3.17.2014

into the infinite mind
...Thoreau's Journal: 17-Mar-1852

I catch myself philosophizing most abstractly when first returning to consciousness in the night or morning. I make the truest observations and distinctions then, when the will is yet wholly asleep and the mind works like a machine without friction. I am conscious of having, in my sleep, transcended the limits of the individual, and made observations and carried on conversations which in my waking hours I can neither recall nor appreciate. As if in sleep our individual fell into the infinite mind, and at the moment of awakening we found ourselves on the confines of the latter. On awakening we resume our enterprise, take up our bodies and become limited mind again. We meet and converse with those bodies which we have previously animated. There is a moment in the dawn, when the darkness of the night is dissipated and before the exhalations of the day commence to rise, when we see things more truly than at any other time. The light is more trustworthy, since our senses are purer and the atmosphere is less gross. By afternoon all objects are seen in mirage.

3 comments:

jimkitt said...

As I age I must report that any concise logic derived from some dreams still remain baffling. So any hope you may have that when you become older it will all become clear to you I fear is dashed, at least it was in my dream machine. That seems to be what Thoreau's infinite mind was concluding.

michael jameson said...

when first we wake and there is no pressure to get up quickly you can linger and be as close to your dreams as you can be, your mind is not yet cluttered you are calm and rested with no outside distractions or harsh light,the process of thinking is very clear,the body as yet unused, when given this chance now is the best time to plan,philosophize,i see it as unplanned meditation.

michael jameson said...

we spend a quarter of our lives sleeping, repairing our minds and bodies!, try as many things as you can while in this mode, learn with tapes, lose bad habits, increase your mind power, all you can find ! just dont waste it!