The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

by Sy Montgomery

Feelings of awe are known to expand the human experience of time availability. So does “flow,” the state of being fully immersed in focus, involvement, and enjoyment. Meditation and prayer, too, alter time perception.

Giant Pacific octopuses are probably among the longest-lived of the species, and they usually live only about three or four years.

Hindu mythology tells the story of the ascetic Narada, who won the grace of Vishnu and was invited to walk with the god. When Vishnu became thirsty, he asked Narada to fetch him some water. Narada went to a house and there met a woman so beautiful he forgot what he came for. He married the woman; together they farmed the land, raised cattle, and had three children. Then came a violent monsoon. Floods threatened to carry away the village’s houses, the cattle, the people. Narada took his wife by the hand, his children by the other. But the waters were too strong and they were lost. Narada was swept beneath the waves. Washed up on shore, he opened his eyes . . . to see there, still waiting for his drink of water, Vishnu—the god who is often pictured as sleeping on a fathomless ocean as his dreams bubble forth to create the universe.