Heaven and Earth ~ part 3

In recent blog entries, I have been exploring what it is that drives and shapes the human will. Looking back through the history books, I experience a mix of emotions as I consider the sense of curiousity and wonder, as well as the fear and desire to manipulate and control the environment and one another, that humanity seems to be capable of and to have shown throughout time. At its heart, it would appear as if humanity has been and is still, driven by a burning desire to ‘know’ and to master life and this desire has been played out through various endeavours and modes of behaviour, some benevolent, some not so, in fact, being divisive and harmful towards others.

This inbuilt drive, the human will, to move into mastery of its environment, as well as a way that the human mind both gathers data about its environment and is instinctive, gives me some understanding of why some of the more destructive of human behaviours towards the environment and one another, have come about. Humanity is not some phenomenon that is separate from life and yet from early infancy, the human mind is inclined or learns to split information as it comes in through the senses, so that data for instance, is processed and stored, as relating to 'me’ and ‘other’, and by extension, ‘my tribe or nation’ and ‘other’ (subject and object).

In an environment in which food or resources appear limited or unpredictable, a sense of divisiveness within a human’s way of perceiving the nature of relationship in the world can bring out a sense of competition and aggressiveness. The ‘set and scenery’ can change, for instance, of whether a person is part of a tribe sheltering through a winter in a cave with meagre rations of food, or whether they exist in a different time frame and are part of a larger tribe or group practising an ideology. However, there can still be identical patterns of behavior towards that which is being perceived as ‘other’. Instead of food or other physical resources being fought over, it can be ideas of who is right or is superior in power, which can corrupt humanity’s relationships and lead to manipulation and violence.

Still, even with the human mind’s tendency to split data from the senses, to suggest a presence of me and other, it does not follow that all human beings move into modes of competition and aggressiveness whenever resources are scarce, or whenever encountering the unfamiliar. Certainly, many religions and spiritual societies have espoused the common good and the desirability of upholding certain benevolent behaviours, although sometimes with suggestions of saving one’s soul from unspoken terrors in an afterlife or of giving one an upper hand in a subsequent life.

My current perception is that for the most part, human beings are very receptive to what can seem to be ready-made packets of data about what is so, or is correct about life. Subsequently, it can appear as if some individuals or groups are slow, or are not curious or willing enough, to open such packets and to examine its contents for themselves. It may be that this trait is one of the reasons as to why so much of humanity has often endured tyranny and oppression from charismatic and authoritative figures - those who have set out to capture and to influence thought in their favour, prior to establishing a network of power to protect themselves, from the often slow but inevitable shifting tides of a group’s consensus.

There are numerous examples throughout history, showing that it is not simply the case that knowledge or a packet of data has not been studied or questioned by an interested party, but that there is a consensus of will, an agreement to not only accept it as it is but to preserve it. This serves what can seem like a vital purpose for an individual, a tribe or an ideological group, namely that of differentiating them from whatever understanding of life and practice is being pursued by others. This allows them in turn to practice their own knowledge and understanding of life, which can include, should it appeal to a competitive nature, a sense of superiority as well.

Notwithstanding a bestowal of power of authority to another, whether this is to a charismatic individual or to a particular ideology of life and with its differing degrees of consequence, humanity does seem to have an inbuilt drive to ‘know’ and to master its environment and by extension, life. I am going to dig around a little now, to explore how it may be possible that the masculine and feminine principles of creation fit into a pursuit and actualisation of mastery.