Swanwick Star Issue No. 7 (2014)

Thought and the source of disorder

Vancouver Public Library screening – March 23, 2014

The video opens with an open invitation from K to explore the nature of disorder. Is it possible to live a life without disorder? Is the mind capable of creating order in our lives? Or, perhaps, the mind could be the source of disorder itself?

In his usual fashion, K invites the listener to enquire together with the ‘speaker’ into the movement of the mind and to enquire into the nature of desire, fear and time; enticing his audience to find out for themselves the factors that prevent order from springing into our lives.

The dialogue started with an open question: Can the mind create order?

In order to start the conversation, I expressed my perspective, that to me it seems that K suggests that order is a natural state, the underlying sense of peace and purpose that is under covered with the confusion and self-centered activity of the mind. Pablo questioned my point of view suggesting that the mind is useful and necessary to maintain order in technical activities of our lives, like driving, working, doing homework and to organizing ideas and expressing them eloquently.

Stephen suggested that for him, and according to personal experience, it is a matter of intelligence to balance the technical abilities of the mind and the infinite possibilities of creation that lie beyond its limitations. He implies that there is no definite answer to determine when the mind should be used or not, but rather to discover that answer from moment to moment as one walks deeper into that which is.

Avinash, on the other hand, made the warning that no matter the position one takes, the mere act of looking for order is a form of escape from what is, and close the dialogue with the enlightening statement, that what liberates your mind from confusion is your sensitivity to recognize the disorder in your life as it is, without condemnation or justification. And said that for him, is more valuable to learn and explore the causes of disorder in one’s life in order to remove them rather than looking for new ideologies and beliefs. According to Avinash, the ability to recognize disorder in one’s life is what liberates and not your effort to be free.

Veto Barraza