Perspectives
Little understood is the importance of perspective, view, or vantage point. I’d go so far as to say that everyone lives in their own space, a space determined by the interplay between three basic factors: the culture into which they are born; their genetic makeup; and the influence of the unseen world -as a subset of this unseen influence is the process of human unfoldment, a process that happens in both stages as well as states of development. Altogether it makes for a complicated picture, but one that is useful if not vital in any deep consideration of why there are many more ways to get off track in understanding ourselves, our world, and the other, than ways of getting on track.
Once this notion of the importance of perspectives is entered, then it’s possible to begin to consider two basic possibilities: perspectives can be fixed or fluid. Fixity of any sort, of perspective, or purpose is surely a marvelous quality; yet in the long run it is dependent on direction.
It’s roughly akin to trying to hit the moon with a ballistic rocket, a device that takes aim only once and then it’s fired like a bullet from a rifle. So complicated are the relative soli-lunar orbital motions that this is a practical impossibility. Mid-course corrections are vital, else our rocket will fly right on by, missing its target; falling into the Sun or into uncharted expanse.
Why bother with such questions? Well, i have a dream for my life. It’s quite simple. A four-year old could understand it. Plainly put, i’d like to live in a world where folks are nice to each other. Obviously, we humans have not been quite up to such a thing; and i suggest that any penetrating analysis of this shortcoming is tied to this business of perspective.
It’s not just a simple matter of flexibility, of taking aim; but the acquisition of views based both in depth and in breadth. A great deal is at stake, and failure to move in this direction will, in my view, produce more suffering. Our world calls for succor.
I’m a big fan of the traditional 17-syllable form of haiku. Pardon my occasional lapse into rhyme, as well as a sneaky penchant for naming them.
Hidden in the Open
Teaching as it goes:
Greatest depth for greatest span;
River as it flows.
Once this notion of the importance of perspectives is entered, then it’s possible to begin to consider two basic possibilities: perspectives can be fixed or fluid. Fixity of any sort, of perspective, or purpose is surely a marvelous quality; yet in the long run it is dependent on direction.
It’s roughly akin to trying to hit the moon with a ballistic rocket, a device that takes aim only once and then it’s fired like a bullet from a rifle. So complicated are the relative soli-lunar orbital motions that this is a practical impossibility. Mid-course corrections are vital, else our rocket will fly right on by, missing its target; falling into the Sun or into uncharted expanse.
Why bother with such questions? Well, i have a dream for my life. It’s quite simple. A four-year old could understand it. Plainly put, i’d like to live in a world where folks are nice to each other. Obviously, we humans have not been quite up to such a thing; and i suggest that any penetrating analysis of this shortcoming is tied to this business of perspective.
It’s not just a simple matter of flexibility, of taking aim; but the acquisition of views based both in depth and in breadth. A great deal is at stake, and failure to move in this direction will, in my view, produce more suffering. Our world calls for succor.
I’m a big fan of the traditional 17-syllable form of haiku. Pardon my occasional lapse into rhyme, as well as a sneaky penchant for naming them.
Hidden in the Open
Teaching as it goes:
Greatest depth for greatest span;
River as it flows.
posted by charles at 9:27 AM
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