule…is made up of two strands, connected by rungs to form the celebrated twisted ladder known as the double helix. Your DNA is simply an instruction manual for making you.
DNA is extremely stable. It can last for tens of thousands of years. DNA passes on information with extraordinary fidelity. It makes only about one error every billion letters copied. Still, because your cells divide so much, that is about three errors, or mutations, per cell division. Most of those mutations the body can ignore, but just occasionally they have lasting significance. That is evolution…All of the components of the genome have one single-minded purpose-to keep the line of your existence going…For you to be here now, every one of your ancestors had to successfully pass on its genetic material to a new generation before being snuffed out or otherwise sidetracked from the procreative process (Bryson).
DNA is the substance that makes us truly immortal.
Most of our in-FORM-ation is housed in our brain. This “marvelous, complex, high-functioning three pounds of spongy mass [is] 75 to 80 percent water, with the rest split mostly between fat and protein. Pretty amazing that three such mundane substances can come together in a way that allows us thought and memory and vision and aesthetic appreciation” (Bryson). “Thoughts, feelings, images, and so on exist as patterns of information represented by patterns of neural structure and activity. In the same way, the various aspects of the apparent self-and the intimate and powerful experience of being a self-exist as patterns in the mind and brain” (Hanson).
Intuition and Intention
But these patterns of neural structure can either control self , or this self can with intention direct the neural patterns. Let’s conduct an experiment.
At the end of this sentence, STOP and ask yourself, “What am I thinking?” [Pause] GO. Perhaps you answered, “I am thinking… [fill in the blank]. Let’s call the [fill in the blank] x. Now your x and my x may have been the same, but probably not. Your x could have been, “I am hungry” while my x might have been, “My feet are cold”. Or perhaps, you had a moment of void, until finally your brain filled in the blank. The common denominator here was a message from your brain.
Our brains are designed to create x based on our current environment (sensory perception) and the statistical history of our past thoughts. In other words, if we have recently thought x, then there is a good chance that x will pop up again. But, luckily for us, the brain can potentially send us an innumerable number of different thoughts, but more importantly, we can direct our brain to send specific ones.
Enter mindfulness and intention! How can we control x ? One possibility is to enter a quasi-meditative state and/or directed focus. Easier said that done. Try this: close your eyes and focus on the residual light behind your closed eyelids. Stay there. As thoughts come to you, acknowledge them, let them go, and then simply refocus on the residual light. The residual light will probably change. Now take that focus, and place it on your breathing. After a period of time, open your eyes and return to normal thought. You have just guided your brain through on exercise that is therapeutic to your brain. “What flows through your attention sculpts your brain. Therefore, controlling your attention may be the single most effective way to shape your brain, and thus your mind. You can train and strengthen attention like any other mental ability; mindfulness is well-controlled attention.” (Hanson).
So who is this self?
One answer is: "Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. Between the two, my life flows."
-Nisargadatta Maharaj
Another answer is: In sum, from a neurological standpoint, the everyday feeling of being a unified self is an utter illusion: the apparently coherent and solid “I” is actually built from many subsystems and sub-subsystems over the course of development, with no fixed center, and the fundamental sense that there is a subject of experience is fabricated from myriad, disparate moments of subjectivity. (Hanson).
This self is a miraculous bundle of matter (the same stuff found in dirt), plus an active field of energy that reacts and interacts with intention. Experience and knowledge acquired during millenia of existence provides us with the ability to make informed decisions about how to live a creative life.
"I" intend to analyze my thoughts, trust my intuition, and To My Own Self be True!
CPW
Bryson, Bill. The Body. London: Doubleday Press, 2019.
Hanson, Rick, Buddha's Brain. Oakland,CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc., 2009.
Mackenzie, Matthew, Enacting the Self: Buddhist and Enactivist approaches to the emergence of the self. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, Colorado State University, 2010.
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