As I read this, my brain scatters into a non-linear collision of the following thought (and potential rabbit holes):
1) Yes; and, but… what of the Buddhist perspective that desire is attachment and the source of suffering? Is the electric spark of curiosity the same desire Buddhism teaches to overcome? Or something else?
2) My own curiosity and desire - craving - for knowing, understanding, discovering new rabbit holes leads me to the perspective of neuropsychology and with it the idea that desire is in essence our brain’s craving, and for some, addiction to endorphins and dopamine - the spark. Be it new discoveries, connections, or achievement, winning, acquisition… how does the baseless of our neurology square with the poetry of desire, the passion of the spark?
3) My own desire - fueled I now realize by my brain’s insatiable appetite for the dopamine it doesn’t produce enough of - sends me in colliding circles of desire for all the things all at once, only to fall into overwhelm and despair at achieving none of them. And as I will myself to sit still and read to completion without bouncing between screens and down multiple rabbit holes at once, it occurs to me that perhaps the desire you describe is not the desire Buddhism equates with greed and suffering, nor the desire of the physical brain chasing its feel-good neurotransmitters, but a desire for the euphoria of presence in the richness of the full moment, any moment, but ideally a new, previously undiscovered moment… which is in fact every moment of our existence, if only we overcome and look past our focus on familiar patterns to see the novelty that lies beneath the surface of the mundane.
I want to print this out and hang it in my studio as a manifesto for living—and creating. So many sparks to follow in this piece…
Thank you!
As I read this, my brain scatters into a non-linear collision of the following thought (and potential rabbit holes):
1) Yes; and, but… what of the Buddhist perspective that desire is attachment and the source of suffering? Is the electric spark of curiosity the same desire Buddhism teaches to overcome? Or something else?
2) My own curiosity and desire - craving - for knowing, understanding, discovering new rabbit holes leads me to the perspective of neuropsychology and with it the idea that desire is in essence our brain’s craving, and for some, addiction to endorphins and dopamine - the spark. Be it new discoveries, connections, or achievement, winning, acquisition… how does the baseless of our neurology square with the poetry of desire, the passion of the spark?
3) My own desire - fueled I now realize by my brain’s insatiable appetite for the dopamine it doesn’t produce enough of - sends me in colliding circles of desire for all the things all at once, only to fall into overwhelm and despair at achieving none of them. And as I will myself to sit still and read to completion without bouncing between screens and down multiple rabbit holes at once, it occurs to me that perhaps the desire you describe is not the desire Buddhism equates with greed and suffering, nor the desire of the physical brain chasing its feel-good neurotransmitters, but a desire for the euphoria of presence in the richness of the full moment, any moment, but ideally a new, previously undiscovered moment… which is in fact every moment of our existence, if only we overcome and look past our focus on familiar patterns to see the novelty that lies beneath the surface of the mundane.
And now I am going down the rabbit hole, seeking out the titles you mentioned, and contemplating your words.
Thanks for reading, Cynthia. Glad to know we're connecting through time, space and words.