Introduction to the Blogalog (Blog and Dialogue)

Apr 28, 2014

Have you ever wondered where your thoughts come from; why you think in the way you do; and what effect your thoughts have upon the world—or the world has upon your thoughts?

I have just completed a book entitled Original Thinking, which will be released in the spring of 2015 published by North Atlantic and distributed by Random House. In the meantime, I am blessed to launch a think tank and this blog and on-line dialogue. The blog will help frame the issues and present questions intended to kick-start a dialogue. These issues will initially be drawn from ones raised in the book, but only initially. In fact, where the dialogue goes will be largely determined by you, the readers.

I wrote the book because I am passionate about revisioning thought beyond its modern limitation as a mental/rational construct. When I refer to thought in these posts, I am not speaking of something that is solely of the brain or of neuroscience. Nor am I referring to thinking done only by human beings or only by animals. No, the definition of thinking I am using is quite different and much broader.

As I explain in the book, “thinking” comes from “thanking,” because originally, all our thoughts were prayers (or what we would now call prayers). We were once so connected with the rhythms of Earth that to think was to be in a continual state of gratitude. There was no separation between our thoughts and the thoughts of nature. In this radical state of interconnectivity, our thoughts, speech, and actions were one. Thought was received as a blessing—as a whole and complete transmission from Spirit.

I believe it is possible for thought to still connect us to nature, but today, it seems more likely to separate us. Why is that? How have we become so lost in thought that we believe that we are apart from each other and from everything that surrounds us?

How did we come to divide perception into distinct categories of: sensation, feeling, thought, and intuition, when in reality, they are part of one interconnected process?

“All our progress is an unfolding, like the vegetable plant. You first have an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowledge, as the plant has root, bud, and fruit.” wrote Emerson. “Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason. It is vain to hurry it,” he goes on to say. “By trusting it to the end, it shall ripen into truth, and you shall know why you believe.”

Emerson is speaking of a natural order of unfolding truth. But today, we are out of sync with the process. We jump ahead, trying to figure things out with our brains alone, ignoring or marginalizing our heart and gut feelings. Inside all of us, there is a movement of soul we often ignore or don’t understand. Instincts, feelings, and energies move through us long before they mature into mental cognition, but it is all part of the same process. It is important to notice our feelings, but even when we do notice them, why are we so quick to imagine them as ours alone? Are our yearnings really apart from the Earth’s yearnings; our desires apart from the Earth’s desires? Are they truly separate?

As I see it, to be human on this plane(t) is to be part of a vast network of interconnected energy forces that flow through us. If we are paying attention, we feel the beat of our heart as the same heart of Mother Earth; we feel our blood as the rivers of Mother Earth; and receive the light of our consciousness as the light of the stars. And why not? We are composed of the same elements that exist throughout the cosmos. We think because the elements think.

With that said, it is time to begin the dialogue. For those joining, it will be necessary to read the Primer below and to acknowledge that you have read and understood the protocols. I trust you will find this an enjoyable process, and one of considerable depth.

As you will read in the primer, the goal of dialogue is not to debate or argue with one another, but to listen for the purpose of understanding. Dialogue has no agenda or expectation of a result. It is not important who is speaking, but what is being spoken through you.

Now, for the kick-start question, which will be very similar to the question I opened the book with (which is in turn derived from the question Leroy Little Bear opened a dialogue with in 1999). I was blessed to organize and attend that dialogue, and it led me on a path that culminated in the writing of the book.

In this blog post, I have alluded to what thought was originally, and to the possibility of thought being something more than it is conceived of today. But all of this begs the question I wish to start with:

Today, in 2014, is it still possible to have an original thought?