12. Logical Belief does Not Always Equal Knowledge

...or Understanding.

Our thirst for knowledge is unquenchable; regardless of how we satisfy it, we always want to know more. Even when we are not actively pursuing knowledge, this “seeking” phenomenon cannot be stopped. It is there in our desire to see the ends of movies (not just the beginnings), in our attempt to fix problems and to discover the causes of illness. Nevertheless, while knowledge is required for survival, we can trick ourselves into thinking that it is possible to reach a state of complete understanding, and definitive proof of everything that is real.

Knowledge is a very limited commodity.

While potential knowledge is infinite, conscious logical knowledge is confined by the boundaries of time and experience. Even what we know and how we know it is defined by our own perspective and expectations, as well as our own variable environments. If we are satisfied with the knowledge we possess, we may be less open to new information. In that case, we may keep viewing our understanding from the same perspective, believing it to be an unchangeable truth until an opportunity arises that allows us to challenge our beliefs, or to add a new or different dimension to our perception.

Today always marks the zenith of our comprehension, for just as a child cannot imagine what the adult mind will know, we cannot know at this moment, what we may learn ten years from now. But we can be aware that our future knowledge is constructed of what we fill our minds today.

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11. "Improvement": Beware your name is not "Greed"

• The jungles and rain forests are disappearing, unnaturally quickly.

• Oil spill after oil spill after oil spill poisons hundreds of thousands of living things, while rusting old nuclear submarines lie crumbling in the depths.

• Chemicals are sprayed like crazy onto millions of landscapes and yards, washing down storm drains as soon as it rains, or being walked onto carpets, tiles and hardwood floors where little loved ones crawl and play and breathe.

We have not had time to assess the repercussions of our technology, or to circumvent the eventual damage that we will have caused by our refusal to face and correct our mistakes. It seems that the incredible confidence we once had in our species’ survival has become more fragile. Our very cells know that we have drastically changed the physical nature of our planet in a frighteningly short time, relative to the age of Earth, and even to humanity’s time upon it. Our confidence is waning. It must, but only for as long as it takes to redevelop that confidence on more solid ground.

• Once in awhile it might be fun to put ourselves high on a pedestal, but we do ourselves a great disservice if we actually believe we belong there!

There have been too many errors made over the last century stemming from our ignorant, arrogant, and often-cruel exploitation of the natural world. The attempt, by science, to inject a calm, rational objectivity into our view of life, has been pushed to the extreme, creating the belief that a true distinction can be made between the emotional and the intellectual. But like every element that exists in the universe, perspective too is simply a single point on a continuum. And from what we can see in this three-dimensional world, the pendulum swings forth and back. Perspectives change.

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10 c) The Way We Look at the World

The natural world is infinitely more than an inanimate background, more than a mute, inactive witness to our lives. It is a vast, complex weave of interacting communities and societies, filled with living, sentient citizens; a multidimensional world pulsating with energy, freely flowing with life, our Self included. If we fail to see that, it is not because these communities don’t exist. Their invisibility is due only to our natural, human tendency to acknowledge our most obvious and familiar partnerships, long before we give a thought to the lives of Beings we can barely see, or to which we feel no direct connection.

We do not have a relationship with Nature; we are within Nature. We are Nature or at least a part of It. When *Australopithecus afarensis first walked, it was on a planet without human invention. Where humankind thrived, the air was clear, the water pure, the earth fertile and filled with a flowing balance of interrelated inhabitants. And it remained a perfect environment for **Homo habilis, ***Homo erectus, and eventually for us, Homo sapiens. In one form or another, humankind has survived nearly four million years. Technology and its pollutant by-products, on the other hand, have only been around for about one hundred years, 1/40,000th of our total time spent on Earth as a changing species.

Even a few generations ago, water in the North American Great Lakes was still sweet, pure, and potable; but technological progress has changed all that. In a relatively short time, the air around cities has become foul. Even in the countryside, air quality is deteriorating. Pristine land is put into mortal danger by being made the unresisting recipient of nuclear waste and human refuse—not only natural waste which returns easily to nature, but all our used and unwanted possessions, (our leftover paint, solvents, nail polish, plastic doohickeys and polypropylene thingamajigs.) Healthy vibrant living land is clear-cut, burned, and otherwise razed in the name of civilization and survival.

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*Our ancient ancestor, Australopithecus afarensis, walked parts of the Earth 4 to 3 million years ago.

**Homo habilis lived between 2.3-1.6 million years ago

***Homo erectus lived about 1.8 to 0.3 million years ago

10 b) Historical Prelude or End Days?

