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0:00The channel is and forever will be0:02completely AI-free.0:04When I was a boy, about 15 years ago, I0:08once developed a certain habit.0:10Something I wouldn't say unusual, but at0:13least curious given how ritualistically0:16I would perform it almost every day.0:19I would come home from school, from0:21another productive day of crippling0:23social anxiety, and I would immediately0:25borrow the laptop from my sister who was0:28at work as one does. And I would go on0:30YouTube and search for Vocalise0:33Rachmaninoff.0:34Then I would plug my earbuds0:36and I would close my eyes.0:40Cuz almost every time I opened them0:42something had happened.0:44The world was not the same.0:47As if the music had washed away all my0:50infant desperation and carried me0:52somewhere else.0:54Where the room was quieter, the colors0:57brighter, and the gentle breeze from the1:00window had something special in it.1:03How was that possible? I didn't know.1:07All I thought was if magic was real, it1:09definitely had something to do with1:10music.1:13But maybe the answer is simpler. "The1:15question is not what you look at, but1:18what you see." writes Henry David1:20Thoreau, 1851. "It is only necessary to1:23behold the least fact or phenomenon,1:25however familiar, from a point a hair's1:27breadth aside from our habitual path or1:30routine to be overcome, enchanted by its1:33beauty and significance."1:36Is that true? Is it possible to find1:38[music] enormous beauty where moments1:41before you found nothing? Can you change1:44this world without changing it?1:47How? We've all had these fleeting1:50magical moments of transformation, but1:52we don't know what they are. We don't1:54understand why they happen.1:56Which means we can never invite them or1:59find them.2:00Only hope2:02they come back.2:05This video was made for the ones who2:06want to understand it.2:09Who want a bit more2:11than hope.2:14>> [music]2:18>> From the moment you were born, you have2:20been a hostage of something much larger2:22than you and it defines everything2:23you've ever lived. This thing is your2:25mind. And the German Immanuel Kant was2:28well aware of that. The main premise of2:30his entire philosophy is if the mind2:32determines your experience, then by2:34observing experience itself, you can2:36deduce the structures of the mind. There2:39are three main ones which he calls2:41faculties. We're going to focus on the2:42first two.2:43First one is sensibility, a purely2:46receptive faculty, the door through2:49which we receive the world. It's because2:52we have the ability to sense things that2:54things appear at all. The gates of your2:57own sensibility allow things to come2:59into your reality.3:02But receiving the world in your mind is3:04not enough, is it?3:07For example, in 2003, a blind man named3:10Michael May had a successful cornea3:12transplant that allowed him to see for3:14the first time since he was three.3:16It was a very special occasion. The3:18whole family was there, but when he took3:19the bandages off, it was not what he3:21expected. Suddenly, he was flooded with3:25all this new information, but nor him3:27nor his mind could make any sense of it.3:29It was confusing, overwhelming,3:32disturbing even.3:34And it makes sense. In fact, if the mind3:36merely received the world through3:38sensibility, that's pretty much what all3:40your experience would be like, a pure3:43chaos of infinite information storming3:45in all the time and you don't even know3:46what's happening. Sounds like some3:48classes I had in college. This is where3:50the understanding, second faculty of the3:53mind comes into action. The3:55understanding transforms this infinite3:57stream of information into something3:59coherent, something you can well4:01understand. Ha.4:03Makes sense. How does it do that though?4:05Well, the understanding is a machine4:07that makes concepts like the concept of4:10tree, of house, of man, honor, society,4:15fidget spinner. These are called4:17empirical concepts because you acquire4:19them through experience. As you live4:21your life and you understand what a4:24house is, what the color blue is, what4:26honor is, and you keep collecting those4:29concepts like Pokemons, which is nice.4:33But how do you collect them? You might4:36ask. And I answer, when you visit many4:39houses and you call them all houses,4:42your mind starts picking up the patterns4:45and creating this model, this idea of4:48what a house is.4:49>> it now.4:50>> The essence of it, as Aristotle would4:53say, or the form of a house, as Plato4:55would say. These two could never agree4:57on anything. In the case of Michael May,4:59he spent most of his life collecting5:00concepts that had nothing to do with5:02vision. So, when he was suddenly stormed5:04with all this new visual information,5:06his mind was not equipped with the5:08concepts to understand