"The
beginning
of
mastery
is that what you are
mastering
at
least comes up for you immediately when you have failed with
what you are
mastering,
that is to say, you consistently immediately
catch yourself."
I
consider
myself to be tolerant of, accepting of, and open to all
points of view,
including and especially those diametrically opposed to my own. And
indeed that is what I say I
consider
myself to be. Then from time to time when I tell
the truthauthentically,
I'll
discover
that I am none of the above. I'll
discover
that I'm intolerant of, unaccepting of, and closed to
points of view
which are different than mine. Especially in today's crass political
climate, I've uncovered the lie in my own claims that I am
accommodating to all
points of view.
When I tell
the truth
about it, what I've
discovered
is there is a certain
reactivation
that goeswith (as
Alan Watts
may have said)
listening
extreme
views.
Whatever claims I staked to being tolerant, accepting, and open are
quickly proved to be
inauthentic
when the political debate gets heated. Whatever I have said to the
contrary, when push comes to shove (and much to my own chagrin)
the truth
is I am living proof of being just another intolerant, un-accepting,
closed
human being
who is overly invested in his own
point of view.
It bugs me.
Specifically, what bugs me isn't so much that some political
views
are vastly less accommodating to the entire spectrum of
points of view
than my own, but that when I do
react
to them, it's not simply because I disagree with them. Such
reactions
are way, way more visceral than simply an intellectual
rejection. They're on full automatic, defying logic. "Don't get
your knickers in such a knot" I tell myself, "it's just someone else's
point of view.".
Yet no matter what I tell myself or rationalize, I become living proof
of being intolerant, un-accepting, and closed, so much so that I've
taken on an inquiry into being intolerant, un-accepting, and closed to
points of view
other than my own, with the
intention
of
mastering
being accommodating to all of them, thereby restoring being tolerant,
accepting, and open in any debate, whatever it's about, whatever its
subject matter, whatever its
point of view.
Here's what my inquiry
looks like:
Whenever ie as soon as I notice myself
reactivated
this way,
I catch myself.
Whenever ie as soon as I notice I have failed at being tolerant of,
accepting of, and open to
points of view
other than my own,
I immediately catch
myself.
It's more than that actually. It's that whenever ie as soon as I notice
I've failed at being tolerant of, accepting of, and open to
points of view
other than my own,
I immediately catch
myselfconsistently,
again and again.
Mastery
then (at least the
beginning
of
mastery
over my
reactivation
machinery) comes up for me as soon as I notice I've failed at being
tolerant of, accepting of, and open to
points of view
other than my own. Intolerance is like a line I've etched in steel.
Mastery
is a function of the velocity with which I have that line
disappear.
Lines of automatic intolerance can also be etched in glass, rock, wood
(even paper), sand,
water,
and air. Lines etched in steel, glass, rock, and wood (even paper) take
longer to
disappear
than lines etched in sand,
water,
and air. Lines etched in sand
disappear
when it's windy. Lines etched in
water
can be seen as they're etched, and
disappear
soon after. Lines etched in air
disappear
at the same time as they're etched. My aspiration for
mastery
is to have
reactionsdisappear
at the same time as they are etched.
Mastery
is not to have no
reactions.
Mastery
is a function of the velocity with which
I catch myselfreacting.
