While I tend to agree with your analysis, I would suggest an escape hatch out of our collective dilemma.
While, in the West we are well versed in 'knowledge' which is an intellectual process. If were were to look at it from Asian eyes, it would be a 'yang' or assertive process of creative disruption. We even proudly call it "disruptive technology." We have, as you describe, created a very unbalanced situation with a lot of anxiety and strife.
Wisdom is the 'yin' alternative to our hyper quest for more bright shiny technology. Wisdom is not an intellectual activity, but a visceral one. Wisdom is deeply body-centered and requires confidence to 'feel' one's way through situations rather than to 'know' about them. While knowledge is logical, wisdom is intuitive, not bound by the limits of time and space and certainly not quantifiable as your article suggests.
In the West, we need training on how to access our innate wisdom and to trust our senses rather than deny them. We need to learn how to achieve a balance of mind and heart rather than deifying cold, cruel logic. We need a different concept of time and give space for ideas to simmer and be "metabolized" as psychologist Matt Licata calls it. We need to chew our technology before we attempt to swallow it. That is the 'wise' thing to do.
Hi John, thanks much for your input, appreciated. I look forward to more conversations.
Much of what you say resonates here. There are elements of humanity which have made a serious study of wisdom. What I tried to outline in the article is that it's much harder to pass wisdom around than it is to share knowledge. And so for example, after thousands of years the ancient wisdom of both East and West still has to be recreated in each individual. The job of religions and philosophies is never done.
For me, the magic is found in the north Florida woods. But any article I can write about what I find there is a weak stew indeed because when these experiences are translated in to thought they lose their magic.
What you reference seems valuable for any individual. The problem seems to be that there is little evidence that such insights are readily scalable to the level of society as a whole, at least not to a scale necessary to fundamentally transform the path we're on.
I don't have a solution to that, other than to suggest that pain may be our best teacher, and if we stay on the path we're on as a culture, pain may be coming to pay us a visit.
I am a big fan of Philip Shepherd and his book 'Radical Wholeness'. He describes how we have two 'brains', our head brain dedicated to rational thought and our pelvic brain or 'guts' which provide sensual and intuitive intelligence. The two brains are connected by the vagus nerve which is probably a brain unto itself.
Philip advises we need both brains to survive but in our current culture we have over empathized the logical brain and literally shamed our feminine intuitive brain causing a serious and often deadly imbalance. As a professional body worker, he has developed a series of exercises to help us return to our bodies and reattach to our gut wisdoms. The goal is to develop a balance of the two. https://embodiedpresent.com/pages/philip-shepherd
As for scaling this to reach billions, you are correct that it will be a lengthy process one of evolution, not revolution. I will add a note of optimism in an observation that instinctively humans do subconsciously seek wholeness and relief from anxiety. There is evidence we've got the pointy end of the boat heading in the right direction but we haven't synchronized the rowers yet.
Just to throw in a bit of irony, the decline of the West with its hyper yang philosophies and religions and the rise of the East with its tradition of meditation and depth work is likely where we're heading. In California there is a strong embrace of Eastern philosophy and spiritual practices and it seems to be slowing going mainstream. Call it 'mindfulness' or whatever, that is the trend we need to balance the scales.
You are sadly correct about pain. In psychology there is a saying: "Change happens when the pain becomes greater than the fear." You are well aware of how much fear is embedded in our culture today. Yes, it will likely be messy and probably bloody.
We seem to have a lot in common. My wife and I both had massage licenses, she did it for 30 years, and I did it for about um, 30 days. :-) Anyway, the kind of insights you reference about body wisdom make sense to us.
Yes again, I agree that human beings seek reconnection with "The Source" (whatever that may be) in everything we do. More agreement, the embrace of Eastern philosophy and spiritual practices has been growing in the West for 50 years at least, my entire adult life.
But as a word of caution, these insights are ancient. And they haven't yet delivered a utopia anywhere on the planet.
I love the saying you've shared regarding "when the pain becomes greater than the fear". That does seem to sum it up quite well.
