University of Colorado - Coloradan Yearbook (Boulder, CO)

Page 13 text:

A private man? Who might this be? A “self,” an autonomous entity apart from the in- fluence of ravages of society and system? A given, like Jung's collective subconscious, or the Buddhist void,or the soul? Something preceding the existential choice of becom- ing? Something that suggests, in Tillich's phrase, an “eternal now? What a strange problem for modern man. Instead of social roles, a concept of being, not in the future, not from the past, but always in the present moment; the confines of reality. Does that sound strange? What other time exists except the present? The past and future are only memory and projection; products of abstraction; products of the mind. That's the hard thing about the mo - ment.lt can't be circumscribed. It only is. Coming from nowhere, going nowhere. A weird sort of abstract debate to be con- cerned with daily hassles. But our source of problems may be our fantasies, our abstrac- tions.

Page 15 text:

All of us are prisoners of the present moment. None of us has effect beyond right now. Our plans, our mistakes—what are they? It's what we do and think as it happens that matters. Yeah, I think I know what they're looking for with all that noise. But they aren't doing too well. It's like the old philosopher said: Thy lot or portion of life is in seeking after thee. So be at rest from seeking after it. But, I'm not so smart. I play the games. That's why I have to get away and think about it. Maybe I can play without getting trapped in the day-by-day hassles. But it's a risky game I play. Because they want my body. The ma- chinery of life beckons. The cogs of society are there: waiting, whirling, humming, watching. That's what worries us college types, may- be. They want us to seek after it. But there's so much yet to know about our individual selves. The world is impatient for us. As always. That's the way to get ahead. Right? Maybe.