any of it. Plus,5:10of course, his visual cortex was5:12severely underdeveloped.5:14Now, as we go through life and your mind5:16forms these thousands of concepts, they5:18become the tools we use to make sense of5:20the world, to reshape it into something5:22we can understand instead of being5:24constantly paralyzed inside an infinite5:26stream of chaotic information,5:28which is great.5:30Wonderful. I I wouldn't like that. So,5:32what's the matter?5:33What's the matter?5:34>> I don't know.5:36>> is that when you compare the concept of5:38a house with any real house, you notice5:41how it contains much less information,5:43right? Of course, it's like the purified5:46version of it that doesn't really exist5:48in the world. You can't walk into the5:50concept of a house. You can't build it.5:53You can't wear the concept of clothes or5:56kiss the concept of a person. Oh, no.5:59Every concept is a simplification that6:01only exists in the mind, in the world of6:04ideas.6:06The mind needs to do this. We are unable6:08to understand reality for what it is.6:10Just too much too much information. We6:13need to trim it down. We need to6:15simplify it into something we can6:17understand. That's what concepts are6:19for. For example, this is a tall tree.6:23It's true, isn't it? It's a tree and6:25it's kind of tall, but it's not the6:27whole truth. There is so much more to6:29this experience than just a tall tree.6:31These words represent but a tiny6:33fraction of the real experience, but6:35I've used these two concepts to define6:37this experience, to simplify it, which6:40enabled me to act upon it. Yeah, it's a6:42tree, therefore I can climb it. And it's6:45tall, so if I climb it, tigers and lions6:47may not reach me. But if I just stay6:50there contemplating the totality of6:51experience, I wouldn't be able to do6:54this and I would just be eaten by lions.6:56In short, concepts allow us to6:59understand experience [music]7:00and understanding it allows us to act.7:03Nice. Does that mean that we, as the7:06ones who act, the ones who survive, are7:09forever doomed to be imprisoned by this7:11mental process and never allowed to have7:14a more full and rich experience of7:16reality? The answer is7:18no.7:20There is a way out. More than one,7:22actually. Even in Kant, he is very7:24interested in one particular way of7:26doing precisely that. A very powerful7:28way that can, for a moment, free us from7:32the shackles of our own mind. And that7:34is7:35the experience of beauty.7:43>> [music]7:44>> What happens when you experience a7:46beautiful thing?7:47A song, a poem, a sight from nature, a7:50film by Andrei Tarkovsky. It's a very7:53powerful thing for sure. It hits very7:55differently from normal everyday7:56activities.7:57But how so?7:59It's always been a puzzle for8:00philosophy.8:02The pleasure we extract from these8:04things is very different from other8:05kinds of pleasure, like when we eat or8:07sleep or have sex [music] or even hang8:10out with people. All those things feel8:12good because they meet some natural need8:15for subsistence, reproduction, social8:17company. But what need is being met when8:20we stare at a painting in the wall or8:23listen to a song while driving late at8:25night?8:26Why does it feel good?8:29For Kant, who is basically the founder8:30of aesthetics [music] as an independent8:32philosophical field, beauty happens when8:35the understanding faculty of the mind8:37can't put in concepts the object8:40presented by sensibility. But it's not8:42Michael May's pure waterfall of8:45sensorial chaos. We have the concepts to8:49attach to this experience. We can take a8:52beautiful painting and say,8:54"It's a wet woman8:56looking back at us emotionally. She has8:58some earrings, some head scarf." Those9:01descriptions work. They're true. But at9:03same time,9:04I don't know. All these concepts feel9:06somehow lacking. Like I'm not saying9:09what really matters.9:11I can try. I can [music] interpret the9:14meaning of the painting. I can say it9:16symbolizes this or that, trying to9:20satisfy my endless need to understand9:23it, to conceptually decipher what it9:26makes me feel.9:28But still,9:30the beautiful thing eludes me. It always9:33feels larger than my words. It's9:36something so rich to the human mind that9:39it is unsimplifiable.9:42And this quality causes the mind to do9:45something rather [music] strange.9:48It opens itself towards the object. It9:51gets enraptured [music] by it,9:53hypnotized. You get absorbed by the9:56object. You forget everything else, all9:58your worries and concerns, all you did10:00or need to do, maybe even who you are or10:03need to be. All of it fades into the10:07background10:07>> [music]10:08>> in the enormity of this moment.10:14>> [music]10:14>> It's strange, isn't it?10:16Saying it like that10:18seems like it should be such a frightful10:20thing.10:22Like the mind is getting kidnapped