A Little Story on Perspective and Vantage Points

Once upon a time, in a land that was very flat with no hills at all, there dwelled a somewhat primitive village of people who couldn't see very far off in the distance because they had no hills to stand on. They saw their houses, their streets, their fields and since they were too busy surviving to take long trips, they thought that what they saw was all that there was. Since they thought that was all that there was, they never felt the need too take long trips. Since they could see all that there was, it made them feel secure. In fact it made them feel even more secure to punish those who questioned their security and so they created taboos and passed laws against taking long trips and building structures higher than their house. They taught that going beyond certain points would subject them to the forces of evil and insecurity. Everyone believed this so strongly they knew it had to be true.

A very very long distance away, in a land where there were many small hills and no trees, there was another village. These people could stand on top of their hills and see much further distances. They could see rivers, lakes, deserts and forests off in the distance. They of course, thought this was all that there was and journeyed to these locations on occasions. At these times, they thought themselves quite adventuresome. They could be adventuresome at times because they felt the security of knowing that where they were traveling was all that there was. It also made them feel secure to chop down the trees where they traveled so that the land would look more like home, besides they could use the wood to build more structures at home. It made them feel even more secure to teach themselves and their children that that was all that there was and they could rely on that as fact. They knew it was fact because their experts had spent many hours of careful observation looking from their highest hill. They all knew that it wasn't rational to venture further on their trips, or to try to build higher than their hills.

An even further distance away on the other side of the world there dwelled a village of people in a high, high mountain range. (Of course, "the other side of the world" would not make sense to the other two villages in the same way it would to us.) At the top of their mountain's, on a clear day, they could see the other mountain's, the flat land, and the land of hills as well as many other geological areas. They could even see the curvature of the earth so that they thought the earth was a round ball. The nights were so clear that they could see other round balls in the sky.
They would travel long long distances and mingle with and learn from the people of other villages. They learned to appreciate the variety of differences they saw and wanted everyone else to appreciate these differences. It made them feel good about themselves to appreciate differences and to not judge one difference as being better than another. They wanted everything to be equal and they wanted the whole world to feel the way they did. If only they could stop people from being egocentric or unaccepting of others.

Within the village on the high mountains there was a small group who became more and more discontented. They realized that by wanting everything equal and nonjudgmental they had just created another flatland from which there was no vantage points. One dark night, these discontented people climbed to the top of the highest mountain to see if they could see something more. Suddenly, a light in the sky moved towards them. In a moment they saw a large glowing turquoise-indigo metallic ship hovering above the ground in front of them. Out of the ship, walked a slender bald man, who smiled and spoke the strange words "welcome to second tier".

They entered the ship and through the viewing port they were able to look down on their previous viewpoints. They could see the whole mountain range and as the ship moved higher, the whole continent. They begin to realize they were transcending and including all their previous lower perspectives as they move to higher vantage points. They realized that everyone had to start at lower vantage points before moving to higher ones, just as they were doing. They felt deep compassion for everyone on their various levels and in their various degrees of stuckness. Finally they could see the entire earth, and solar system. As they begin to see the galaxy they begin to realize in their very core, on a permanent basis, they weren't seeing the galaxy, they were the galaxy. To be continued.

Minimizing The Myth of The Given

The "Myth of The Given" is the belief that an objective existence is out there waiting to be discovered by us and then seen as it is. It is also the illusion that what appears to arise in your consciousness is free of bias and filtering. It ignores the fact that the developmental level of your mental structures is a major factor that determines your interpretation and selection of what enters into your awareness.

it is not a given that we are aware of existence as it is. If fact there is nothing state-able that "actually is", only a perspective that eternally changes as we develop to higher ground. only when we have a larger cognitive perspective can larger gestalts form in our consciousness.

