The Conscious Life

 

Many years ago, when I was a young man I had a close friend, Ralph, who was a fellow teacher but fifteen years my senior, who commented to me that “The great challenge in existence is putting to good use our conscious life.” This observation has stuck with me all these many years.

Consciousness is, after all, the essence of our sentient nature – that ability to see ourselves as separate beings; to recognize the existence of the natural world and human worlds that surrounds us, and the insatiable desire to understand the nature of that reality.

The challenge for each of us is how to best utilize this state of consciousness from moment to moment. This is no easy matter, especially in this technologically driven modern era, where there are so many distractions coming from all directions that constantly compete for our attention. A preoccupation with this media bombardment can exert a negative impact that can trivialize the very nature of existence and reinforce a delusional state of mind – where the true nature of reality is supplanted by a world of ideas and conclusions that have no real substance.

For me, it is important to remain cognizant of the real and tangible existence of the amazing planet on which we live; the complexity and the beauty of the natural and human worlds we move through, and the and the immensity and wonder of the cosmos in which we are immersed. For me, it is equally important to recognize delusional states of existence that place undue focus on that which paints an image of reality that is patently false. Conscious life is far too precious and ephemeral to be so distracted.