Headstands and Apes

After settling down in Tokyo, I began going to the vast Meiji Park to do yoga in the morning before work. While standing on my head and watching people walking by off in the distance, I noticed something very odd. The people had an obvious bob in their gait as they walked. Initially I wondered if they were walking that way on purpose, for I’d never seen such a sight. Then I realized I’d never actually watched people walking while standing on my head.

We are primates and the gait I saw actually reminded me of other apes. All it took for me to see our organic way of walking was a 180 degree, upside down, change of perspective. These days I notice this bob in people much less when I do yoga down at the beach. The novelty wore off — I guess familiarity breeds blindness.

The moral here for me: I must counteract familiarity to see the world anew, and sometimes to even see the world as it may actually be. So pray tell, how can I counteract familiarity? The Correlation process (p.572) certainly helps.

Trusting language helps impart a sense of familiarity with life. The more I trust language, the more certain I am that I know. I easily fall into the trap chapter 71 points out, Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty. Even so, there is an upside: This helps me feel more secure with reality. Of course, that comes with its own downside, as Chapter 72 hints, When the people lack a proper sense of awe, then some awful visitation will descend upon them.