"Birb Inner Space": Mona Van Duyn reads Sonnet for Minimalists

DEFINITION OF SPACE

Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of the boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime. The concept of space is considered to be of fundamental importance to an understanding of the physical universe although disagreement continues between philosophers over whether it is itself an entity, a relationship between entities, or part of a conceptual framework.

MORE ABOUT THE INNER MIND

The inner mind operates in a world of interior impressions. Its meaningful reality consists of the ideas and images of that world. Everything there seems immediate and self-evident. The inner world is populated by our everyday dreams, fantasies and memories. It may also be the arena of telepathic awareness and spiritual vision, and the place where we may encounter past life memories or near-death experiences.

The inner mind is fully aware of the outer world. It is affected by what goes on there and reacts. But the outer world is not really its sphere. The goals and values of the inner mind may be quite different from those of the outer mind and at odds with outer-world culture. In our culture many things that the inner mind experiences as real are dismissed as unreal. Being a law-abiding citizen of my culture, my outer mind speaks up and rejects those inner-mind experiences--often with irrational fury. The outer mind is our most vocal protector of cultural trance.

The inner mind can sense things not noticed by the outer. It picks up cues, feelings, Avibrations from other people that the outer mind misses. A whole world of communication occurs between the inner minds of people that escapes conscious awareness. I may be overwhelmed by the feelings of silent anger in a friend sitting next to me. I may know Atelepathically what my partner is thinking. I may sense that a certain person is about to phone me. However one might explain these experiences, they do occur, and the inner mind feels very much at home in this intuitive realm.

The inner mind is the font of all creativity and genius. It is the author of artistic productions, the inventor of original ideas, and the source of spontaneous solutions to problems. When it comes to creativity, the outer mind is subordinate to the inner. The outer mind does the Joe-jobs--corrects the grammar, checks the measurements, and smoothes the outer surface of the creative product--but the product itself comes from the inner mind.

The inner mind is where the heart is. It is there that we discover our deepest passions and our most subtle desires. Affection and love arise from the inner mind, as do anger and hatred. When we want to understand the mysterious doings of our emotions, it is the inner mind that we must explore.

Inner-mind reality is completely subjective. It can never be adequately grasped by objective knowledge or directly observed by another individual. We can try to communicate our subjective knowledge. We can describe the inner experience to others or allow our bodies to be hooked up to machines that measure physiological changes as we have our experience, but we cannot pass on the subjective experience itself. In that sense, our inner-mind reality remains totally personal and incommunicable, and when we die, our inner-mind reality dies with us.

Nevertheless, the inner mind's world is very real. Inner-mind realities have a quality of presence and vividness that is every bit as insistent as that of the physical objects and people of the outer world. In fact the inner mind's reality often seems more real than that of the outer mind.

"Birb Inner Space"

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Saturday, 4 September 2010

Mona Van Duyn reads Sonnet for Minimalists

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