top of page
Search

Liberation: ‘The Unspeakable World’

Updated: Mar 20

I love this short passage by Alan Watts, from his lecture ‘Zen Bones and Tales’, mixed by Adi Goldstein. “You know, If you talk all the time, you will never know what anyone else has to say. And therefore, all you will only have to talk about is your own conversation. The same is true for people who think all the time. That means, when I use the word think, when you talk to yourself as subvocal conversation: The constant chitchat of symbols, images, talk, and words inside your skull. Now if you do that all the time, you will find that you have nothing to think about except thinking. And just as you have to stop talking to hear what others have to say, you have to stop thinking to find what life is about. And the moment you stop thinking, you will come into immediate contact with what Korzybski called, so delightfully, ‘The Unspeakable World.’ The most ordinary sights, sounds, and smells. The texture of shadows on the floor in front of you. All these things, saying ‘That's a shadow, that's red, that's brown, that somebody's foot”. When you don't name things any longer you start seeing them. Because, say, when a person says “I see a leaf”, immediately one thinks of a spearhead shaped-thing outlined in black and filled in with flat green. No leaf looks like that. Leaves are not green. That's why Lao Tzu said “The five colours make a man blind, the five tones make a man deaf”. Because if you can only see five colours, you're blind. And if you can only hear five tones in music, you're deaf. You see, if you force sound into five tones and you force colours into five colours, then you’re blind and deaf. The world of colour is infinite as is the world of sound. And it is only by stopping fixing conceptions on the world of colour and the world of sound that you really begin to hear it and see it. The force of liberation will blow the world to pieces.”


The unspeakable world


Alan Watts and ‘The Unspeakable World’, from his lecture ‘Zen Bones and Tales’, mixed by Adi Goldstein

 

I love this sentence "The same is true for people who think all the time. That means, when I use the word think, when you talk to yourself as subvocal conversation: The constant chitchat of symbols, images, talk, and words inside your skull. Now if you do that all the time, you will find that you have nothing to think about except thinking. And just as you have to stop talking to hear what others have to say, you have to stop thinking to find what life is about. And the moment you stop thinking, you will come into immediate contact with what Korzybski called, so delightfully, ‘The Unspeakable World.’"


Sikhi Gurus emphasise a key term - Akath Katha (The Unspeakable Speech). The ten Sikh Gurus and 15 Hindu/Muslim Bhagats, whose Bani (Divine Revelation) is enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib, all attest that God cannot be quantified, but rather only an infiniteness that can be experienced as Carl Jung so eloquently spoke about. There are Bibles shining in Churches, Qurans shining in Masjids, Guru Granth Sahibs shining in Gurdwaras, and countless other religious texts pointing man to a higher force. Alas, if only humanity could break out of the ignorance of darkness and see these lamps for what they are.


How often do you silence the voice in your head? Alan Watts spoke of the importance of having a silent mind at least once a day. This comes through meditation. I meditate silently for half an hour twice a day, and at the beginning of every coaching session, with my client, for three minutes. Alan Watts is referring to the ‘monkey mind’ (kapicitta), that the Buddhists describe which is the constant repetitive, catastrophising, 'awfulising', negative thoughts that we have around 60,000 times a day. This describes the agitated, easily distracted and incessantly moving behaviour of ordinary human consciousness. It is not until we drop out of this mind that we hear the intuitive thoughts of Universal consciousness that guide every correct choice and decision that we make. The 'monkey mind' is the loud, brash voice of our ego, which is constantly trying to make us take the wrong path in life; to make the wrong choices. We have to stop listening to this asleep conscious voice and awaken our subconscious in order to integrate these into full consciousness.


I also particularly love this sentence “If you talk all the time, you will never know what anyone else has to say. And therefore, all you will only have to talk about is your own conversation.” That is why at the beginning of my coaching sessions, particularly at the beginning of our transformative journey, I listen to you uninterrupted for a full ten minutes. This is so that I can truly hear, with laser like focus, what you have to say and what you would like to bring to our discussions. When was the last time someone listened to you without interruption for a full ten minutes? Possibly never. In my 'VOICE group for men' we also have full ten minute uninterrupted shares so that you can feel that you have been truly heard.


Have you ever considered how listening impacts people? Have you ever spoken to someone who wasn’t present? They were checking emails, notifications, scrolling, or in their thoughts. It felt deflating, right? And also pretty typical of human interaction. And maybe after you finished your thought, the conversation ended with a familiar yet unsatisfying, frustrating sensation. That’s because most people are distracted, don’t realise the impact of their listening, and haven't done the work to heal their consciousness. Not only are we distracted and lacking awareness, but we have filters in our listening. These filters are made of judgements. So rather than truly seeing and hearing people, we perceive some of their words filtered through our judgements of them. We judge people constantly (including ourselves).


