eThoughts : The Practice of Seeing Reality

Part of the series Conversations™ (© 2006), a division of Book-In-A-Drawer Publications.™

It is my thought that, like medical doctors, academic doctors, especially in the behavioral sciences and humanities, should call their work a practice. Unlike medical doctors, academic doctors, can, and should, practice way beyond the confines of our offices and classrooms. So, it is my practice to practice. It helps. Sometimes that practice leads to rather contentious and intense interactions, as recently happened with an academic friend when we started cogitating about reality.

The two of us see reality differently, which seems to me both natural and unnatural at the same time. If it’s reality, why can’t we agree? On the other hand, we are particular entities occupying particular positions, so our vantage point is bound to have a different view. It’s a paradox, and given all of the conflict in the world maybe there is something to be learned here. But as long as we are communication impaired, steeped in our own position and authority, and unable to shift without feeling like we’re plummeting to our death, we’re going to hang on for dear life and see conflict as threatening as opposed to an opportunity to practice seeing reality.

The practice of seeing reality is not regulated to those with degrees, it is the proper concern of us all. And I’m not advocating that I can see reality—as I said, it’s a practice. Seeing it as a practice seems a bit more humbling than waving around the flags of authority, the need for power (different from authority), expectations, past injuries, personality—any centric view. That kind of flag waving can often afflict awareness rather than clear it up. Don’t get me wrong, taking a position is unavoidable. But the unavoidability of taking positions does not excuse the inability or unwillingness to keep awareness unafflicted.

I forget the exact term, but fighter pilots refer to a phenomenon about target centration—becoming so focused on the target that they fail to notice the ground or anything else. Bad news of course. The point is that the clarity of a position can sometimes actually be afflicted, though extremely clear and focused. So I see clarity and reality-seeking as difficult terms, but the practice involves the ability to allow attention to both narrow and expand, as well as to operate in the interface between the two—as in a ball thrown in the air that is no longer going up, but is not yet going down. This is the ability of attention to go empty, which precludes what we think we know. All three states of attention—I’ll call them the three attentions—are important and how and when they’re played between others (and places and things) creates harmony, avoidance, or conflict.

This is the discussion and the behavior—a position if you will—I think we’re should actually be having and doing. If we are indeed seeking freedom and independence, and fewer blood-letting conflicts, perhaps we can begin by practicing the three attentions appropriately instead of beating the heaven out of ourselves and others by self-righteously wielding only one attention. In the need for that practice, we are share equal ground.

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