Change is coming as it always is; but if change has occurred in easily adaptive steps over the past century, or couple of millennia, it has also been steadily increasing its stride, and may be about to take a leap. The world is forever poised at the brink of transformation, but in an era of information and communication, we are easily able to see the signs of imminent change, for the signs are everywhere. More of us are becoming active in our desire for constructive resolution. More are being called back to a sense of spirituality. And more of us are losing our balance on our antiquated social scaffolding. Wherever we look, we see glaring examples of irresponsibility and greed, from the gaping financial chasms between the wealthy and the poor, to the clear-cutting of forests, a primary source of oxygen and wellspring of diversity. With a lackadaisical attitude toward the chemicals we spill into our oceans and atmosphere, and take into our own bodies, we drift along, accepting Reality on any old terms.

Is there anyone to blame?

The world changes radically from generation to generation, and each of us is raised in unique environmental realities. It is pointless to blame earlier generations for the problems we have today. Just as we want to live the lifestyle of our choosing, so did our historic counterparts. No one from the past is to blame, neither collectively or individually, for blame is a figment of our imagination, an attempt to reduce our own sense of responsibility, if only for the time it takes to assign blame. It is a fantasy in which we all indulge from time to time, until we stop to realize that each of us is born into social systems (cultures, families, etc.) that constantly exist “around” us, from our perspective. So we are obligated to make our primary choices based on what exists now, wherever we find it, and not on what we wish existed, or on what we fear might change.

It does not take a Nostradamus, an Edgar Cayce, or any other prophet, seer or psychic to predict that the Earth may become a very inhospitable place for Homo Sapiens. Of course, it might not happen for a few years, a few hundred years, or a few millennia. Or it could happen tomorrow! And in case we are tempted to believe that danger is not imminent, we must bear in mind that we have no way of knowing. What we do know is that no other species has altered the environment in so many ways, to such an extent – in so short a time.

As long as we continue to view Nature, as little more than a field of “resources,” and lesser species that exist to be exploited, overpowered, or “managed” by human beings, we will keep desecrating atmosphere, land, and water, with barely a twinge of conscience. Nature then will have no choice but to retaliate, possibly ripping us right out of the picture, according to our wildest ideas of Armageddon. But this is not entertainment; it is not a movie. Nor is it imagination. There has been a lot of heavy‑duty destruction going on for a very long time now, and we have been the sole cause of it.

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10 a) Archaeological History

Much More than All We Have Ever Found

No matter how many primitive artefacts from the past we find buried in the earth, there have been billions of others that have not survived whether by deliberate disassembly, chemical breakdown or some other means. There is no way for us to know how many ideas and inventions have been halted through time for one reason or another. Maybe they did not benefit the entire species or were environmentally unsafe and consequently phased out. Or maybe our own science has not advanced enough to recognize archaeological evidence of former technologies.

A society, having come to the conclusion that it must develop harmonious relationships with the Earth and everything indigenous to it, will choose its creations, inventions and avenues of inquiry based on that commitment.

If such a society ever existed, it might well have conducted itself in a way that left behind no trace of its members or its technology.

“Wouldn’t such a society still be around if it was that evolved?” Some might ask.

It would if it didn’t change, but we know change is continuous. Members of a society can develop a very complex infrastructure in only a few generations, but if that infrastructure is not maintained, it will certainly disappear. Picture an abandoned parking lot. In a relatively short time, shrubs and trees begin poking their way through the smallest breaks in the concrete or asphalt. Once that happens, water seeps in and it’s only a matter of time until the surface is broken up and crushed under the living weight of nature. In a single generation, everything can change. If members of a once-healthy society became ill, that society would regress. It’s only natural.

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9. The Cutting Edge

It’s easy to believe that we are much too scientific to consider faith. We know too much, and we’re too sophisticated to slip back into such archaic ways of viewing life, or so we think! No matter what era we live in, we always presume that we are at our most knowledgeable point. We talk about living in a technologically advanced society. We speak of knowing and understanding more about the universe than people who lived in other periods of history. We allude to a sense of loftiness in our social, intellectual, and perceptual development; and to the notion that the people of today (ourselves included, of course) are more evolved than, and therefore, somehow, implicitly superior to those in other eras. And we bolster that path of logic by tracking lines of knowledge back through time to show that the past is a primitive form of the present, and that we are indeed living in yesterday's future.

