The theme of balance which Jack raises in Unit 2 has a lot of resonance and interest for me. This seems to be a key feature or claim that the TSK vision makes–get in touch with Space, Time and Knowledge in deeper ways, and life will return to balance and harmony. This has a lot of interest to me right now given that I have been diving into more Taoist mind-body practices such as qigong and Tai Chi. In Taoist terms, there is an alchemical process at work in this transformation toward balance.<\/p>\n
What seems unique is that TSK is challenging the notion of the self at the center of experience, but not by attacking the self head-on. The passage that TSK is an “experiential inquiry” which can “open Space, energize Time and make Knowledge available” has a real solid feeling for me. This seems to be a rubric, at least on some level, to qualitatively gauge the depth\/quality of our experience.<\/p>\n
The notion of balance has personal meaning to me as I am aware of some patterns which seem to be out of balance. What I had trouble with in the reading is the passage that claims that TSK “counteracts this singling-out tendency.” First, the reading describes how the self wants to be the owner of its experience…making emotions, self-image, attachments, relationships–even personal freedom–its possessions. The self “singles out” these aspects of experiences as its possessions. One could spend years just working through this insight. What I had trouble with is the big leap in the next paragraph which claims “with no positions and no possessions.” What is implied here is that TSK will lead to a stage where the self does not stand at the center, does not own the contents of experience, etc. But this is quite a leap of faith.<\/p>\n
What really struck me later was the statement “We think knowledge operates on the level of ideas.” To imply that knowledge can operate differently from relying on ideas, is inviting.<\/p>\n
The implication also made is that experience can arise without an owner. This is what EX 7 is exploring. The question is why do we clamor or have such compulsion to own our experience? It seems it is cultural and historical conditioning. But this conditioning is so pervasive that it obscures any other possibilities.<\/p>\n
On page 34 in Love of Knowledge, the paragraph that starts, “With the self established at the center…” seems to be a key paragraph. In fact, it sounds very much like the Buddhist diagnosis of the fundamental root of ignorance and explanation of karma. The momentum of desire is so deeply conditioned (now amplified by technology)– that we have the perpetual sense of busy-ness that obscures opportunities for other forms of knowing.<\/p>\n
But I have always been bothered by this last phrase “other forms of knowing.” It’s used a lot in TSK books, but never followed up in with specifics, examples, or elaborations of what these other forms of knowing might look like or operate.<\/p>\n
EXERCISE 5 in LOK is very intriguing to me…I never have actually done this one, so I am looking forward to doing it over the next few days.<\/p>\n
Ron P<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The theme of balance which Jack raises in Unit 2 has a lot of resonance and interest for me. This seems to be a key feature or claim that the TSK vision makes–get in touch with Space, Time and Knowledge … Continue reading