Monday, July 14

By The Time You Read This I'll Be Someone Else And So Will You

Brain

I've often ruminated on the thought that we are many different people during one life time. We only have to look at photos to see this. Our beliefs and opinions also change as we learn from life.

A few days ago I came across an article on the Global One website about a man who spat on the face of Buddha and the next day went to ask him for forgiveness:

Buddha said, "Forgive? But I am not the same man to whom you did it. The Ganges goes on flowing, it is never the same Ganges again. Every man is a river. The man you spit upon is no longer here. I look just like him, but I am not the same, much has happened in these twenty-four hours! The river has flowed so much. So I cannot forgive you because I have no grudge against you.

And you also are new. I can see you are not the same man who came yesterday because that man was angry and he spit, whereas you are bowing at my feet, touching my feet. How can you be the same man? You are not the same man, so let us forget about it. Those two people, the man who spit and the man on whom he spit, both are no more."

It's easy to understand that we are many different people because of how our body changes - and parts of it quite quickly. Our liver, for example, is only about five months old and other bits of us are being replaced over and over, such as:

Taste buds replaced after 6 months; heart every 20 years; lungs 2-3 weeks; skin 2-4 weeks; bones every 20 years; intestines 2-3 days; red blood cells 4 months; hair 5-6 years; stomach lining 5 days and so it goes on.

So parts of us are older than others. Strangely though, the number of brain cells or neurons, which transmit impulses, stays the same. Amazingly there are as many as there are stars in our galaxy - about 100 billion. Can that be by coincidence?

Where it all gets difficult is how the mind fits into all of this. Oh, and then there is a soul or spirit to consider as well - if you believe in such a thing.

If we damage our brain this can effect our personality which means it must have also damaged our mind - and therefore the soul too?

For example in his book The Tale Of The Duelling Neurosurgeons Sam Kean tells the true story about how a family man, with an undiagnosed brain tumour, became a paedophile. But once the tumour was removed by surgery he returned to 'normal'. Brain damage can alter personalities, can make make people who were gentle become aggressive and so on.

It appears we are therefore at the mercy of our brain neurons.

If something like Alzheimer's should come our way do we recover our original mind once we move onto the next life (assuming you believe there is a next life)? And if so what particular stage of mind?

It's interesting as to how the delicate brain, mind and soul can fit together without conflict. And, of course, you have to ask who or what is doing the asking?

But, whatever, by the time you read this I'll be someone else and so will you.

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3 comments:

  1. Suzie09:07

    I'm the new Suzie! You raise some interesting discussion points. I don't know any of the answers but I'n going to be thinking about it all day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:58

    Excellent, like the Buddha explanation.
    Grace

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fantastic! The idea makes sense

    ReplyDelete