when we measure

When we measure something

We miss its essence

There is a quote attributed to Galileo: Measure that which can be measured and make measurable that which cannot be measured. And really, ever since Galileo’s time, that has been the foundation of science: measuring things and then looking for the mathematical relationships between the things that we have measured. All that is well and good, uncovering patterns within the universe. But have you noticed that the things that really matter cannot be measured? We cannot put a number on them.

How can you measure the feelings of happiness, joy, contentment, that can come at a moment’s notice, out of the blue, triggered by the smallest incident? This is where the richness of life lies. But can we measure happiness? Can we put a number on it? And great art – how do we measure the value of art? How much someone is willing to pay for it? Everyone knows that we cannot put a value on a masterpiece. It is a ludicrous thing to do. No way can that number capture the value of something.

And similarly with love. How can we measure it? How can we say this love is twice as important as that love? How can we put a number on it? And beauty, beauty – that feeling of beauty – is immeasurable. And so it is on the spiritual path, as we look deeper and deeper within ourself, as we approach our essence, we find that nothing can be measured. Everything becomes boundless, without boundaries.

So to do science, we need to measure things. But if we want to live the moment and feel the moment in its truth and beauty, then we have to stop measuring. We have to take a pause. And in that silence, in that stillness, when for a moment we have put away our measuring rulers, our comparisons, our numbers, when we have put that scientific toolbox of the mind away, for a moment at least, then, in that moment, we can be alive, truly alive and we can feel the essence of all that is; But only when we are not measuring.