The first thing to say is that this program is going to give me a strong sense of how quickly time passes. We were just warming up on Unit One, or so it seemed to me, and here it is time for Unit 2.
Last week all the discussion was around one of the exercises, so this week I thought I would try calling attention to a few points in the reading.
The theme that “knowledge is not what the knower knows,” as Rinpoche has written is one of the great gifts that TSK offers. If “I know” the way things are, then reality closes down. We fall out of balance. All of this is presented in the When It Rains unit, so I won’t say more here.
Chapter 5 of LOK is a great favorite of mine. Here I just want to raise one issue. The chapter suggests that technological knowledge (knowledge about how to get things done) does not make room for what is meaningful, which as a result retreats “inside;” into the realm of the self. As a result, “What is meaningful comes to the fore by default.”
 Now, you might reply by saying that the interior realm of the self–its’ needs, desires, and so on, is at the very heart of psychotherapy, and that many people are obsessively interested in just this kind of issue. The problem is this: If you have an insight about the self, you tend to make it into a statement about some “objectively existing” version of the self–about “me” instead of “I.” At that point, it loses its power.
Of course, there are times this is not true. You may have an insight that strongly affects your sense of yourself, that leads to fundamental shift in your self-understanding. These changes are undeniably important. But they leave the basic structure intact. It is like chasing a squirrel (the self) out of one tree: it just goes running into another tree.
The reading from Sacred Dimensions has the special flavor of that book. It challenges the self from a completely different perspective–a geometric perspective that no one is likely to take to right away. The key to why this might be helpful can be found on p. 5: “Perhaps this unusual structure can grant knowledge unusual access.” You might read with that in mind.Â
I’ll be interested in people’s experience with LOK Ex. 5. This is a good exercise to do while you’re out in the world; for instance, while walking.
 Jack
Hi, Jack,
Yes, this point is of interest to me too, particularly coming from a Wilberian background where so much emphasis is given to perspectives (and person-perspectives) as basic features of the architecture of experience.
Best wishes,
B.
Hi Jack
I wonder if you expand and elaborate more on a key paragraph in your Introduction to Unit 2:
Now, you might reply by saying that the interior realm of the self–its’ needs, desires, and so on, is at the very heart of psychotherapy, and that many people are obsessively interested in just this kind of issue. The problem is this: If you have an insight about the self, you tend to make it into a statement about some “objectively existing†version of the self–about “me†instead of “I.†At that point, it loses its power.
Ron