For more on the Vonnegut angle see Eric Spitznagel’s blog.
You can meditate on your asshole, though I didn’t know that’s what I was doing at the time.
I was walking across campus and my asshole started itching like crazy. But for some reason, the Great Chain of Being had broken down, and it is that very Chain that ordains that an itch must be scratched. Instead, I got interested in it. “What is an itch?” I questioned it closely. I wasn’t after the biology — what is the irritant, is there something special about itch nerve cells, what does this activate in the brain — I was interested in the experience. What is the experience? How well located is it? It’s located in my mind (wherever that is!) and I could easily guide my finger to it, but experientially, I don’t think it’s located in such high definition. It’s aversive. Is it hot? sharp? pointy? jagged? What it is this thing? I suppose the sheer irritation of it, when diverted from action to thought gives the thought itself the quality of urgency.
And then I got it. Or you could say I copped out. I was able to name it: “Sensation”.
This gave me mental resolution. In the scheme of academic philosophy, it’s hardly a new idea. But I felt my mind had taken a new stance.
Angie: Did you finally scratch it?
Rev: I don’t remember.
Tags: meditation
I think its a good piece on sensation to philosophical musing. I’m not a bit irritated. We can meditate on anything or nothing, an itch in the asshole, an aging liver-spot on our hands, a piece of hair on the rim of toilet seat…anything can be taken as stuff of the universe, like a chemist never throws away anything, a microscopic imprint of something might lead into, hey, a discovery!! Keep your mediation going…you never know where the process will take you!!
Om mani padme bum….
Sometimes an itch when scratched becomes even itchier.
Was it a mossie?
Perhaps you should have it looked at?
I have to think it would be much more productive to contemplate the universe and just scratch the itch!
They say that negative energy released causes discomfort and positive energy released is euphoric
and both make the same sound coming from the asshole
Itchiness – right up my work alley. I try to figure out why dogs itch every day. Heck it pays my salary. Did you know that if you have an itch but scratch somewhere else it provides some relief? Some itchy dogs target all their attention at one spot, usually on a front leg, resulting in a terrible open sore called a lick granuloma. So next time the asshole itches scratch a substitute area – I’ll let you pick (choose).