I've listed below several questions to ask to minimize being seduced by myth of the given and prevent getting trapped by an idea or mentality:

Did I start from a conclusion?
Am I starting from a conclusion?
Can I reexamine something from a state of not knowing?
What would change if I was brutally honest at this moment?
Can I get a perspective on my current perspectives? (perspectives on perspectives)
What would happen if I just looked at the data only?
What would happen if I just experienced the content of my consciousness phenomenologically?
How possible is it that I am missing vital pieces of data?
How might an intelligent extraterrestrial view this?
What am I currently isolated from?
If I were on a desert island with two other people would this make a difference or still matter?
Can I honestly see through the eyes of someone who would disagree with me?
Can I let go of a need to be right?
If I viewed with indifference what would change?
How possible is it that I could be wrong?
What contradictory evidence is there?
What happens if I totally let go of the issue?
What might I be blocking from my consciousness?
What am I avoiding or preventing?
And my questioning absolutely everything?
Can I find any hidden assumptions?
Am I convincing myself of something?
What are all possible implications of the data so far?
Where can I look to find more data?
Am I trying to force something into what I believe?
Am I trying to take a position?
Do I feel compelled to make a conclusion or take a stand?
What would happen if I just looked at the data making no conclusions and taking no stand?
Am I aware of the past conclusions I have made that are currently influencing me?
Am I following some kind of rule or injunction I've given myself or that other people have given me?
Where and how can I test something and get corrective feedback?
Am I directly aware of my sense of making sense?
To what extent do my thoughts feel habitual or automatic?
Am I completely mindful of my process?
Are clear figure-ground gestalts forming in my consciousness?
To what extent am I confused?
How might the most intelligent people I know respond to this content?
Am I giving my authority away to other people, beliefs, and ideas?
Am I taking into account the non-local abilities of my consciousness to access across space and time?
Am I giving myself permission to be skeptical?
Am I getting input from all parts of myself as well as all parts of the "outside world"?
What is obvious and in front of my face?
Can I question what appears obvious?
Am I creating a straw man?
Does my criticism of others also apply to myself?
Am I projecting an aspect of my shadow?
What might my peers see that I may not?
Do I need to look at the actual data?
From how many other perspectives can this be looked at?
How much am I speculating?
Am I willing to accept that I may be wrong?
Am I willing to accept my mis-takes?
How might someone see this 1000 years in the future?
How might someone see this 100000000000000000000 years in the future? ]
Do I want to believe more than I want to really find out.
Am I dealing with gaps in my data?
Do I acknowledge that was appears as accepted clear logical scientifically based fact can still be wrong?
how much do I want to avoid the disapproval of my peers?
Is there anything overriding my sense of making sense?
Can I tolerate ambiguities and uncertainties?
Am I fully looking for and addressing the most contradictory data?

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Can I enter the pre-thought gap?: Can I catch that which arises in my consciousness before it gets categorized, interpreted or given meaning?

From Pre-rational to Pseudo-rational to Trans-rational

Trans-rational:
"Second sight"
Strong intuition
Self-regulation of cognitive processes
Seeing many relationships at once
Seeing multi-level truths
Seeing the whole picture
Seeing the relationship to the whole.
Using processes that transcend thought
Emergence of "Thought balls": unitary multi-perspective thoughts
Very large "pre-thought" space or interval
"Non-local" abilities of the brain are well integrated with the "local" abilities
EQ is integrated with IQ
Able to see things absolutely fresh
includes, assimilates and transcends the rational

Rational:
Doing things because they make sense
A healthy "sense of making sense"
Thought itself tends to be inherently logical in nature
Clarity of thought - thoughts tend to form clear "figure-grounds"
Questioning as many assumptions as possible because it makes sense
Starting from honest "not knowing"
Doesn't jump into thought immediately
Large "pre-thought" space
Ability to "chew" on ideas (taste, bite-off, de-structure and assimilate ideas)
Love and passion for the taste of trueness
Healthy skepticism, not afraid to doubt
Beliefs are manipulated or changed to fit current "sense of making sense" rather than vice versa
The "sense of making sense" compels one to carefully look at the available data and actively pursue data that is missing or not yet explored.
All sources of data can be looked at with discernment

