Isnt it amusing how a syllable, a noise, an utterance, an expulsion of air vibrated in an ones throat can tear through another’s life. Any word that seems to expose ones identity in the absence of satire; of course this is reserved then for the serious. Then surely creates turbulence in ones navigation of the world. To look is to aim, your eyes are the material of your physiological limitations, meaning that they are not able to see everything. There are some things invisible and inconceivable and there are phenomena, things to be observed that you do not look at.
Then the question follows, then what are you looking at? That there is the behaviour of someone that is aiming at something, the people led by hedonia would often find themselves looking at the comfortable or extraordinary. They are looking there so that they can preserve, pleasure is a great distraction and we, as humans, instinctively know that we must always create turbulence since our brains fly with liberty whilst our bodies crawl. This is the internal human conflict. How condemned are we? To have an infinite mind and to be no taller than a young tree. However, those of Nietzschean description that are deemed slaves are also preserving by doing the contrary to those that try to climb mountains or please themselves in the comfort of bed. Upon inspection, these people arent looking at the same thing but they are however, living in extraction.
Imagine an equilateral triangle. At the top, that point, much like an arrow head is any given persons ideal. What is most desirable in alignment with their knowledge, its a parasitical idea that with the ease of Hercules’ strength, slugs a chariot of slaves behind it. It holds those slaves, there is no escaping the grip of this slave master. These slaves are the extractions, they are: our identities. At the top rests your God, the reason, the why to explain your hows. Its mutually cooperative, without the hows, the why has no reason and without the why, the hows have no direction. To not have a God, an Ideal, is analogous of telling builders to build without a blueprint, do they build up or along? And at what end? Do they build for eternity? Well, fortunately we have these answers installed into our human programming already, memory and knowledge serves us well by constantly reminding us that our existence here on earth, as we are is finite. So we are sure of one thing: that is that we have a bracket of time reserved, our relationship with space and time is already set up by laws, so even if we are not aware of the specificity of our duration here, we still are aware of its limitation. This is both the curse and blessing of man-kind that we have understood for millennia.
To expand on the triangle, the peak rests God with all its power, your highest value, your direction in which all thing head. Its certainty can be affirmed through these series of questions: if you act, why? This is the beginning of the human book, or maybe the bottom of the triangle. One works, why? Out of civil duty? What good is it being a good civilian? I contribute to society. Why does contributing to society drive you? It benefits me. Who’s me? And at this moment here, in which all whys fall at the mercy of, you will find the affirmation of your God. Maybe you like to think of yourself as and constant becoming of an ideal mother, workman, civilian or teacher. What do you want? Even if it is a completely comfortable life, then what is that? As an image, how does one imagine being a good mother or civilian? One would then proceed to list off what some would call virtues or traits, maybe states of being, maybe attempt to define eudaimonia or allude to love. These are all ideals. No mind truly believes that theyre, themselves aiming at sleeping in dirt and to drink their own tears.
The God is your ideal and everything under that is an identity adopted in order to serve that idea. The great mother needs to be an empathetic listener at some stage, the workman needs to be a student. The ‘good person’ would have to do everything they can to act good. These are identities as they become your function, your purpose in any given time. Convince me that a person playing the violin for the sake of the activity itself isnt a violinist. Try to tell me the purpose of someone listening truly isnt for something they believe is greater than them, or at least know that the greater thing they could describe doesnt listen well.
So what good is it knowing about your triangle? Knowing that your great mother idea rests at the top of its throne and how the listener and responsible lady hang on the tier below. It is good because it can help you identify where you are now, possibly what you need to do, or at least think about it, and to adjust your lens of the world if needed. Lets say one is looking at their triangle, their hierarchy of values with God at the top, their idea of their life’s perfection. One can see what theyre aiming at and understand their position in order that they know their direction in the world. They look so they do not walk aimlessly around in circles. They can set on the road of the straight and narrow despite the boulders they may have to move along the way. The question proceeds: now youre looking at your hierarchy of values, who’s looking? That there, is your extraction. Each identity which encapsulates purposeful behaviours, you pick off the shelf like a tool. That is your lens, your diced down, digestible, compact, simple set of instructions to stay on that path towards the greatest.
If you are unsure where you’re looking then hang that lens on your triangle shelf and pick another. Maybe you need to look at the level where the dust rests in order to then start climbing. As no one spawns at where they’re aiming, not any multi willed creature that is.
Green Dharma 