In our coaching sessions I will see you without judgement and listen to you with total presence. Not listening is an inherent human ontological (relating to the branch of metaphysics of dealing with the nature of BEing) "dysfunction" to become aware of, so that we can transcend it. There's no connection here, no power, no love, no life, no energy. Our limited listening prevents us from perceiving beauty, brilliance, and magnificence. But when we heal our minds and hearts, the world becomes miraculous again. We notice things we've never noticed. We're reconnected to our light and perceive the gold and God within ourselves and everyone. We start to laugh more, have fun, find inner joy, and our gifts fully express themselves. And we get to profoundly impact the people and world around us. If you want to draw out the truest and greatest expression of another human BEing, then listen to them deeply and lovingly, with full presence, and clear your judgment filters. How do we clear the filters? By healing our self-judgements. "The most important thing you could ever do is work on your consciousness." — Ram Dass. It starts with us. It starts with how we talk and listen to ourselves; how we treat and relate to ourselves. It starts by fully seeing ourselves. It starts with Self-forgiveness and Self-love.


When we experience the inevitable break in belonging as children, two things happen:

1 We make decisions about who we are (we form our ego)


This all happens subconsciously.


Most haven't done the work to receive and share this awareness. And most haven't learned how to regulate their nervous systems. So we get stuck in negative thought patterns and dangerous coping mechanisms (such as addiction). 


I don't know about you, but I'm here to break the cycles and create a new possibility. If you're aligned, then go deep within your own consciousness to discover the self-judgements. You’ll find negative beliefs and thoughts like: you’re not enough, you've wasted time, you're not worthy, not capable, not deserving, not loved, not loveable, thinking that you will be abandoned and that therefore you will die. You’re too much, too little, too this, too that. Everyone else is better than you, happier, more successful, stronger, smarter, better looking, and so on and so on.


These are all false identities and illusions created by an innocent mind when we were children. Become aware of them, meet them with compassion and understanding, and let them go. As you clear your judgements, you’ll reveal what’s underneath: Your True Self. And you are beautiful, wonderful, whole, and complete, exactly as you are. You are love, peace, and joy itself. You are a miracle, made by the infinite, of the infinite.


Once you do this work (and you might be feeling the lightness already), you’ll be more free, feeling deeper connection with your Self, others, and the Universe. You’ll also have a clear and powerful listening that impacts people in a way that transforms them and their lives. It's inspiring, encouraging, and empowering. And it all starts with our own healing and transformation. Don't get trapped in the ways of the world. Rise above it as a witness into the knowing of who you truly are. And let's make the difference we're here to make. "All we are is peace, love, and wisdom, and the power to create the illusion that we are not" — Jack Pransky.


I also believe that the title ‘The Unspeakable World’ also refers to the fact that deep Truth, which is heard or thought during meditation, is a feeling, which makes it unspeakable. This is why we only know Truth when we verbalise it ourselves - what we're actually doing is using metaphors for that feeling. The Universal consciousness, Nature, God, or whatever you want to call the energy that creates everything, again, is a feeling, and therefore we use these words to approximate it.


We have to stop fixing our conceptions on the world and become the observer or the witness, in other words pure consciousness. We have to stop being distracted by our senses - for example during meditation you may visualise leaves floating by on a river: The key is to notice them, like our thoughts, but not be distracted by them; let them go.



Namaste.


Sending you love, light, and blessings brothers.


Olly


Email me: 





Hello,

I am delighted and enchanted to meet you. I coach men with 'Deep Coaching', 'Supercoaching', and Transformative Life Coaching (TLC). Thank you for reading this far. I very much look forward to connecting with the highest version of you, to seeing your highest possibility, and to our conversations. Please do contact me via my email for a free connection call and a free experience of coaching on Zoom or in person. 


“Transformative life coaching uniquely creates and holds the space for you to see your self afresh, with clarity, and step into new ways of BEing, which will transform how you perceive and intuitively create your world. My work is to guide you to raise your own conscious awareness to the level that you want to achieve.”







Click here for the books that I know will help you along your journey of recovering your Self:









I have a Bachelor's degree in Natural Sciences from Trinity College, Cambridge; a Master's Degree in Philosophy from Trinity College, Cambridge; a PhD Doctorate in Scientific Research from University College London (UCL); a Medical Degree (MD/MBBS) from The Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London and have been a doctor and reconstructive trauma and cancer surgeon in London for 20 years. I have a number of other higher qualifications in science and surgery. I have published over 50 peer reviewed PubMed cited scientific journal articles, have been an associate editor and frequent scientific faculty member, and am the author of several scientific books. I have been awarded my Diploma in Transformative Life Coaching in London, which has International Coaching Federation (ICF) Accreditation, as well as the UK Association for Coaching (AC), and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). I have been on my own transformative journey full time for over five years and I am ready to be your guide to you finding out who you really are and how the world works.




Please let me know if you would like to join our 'VOICE for men' VIP community: 'Vulnerability & Openness Is a Choice Ensemble', 'Visibility Is Power', where men can find their strength, courage, and authenticity, by dropping their egocentric fears and instead communicate openly with vulnerability. We are co-creating this space. It will change your life. It will empower you. This community is a safe space for men to connect and discuss philosophy, spirituality, positive psychology, awakening to Self-realisation, wisdom and timeless Truths, to share our experience, strength and hope, and to find solutions to our pain and fears. Our meeting is free to join. There is no script, just sharing.

 

 
 
 
bottom of page