Reservoir of Thought
By Brian Wallace

Describe your interpretation of this kind of collective consciousness, this reservoir of thoughtŠ that allows you to be a vehicle for expressing that in words.

Back in the sixties, Aldous Huxley spoke of the concept of "mind-at-large" and Carl Jung, the psychologist, spoke of synchronicity. Other authors have spoken of the concept of cosmic consciousness. These are a few different ways of denoting the experience of realizing that one is a part of something really grand and something that is very eternal and very much beyond ones individual life. As a writer, I try to tap into that awareness through meditation, through modifying my diet, through exercise, through a personal search. I think that introspection is one of the most beneficial things an individual can do to try to tap into that awareness.

I think spending time in contemplation and deep thought will allow one to get a semblance of the understanding that the busy goings-on of normal mundane life are really not as important and not as significant as one often makes them out to be. As a writer, I try to spend as much time as I possibly can fostering those states of mind by spending time in introspection, spending time interacting with people who are stimulating to my experience and people who are new to my experience.

I think that when we have interactions with interesting people and when we travel and experience new things, and when we find ways of healthfully altering our own consciousness and stimulating different forms of awareness; I think those are ways of tapping into the understanding of mind-at-large, synchronicity, or cosmic consciousness. I think it's a process of allowing the ego and the concept of self to somewhat recede and allow a greater awareness or greater consciousness to come into play.

The degree to which people take new forms of technology and dive into them obsessively or addictively as has been done in certain cases with drugs and alcohol and television and other pursuits.

The seminal philosopher Alan Watts was someone who greatly inspired me and Alan Watts was a great Western mystic who took ideas from the East and showed the average Westerner how they could find piece of mind, they could eliminate stress, they could find a more holistic way of living. It didn't mean that they had to become a monk and retire from normal existence and go live a life apart from civilization.

I think that the goal, as modern civilized human beings is to find a balance between tapping into those levels of awareness of consciousness and also still pursuing individual goals and individual endeavors to the least detriment of those around us and to the greatest benefit to ourselves. I think that my goal as an author has been to do that. I enjoy the process of contributing to society and I enjoy the accoutrements of a modern civilization and I think that high technology is one of the advancements that would not have been possible had it not been for the Western individualist that struck out to innovate something new and really develop that.

So, as an author and as an aspiring mystic, I try to find balance between spending time on the computer and getting work stuff done, and then going out and enjoying my part in nature and enjoying the process of being alive and a sense of community with other human beings. I think that's something we've definitely lost and it's something we have the risk of losing more of. The degree to which people take new forms of technology and dive into them obsessively or addictively as has been done in certain cases with drugs and alcohol and television and other pursuits. I think moderation is key - a balance between delving into various things in life that are amusing and interesting and edifying to us, and maintaining an awareness that the thing that's most important is our connection to other human beings and the connection to the world around us and trying to find ways of fostering a better world is really a personal goal of mine.

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