04-26-2011, 12:00 AM
So, I'll take that to mean you are speaking of both the cultural first attention aspects and the aspects dealing with those elements not available to average men and women. Bob
Simply put yes. But the first attention spans all and any cultural influence. One culture may see the world as flat another round but how they apprehend the flat or the round will be the same when handled by 1st attention.
The sorcerer’s view in general is informed by the broader possibilities of 2nd attention. The sorcerer’s view as used as a didactic device by DJ, is the sorcerer’s view in general tempered by the rigorous discipline and sobriety of the new seers conclusions and then leveraged against the 1st attention of an average man.
The aim of this didactic leverage is not to defeat or destroy or even subjugate the 1st attention but to introduce and establish a view and array of possibilities that were previously beyond its consideration. This introduction of a new view that entertains possibilities outside of the range of the 1st attention view pressures an average man and challenges him concerning his view of the world. Even when 2nd attention is experienced directly the 1st attention still scrambles to order the world in its favor alone. 1st attention feels threatened by the expanded range of possibilities and the proponents of those possibilities not just because of the extraordinary possibilities themselves but more because of the implications associated with those possibilities. The main implication being that first attention knew nothing about this to begin with. So the absolute certainty an average man has concerning his view is undermined.
This uncertainty will first cause the average man to come to the defense of his position in the world and shore up his faltering view. The aim here is not for the teacher to defeat that view but merely to show that it is just a view, one of many. Defending that view is the task of reason and the teacher will encourage reason in its defense of this overall view, knowing that such a view is limited to begin with. (This is an art that religious dogmatism fails miserably at. Preferring instead to conquer beliefs that do not align with the preferred belief.) This is what DJ refers to as rallying the elements of the tonal around reason and isolating the will and untangling it from all the attachments that bind it. Aiding the will in this process is the warrior’s way. It is the will that responds to the admonishments of that way. Eventually the initial uncertainty turns into humility as it begins to be accepted that one’s view of the world is not absolute but quite relative and often arbitrary.
Now I stress again the purpose of all this is not to establish a preference for or superiority of a sorcerer and the view associated with a sorcerer.
“I gave you enough of the sorcerer’s view without letting you get hooked by it. I said that only if one pits the two views against each other can one weasel between them to arrive at the real world. I meant that one can arrive at the totality of oneself only when one fully understands that the world is merely a view, regardless of whether that view belongs to an ordinary man or to a sorcerer.” TOP
DJ is not advocating for just another view, even if that view is one of a sorcerer, “regardless of whether that view belongs to an ordinary man or to a sorcerer.” DJ is very clear here. He is advocating the view of the totality of one’s self and nothing less. Something his predecessors knew about but never achieved. I contend it is because they were captivated by the sorcerer’s view, as are many.
In light of this contention, “how to become a new seer” becomes irrelevant. I too thought that was what DJ was advocating as he expounded the conclusions of the new seers and critiqued the seers of antiquity.
Simply put yes. But the first attention spans all and any cultural influence. One culture may see the world as flat another round but how they apprehend the flat or the round will be the same when handled by 1st attention.
The sorcerer’s view in general is informed by the broader possibilities of 2nd attention. The sorcerer’s view as used as a didactic device by DJ, is the sorcerer’s view in general tempered by the rigorous discipline and sobriety of the new seers conclusions and then leveraged against the 1st attention of an average man.
The aim of this didactic leverage is not to defeat or destroy or even subjugate the 1st attention but to introduce and establish a view and array of possibilities that were previously beyond its consideration. This introduction of a new view that entertains possibilities outside of the range of the 1st attention view pressures an average man and challenges him concerning his view of the world. Even when 2nd attention is experienced directly the 1st attention still scrambles to order the world in its favor alone. 1st attention feels threatened by the expanded range of possibilities and the proponents of those possibilities not just because of the extraordinary possibilities themselves but more because of the implications associated with those possibilities. The main implication being that first attention knew nothing about this to begin with. So the absolute certainty an average man has concerning his view is undermined.
This uncertainty will first cause the average man to come to the defense of his position in the world and shore up his faltering view. The aim here is not for the teacher to defeat that view but merely to show that it is just a view, one of many. Defending that view is the task of reason and the teacher will encourage reason in its defense of this overall view, knowing that such a view is limited to begin with. (This is an art that religious dogmatism fails miserably at. Preferring instead to conquer beliefs that do not align with the preferred belief.) This is what DJ refers to as rallying the elements of the tonal around reason and isolating the will and untangling it from all the attachments that bind it. Aiding the will in this process is the warrior’s way. It is the will that responds to the admonishments of that way. Eventually the initial uncertainty turns into humility as it begins to be accepted that one’s view of the world is not absolute but quite relative and often arbitrary.
Now I stress again the purpose of all this is not to establish a preference for or superiority of a sorcerer and the view associated with a sorcerer.
“I gave you enough of the sorcerer’s view without letting you get hooked by it. I said that only if one pits the two views against each other can one weasel between them to arrive at the real world. I meant that one can arrive at the totality of oneself only when one fully understands that the world is merely a view, regardless of whether that view belongs to an ordinary man or to a sorcerer.” TOP
DJ is not advocating for just another view, even if that view is one of a sorcerer, “regardless of whether that view belongs to an ordinary man or to a sorcerer.” DJ is very clear here. He is advocating the view of the totality of one’s self and nothing less. Something his predecessors knew about but never achieved. I contend it is because they were captivated by the sorcerer’s view, as are many.
In light of this contention, “how to become a new seer” becomes irrelevant. I too thought that was what DJ was advocating as he expounded the conclusions of the new seers and critiqued the seers of antiquity.