Saturday, July 16, 2016

THEORIES OF NATURE

Recently I wrote down a transcript of what I gleaned from listening to Alan Watts explain the different theories of nature that are simultaneously occurring in our world.

Hello Fall
Image Souce - Flickr

Nature as a machine :The western idea.  Inherited from the Hebrews, like a potter makes a pot out of clay or a carpenter makes something from wood.  A construct and someone knows and understands how this was put together and this is the architect which is the Lord God.  By the time of Newton, people were explaining the world as a mechanism.  

Human Being as a factory,  processed by organs like cow in one end and canned corn beef the other end.  Hospital - treated as a machine. Processed and put in a chair and you are divided up in sections.

Indian Theory (east) Nature as Drama.  Hindu thought that the world is Maya.   Magic illusion art play, all the worlds a stage.  Hindu idea is the Brahman or Atman is the self - universal eternal boundless and indescribable.  It's all on me.  What you hear on radio you hear on the speaker and this is like us  ... we are the speaker.  Hindus measure time in Kalpa's.  The self (Brahman) is lost and all our agonies and adventures get mixed up in it.  Catastrophic fire and awake again and the Brahman rests awhile and so the divine self rests for another 4,326,000,000 years.

Chinese  Organic theory Idea. " Spontaneity and automatic and self moving.  SIDRAN.   What is so of itself. biology. your hair grows, your heart beats all by itself and that is nature.  Spring comes and grass grows of itself. The principal of nature is called the Tao.   Means the course of nature.  Lao Tzu said the TAO that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao because it flows everywhere it loves and nourishes but lays no claim to this.  Tao is the informing principal of nature.  The Tao is not acting as a boss ... the Chinese philosophy of nature is that nature has no boss and is completely democratic.  Westerners don't trust nature.

Confucian philosophy ... JEN  its character that Confucius placed as the highest of all virtues.  It means human heartedness.  Confucius said good goodies are the thieves of virtue.  Not in the sense of moral propriety but of magic.  A man of true virtue is a human heart ed man.  See human nature for its full self of both good and bad.    The worst wars are fought over moral principals. Wars where woman are stolen and goods stolen are easy wars.  But the first is much worse and that is why the goodies are the thieves of virtue, if you are going to do evil do it for a plain selfish motive don't do it in the name of God

Don't do evil in the name of god because if you do it turns you into a destroyer.. so a ineffectively righteous person is not human.

Chinese ideas of Justice is not served this way.  They are into compromise.  Rascals make a mutual arrangement.  This is the Chinese way, it is not the western way.  

There are two forms of LEE

First Lee

LEE  ...is Justice but you cant write it down. 

Another word for Justice in a Chinese character form - A cauldron for cooking sacrifices and a knife.  Long ago Emperor scratched with a knife on the cauldron the laws of the state so people could read these..  The emperors wise sages said this was bad.  When its written down people develop a litigious spirit and people think out ways to wrangle around it. 
This sense of justice is not something that can be put in words.  Equity is the innate sense of fair play.  A good Judge is one that has a sense of LEE ..This is a judge who has a sense of  Equity.  Seeing each case as individual. Trusting the good and bad of human nature. 

Humans are complex, we don't know ourselves well at all really (systemically).  Our conscious decisions are based with this thing we know nothing about NERVOUS SYSTEM.. lol  We are wiser in our nature than we are in our conscious thoughts.

Western mechanical theory
Hindu Dramatic theory
Chinese Organic theory

Organism is a system of orderly anarchy. There is no boss but it gets along by being left to its own devices.  WU WAY.. not interfering or acting against the Grain.

Second LEE

LEE ... Markings in Jade the grain in wood.. the fiber in muscle.  REASON or the principal of things. Organic patterns  Clouds are not a mess foam is not a mess .. it is never an artistic mistake.  They are wiggly but orderly and its difficult to describe this type of order.   We are wiggly like clouds rocks stars as they are arranged.  Nature never makes a mistake in its arrangement because it is great the way it is.  Artist tribute to it by painting landscapes etc. 
Give people a shock .. get them to see things in a new way.    LEE is natural order  shapes are orderly but we cant put our finger on the order but we don't know why and its completely different to a mess. 

St Augustine said I know what is time but if you ask me I don't etc etc.

Nature as a self ordering principal... if you want to know where the flowers come from even the God of spring does not know.
Translate this in politics and its high philosophical anarchy.. government is always mess because the state apposes itself to the people.  Governed by ourselves.  It creates itself as a business along with all the other businesses.  It really should be anonymous and unobtrusive as possible. Not flag waving etc and act ordinary not acting like you are higher.  DO YOUR JOB INSTEAD instead of DOING YOURSELF.  Help the people and not claim merit.  Just to help things along.  Govern a great state as you would cook a small fish.  it will fall apart if you don't do it gently.

Nature is a concept and it is something you should trust.  Inside nature is human nature. It will sometimes let you down with a wallop and this is the risk of life.  The alternative is to not trusted at all and it leads to totalitarianism where every one is the police and reporting everyone and one cannot be trusted about you motivations etc.  Reporting everything to everyone.  everyone is busy keeping records of everything.  Books right etc...   SCHOLAR originally meant LEISURE  ... classics poetry etc. (gentleman and a scholar)  Not necessary for survival (all the charming elegance).

Do things for the sheer pleasure of itself .. take a pebble.  Know it is lovely and just love it (purposely) instead of intellectualizing it.  Just love it for what it is not for what you can get from it.

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