Leaving Meiji park after yoga
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 gate 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 gate 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?
Trusting language helps impart a sense of familiarity. The more I trust it, 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.
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