Happy Thanksgiving

Gratitude for existence and awareness

Happy Thanksgiving! In honor of this day, I think it’s worth appreciating how interesting the universe is:

• Existence - regardless of how one evaluates existence overall, it definitely is more interesting than there being nothing at all.

• Consciousness - it’s very easy to imagine a universe without it. But it would be a little boring with no one around.

• Experience without thoughts - many people assume conscious experience is just a stream of thoughts, a running inner voice in the head. But sometimes, such as when in a state of flow or advanced meditation, one can experience being without thinking. This is enthralling.

• Thought - Not sure what I’d think of the universe if there was no thought, but having thought, I think I’d miss it. It unlocks so much more, such as being able to solve problems and plan ahead. Some meditators may hope to sit in a state of pure consciousness all the time. That might be blissful, but the world would be less interesting if that’s all there was. It’s good to think some of the time.

• Knowledge - thinking becomes particularly powerful when it builds up over time, allowing one to accumulate knowledge. An individual has an incredible amount of knowledge of their personal circumstances, and society has built up an incredible amount of knowledge of the universe. The universe has vast complexity and depth - it’s fascinating when we can understand some of it. And we now can access more knowledge more easily than ever before - this is something to be thankful for!