Yet, that does not mean that development in a particular direction is inevitable. It merely spotlights the parts of reality that are traceable in that way, or, points to the parts that have little or no trail to the past, and so are considered new. There is a temptation to believe that our religion and politics have improved over time as well, and that today we are wiser and more knowledgeable and progressive than at other times in human history. But societal systems and cultures travel a meandering and multi-dimensional path through time, not a linear one. We do not build today squarely and solidly upon yesterday. Maintaining some beliefs and behaviours that have reverberated throughout human existence, hanging on to some simply out of habit, we develop new combinations of actions and ideas to address the present, leaving in the past, those that no longer seem relevant. We are all, therefore, living in a reality formed by the best and worst actions of our ancestors; and are creating through our current “modern” actions, a future culture different from the one that we imagine we’re developing or maintaining.

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7. Description: The Problem Child of Thought

The problem with any attempt to speak of spiritual matters is that descriptions must exist in the physical world—the world of objects and actions, of words and time. As soon as we express anything as language, we risk inferring limitation even if that is not our intention. All we need to do is live, to know that there is an infinite number of possibilities.

No explanation or information should ever be viewed as complete, for words and explanations exist only as a secondary reality. They are a shallow incomplete reflection (without prejudice or judgment) of what we are at this moment, for the words that we use, and whatever explanations we choose, represent only a single static pattern of perception, a solitary tier of logic. It is fine to hold and examine it, as long as we remember that nothing exists in isolation, and nothing remains unchanged, especially perception and understanding, which are mutable, shifting processes. Each of us is living, experiencing, choosing, and being just as surprised by life as everyone else, so our reflections and expressions are changing: combining and focusing here, separating and blurring there.

Words are only a description of life, not life itself. We all have our own experience of reality, and our own notions of God (or notGod); each of us occupies the space we fill, whenever the place, and wherever that time might be, so no one can find another's belief system complete. The best we can do is share the common denominators that echo in all of us, and to believe in the value of our own existence, for we all hold our own combination of pieces of the same puzzle.

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6. Words and Political Correctness

Although I deeply believe in the profound and healing effects of sensitivity, and I agree that we should not knowingly use offensive terms, our own compassion must extend to those less considerate to give them the benefit of our doubt. We must decide to have faith that in most cases, others mean no lasting harm. Words don’t hold the same significance or meaning to everyone. Another’s tone or expression may imply something malevolent to us, but in actuality, hold no lasting malice.

Much of the way we speak and present ourselves is a reflection of our immediate environment. It might not be identical to the expressions of those around us, but it is influenced by them. Obviously, the child who hears slang or curse words all the time is more likely to use them than is the child who rarely hears them. So, there’s no point in taking too much exception to the way people speak, or worse, using our own lack of understanding to justify our own unfairness. Most of our behaviour is a matter of habit. As for preference, well that’s an entirely different issue. It’s fine to prefer the company of people who don’t curse. It’s also fine to prefer the company of those who do. But let’s not get it mixed up with morality or with who is more or less worthy of our own integrity!

• Even when there is cruel intent, words do nothing but describe the (likely temporary) state of mind of the person who uttered them.

• If you have ever said anything in your entire life out of anger or stress that later you hoped would be excused and forgotten, then you must extend the same understanding and forgiveness to others.

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Sincerely, Mr. Haney

Back in the 1960s, there was a character on television comedy, “Green Acres” named Mr. Haney (actor Pat Buttram), who was always trying to sell some worthless contraption or cheap, tacky novelty to his neighbours. In selling his junk, he'd say something like, “it's genuine imitation wood” or “genuine plastic,” pronouncing genuine as “jen-you-whine”, and drawing out the whine. One day I happened to say the word that way, and was surprised by my mother's amused, mock-cringing expression.

“The word is pronounced, “jen-you-whin,” she informed me. “When you say, “jen-you-whine’,” she laughed, “You don't sound genuine!”

This bit of information confirmed again that even the slightest bits of knowledge could enhance my appreciation, in this case, of comedy. Now I could see the character more clearly as the hopeful but inept con artist, which was even funnier than I had imagined. Since then, I've been continually surprised at how many people say, “jen-you-whine”. I wonder if we all watched the same sitcom and passed the pronunciation on.

A Gen–u–whine Para-dime Shift

Usually a rarely used word becomes a frequently heard word because the time is right for its context. Most of us know, whether intuitively or logically, that a massive change in thinking is imminent for we cannot sustain the type of cultures we have inadvertently created. I don’t think any of us were surprised when we began to hear the pundits predicting a “paradigm*” shift in thinking.

In school, I had always heard the word pronounced, “pair-a-dim” and being use to this pronunciation, preferred it, (not that I had any reason to use this word in everyday conversation). Though either pronunciation is correct and though most people seem to be pronouncing it, “pair-a-dime,” it still amuses me to hear it said that way because Mr. Haney always springs to mind. I can imagine him saying, “Yessiree, there’s gonna be a gen-you-whine para-dime shift.” I can also picture folks like me, turning away, believing he’s selling another lot of snake oil.

