Ramblings of a drunken monkey

Part 5: Order

And so we find ourselves rather neatly on the subject of the order of the world, or more appropriately orders of the world.

As I currently understand it there are three orders; these being 'the void' or energetic plane, natural order and social order. We as a human society live mostly in social order, wild animals live in natural order and higher beings such as spirits, Angels etc live in the void.

We as a global culture search endlessly for peace; within ourselves, between societies, cultures and countries but it always seems out of reach. In my opinion it's because those that strive for peace have no idea what they're reaching for and so never find it. What is 'peace'? No fighting, no arguments, everyone thinking the same? Common rule under one culture, one religion, one belief system? The same rules for everyone? That's not peace, that's homogeny, tyranny and dictatorship and we as living beings can never and will never obtain homogeny.

Higher beings live in peace and it's them that we base our faiths on and strive to become in this life, but we can never become them simply because we are alive.

Think of it this way, what do Angels (and indeed Demons) 'need'? What would anything that can live forever without eating, drinking or moving actually need? Nothing, and so they are able to simply 'be' for eternity if they choose. That's why being thankful to them is very kind a gracious and they appreciate the energy return to them but they don't need it. They interact because they are trying to help us but don't need to. If they don't help us then they don't sit around knitting or twiddling their ephemeral thumbs waiting for a call for help. And so they are able to live entirely in the void because there is no need for the four winds in the void because the only diffusion or entropy is that which they create themselves.

So what about us, should we give up on our task to reach the void? Hell no! We can't live wholly within the void while we carry a mortal body because keeping that body alive creates a need for action and so the four winds exist to steer the course of how we fulfil that need.

The need? To eat and drink (obtain energy and extract waste) and respire, that is all. To survive. This is the common factor with every organism on the planet, be they fungus, plant, animal, bacteria or virus.

Some of you may not be familiar with the four winds; these are the four ways to achieve a goal:

•Aggressively,

•Defensively,

•Aggressive then defensively,

•Defensively then aggressively.

These are the only ways other than the void, which is the 'random' or 'unexpected' method.

It is the presence of these four winds that create personalities, life routes and conflict within an individual and society. Or more aptly, (so we don't blame the four winds for existing), it is the choices of those that live on the planet or the limitations placed on them by their form, function and structure that define how they live, and which create the conflicts between organisms.

What do I mean? Think of those within your family and friends, if you pose them a problem then you will likely get multiple methods to solve that problem. When you whittle these down then they will fit within one of the four winds or within the void (more so if you ask kids, they're great at living in the void). Who is right and who is wrong? Likely no-one. All of the options will solve the problem and that is the thing most people in the room will forget. If you tell people to go away and solve the problem by themselves then there will generally be peace because they will do it their way. But if you tell the group that you need to decide one option then there will be arguments about which is right and which are wrong based on the opinions of each person. Those who live by the brain rather than the heart and gut will have this same conflict within themselves. The heart and gut connect to the spirit and the spirit lives in the void and so knows 'its' truth, we just need to listen to it. The brain is just a computer.

If you scale this up to a local, national and global scale then it's easy to see why there will always be conflict. If we create a need then we require a solution. In order to determine a solution we should consider every option within the four winds. As humans we create endless needs that each require a solution and so each have four outcomes and infinite possibilities within the four;

Food, water, land, sea, air, religion, deities, clothes, haircuts, language, currency, rules, skills, appearance, health.... gees I could go on forever......

Those people that are balanced will be able to see each of the four options and decide on the most appropriate. Those who are not balanced will bring forward a sole solution from one of the four winds. Only the minority of people are balanced enough to see all four and it's possible that they will also see that the actual method used doesn't really matter because it's solving the problem that is important. Conflicts will always arise between those who are surrounded by people who don't follow them and they think they should, who have people follow them but then argue with those people to reassert their view, people who endlessly fight you even though they know you're right or who do something that does not fit their truth and they hate it. (oh look, four scenarios, four winds).

So what if we had peace? What if no-one argued? Have you ever sat in a room with people who all agree? It's sooo dull. People stagnate, there's no challenge to people's morals and values and so people are never tested or tried. We need conflict to create movement and movement to improve. If our 'truths' are tested constantly, either by others or by ourselves, then we thrive and grow. And we know this, who has started an argument or done something crazy or 'wrong' just for some fun and 'to feel alive'.

So there's an apparent contradiction. We need peace but we need conflict?

We need balance and we need better definitions and understanding of 'peace' and 'conflict'.

Think of a sculpture; an artist may look at a piece of uncarved stone and say "ah at its heart it is the most beautiful female form the world has seen" but everyone else will likely just see a rock. He could try to sell the piece as the masterpiece he sees within but oddly no-one will buy it. Why does no-one else see what the artist sees? Because they are not him and might not see what lies at the heart of the stone. And so he starts to chip away at the block and reveal his vision, he doesn't have to, he could leave the stone in his house and marvel at its beauty, but he wants to prove his truth and the conflict has driven him. So he works and as he does people start to see the beauty of the image. The more people see what he sees the more he may work to show them the true beauty of his truth. People may see it half way through, or at 75% but some will not see his truth until it is finished and others may never see it. They may see his masterpiece and think it ugly to their eyes. Are they blind or ill or wrong? Maybe, or they may just have a different outlook on life.

So are we destined to live in conflict until the end of time? Probably, for the reason I mentioned. Conflict breeds growth, improvement, success and finding the truth. If you are able to answer every argument and every objection to your truth then maybe it is 'the' truth for you. But you must accept those questions from others as a route to growth. Whether others choose to accept your truth is their own decision to make.

So what could 'peace' be? To me it is the acceptance that each outlook, view, belief and opinion is that of the individual and true to them. There is no harm in questioning others to test their truth, and indeed your own, if you believe that your own truth is never wrong and refuse to test it then you are stuck and stagnant and will never grow. The trick to peace is not to become aggressive at those who have different views or dislike questions of their own, it's about listening and learning from them, and them from you. It may be that the person or society know their truth is wrong but are confined by tradition or religion or family history. It's likely that these are the most aggressive because they fight with themselves and so deflect at others and fight them instead.

We can never live purely in the void because as living beings we always have the need to survive, and so will always be influenced by the four winds to find a solution. The best we can do is find a balance of these four winds. If we strip away the 'unnecessary' so our bodies only have that which is needed for survival then the rest of 'us' can live in the void.

Because we are mortal we will always have roots in the earth for food, water and a place to live. But provided those roots are stable, strong and balanced then our branches and leaves can reach up to live in the void above.