Pseudo-rational:
Follows logical procedures, but does it more because that is what one was taught, than because it makes sense.
Being right in doing things right or "correctly" has a higher valence than making sense
Complying with criticisms of peers has a higher valence than making sense
No pre-thought space, jumps right into thinking
Tends to start with a conclusion or with pre-categorizing.
"Should's" have a higher valence than making sense
Many scientists and pseudo-skeptics come from a pseudo-rational perspective
Immediately takes a position and defends it
Tends to submit to pressure to " stay in the box" to avoid peer ridicule
tendency to "fuse" their "sense of making sense with their previous conclusions.
Rational operations can be manipulated to fit previous conclusions or beliefs


Pre-rational:
Either "gaping-minded" or "closed-minded"
Swallows things whole without chewing or tasting
Magical thinking
Black and white thinking
The sense of "making sense" is relatively undeveloped.
Rational operations easily manipulated to fit previous conclusions or beliefs

Breathing and Attention

Breathing and attention are like brother and sister. Where the breath goes so does the attention. When the breath is shallow, attention is shallow. When the breath is deep, attention can be deep. Breathing is the point where the voluntary meets the involuntary. Every breath is an echo of the original one breath. Let the breath be undivided, then when you fully find the point where reality splits into two; it convulses into one. This point has awaited your attention even before you were born.

Achieving Balance

May we be able to achieve balance (homeostasis) between:

Process and Content

Abstinence and Indulgence

Healthy Pleasure and Healthy Discomfort

Work, Rest and Enjoyment

Doing and Being

Contact and Withdrawal

Current Gratification and Deferred Gratification

Narrow Focus and Diffuse Focus

Healthy Creation and Healthy Destruction

Health Shoulds and Healthy Wants

Nourishment from Self and Nourishment from Others

Charge and Discharge

Sympathetic and Parasympathetic

Heart, Mind and Soul

Healthy Strength and Healthy Weakness

Basics of The Mind

To grow, the mind needs to discover basic things about itself. It needs to understand some of it's basic structures and processes. I believe this is a never ending process. I am amazed at how basic the things are that I'm still discovering about myself.

Krishnamurti talked about the difference between a mind that's made quiet and a mind that is quiet. It's quiet because it understands basic things about itself. There's also a profound difference between a quiet mind and no-mind which I won't go into now.

Through meditation and radical honesty, the mind can discover its basics, for example: conflict , how conflict arises, what it is and how to see it. Discovery is only made from the state of "not knowing". Everything that is discovered once must be rediscovered fresh from a state of emptiness or not knowing.

Simple Silly Sayings

What you most fear is what's most near
What you deny will make you lie
And what you resist will always persist
For what you hide will still abide
Your shadow knows beneath your clothes
Hide in a role and lose your soul

When you don’t breathe life takes its leave.
What you don't cry begins to die
What you don't use you’ll surely lose
What you repress will make a mess

So repossess what you repress
Feel Primal Pain’s emotional brain
And make it less when you express

To empty the pot you must practice a lot
And what you should heed is what you need
To move up from survive to be fully alive

Let “what you notice” unfold like a Lotus
Let your life be surprised by what will arise
What you don't taste you’ll surely waste
And meditate don't medicate

For what you allow you can avow
What you face & embrace you can surely erase
What you feel you can surely heal
Go up to your box and open the locks
For what you can be, you will set free

What you think will make a link
But what you conclude will delude
It’s what you don't know that makes you grow

When you’re direct you will connect
Jump in the stream that flows through your meme
When you’re in the flow you can trust what you know
Mind plus Heart makes you act smart

When no-thing is your clothing
Figure-ground is lost and found
There is no “duel” in non-dual
In the eye of the storm “Emptiness is form”,

You want the truth? then let it loose
Get off the hook, shut up and look!
What you see and hear will make it clear
The Suchness of things the whole universe sings