Truth, and Perspective

[tribunalofmercy]

Just wanting to share thoughts today (and, constantly, because I can be a Talker.  lol)....thanks for the opportunity.  



All men look from the Windows of their “house”, which is the vessel, the Body…a wise man whose window reveals the backyard knows he is discerning only Part of the whole; in his wisdom he knows he is to be Caretaker of all he sees. When there are wise men behind Each window, each discerning his or her Own part and responsibility, each moved to Action, then the Whole is cared for in harmony.




Truth lies in All parts of the picture, however; whatever a man experiences is still Truth, for if he perceives the backyard but does nothing About it, does that part not remain untended? Though the one may tend his part but another turn Away from his own, the overall picture shows the yard is only Partly tended, imbalanced, and this is Truth.




We are where we Are, no matter “where” that is. All we can Do, at any moment, is Perceive; after this, the option to Act, or Not, reveals itself.




My life experience will not hold the poignancy or the Power for you that you Own experience brings; the higher mind welcomes the relevance of all past experience to the reality of NOW, for all is truly One….the acknowledgement of Truth is that we are merely Perceiving the Same experience in infinite ways, from infinite perspectives, the better to embrace what is the height, the depth, the Immensity of Truth Itself, which is Source.


I believe we are made to recognize Many windows, all showing Truth in Part; do not remain imprisoned within the limitations of your own window! The Big Picture comes when we open our windows Together and move Out of the house to perceive the All.



Love and Wisdom,

Mary Anne

[donq]

Hi Mary Ann,

Welcome to our forums.

Nice post. It reminds me of some other windows: :-)




The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.
-Sydney J. Harris

A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.
-Ingrid Bergman

A Saudi Prince went to Germany to study. A month later, he sent a letter to his dad saying,
"Berlin is wonderful, people are nice and I really like it here, but I'm a bit ashamed to arrive to school with my gold Mercedes when all my teachers travel by train."
Sometimes later he got a letter from his dad with a ten million dollars check saying, "Stop embarrassing us! Go and get yourself a train, too!"

Two men met in the middle of the desert. One was carrying a car door, the other an umbrella.
The one with the car door said to the man with the umbrella, "Why on earth are you carrying that umbrella around? It isn't going to rain in the desert, is it?"
The man with the umbrella replied, "Yeah, but it keeps me out the sun! By the way, why are you carrying around that car door? You don't even have a car to go with it!"
The man with the car door said, "Right, well, at least if I get too hot from the sun I can just roll down my window!"

[tribunalofmercy]

Love it.


And what do trains, umbrellas and car doors have in common? They provide us with stories for our Education

[donq]

Hi Mary Ann,

Normally, when Sue (our friend in chat room, she’s about 74) and I greet any new member, they would be gone. But you’re still here. Thanks for helping me beat Sue. lol Anyway, don’t be a stranger and post more, ok?

As for the quote form Sydney J. Harris, I think there’s something to talk about.

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”

In one context, it’s true. Mirror has a mercury on its back that doesn’t allow us to see anything (the world) more than reflecting something in front of it. Somehow, spiritual window works in different way. It seems “knowing yourself” is the highest goal, not knowing the world.
Sometimes, science really spoils my mood. It’s said the beautiful red sun that sinking below the horizon I was enjoy watching, was not really there, it was just my illusion; it was already gone for at least 8 minutes as the light from the sun had to take that time to travel to the earth and to my eyes. My eyes was just "reinventing" the reality for me, in the wrong way. A bit scary, isn’t it?

Hmm…If I cannot trust this window, my eyes, then what else I can trust?

I believe if we want to look through and understand the window of our worldviews AND spiritual views, we have to use something out of context to explain the context, as we cannot explain it within its context itself. Maybe the word is “superposition”?

As you may familiar with this chapter in Tao Te Ching:

Clay is fashioned into vessels;
but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends.
The door and windows are cut out (from the walls) to form an apartment;
but it is on the empty space (within), that its use depends.
Therefore, what has a (positive) existence serves for profitable adaptation,
and what has not that for (actual) usefulness.

What is a room? Is it a “space” within a door and windows? Or the building that “form” it? Or both are right? Or both are wrong?

And what's a window? How can we talk about the window without referring to its form/room? And vice versa. Anyway, I believe the spiritual window is mainly focused on looking back to ourselves, in here, not out there. Though it’s inevitable that inward and outward are so merge together.

What do you think?

[tribunalofmercy]

I hope (all of) you will humor me for a bit; I'm learning to "branch out" in the world, though I have been THinking this way for quite some time. I was raised fundamental Christian (now who will run out on Me? lol) (I'm a Southern gal, USA)...so lots of Eastern philosophy, in it's verbiage and Actuality, is New to me. (not the thinking, oddly)...like your quote by Tao Te Ching - and I agree!

To me, 'language' is only Part of the whole of communication - communication being what we Express, with intent to Convey...therefore the full meaning of Any word or phrase is likely limited by our Own life-experience. A house is not always a home, neither is a home always a House, and most of us understand that concept. Yes...what Is a 'room'? Gee, you're Right - I don't really believe the 'room' exists, at All....As I have built on my life-experience I came to view the body as the Vessel only, not part of a trinity within this human existence; those parts, to me, are the soul, the spirit and the sentient Mind - but that is Only because I have seen the "soul" as my term for what connects us with 'God', while the spirit is Will, providing the Yen/Yang of things. ....Whoops. that may be threading a tangent. *ahem* Um, there is a LOT I could say about the window and about our "new, enlightened" state of looking Within, instead of Without...which changes the dimensions of the room completely! But this box says "quick reply", and I'm a talker. lol

I like your quote of Sydney Harris as well - which leads to the mathematical thought that

"the quote of S Harris" is to "the quote of Tao Te Ching" as "Buddhism" is to "Brahman" in its original intent.