[*Paradigm: an overall concept accepted by most people; a standard or model]

5. Archetypes

Some words are alluring. In a strangely sensual configuration of letters, they draw the eye and seduce the mind into contemplation. Archetype, I think, is one of those words. Architecturally speaking, the arch is pleasing to the eye; etymologically speaking, it is soundly constructed. Being a compound word, its structure and foundation are doubly solid, its metaphoric content consistent with its character and meaning.

When a word such as this comes to mind, (via our eyes or ears), the brain presents a usually subconscious collage of all words that contain similar parts, in this case, “arc,” “arch,” and “type.” Almost instantly, we may get a feel for the word for even if we cannot offer dictionary-calibre definitions, we are usually able to understand words within their context.

If we look at all the words that begin with “arch”, we get the impression of something being spanned, from here to there or from there to here (Arc de Triumph), and maybe of something very old (archaeology). An idea of something beautiful, such as archangel might pop into our minds. “Type” tends now to be a categorizing word (a certain type of person, a type of plant). But it also means, “to strike” such as the way that old typewriter keys struck the page, creating an ink-filled impression on the paper. In this sense, “type” is more than a mere category; it describes a template, an actual mould, or impression upon Reality.

The ancient Greeks used the prefix of such words as archaikos, the primitive, primary; archegonos, the first of a species; archaios, ancient (even back then, there was a word for ancient); archaizein, to copy the ancient; etc., and combined it with tupos or typos, the word (also Greek) meaning impression. Archetype is a double-whammy word that is what it sounds like: a prototype, a unique form or basic blueprint upon which millions of valid variations may be based—an original idea that gives rise to many tangible expressions or manifestations. An archetype is an impression, ideal or first die that is struck, or comes forth into the cosmos to exist as a reference point, and as a mould upon which further structures can be cast.

Archetypes and Evolution

Plato (427–347 B.C. or B.C.E.) suggested that there are fundamental forms, pure originating prototypes upon which everything in the world is patterned. Beauty, he believed, first existed as pure moral beauty, with all other sensual beauty being a tangible reflection of and tribute to it. Psychologist Carl Jung revived the idea over two thousand years later, referring to these forms as archetypes. In that sense, evolution is a continuous series of physical metaphors, based on a (potentially) infinite combination of archetypes.

• Geometry describes the mathematical appearance of reality, which is built upon constructional ideals, the circle being considered the most primary geometric archetype.

Many manifestations represent every form. The spiral, for instance, occurs in the seed pattern of a sunflower, in pinecones, the horns of an antelope or a ram, the shell of a nautilus, or the rotary propeller in certain bacteria, as well as being the shape of our galaxy, the Milky Way (and others, such as Andromeda). Artist, mystic and poet William Blake painted the spiral into “Jacob's Ladder” and more recently James Watson and Francis Crick visualized DNA's structure as a double helix (like a spiral staircase) (thanks in great part to Rosalind Franklin’s notes).

As Creation continually blooms, everything that has a successful run in existence becomes a future possibility. In fact, there’s no reason not to suppose that the moment even a thought is considered, that thought and its interpretations become available to anyone and everyone, for the elements that were used to form the thought have now been put together in tangible reality, creating a trodden path, or an impression upon Reality. The thought you contemplate at this precise moment is—when it gets right down to a subatomic realm—a single snapshot of the changing patterns of waves and particles.

While thought is facilitated by the brain (in the tangible, sensual, three-dimensional world), a complex pattern of atomic and subatomic interactions flourishes on unseen levels of reality—in a different time in a sense, as well as space. We are rarely appreciative of this and other aspects of our existence because we have never needed to be; neither our survival nor our pleasure depended on such awareness. Both were ensured within the limits of our human senses, which are tuned-in to the frequencies of rainbows, bird songs, thunderstorms and whispers, and whose rhythms are measured in terms of dusk and dawn, lunar months, and the ebb and flow of seasons.

Patterns of atomic interaction “don't exist” as far as any of us are concerned in day-to-day reality, for their frequencies (oscillations or vibrations) are far, far too fast, others, much too slow, for us to perceive. We cannot see them, hear them, taste, touch, or smell them (at that state of being). However, they do exist, and since science has included this level in its repertoire of creations and interferences for a very long time, we will be better off once we can all accept the metaphoric reality of these unseen aspects of existence. If we all realize that even what we think about, has an actual tangible effect on reality, we may treat even the thoughts that swirl through our own minds with respect. Then, even if the idea of a spiritually based “conscience” is sacrificed sometimes at the altar of logic and technological progress, we will still have a concrete reason to take great care with what we contemplate, imagine, and choose.

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