Collective Soul

I heard an interesting supposition recently that we are not, each of us, a single entity, but a collective of smaller independent organisms.

These organisms, familiarly known as human cells...

(just stay with me here, people)

...each have a primitive consciousness and function according to self preservation, rather than simple mechanism.*

As such, not only are individual tasks completed...


...but "higher organisms"** are formed, not as the result of some central imperative, but through a cooperative alliance.***





At least that's the theory!


Meanwhile, we have to somehow figure out how to somehow integrate the parts.




*Okay, it's a little out of left field to posit that cells choose their actions, but I'll leave it to the naysayers to address the point. ; )
** Not unlike myself!
***Such alliances might have evolved over time as a kind of survival strategy.

I was staring at the ceiling earlier this evening, which I do sometimes.

I lie on the floor and focus on the light in the ceiling fan, a still point amidst the swirling blades.

Sometimes I meditate, doing pranayama breaths like a wave, from belly to chest and back again, but more often I just let my mind wander.

I was doing this, half meditating, half dozing, when I saw the face of Jesus* in the fire sprinkler, which I had never done before**.

His face was very gaunt, with a patchy, almost spikey looking beard and he had on a white headset. He wasn't looking at me but off into the distance.

With the headset, he looked kinda like one of those product demonstrators you see in the Mall or on TV. Like the Sham Wow guy.

Come to think of it, that guy died recently.

Interesting.

*Or maybe it was Don Quixote, but I'm pretty sure it was Jesus.
**Yes, I seriously saw the face of Jesus in the fire sprinkler - the anglicized version anyway.