Contour Lines | 004
Kizuna Sketches Experiment 004
Contour Lines is an evolution of an experiment in consistent and raw writing for ones self by the amazing Grace Nikae. When she started the experiment she asked if any other members of the Kizuna Studio wanted to join in. You can read more about how I and why I started Contour Lines here.
Today I'm back on my Chinese philosophy.
This week I opened up to the chapter on "The Great Synthesis of Chu Hsi." I'm with Justin Castelli on this - there are no coincidences.
While seemingly dualistic, principle and material force are never separate. Principle needs material force in order to have something to adhere to, and material force needs principle as its own law of being.
The fact that they always work together is due to the direction of the mind of the universe, which is the universe itself.
In man this mind becomes, on the one hand, the moral mind, which is the principle of his original nature, and on the other, the human mind, which is the principle of original nature mixed with physical endowment and human desires.
The principle of a thing or man is his very nature, real and concrete, unlike nature in buddhism, which is emptiness. The original mind is principle in itself, unmoved and perfectly good, while physical nature, on the other hand, is principle mixed with material force.it is the aroused state, involving good and evil. These two natures, however, are always interfused, one thIs substance and the other, function. As a substance, it is nature, and as the function, it is the feelings. That which unites and commands both human nature and feelings, according to Chang Tsai, is the mind.
By unifying and commanding is meant the mind unifying itself by harmonizing man's nature and his feelings and by transforming the human mind into the moral mind.
Chan, Wing-Tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, Translated and Compiled. Princeton, N.J: Princeton Univ. Press, 1963.
I'm reminded of how inextricable our mind and body are from one another. Thus we are most susceptible to fallacies and false narratives when our "self" is out of alignment.
I've been through dark times recently because of this, the principle that was adhered to, my physical form and the material force I could exert upon the world, were not compatible.
I recognized this on Friday, and in response climbed a mountain to rediscover my original nature.
It's quite interesting to note that in the story on self-validation I used the imagery of deep caves with hollows for which false narratives could echo, and Chu Hsi used "real and concrete, unlike nature, which is emptiness."
My original nature has always sat inside me. I allowed myself to abandon it and seek emptiness..
While I have a long road ahead, I feel as though I am beginning to accept the interfusing of my reality and my substance. I am beginning to unify and harmonize all aspects of my Self.
I cannot help but think that these concepts extend beyond the individual and into organizations, into society.
Whether it is collective unconscious, the universe, or a deity above I am here.
In this moment, I am aligned.
Perhaps alignment does not mean perfectly balanced.
Perhaps it means meeting yourself where you are at, and readjusting as you grow.
If form follows function, then for the past several years my physical body has been a manifestation of my mind.
I now choose to set my own law of being.
The Law of Alignment.
As always, thanks for reading!
-Chris