The resemblance here to cave paintings, those fragments of prehistoric human culture,
brings to mind the idea of wish fulfilment, i.e. that magic causes influences between representation
and reality. Such correspondences find no part in the science of today, yet even there
action at a distance (gravitational, electromagnetic) is thought to exist. Can there be any
real basis then for magical belief ? Before we dismiss such things we must realise the extent
to which meaningful coincidence pervades our lives. Most of us are insensitive to subtle
cues, we act like bulls in china shops, bludgeoning around without any sensitivity to our
surroundings. Yet if we relax sufficiently, then we can observe that the improbable is
commonplace, much of this web site has arisen in serendipitous style, the necessary contacts,
ideas and breakthroughs have occurred just when they were needed. Additionally, the ideas being
raised here seem to be surfacing also in similar ways in different contexts everywhere
- just as if the world were enabling a specific, time related, plan...
It does not matter whether we attribute such connections to Jung's collective
unconscious, the influence of a God or merely to an indefinable 'synchronicity'.
All that need be accepted is that subtlety is often sufficient to alter the course of history.
This 'action by non-action' is an insight known to the Taoists for thousands of years,
yet it is a concept alien to the West. Here, we seem to believe that the best way from
point A to point B is in a straight line, destroying anything in the path ! The Eastern
way, by contrast, achieves the same ends without such destruction - by subtle nudges
to reality we can steer a path to any destination. Fluid will part to allow passage, fixed
structures do not, they act as barriers. So the message here is that by being flexible we
can achieve our ends without the necessity of causing conflict and grief to all around us.
This is such an important lesson for mankind that it should be engraved on every forehead:
Flexibility achieves without conflict...