by10:24the beautiful object and we are losing10:25ourselves in it.10:28Yet nothing feels more10:31peaceful10:33more light10:35more beautiful.10:37I wonder why.10:39Kant says this pleasure is a result of a10:42free play between understanding and10:44sensibility that usually doesn't happen.10:46The understanding normally reduces all10:49sensible experience into a simplified,10:51understandable thing, but now it can't.10:54So there's this back and forth. You're10:56thinking and feeling, thinking and10:58feeling. It's almost like11:00these faculties are dancing together.11:03Yes.11:05The beautiful thing makes the mind11:07dance.11:11But it's Friedrich Schiller, a couple11:13years later, who gives an even better11:16answer. He says in his letters for the11:19aesthetic education of men that the11:21aesthetic experience creates a state of11:23harmony between the two parts of the11:25human soul, the part that feels and the11:28part that thinks. It's Jane Austen's11:30sense and sensibility, thinking versus11:33feeling, reason versus emotion, the11:35animal versus the spirit, the two parts11:37of men that are normally in conflict,11:39one trying to take over the other, but11:41in the beautiful moment,11:43they're at last in harmony,11:46in peace,11:47and we feel whole again.11:51Beauty mends the inherent conflict11:54within ourselves and makes us perfect,11:57even if for a moment.11:59Makes us12:00what we always should have been,12:02perfect humans,12:04unfallen humans.12:08In fact, Schiller links a very specific12:11word with this pleasurable feeling that12:14beauty evokes in us and that results12:15from this healing of the soul.12:18This may be the only word that contains12:20such power.12:22You know what he calls it?12:25He calls it love.12:27Love.12:29Experiencing beauty12:31enables us12:34to love.12:42What do you feel in the presence of the12:43grace that you discern in actions, in12:46manners, in sound morality, and all the12:49works and fruits of virtue and the12:50beauty of souls? When you see that you12:53yourself are beautiful within, what do12:55you feel?12:56What is this Dionysiac exaltation that12:59thrills through your being, this13:01straining upward of your soul, this13:04longing to break away from the body and13:06live sunken within the veritable self?13:09These are no other than the emotions of13:11souls under the spell of love.13:15It is striking to me how the connection13:17between beauty and love is not so clear13:19for us, especially since the13:21therapeutical aspect of art is so13:23universally recognized. Aristotle talked13:26about the famous and elusive concept of13:28catharsis, a kind of purification, a13:31cleansing of the soul evoked by the13:33Greek tragedies.13:35I talk about how when I watch Shawshank13:38Redemption for the 20th time, it always13:40feels like something heals inside me.13:44And you feel it, too.13:45We don't know what or how, but in that13:48brief moment of deep connection and13:51appreciation, something suddenly shifts.13:54Something feels right. And you can13:57momentarily rest from this constant14:00struggle against life. And you can14:03surrender to that warm embrace.14:06You become able to surrender.14:09To welcome that moment fully and14:11completely.14:13But when you think about it, isn't this14:15peaceful welcoming, without judgement,14:18without fighting, this pure,14:20all-encompassing openness of the spirit,14:24isn't it the essence of love itself?14:28Yes.14:30I believe so.14:33So, how tragic it is that for the very14:35reasons we have been discussing, such14:37openness is not easily available for us?14:40Because14:41in order to be able to act upon our14:43interests as living organisms who need14:45to survive and replicate [music] and14:47thrive, the mind projects onto14:50everything we perceive those thick14:52curtains.14:54What is this? What is it for? It14:56nitpicks the information. It reduces14:58everything into a bland concept.15:02This reduction is functional. It's the15:03only way we can do stuff.15:05But it also deprives us from the15:07complexity, the richness, the infinite15:10beauty hidden in your life that if you15:12could only access, love would spring15:14naturally from you, through you, without15:17effort.15:18For everything would be beautiful.15:22Schopenhauer called this the hedgehog's15:24dilemma.15:25Like hedgehogs who wanted to be close15:27and warm themselves in the cold winter,15:30but end up hurting each other in their15:31own spikes,15:32we too want to be together. We want to15:36love and be loved, to feel the warm full15:39embrace of one another. And yet, we too15:42have our spikes, our thorns. We too end15:45up hurting each other because we can't15:48truly open ourselves.15:50Our minds won't let us.15:53We are afraid, you see, desperate to15:55attain this, to secure this. And in this15:59desperation, the curtains grow wider,16:02thicker, blacker. I can't see