We are back with more from the Buffalo Poets. Be sure to check their earlier posts, Fevers of Artistic Dreams and “Epistemic Purchase” and “The Being.”
By King Otho
This text is not meant to be an end all definitive guide to the truth. However, an unpolitical mindstorm into the question of truth, or the reality being the universe. We know that scientific reasoning and deep and poetic meditation have a lot in common. E.g. the 
theory of relativity as unearthed by the visual mental meditation that Einstein undertook in understanding the fundamental nature of light, particularly what a wave of light would look like if you were to catch up to it. A simple question that once pulled, undid the entirety of gravity, black holes, and the deepest understanding of reality at that time. It’s said that when asked if he could explain relativity in a way that everyone could understand, he said “No, but I can play it for you on my violin.” Or something like that.
Thus the point of this article. To provide some poetical meditation into the nature of reality. Buddhist philosophy is inwardly directed scientific method. Experimentation of the spirit, and as a result there are parallels between long held Buddhist descriptions of reality and some currently accepted physical ones. Metaphor as the essential tool of learning. All knowledge reflecting and scattering off the surface of reality and received and interpreted by the curled consciousness factory of the mind.
Perhaps the real question is: Does art exist without death? Is death necessary for the traditional life of the human? How does consciousness cope with not dying? Does death seem strange to you too? Sometimes to me, the universe seems like a glove which can be worn, and more importantly, removed. Is there a physical relation between mind, gravity, and time? String theory suggests that gravity is weakly bonded to our universe, perhaps coming from another universe. Perhaps gravity suggests where matter should be. Or maybe the matter from the previous moment shoots gravity to the next moment and recreates the matter as a function of the laws of physics.
Buddhism teaches of the stages of becoming. The physical, the data, then the physical. The electricity, the magnetism, the electricity. There is nothing but clouds and light. Some truth is always subject to interpretation, so what of truth then? Measurable facts rarely include the all necessary environmentals. To fully state something is truth, one must also include a complete description of the entire state of the universe at the moment of recording, or no objectivity can be maintained. Such a description would need to be the same size as the universe, or more likely, bigger.
An experiment I would do as a wee youngster. I had forgotten about it entirely until just yesterday. I would try to be conscious of my thoughts, before I thought them. The dialogue of my mind, came from somewhere. My mind was aware of those thoughts, before they are spoken. So I would sit in my room and listen to the soft sounds of the BQE hum across the way. On soft Sundays the light would illuminate the air and a cool breeze would blow. And a spark from a welding torch would periodically throw sharp shadows and blue light through the window from the metal shop across the street. And for few brief moments, I was conscious.
My hope is that this article will continue in the form of comments left by others, and myself, below. That when read together will form a truer vision of the poetic understanding of reality.
Born out of the seedy underbelly of the poetry scene at the turn of the millennium – The Buffalo Poets, known for their unique energy and wit, began hosting open readings as a direct reaction to Slam Poetics and Cookie Cutter Style Poets found in New York City.Hailing originally from New York City, the Buffalo are composed of four core members: Roger Kenny aka King Otho, Aaron Arnout, Noah Levin and David Acevedo. The Buffalo have many artists throughout America including, James Honzik, Michael Franklin, Kevin Callahan and the infamous activist Rafael Bueno.
To call mind a consciousness factory gives the impression that mind creates consciousness. Mind is eternal. The brain is a harbor in which mind docks and becomes consciouss of the reality of being.
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A layman, poet’s view:
Gravity and time, although physical concepts, are stated & defined in language; albeit scientific language. Language, on the other hand, is simply a way to define things so that both the listener & person who formed the thought can understand what is going on and what was said. You see, all things are language; math, science, speech. Language in its purist form (at least in my mind) is the art of definition & communication. Therefore, before you’ve begun, all things become related. Or, to put this another way:
1) Gravity & time exist as entities by themselves whether you are looking at them or not.
2) Mind, on a personal non-religious level, is constantly trying to understand everything around it.
3) To understand the universe around it, the mind looks at existing entities such as Gravity & Time and begins to put it in a description that the mind understands. Whether that description is correct or incorrect, it will not change what Gravity or Time are doing while they are going about their merry way in the universe. Therefore, anytime you or I refer to Gravity or Time, it is simply our concept of it: one particular angle of looking at something, if you will, since there are probably multiple ways to say the same thing in different words.
The connection between mind and everything we see will always be intertwined since we are always referring to our mind’s perception of what is around us.
-Noah
As a fan of the Buffalo Readings, I am consistently amazed at how honest and raw their talent is. Life weaves itself in, around, and out again through their words and music.
I hope to continue hearing more in future readings.
ive always loved good poetry, and the buffalo readings is the perfect place to share and listen to it.
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[…] last weeks posts also! (Fevers of Artistic Dreams, “Epistemic Purchase” and “The Being.”, Poetical Understanding of Reality and The Buffalo Reading). Listen to the poem being read by Noah and shakuhachi played by David […]