" every theory our minds come up with is purely perspective, a single way of stopping and analyzing the dynamic flow at a particular moment in time. One perspective is no more correct than another."
I experience this so clearly ... the thing that really gives me trouble is the cultural expectation that we need to *choose* a particular perspective, to the exclusion of others.
Is Everything Simply Energy?
Discussion started by Janet Smith Warfield , on 07 January 03:39 PM
I'd like to offer a hypothesis: that everything is simply energy. Our thoughts are energy, our words are energy. Our emotions are energy. Our bodies are energy. All this energy is a living, dynamic, connected flow. In religious terminology, this flow has been called "God." Sometimes, it feels like chaos or the Devil.
Then our minds enter the picture as observers of the flow rather than as participants. By this very act of observation, we've created an artificial separation between ourselves and what's "out there". The Christian symbolism for this consciousness shift is the story of Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
It's as if we were all part of a moving picture that our minds want to understand. Our minds artificially stop the flow at a single frame at a single moment in time looking at "what is" from a single perspective so we can dissect that unique frame, analyze it and understand it. This is extremely effective as science has demonstrated over and over. But the single frame is not the entire dynamic. We can never "know" the entire dynamic with our minds. We can only participate in it and experience it. That is what the transformation experience is all about.
Related to this thought is a second: that every theory our minds come up with is purely perspective, a single way of stopping and analyzing the dynamic flow at a particular moment in time. One perspective is no more correct than another. However, some perspectives are more encompassing and inclusive and work better for particular purposes. A perspective of mutual respect and non-violence is better at creating peace, power and prosperity than one of blame and criticism. This is why Buddhism focuses so much on the importance of intention.
There are clearly group agreements on perspective. When many scientists conduct the same experiment and come up with the same results, they have a group agreement on what is "right" or "true" within the context of that particular experiment. However, they cannot move beyond the limitations and boundaries of that particular experiment. What they have discovered is "true" is true only for a particular purpose and within a particular, limited framework.
What I write here is simply perspective. However, the perspective that everything is perspective is the most encompassing perspective possible. Perhaps it's the best we humans can do in moving toward co-creating a peaceful, powerful, prosperous planet.
Then our minds enter the picture as observers of the flow rather than as participants. By this very act of observation, we've created an artificial separation between ourselves and what's "out there". The Christian symbolism for this consciousness shift is the story of Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
It's as if we were all part of a moving picture that our minds want to understand. Our minds artificially stop the flow at a single frame at a single moment in time looking at "what is" from a single perspective so we can dissect that unique frame, analyze it and understand it. This is extremely effective as science has demonstrated over and over. But the single frame is not the entire dynamic. We can never "know" the entire dynamic with our minds. We can only participate in it and experience it. That is what the transformation experience is all about.
Related to this thought is a second: that every theory our minds come up with is purely perspective, a single way of stopping and analyzing the dynamic flow at a particular moment in time. One perspective is no more correct than another. However, some perspectives are more encompassing and inclusive and work better for particular purposes. A perspective of mutual respect and non-violence is better at creating peace, power and prosperity than one of blame and criticism. This is why Buddhism focuses so much on the importance of intention.
There are clearly group agreements on perspective. When many scientists conduct the same experiment and come up with the same results, they have a group agreement on what is "right" or "true" within the context of that particular experiment. However, they cannot move beyond the limitations and boundaries of that particular experiment. What they have discovered is "true" is true only for a particular purpose and within a particular, limited framework.
What I write here is simply perspective. However, the perspective that everything is perspective is the most encompassing perspective possible. Perhaps it's the best we humans can do in moving toward co-creating a peaceful, powerful, prosperous planet.
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Hi, Lee and Steven,
I love your David Hume quote. I could add that we have no rational grounds for believing there is a God; we also have no choice but to believe there is some Intelligence greater than our own running this show. It is simply too terrifying to be a tiny speck tossed in a sea of chaos without some kind of rudder. Interestingly enough, the belief in the rudder, in some mysterious way, brings stability and calm.
I love your David Hume quote. I could add that we have no rational grounds for believing there is a God; we also have no choice but to believe there is some Intelligence greater than our own running this show. It is simply too terrifying to be a tiny speck tossed in a sea of chaos without some kind of rudder. Interestingly enough, the belief in the rudder, in some mysterious way, brings stability and calm.
834 days ago
After reading your post, we couldn't help but be reminded of an observation made by the 18th Century philosopher David Hume: "We have no rational grounds for believing in an objective reality, we also have no choice but to act as if it is true." Researchers have discovered that the brain registers only a tiny portion of what it takes in, and the emotions also act as a chemical filter to perception. Quantum physicists have also discovered that the so called "material world" is actually a sea of energy that appears to be concrete only when we focus our distorted perception on it. We must conclude that each of us experiences the world differently and objective reality is impossible. Hopefully as more of us come to understand that there is nothing concrete, nothing innately right or wrong, good or bad, we'll more easily be able to look at one another in love.
835 days ago
