Thursday, December 06, 2007

WHY?


“Why do I exist?,” I asked the universe.
“Don’t ask me,” the universe replied.

“Why do I exist?,” I asked Mother Earth.
“Don’t ask me,” she answered.

“Why do I exist?,” I asked a tree.
“Don’t ask me,” whispered the oak.

“Why do I exist?,” I asked my cat.
“To taste the universe. Why do you ask?,” she purred, her cheek nuzzling mine.

The tiger must hunt
The eagle must fly
Man must ask, why, why, why.

The tiger must eat
The eagle must land
Man must say, I understand.
——Kurt Vonnegut

“Do I exist to understand?,” I asked my self.
“To taste the universe, the meal with infinite courses, each garnished with our own evolving theories like a trail of crumbs, lest we lose our appetite for awe and revelation, embalm our understandings, atrophied into petrified conclusions and relinquish thinking to external authority for protection from the fear of not knowing,” I laboriously concocted my reply.

“I exist to taste?”
“Yeah, a universal taste bud, they come in all sizes from sub atomic to super galactic. Nature evolves by consuming itself. Just as we represent the alchemists stone when the atomic elements in the food we eat transmute into the elements we are and the elements we feed back to nature, our experience of our existence formulates our growing wisdom about life and our thoughts feed new ideas to the evolving universe whether we articulate them to one another or not.”

Cool, I can live with that. The why, the purpose, the intention all begin with the inquirer and need never enter into the travels of curiosity with its journal of imagination into the ways of nature. Penetration of the myth of civilization is what requires an endless tracing of whys because there is always an initial intender in this crude digital mock of the natural world it intends to pave over.

Whenever I attempt to differentiate between nature and artifice, there’s always someone who mentions that it’s all nature. Who am I to argue, I know nothing. It may be a very small nit I pick here, but I find it to be the thread of faith leading to the corner of a mythical rug under which all the natural results of the constantly antagonistic attitude of western civilization have been swept with undeserved authority and establishment by rigorous miseducation and enforcement.

Yes, it is natural to make mistakes. It is natural to benefit from all experience. It is natural to mimic the examples of the natural world in as wide a variety of ways as those who would express themselves. Tribal life of early man was often an expression of a group’s respect for a local plant or animal with which they identify themselves as an unspoken surname. It is a natural mistake to not consume what one kills. Early man thought of it as the ending of the spiritual existence of the plant or animal to fell a tree or a deer and not build a shelter, make clothing nor have a meal of what they killed.

Somewhere along the line the taboo on ignoring man’s intimate connection to the life of the planet was circumvented by the arrogance of assuming ownership rights over everything requiring the first artifice; the invention of a supreme being to grant such rights and duties to conquer the nature to which man had been held in thrall by Pan, that raunchy old, fun loving devil.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Where did it all go so horribly wrong?

Yodood said...

Hi Minx,
The core of my motivation to blog is an exploration of just such a question, so far I have learned that: Assumption of authority granted by the invention of a supreme creator to justify our wanton slaughter of things we didn't eat in order to grow the food we preferred to eat leading to the biologically natural explosion of our population to match the artificial proliferation of our sustenance, maybe.

I recommend, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn or follow my link under friends of the earth for "tribes."

Anonymous said...

Hi G&G:

“Do I exist to understand?,” I asked my self.
“To taste the universe, the meal with infinite courses, each garnished with our own evolving theories like a trail of crumbs, lest we lose our appetite for awe and revelation,...


Ahhhhh what gorgeous words and images ... in fact the entire first paragraph is enchantment, dear G! It could so easily be written as a poem, as lyrical as you have shaped it!!

Regarding the rest, tell me what do you think is the fine line between men claiming owndership of nature and men claiming stewardship of nature ? (real honest question here - no tricks!)

xxx
red

Yodood said...

Hi Red,
I see the line as purely semantic. People that want to save the world, still want to control it. The planet needs to be considered the body of which we are a part. Are your long legs the stewards of your body — although you may credit them with getting you in trouble, it was most likely a joint effort lead by your instincts, your genetic memory, your truest steward guiding you to experiences you needed to become who you are now, and now.
The planet's instincts we call nature.

Anonymous said...

oh and by the way .... ike owes me 7 corporeal facts and 250 push ups for guessing him straight up (as minxy gave me the clue to nelly ......)

Poker anyone ???? heh heh.

sweet man, you.
xxx
red

Lilwave said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Yodood said...

Lilwave,
Splitting the hair of difference between ownership and dominion doesn't do much to advance your contention that your particular invented supreme being didn't give the earth to man to do with whatever he damned well pleases.

Yodood said...

Red Dirt Girl,
Not sure what you mean with your "by the way," please elaborate.

Anonymous said...

damn - tell me you are ike onoclast .... please ..... !!!!!

xxx
red

Yodood said...

Come on, Red,
That's not elaborating, that's bemoaning your possible mistake, horror of horrors. Give me seven reasons you supposed such a connection and you may gain the confession you thought you'd beaten me out of. Actually, just one reason will do, if it is the one I'm thinking of. Otherwise, like the victims of extraordinary render, you will never know whether my confession is just a way to keep you from beating me (Poker anyone ???? heh heh.) any more.

Anonymous said...

Reason one is sufficient: as soon as i read the word crush, i had the vapors .... henceforth, my swooning .... bluff over - cards on the table sweetie.

Now for those SEVEN AMAZING FACTS about you ????? !!! and forget the push ups, that was just part of my bluffing .... now I'm blushing...!!

I'm anticipatory ....

Yodood said...

All your ducks in a row, eh? Got yer eggs all in on basket, now? There remains one essential ingredient you, Red Dirt Girl long stemmed Scribbler …, have failed to tend to. Tags may be only ways to find out more about those tagged, but they also come with the ostensible excuse of presenting an award. The way you have tagged me sounds as if you are awarding yourself for your sleuthing rather than me for my being the amazing blogger I am required to be to be tagged with such a meme. I'm anticlimaxing with anticipation.

Lilwave said...

I totally agree. God didn't give the world to man to do whatever he damn well pleases. We are only caretakers but unfortunately many don't care. How do you change that?