Review: Flipovic, Batchen, Borges

Flipovic

I really liked how Flipovic went over the overlap between the past and the present and the personal thoughts each person has on determining what is the past and what is the present. Personally this made me think of my journey in Buddhism. In Buddhism one of the largest principles is that all is suffering. This phrase is not nearly as pessimistic as it sounds, what is actually meant is that the world is full of greed and other wants that can distract oneself from what is momentarily going on. An example of this is a person who is enjoying a moment and then is instantly saddened by the thought that that moment will have to come to an end. 

Batchen

The point that Batchen makes about pictures being from our past is one that I have always loved, but I don't share his same feelings.  Batchen focuses on death as a negative thought than can enter one's head when looking at a photograph. However I have never seen it like that, I have seen the prospect of death, but never seen it in such a negative light. To me death is the ending of a beautiful life through a beautiful process. I don't see a photograph as being a reminder that as we age we rapidly approach the end, but rather as a reminder that time is passing and the we need to enjoy the moment we currently hold. Looking at a photograph and only seeing the negative future negates the need for photographs, as they are typically something used to remember a beautiful and happy moment. To me death is part of life, and when you fear or dread death you begin to fear and dread your day to day life, because you see it as a stepping stone toward what you despise. I love the connection between viewing the past and anticipating the future, but I believe that the future does not have to be interpreted as so negative, just because death is part of everyone's future. Why couldn't pictures of the past be motivation to create more positive moment in the future?

Borges

First, I love that he started with a joke.

Second, this piece is essentially Buddhist through and through and I cannot believe we are reading so much Buddhism! (Or maybe I'm just seeing it everywhere, but I digress).

Third, from the moment that Borges said each moment is the only moment that exists it was clear to me that this was a piecce heavily rooted in eastern philosophy, most likely Buddhist thought. LOW AND BEHOLD! he references Zhuangzi (he spells it Chuang Tzu) and his dream of the butterfly.

This dream is the dream the allowed Zhuangzi to create Taoist thought. Taoist philosophy greatly influences Buddhism's development in China. The butterfly dream has many interpretations, but the one that I prefers says that in the moment that Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly he was that butterfly and that the moment he thought he was Zhuangzi he returned to himself. There cannot be two thoughts occuring at the same time, so Zhuangzi cannot be both himself and the butterfly at the same time. This answers the question that Borges prompted: "Is not one single repeated term sufficient to break down and confuse the series of time?"