Gazing in the Mirror

January 14 - Middling

Lesser, greater, middling, it's all
the same. Proportions are negotiated,
boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious
hermit, I haven't done only good
in my life. But if I'm to choose between
one evil and another, then I prefer
not to choose at all.
~ Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish

To learn to think is to learn how to
live. Man, by thinking, can bring into
his experience whatever he desires
if he thinks correctly.
~ Ernest Holmes

In Hexagram 11, Prospering, of the I Ching is this line – "Win honor by a middle course." In the Analects – "the responsibility of holding the center." The Buddha came to understand and teach a Middle Way. Avoiding the excesses of sensuality as well as asceticism. In our reactions we do not wish to be too unconcerned but we also do not want to over react. In seeking to stay on the middle way we find a guide for living. Each of us carves out our own path. I think in terms of triangulation or commonalities as pointing out deep truths seeking my recognition.

Having a diversity of informative channels allows us each to create our own unique compositions and harmonies. When necessary we can adjust our frequency to take in one that is not quite our own. For example I can hear any spiritual teaching and understand at a level and with insights of my own. Therefore I find only the truth which arises from interpretation rather than arbitrary precision. Certainly any truth that we arrive at as human beings is usually subjective, rather than objective (the sun rises would be an objective truth); and therefore, I would never recommend how I arrive at my own understandings to be necessarily the best path for anyone else. At most I point out by example a process that has assisted me in my own journey through this life but it is not a dogma and I would never claim absolute exactness, only that such concepts are pointers that might be useful.

To my own understandings of a middle way one can let go of strict control over people, outcomes or situations without giving up the genuine and authentic tendencies that I am on this planet to express. There is only one me and only one you and only one anyone and only ONE to reduce it to its most basic core component. There are many ways to interpret that ONE concept. I am a little bit "different" every day. The reality for me is that sometimes I feel low with little energy or sometimes high and in bliss and most times I arrive at somewhere in between but no two times are ever exactly the same. Constantly changing states of beingness certainly prevent boredom with life to allow one's nature to wander, well – naturally.

I seek my own alignment (harmony) equally with the seen and the unseen which some refer to as heaven and earth and which has been spoken of often by ancient sages. Even emptiness requires form to be what it is. A musical instrument played in the vastness of a large wasteland can hardly be heard but in the confines of a concert hall may prove exquisite. Maybe that is why the All That Is needs forms for otherwise it would remain not discernible.

There is a kind of middle way for us personally when we spend time with like-minded people for we feel in our element among such persons. There is a sense of closeness, calmness and belonging with others that we share similar perspectives with. When we merge with others as a collective in a crowded place, we don't stand out and it could be said that we're middling in that place. If we feel ourselves on the edge of some extreme, we can return to a comfortable balance by moving back towards a discernible middle ground. I have a favorite singer India Arie who sings a song I like titled Back to the Middle. I have been on the edges of such extremes in my life and the only way I can eventually regain some balance or centeredness is to find my own middle once again.

There are extremes of masculine and feminine but we are composed of parts of each to one degree or another and this creates the wholeness we each are individually. We all experience some extremes of good and bad and there's no way to avoid the pain of sometimes choosing a more difficult way. That is how we learn where the middle is by seeing both extremes more clearly. The middle is the wholeness of the extremes of duality harmonized. There is no need to fear flying a bit because without risks we never learn where the edge of our extremes can be found.

~ perspective

I can find a middling way by looking
at my hand – open, closed, fist,
stretched out, balanced – by not
staying at any extreme for very long.
A middle way is not pessimistic nor
is it optimistic but realistic about
life and the world.
I do not wish to live a fool's paradise
nor do I want to be always frightened
and afraid for I want to see the world
as much as possible as it is.
The middle way avoids extremes and
has inherently within its way more
peace, access to grounded wisdom and
a greater freedom than being
trapped by endless dissatisfaction.
Temperance is the middle ground
between excessive or insufficient
exercise, eating or drinking too much
or too little and it sometimes may
take courage or determination to hold.

#adjustment #beingness #creativity #extremes #guidance #harmony #interpretation #path #reaction #risk