If it is true that fragmentation is essentially a breaking apart of natural cycles, then the breaking apart of the natural cycle of Truth-in-function, or Mother Nature’s timeless movement of self-correction might be a good place to direct our attention if we wish to understand the violence of present western Culture.
Imagine two circles: one, the circle of nature; the other, the circle of culture.
Now we have clearly before us the problem of relationship, of relationship between these two circles of nature & culture.
We could say, just like in music, they are either ‘in’ or ‘out of tune’ with each other. Or from the point of view of artistic design, they are either in harmony with one another, or in disharmony. That’s the problem of relationship.
In the dialogue tape, I suggest that within the circle of nature there is always 100% truth in function. At the same time, I suggest that, in sharp contrast, within the circle of culture it can vary between the ideal of 100% all the way to 0%. For example, pollution, or waste of any kind MEANS or IS 0% truth in function. Or making the whole livinh Earth uninhabitable by changing radically the climate is 0% truth in function. And most especially, war, once we make the spiritual leap of consciousness to see it invariably as unnecessary conflict is always 0% truth in function. Think of that.
So, when we put these very simple ideas together, we have something, I think, which is very powerful: a way of understanding why so much of present western culture is in a state of unsustainable conflict with the far greater circle of Mother Nature.
As I suggest in the dialogue tape, a good musician does not try to play in tune by merely projecting the idea of perfect intonation, but rather by simply instantly self-correcting what we might call “untruth,” or the mistunings of imbalance. There is nothing mysterious here. The movement of truth in function or self-correction is what we do when we learn to dance with the truth of gravity while, for example, riding a bicycle or skiing. When there is harmony or balance, there is no division between the biker and the biking, the skier and the skiing. There is only one undivided movement. What could be more beautiful than that?
At the same time, I ask in the dialogue tape, what is it, why, which factor has caused us to fall or break apart or fragment this great natural cycle of truth in function, or self-correction, or if you will, natural intelligence? What has caused this? At the center of the discussion, I suggest that it is the inherently destructive, divisive nature of our own thought and thinking itself, our own consciousness. That I wrongly divide myself from the world, and thereby seek security in this fragmentation, in this state of untruth or imbalance, in the known, or the past.
This then is the problem of legacy. Or when the burden of the past becomes like a backpack that is so heavy that we can no longer free move.
So doing real philosophy, doing real dialogue together, has nothing to do with legacy, but with the unencumbered spirit of questioning. Questioning anything, even our most deeply held tacit beliefs. That is why dialogue is such hard work, but at the same time so exhilarating, so liberating.
I would even be so bold to suggest here, that it is this place of questioning, this space of dialogue, where all new art & true culture begin.
IMAGE: March basecamp, snowy Snake River Country, South WALLOWAS, OREGON
