The Will of the Subtle

Speaking softly

' Speak softly and carry a big stick ' … that comes from ex-President Roosevelt … and epitomizes the quality of appealing to the subtlety of individual experiences. That certainly is an effective communication style … even in these times of  ' drowning voices.' However I suspect the consensus on that … would declare them both important … and perhaps if we understood that better … we can do away with the stick.

 

 But before we do that … we need to create cognizance of the confidence society places on the value of the subtle as an instrument of public policy. Quite often it involves some training in the area … for those uninitiated into life's mysteries. These are the people who view the only alternative to effective management … as being the will to physical action … be that military … incarceration in prison … or ex-communication.

 

A reliance on the subtle … comes from the way … we respond to the imperatives of good reasoning and judgement on issues. It views each event in a longer term application of its implications and effects. It stresses the need for a greater profound understanding of the issues … with regards to social order … and the plan of life. Such values and understanding don't come easy … but when they do … they fill us with renewed confidence and optimism about the world.

 

In bringing into practice the tools of subtlety … we have as a civilization … advanced considerably in the pursuit of life's excellence. It may even be true to say that … its that which took us from the barbarian … into modern society. But our appreciation for the subtle relies on women … in their quintessential responses … to the needs of family and children. Its such isolated dependencies that makes us forsake the subtle and gentle … in times of stress … in favor of the brute.

 

A true appreciation for the subtle … should understand the value of such emotions to the mind … in the way that the passions … communicate with the mind … and share in the choices made. It brings an added quality to decisions … and is not experienced as a special favor we undertake for others. Quite often … the subtle presents itself as mind … and fosters a patience in affairs … a thoughtfulness … and creates appreciation for the scent of roses … even in the middle of a hectic week.

 

Strangely … our introduction to an appreciation of the subtle … starts crazily enough with ' hearing voices ' or other such unusual experiences. Its the start of the process … of realizing that … the body … its tissues … and our heart … contain a mystical quality … that the mind needs to be trained on. And in persuading the mind to do that … in the middle of an on-going career … persuades us that its part and parcel of all things … including our lives and careers. Its best to do that in association with our activities … than to sit in isolated meditation.

 

But for someone making a career of subtlety … in a life that's dependent only on the personal nature of life's phenomenon … a little gross activity helps … especially when that comes to balance the subtle with physical action. The subtle is often the portal to dreams … and while that may be important … it needs to relate to the life lived … as much as a daily jog or exercise … keeps us in shape.

 

The Indic concept of reincarnation … points our attention … to the notion that life and its merry memories … transfer themselves from one life to another … in an act that is not detected by our normal senses … yet we come to grant that such an activity may be taking place. And in the review of such possibilities … we stand on the threshold of the future … when science … creates a greater revelation about the subtle in our lives … and the ever present possibilities of life … in such a phenomenon. ' Fire does not burn it ,  sword does not cleave it ' says a verse in the Gita.

 

Certainly the subtle features strongly … in references to eternal life. And a man will no doubt inquire into the nature of such experiences in his constitution. Hegel's reference to the 'zeitgeist' … the native view of the great spirit … the leviathan … and the Indic paramatma … are all references to the suggestion that … we are all connected to one another … through the experience of the subtle … and every act we perform creates an effect some place else.

 

A man who is separated from his family … finds a family in the world … a man losing his home finds it in the universe … and a man who fears losing his mind finds it in his passions. Its the nature of the experience … and its meaning to the individual. Our descriptions of it as delusional … or compensation for loss … speak of our lack of experience of the phenomenon. ' A man is not great because he has not fallen … but having fallen rises again ' … by Emerson reminds us of completing the challenge we face and not substitute it with false descriptions.

 

The stories of Winnie the Pooh … brings powerful lessons to children on the values of caring. I wonder if that will make the child … set it aside when they grow up … to avoid the unseemly association with child natures. Or whether the message from a Gandhi makes them remember it better … by the appeal of the ascetic life. On such occasions … we wonder about ' blind innocence ' and its comparison with a ' re-discovery of the qualities of simplicity.' It helps to keep aspects of ' blind innocence ' straight.

 

The Vietnam war brought into contest the wills of two giants on the issue of the difference. Among other things … it may have involved the issue of defining ' freedom.' The American management of the issue of freedom viewed the experience as natural and given. The Viet … in relation to the resurrection experience of Asia … may have viewed it as a re-discovery of individual liberty … from the fire of the gnosis.  One certainly brought a greater volition to it than the other. But its subtlety of meaning has taken longer than the war to understand.

 

In the old days it would be customary for the Americans to cultivate a totemism of the experience thereafter … and to view the ' re-discovery ' as forbidden or taboo … to their culture. As a world society … we are always encountering opposites … some more subtle than others. But in taking to accepting the taboo … it provides an opportunity to learn of it … and to come to understand ourselves better … in the growing significance of the subtle … in public relations.