randomness

John Cage said that sound, to him, doesn't have to mean anything. The example he gives is of traffic.

How unlike Mozart or Beethoven, it sounds different and detached to the rest of us. It is never

similar or predictable. He goes on to say that it is this sound that inspires him. It means nothing and that is fine.

I think it is probably why I love nature. The sounds that are produced there are for no one and yet, for every

one. Having grown up in the information age, it is quite easy (and 'mechanical') for one to train

their minds to analyze sounds they hear.

One part of it is social communication (talking, listening, singing, praying, chanting). When we

listen to other people talking, sub-consciously we start assimilating this information. With the help of

visual and other senses, we try to predict and react to this stimulation.

I guess that is probably a very basic or even animalistic instinct. To react to external stimuli.

This could be extended to explain the second part i.e. reacting to any kind of noise. My favorite

example is how as a kid, I used to recognize my dad's scooter from the wheezing sound it did. I used

to run to the gate to greet him. Here, the sound doesn't necessarily have to be verbal but it could be anything.

Anything that your brain has associated a context to. Anything that 'means' something.

It takes a lot of training to unlearn this knowledge and to look at sound as just an event, with nothing

else attached to it. To appreciate it for that moment and move on. To not attach a consequence or see

a purpose for the existence of that sound. Like the sound of water hitting the rocks on it's way down

the hill or the sound of traffic on a busy highway.

It is this random, illegible noise that makes you feel lighter, eases your mind and harmonizes your

breath. It will cleanse your brain of the worried dirt and makes your thoughts turn inwards. A lot can

be said about these sounds and their therapeutical effects. For ages, many have realized, practiced and

preached this wonderful gift of nature.

All of this is true for random thoughts as well, I would think. A thought that is not necessarily sandwiched in

any particular context. A thought that lives in it's moment and vanishes there after. A thought that doesn't bother

the mind with extended questions but just serves it purpose of bringing momentary delight to it's bearer.

Such a thought is dispassionate. It is stated and understood, all in that fraction of second. It might become

the object of other thoughts but it, in itself is complete and independent of every thing else.

I wonder how it would be! To appreciate nothingness!