Perspectives
Monday morning musings...
"It's all about perspectives." The awareness of that perspective, itself, arose in me (1-p x 1-p x 1p... anyone keeping up with the emergent Wilber reading?) sometime prior to my kensho experience; however, it was made real and became a useful tool that I pick up every day as a result of my kensho experience and the unfolding that has occurred since. Perspectives is one of my key words for the year (and a profound year it has been!). Other key words: attachment, suffering, delusion. Put into actual experience: When I become attached to a perspective, I am deluded about the nature of reality, and I am likely to suffer.
Often, in the context of a conversation with a friend that involves his or her judgments of another person ( 2p(1p) x 1-p x 3p?... don't think I'm quite getting integral math after 15 mins), I bring in the idea of perspectives. "You don't approve of what that person is doing; though, I'm sure that looking at it from his perspective, it makes sense why he would do that." I am nearly always doing that these days. An integral perspective is a beautiful thing. Though sometimes I think it annoys my friends (certainly my wife) because people often just want to bitch and have you agree with them. Sorry, not playing that game anymore.
Another way that I bring this into conversation, so that it makes sense, especially in conversations that involve personal preference (You wanna see that chick flick... whadya nuts!?), is to compare preferences for anything (as a perspective) to preferences for ice cream. Why are there 203 different kinds of ice cream? Well, capitalism, marketing, etc, aside, it's because I like Pecan Praline Rice Dream and you like Ben and Jerry's Super Fudge Chunk. Why? Because. It just is. That's the nature of any perspective, from my new perspective. There are a hundred different perspectives on any given subject, and each perspective just is. We could get into conjecture on the events (internal and external) that lead up to a perspective; that doesn't change the fact that it just is.
I don't have to judge someone because of his or her perspective, or feel threatened by it, because it just is. Of course, if that perspective gets translated into an action that has a negative impact on me or others directly, I will probably have something to say about it, and I will probably do something in an attempt to counteract the deluded action. And then there's the possibility that, as outlined above, I will try to provide additional information that may result in my friend changing his or her perspective, perhaps inching that perspective a little closer to objective reality or an integral perspective. And there's the always-fun possibility for projection as a result of my Parent (Superego) or Child (Id) being hooked, driven by my faulty interpretation of someone else's perspective in conjunction with my personal baggage. And if that person then reacts, off we go into madness (as happened this weekend between my wife and I... fun!).
Life gets significantly easier when all of the above is held in the container of Emptiness. Watching it all arise...
(Not that I can do this consistently, at this point!)
"It's all about perspectives." The awareness of that perspective, itself, arose in me (1-p x 1-p x 1p... anyone keeping up with the emergent Wilber reading?) sometime prior to my kensho experience; however, it was made real and became a useful tool that I pick up every day as a result of my kensho experience and the unfolding that has occurred since. Perspectives is one of my key words for the year (and a profound year it has been!). Other key words: attachment, suffering, delusion. Put into actual experience: When I become attached to a perspective, I am deluded about the nature of reality, and I am likely to suffer.
Often, in the context of a conversation with a friend that involves his or her judgments of another person ( 2p(1p) x 1-p x 3p?... don't think I'm quite getting integral math after 15 mins), I bring in the idea of perspectives. "You don't approve of what that person is doing; though, I'm sure that looking at it from his perspective, it makes sense why he would do that." I am nearly always doing that these days. An integral perspective is a beautiful thing. Though sometimes I think it annoys my friends (certainly my wife) because people often just want to bitch and have you agree with them. Sorry, not playing that game anymore.
Another way that I bring this into conversation, so that it makes sense, especially in conversations that involve personal preference (You wanna see that chick flick... whadya nuts!?), is to compare preferences for anything (as a perspective) to preferences for ice cream. Why are there 203 different kinds of ice cream? Well, capitalism, marketing, etc, aside, it's because I like Pecan Praline Rice Dream and you like Ben and Jerry's Super Fudge Chunk. Why? Because. It just is. That's the nature of any perspective, from my new perspective. There are a hundred different perspectives on any given subject, and each perspective just is. We could get into conjecture on the events (internal and external) that lead up to a perspective; that doesn't change the fact that it just is.
I don't have to judge someone because of his or her perspective, or feel threatened by it, because it just is. Of course, if that perspective gets translated into an action that has a negative impact on me or others directly, I will probably have something to say about it, and I will probably do something in an attempt to counteract the deluded action. And then there's the possibility that, as outlined above, I will try to provide additional information that may result in my friend changing his or her perspective, perhaps inching that perspective a little closer to objective reality or an integral perspective. And there's the always-fun possibility for projection as a result of my Parent (Superego) or Child (Id) being hooked, driven by my faulty interpretation of someone else's perspective in conjunction with my personal baggage. And if that person then reacts, off we go into madness (as happened this weekend between my wife and I... fun!).
Life gets significantly easier when all of the above is held in the container of Emptiness. Watching it all arise...
(Not that I can do this consistently, at this point!)
Comments