you16:05anymore.16:06Only the concept I created of you.16:09You can't see me.16:12Why would our own mind do this to us?16:14Is this some kind of cosmic joke? Is God16:18laughing at us?16:21I don't know.16:24But what I want you to realize16:25is that our condition may not be so16:27hopeless.16:28Whenever we experience something16:30beautiful, we have immediate proof that16:33it is possible to open the curtains, to16:37receive the world objectively, as16:40Schopenhauer says.16:41The world as it actually is, behind the16:44curtains, without the constant16:47projection of our own volitions, what I16:49want, what I need, what I have to do,16:52without definitions, without taking16:54action, pure contemplation.16:57Wherever we can achieve this, we find17:00beauty.17:02You see, beauty is not only present in17:04those great works of art. Everything I17:06said about art and beauty, how it is17:08infinitely larger than any concept or17:10word, how it is so rich, it transcends17:14our definitions. This is also true for17:16everything else.17:18What makes those things special is that17:21they're presented in in a magical way17:23that naturally compels the mind to open.17:27One thing is more beautiful than17:29another, writes Schopenhauer, because it17:31facilitates this purely objective17:33contemplation, goes out to meet it, even17:35compels it, and then we call the thing17:38very beautiful. But if we could somehow17:40actively practice this kind of17:42contemplation, if you could somehow make17:45your mind easier to open,17:48then you could find the same beauty17:52all around you.18:02If you let me, I would like to show you18:04something.18:05Subscribers from my original channel may18:08be familiar with it,18:10but it's a kind of meditative technique18:12I have developed that has been very18:15helpful to me and very interesting, too,18:18which is always welcome. The idea,18:20basically, is for you to take a moment18:23and deliberately try not to understand18:26anything that presents itself in18:28consciousness.18:30Because understanding always reduces,18:33always sacrifices. It puts entire18:35experiences in small boxes called18:38concepts,18:40which we can use to navigate the world.18:42>> [music]18:43>> But just for a moment,18:45we don't want to navigate it. We don't18:47want to simplify it. We just want to see18:50it.18:53May sound strange, but it is in fact a18:56very simple trick18:58that you can do wherever you are,18:59whenever you want.19:02And if you can, I want you to truly19:04engage with it19:06for a moment.19:08Works like this.19:10I want you, if possible,19:12to look at the sky.19:15Maybe the largest singular thing that is19:17perpetually available to you.19:20And say to yourself,19:22"This is not the sky."19:27This is not the sky.19:29I mean, sky is just a word you've19:31learned to say when you point towards19:33it,19:34but that's all. This in front of you19:37right now19:38is not the sky19:40at all.19:42It's something else.19:46I want you to feel the floor beneath19:49you.19:50Even if you are on the couch or on the19:53bed,19:54you can still feel its emanating19:57presence.19:58How curious, isn't it?20:00How it's always there,20:02spreading itself wherever you go.20:06So steady.20:07Say,20:10"This is not the floor."20:17Floor is also just a word, but this that20:21exists here right now20:24is something else.20:26Something much bigger.20:30The walls around you,20:32look at them.20:35These are not walls.20:39Feel your legs in this moment, your20:42arms, your heart beating, all this20:45strange biological machinery operating20:49from the center of your experience.20:52This is not a body.20:55This is not a feeling.20:59This is not the air in your skin.21:03This is not a voice you're hearing.21:06This21:08is not a video.21:13This is not21:15an emotion.21:17This is not a moment.21:21This is not21:23you.21:32>> [music]21:46[music]21:47>> Everything that presents itself here is21:49so much bigger.21:52Infinitely so.21:54All these little words can make us21:56forget.21:58So, let them go for now.22:01Relinquish them.22:04Realize the namelessness of it all.22:08Nothing here has a name.22:11Not even you.22:14You are not the things you convinced22:16yourself you are.22:18None of those definitions.22:21You too22:23are much bigger.22:38By doing that,22:40see if you can feel,22:42even if just for a moment, a second,22:45something change.22:48As if the curtains were slightly22:50opening.22:53And the moment itself were getting22:55larger,22:57more and more palpable, real.23:01And see if you feel23:04very subtle23:06this23:07reverence.23:10A sense of mystery permeating all of it.23:16This tenderness that spontaneously flows23:18through you as you merely23:21allow23:22this immensity.23:26>> [music]23:27>> No need23:29to understand any of it.23:32No need to name it.23:36Only be it.23:41The miracle of it all.23:47The mystery.23:55The indescribable