Rambles and Riff Raff about all this and that

Mind setting.

Published by Esteban Glas on February 22nd, 2007 | This post lacks all category except for: Work, long term thinking, philosophical rant

Upon my trip to Uruguay I bought the whole Dune saga (totaling 6 books); I remember watching the movie as a kid, although I couldn’t remember much of the plot. The impression was persistent in my memory; there was a mystique around it that appealed to me. After looking out for the books at local stores for some time I was able to finally find it at a local store at La Paloma, Uruguay.

For those of you that haven’t read this saga, I’ll just say it has a heavy psychological and parapsychological burden, which makes it very interesting (I’m not very interested in parapsychology but the use Herbert gives it is quite appealing). The “hero” of the first book ca see glimpses of the future, or the possible futures, which conditions his ability to make decisions, and confuses him to a point where he can’t tell what’s a vision and what has actually happened.

What I feel identified with is the envisioning part. The way I act, the way I move forward.

Every time I face a crossroad, when tough decisions need to be taken I do a mental exercise. I try to look into the future, guessing the consequences such choices might have. After that I place myself on such possible scenarios and see if I can see myself fitting into those. If I feel comfortable with how I feel and think the outcome will be it might switch the balance towards one way or the other.

This sort of mental exercise is also very helpful when you need to face a challenging task. Being able to see yourself in your mind completing what has been requested paves the way to success; since you convince yourself that you take the request to a good end.

If you convince yourself that a certain thing can be achieved, there is little anyone or anything can do to prevent you from succeeding.



  • mark
    Esteban,

    Good deal - Probably about Wed, I have one in mind to put out there for your thoughts. I think first a person might decide what they are devoting their lives to. Decide if there is something beyond this life. If no, then mastery of self, or mastery of environment is all personal choice. If there is something beyond, and we can affect it, then perhaps, one should decide what it is that endures and take care to spend a portion of ones life working on that. In that scenario, what was achieved for the body - or in terms of possesions are really irrelevant. Perhaps discovery for the betterment of humanity, or the creation of a new direction / capability that endures for a time is also somewhat worthy. But again, if you believe something exists beyond this place, then working for even the betterment of mankind is only generally relevant, as whatever you have done will pass as do the lives around you. In that end, the conclusion is that only work on what is immortal, or perhaps transient is ultimately the most worthwhile.
  • Of course I'm up to it Mark. Some back and forth has taken place already, my categorization was "Philosophical rant" ;-)

    Regrettably I must admit I don't know much about eastern disciplines; I remember seen some Nepalese Buddhist Monks perform some quite impressive things (like chanting with multiple voices, and bathing on the Gelid waters of a Lake in winter), this I was able to see first-handedly, and, let me tell you it's MUCH more impressive than on TV.

    Regarding the Bene Gesserit (the spelling was correct), although they do have a lot of insight on what is going on they also create their own myths, themselves being another one of them. Probably the most interesting ability they posses is "seeing the truth".

    All in all, an mainly because Bene Gesserits use drugs to achieve certain levels of enlightenment I think they might be closer to some aborigine's Shamanic rites, where the use of natural stimulants (such as Peyote) was the path taken to reach a complete understanding.

    In contrast Oriental philosophies rely solely on introspection, self-control and self-knowledge in the quest for a deeper understanding.

    Of course we already know that the "answer to life the universe and everything" is 42! (try googling that same phrase and you'll see).

    Paula, I feel the movie might not look all that great nowadays... either way books are much better!
  • Mark
    When your up for it, I have queued up some posts related to being human and seeking the truth. We could categorize under philosophy, psychology, or just idle thought. If your game, let's explore.

    In the meantime, what if you drew a parallel between the "bene gesserit" (spelling?, it's been a while since I read/saw DUNE) and say eastern disciplines that teach mastery of the body and mind. I've watched film of lifelong masters of the iron fist technique who's students can endure the force required to break a 2X4 accross their neck. I believe humans can become superhuman in some ways through enough training and discipline. However, we don't have enough life to master all, and in the West, we have largely forgone mastery of self, for mastery of our surroundings through technology.
  • Dune... I hardly remember that movie. I watched it when I was a kid, and all I know is that it was perhaps to too much sci-fi for that age. I should see it now to refresh my memory. :)

    It is true that when you imagine yourself doing something you want to achieve, it helps you stay focused.
    It often depends also on how strong you feel about your objectives -your finish line.
    I haven't planned many long term goals in my life, but so far, this "glimpse" at a possible future has given great results!
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