...Okay, wow, now I'm going to have to Meditate or something.


- MA

[donq]

Hi Mary Anne,

Wow! I’m impressed!

Yes, you are absolutely right about “language.”

Though Descartes said, “I think; therefore I am” but Sartre disagreed. He (Sartre) said the consciousness which says, ““I think; therefore I am” is NOT actually the consciousness which thinks. There are the difference between consciousness (that doubts) and consciousness that “acts”. So, we’d rather say, “I doubt; therefore I am.” Or “I aware that I doubt therefore I am.”

This sounds very Buddhism (mindfulness) to me; to discern between the conventional truth versus the higher (absolute) truth. :-)

And Taoism (Daoism) also says something like, “The name is not the thing that is named.”

Or as Korzybski famous quote, "The map is not the territory.”

I kind of like Bateson's explanation about human epistemology, especially about a wrong logic.

(Normal) Syllogism
Men die;
Socrates is a man;
Socrates will die.

(Wrong) Syllogism in Grass
Grass dies;
Men die;
Men are grass.

Oops! I’ve diverted a lot. I was going to ask…”Are you real there?” I mean is that only the old version of you 8 minutes ago? Again, scary! hahaha.
Anyway, one thing for sure is I’m communicating with someone in the past of mine (kind of time traveling). Because I live in Asia, so my time here is ahead of yours about 7-12 hours, right? Hence I am talking to someone who is living in the past (of mine), am I not?

Cheers from
monty

[tribunalofmercy]

I have no idea; clocks make me Nervous. However, is it not important to remain Fluid anyway? (see: zenhabits website)

I am developing a theory of the actual Purpose of the "God Particle" as it pertains to the connection between God and Man (simultaneous wave/particle); it has to do with Intent, so it gets lengthy (gee, I should have just Named myself 'The talker').

As it has to do with Intent, there is wave potential and wave actual; wave potential divides according to Binary equation/Law between its origin and our minds, manifesting as decision/action Only when wave potential becomes wave Actual - then it moves to Particle form in 3D reality here.


Soooo...I'm wondering how much of our Entire conversation, given the time 'stretch', is wave potential and how much is wave actual - on a CLOCK?? lol


Happy Thinking.

Me

[sparklekaz]

Dear Tribunalofmercy,

I've really enjoyed reading your post on truth and perspective. I love the analogies and quotes you've used to illustrate your thoughts on the subject. Two of my favourite quotes on perception are: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.” by William Blake And "There are two paths of which one may choose in the walk of life; one we are born with, and the one we consciously blaze. One is naturally true, while the other is a perceptive illusion. Choose wisely at each fork in the road.” by T.F. Hodge

I see the cavern as being the outer coating of our lives that has been created and thickened by the beliefs, ideals and opinons of the many, who have influenced us throughout our lives. And that is why truth and perspective is such a subjective thing. Very much coloured by our own experiences, the books we have read, information fed to us by individuals who just like us have learned from someone else. How wonderful it would be to see things clearly, untainted by bias and judgement. I have often wondered what I would find, if I could peel away everything that was not purely mine. I must admit, it has occured to me that it might just be a very empty space lol and that seriously worries me.

Love and light
Kaz

[donq]

Hi Mary Anne,

Around 30 years ago, I still was a young man, I felt in love with philosophy.

Heraclitus's famous saying, "No man ever steps in the same river twice."

French proverb, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

I could not help but asking myself, what if I took a very long step once? Or what if I tried to stay the same? Could/would this paradoxical strategy do the trick and help me change? Hmm….

Anyway, after I read the poems of Su Shi (Su Dongpo, 1037 – 1101), somehow I didn’t care about changing or not changing any more:

"Do you know the water and moon? The one flows on, and yet never goes anywhere, and the other waxes and wanes, yet never diminishes or grows. If you look at them from the point of Change, then heaven and earth never stay the same for even the blink of an eye. If you look from the point of what is unchanging, then all things, and I, are inexhaustible, so what is there to envy? Between heaven and earth, each thing has its master, and if it were not mine, even if only a hair, I would not take it. Only the clear wind on the river, and the bright moon between the mountains: the ear receives one and creates sound, the eye meets the other and makes color; you can take these without prohibition, and use them without exhausting them. This is the infinite treasure of the Creator, and what you and I can share and rejoice in."

P.S. "God Particle" sounds good. :-)

[tribunalofmercy]

Thank you for sharing that, kaz - I hardly know you, and yet I Seriously doubt one could find only "empty space" beneath your layers

One day, I wish to elaborate on the idea of collective consciousness, because of what "my people" have been teaching me; I well know how Afraid we are, as humans, of losing our Identity, our individuality, in all this pursuit of "One-ness" - goodness, it seems we have just Found ourselves over the last few hundred years! (not that it turned out to be Pretty)

I used to wonder about "which came first, chicken or egg?" when I thought about whether "I", or "my people" (the Arcturians), or any former teachers, etc thought of something First, and was any of it actually My idea, and what really Was "me" - how much of us All is actually Illusion?

But I have come to understand it does not Matter; you see, as we get closer to the Whole, the All - the Everything that is "God" - we find we are not losing our "individuality" but Gaining Ourselves.

Male, Female, the family unit and all relationships are here to Teach about the many facets of Love, and we begin to understand this now; however, in a Right relationship, when someone marries and takes on a "ball and chain" (haha), they will not perceive they are Losing themselves, no longer individual, but Gaining new roles that help make them Complete.

If that makes sense...nope, no empty space there, kaz, for your words come not from the surface layers but the Center of the cave