beauty.24:23When you try this meditation of24:27consciously denying the concepts over24:29and over,24:30when you say, "This is not a wall. This24:33is not24:34air. This is not a face."24:38I think what happens is that you're24:40manually inducing the kind of free play24:42between sensibility and understanding24:44that beautiful things naturally provoke.24:47The mind is always simplifying things in24:50order for you to be able to take action.24:52But, when you deny the concepts, you24:55force the mind to drop the24:57simplification and to look again more25:00closely.25:01It's not a wall. It's not air. So, what25:04is it? As if the mind is reopening25:07itself to the object.25:10This keeps happening as long as you keep25:12focusing and denying the concepts,25:14keeping the dance, the free play.25:18You can really almost feel the sudden25:21enlargement of the moment as this25:23happens.25:24The object becoming more real, more25:27rich. You're having kind of a glimpse at25:30the infinite richness that is always25:32present hidden under our mental25:35simplifications.25:37And through this enlargement, you can25:39momentarily connect with this moment and25:42access a bit of the beauty that is25:45perpetually here. You're just becoming25:48more sensitive to it.25:50The point, of course, is not to try and25:52live in this state of contemplation or25:54to open your mind in perpetuity. This25:58wouldn't be practical nor even possible.26:01Remember, there's a reason why your mind26:03works the way it does. It It's an26:05amazing thing that allows us to26:08understand reality, to communicate with26:10each other, and to take action, to do26:13things, to climb the tree and survive26:15the lions.26:18But, there aren't any lions here, are26:20there?26:22Not now. I mean,26:24I hope not.26:26Our tragedy is that in their absence, we26:29have fabricated our own lions inside our26:32heads,26:33only to spend every second of our lives26:36running from them.26:38Always an appointment,26:41an obligation, somewhere you need to be,26:44something you need to do.26:46An entire life on survival mode.26:49No time to smell the flowers, to take a26:53single brief moment every day and simply26:55be here and breathe this life in.27:00Remind yourself that you are alive, that27:03you exist right now, and that is27:07precious, truly.27:09It's an incredible mystery and an27:12enormous miracle.27:14We have become so obsessed with doing,27:17with accomplishing, with just defining27:20your own existence that we forgot to27:22appreciate it.27:24We lost the ability to do so.27:28Certainly you've met people who are so27:30consumed by their problems, so stressed,27:33anxious all the time that you can show27:35them the most beautiful piece of art27:38ever made,27:40the most profound poem or song or movie,27:44it doesn't matter.27:46Even that won't be able to open them, to27:49move them. They can't feel it.27:53Even when they tried, the curtains are27:55just too tightly closed.27:58It can't reach them.28:03Maybe you have been this person before.28:07I know I have.28:10So many times.28:13And this is no way to live.28:16The point of this video is that it28:19doesn't have to be like that.28:21It can't possibly be like that.28:24You are able to wake up from this28:26slumber. You can learn to see again, to28:29be yourself again, fully, truly, all28:32parts of your soul rising from the28:35shackles, savoring, tasting the bliss28:39from which you are a part of.28:41You are here. You too have a right to28:45partake in the glory and beauty of this28:48existence and there's plenty.28:52It is here. It is for you.28:56Welcome it.28:57Cherish it. Please.29:00Learn29:02to love it.29:14If this video has provided you with any29:16kind of value, be it intellectual,29:20emotional, or just having [music] a good29:22time,29:23I ask you, do you want to be a member of29:25my Patreon?29:27There's truly a lot of dedication in29:29this, a lot of time and I really can't29:31do it without the support from the ones29:33who see the value in it.29:45There's this famous story by Clarice29:47Lispector called Love. Very inviting29:50title, but also a very puzzling one when29:53you actually get to read the story. You29:55can read it many times in fact and still29:57not fully comprehend why is it called30:00Love?30:01And I really wanted to talk about this30:03short story in the video because30:05it's absolutely brilliant and and it30:07perfectly matches the whole theme.30:09But I couldn't find a way to do it30:11without making a video twice as long30:14and I was taking months already so I I30:16had to draw the line somewhere. So, I30:18decided to post this short story, the30:21full reading of it and its analysis30:24as a complementary material to this30:26video on my Patreon.30:28So, if you're interested in that as30:29well,30:30I'll see you there.30:32Bye-bye.
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