While I tend to agree with your analysis, I would suggest an escape hatch out of our collective dilemma.
While, in the West we are well versed in 'knowledge' which is an intellectual process. If were were to look at it from Asian eyes, it would be a 'yang' or assertive process of creative disruption. We even proudly call it "disruptive technology." We have, as you describe, created a very unbalanced situation with a lot of anxiety and strife.
Wisdom is the 'yin' alternative to our hyper quest for more bright shiny technology. Wisdom is not an intellectual activity, but a visceral one. Wisdom is deeply body-centered and requires confidence to 'feel' one's way through situations rather than to 'know' about them. While knowledge is logical, wisdom is intuitive, not bound by the limits of time and space and certainly not quantifiable as your article suggests.
In the West, we need training on how to access our innate wisdom and to trust our senses rather than deny them. We need to learn how to achieve a balance of mind and heart rather than deifying cold, cruel logic. We need a different concept of time and give space for ideas to simmer and be "metabolized" as psychologist Matt Licata calls it. We need to chew our technology before we attempt to swallow it. That is the 'wise' thing to do.
Hi John, thanks much for your input, appreciated. I look forward to more conversations.
Much of what you say resonates here. There are elements of humanity which have made a serious study of wisdom. What I tried to outline in the article is that it's much harder to pass wisdom around than it is to share knowledge. And so for example, after thousands of years the ancient wisdom of both East and West still has to be recreated in each individual. The job of religions and philosophies is never done.
For me, the magic is found in the north Florida woods. But any article I can write about what I find there is a weak stew indeed because when these experiences are translated in to thought they lose their magic.
What you reference seems valuable for any individual. The problem seems to be that there is little evidence that such insights are readily scalable to the level of society as a whole, at least not to a scale necessary to fundamentally transform the path we're on.
I don't have a solution to that, other than to suggest that pain may be our best teacher, and if we stay on the path we're on as a culture, pain may be coming to pay us a visit.
I am a big fan of Philip Shepherd and his book 'Radical Wholeness'. He describes how we have two 'brains', our head brain dedicated to rational thought and our pelvic brain or 'guts' which provide sensual and intuitive intelligence. The two brains are connected by the vagus nerve which is probably a brain unto itself.
Philip advises we need both brains to survive but in our current culture we have over empathized the logical brain and literally shamed our feminine intuitive brain causing a serious and often deadly imbalance. As a professional body worker, he has developed a series of exercises to help us return to our bodies and reattach to our gut wisdoms. The goal is to develop a balance of the two. https://embodiedpresent.com/pages/philip-shepherd
As for scaling this to reach billions, you are correct that it will be a lengthy process one of evolution, not revolution. I will add a note of optimism in an observation that instinctively humans do subconsciously seek wholeness and relief from anxiety. There is evidence we've got the pointy end of the boat heading in the right direction but we haven't synchronized the rowers yet.
Just to throw in a bit of irony, the decline of the West with its hyper yang philosophies and religions and the rise of the East with its tradition of meditation and depth work is likely where we're heading. In California there is a strong embrace of Eastern philosophy and spiritual practices and it seems to be slowing going mainstream. Call it 'mindfulness' or whatever, that is the trend we need to balance the scales.
You are sadly correct about pain. In psychology there is a saying: "Change happens when the pain becomes greater than the fear." You are well aware of how much fear is embedded in our culture today. Yes, it will likely be messy and probably bloody.
Hi again John,
We seem to have a lot in common. My wife and I both had massage licenses, she did it for 30 years, and I did it for about um, 30 days. :-) Anyway, the kind of insights you reference about body wisdom make sense to us.
Yes again, I agree that human beings seek reconnection with "The Source" (whatever that may be) in everything we do. More agreement, the embrace of Eastern philosophy and spiritual practices has been growing in the West for 50 years at least, my entire adult life.
But as a word of caution, these insights are ancient. And they haven't yet delivered a utopia anywhere on the planet.
I love the saying you've shared regarding "when the pain becomes greater than the fear". That does seem to sum it up quite well.