Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

The Third Place

I tried to watch the news. I tried to read the news. It doesn't matter if the news is 'right wing' or if it is 'left wing' - it all is disturbing. On one side you have the 'Fox-mentality" and within the web you have the alternative side. They both are opinions fighting for recognition in being the Truth.

It is the 'alternative' that I find just as objectionable as the 'conservative' viewpoints - they're both against each other. It is the 'against-ness' that I find difficult to accept as I am sure others feel the same way.

No wonder so many people ignore politics... it is all one side against the other. But in today's environment it is the right wing, conservative faction that now has their voice being heard throughout the land. Years ago (many it seems today), it was the 'liberal' voice that rang out throughout this land. Today those 'liberal' voices either whisper, barely audible, or live strictly on the side of defense... defending every thing they say or do against the now strong voices of conservatism.

My only consolation amongst these two forces dueling each other for the final word is that old yin/yang - the dualities of two powers in constant friction with each other. I have seen the liberal side and I know the voice of the conservative side - each has some valid viewpoint that is in disagreement with the other.

But what if we just stepped back from both sides..? Where would that leave us standing? Is there a third side to the duality of yin/yang? This third side is strictly the observational side - it does not by definition choose a side. If it did it would lean towards the chosen side... that is not what the third side does.

The third side being solely observational must also be non-judgmental, non-partisan politically... the third side takes note of both sides being observed, in this case the politcal dualities that are presently warring in a word battle. It could be worse. These two sides could be battling not only in theories and ideas but actually warring in deadly battle. Sometimes I wonder if the battle will occur, witnessing the extremism of the two.

And on one hand we have this internal (U.S.) battle happening, while we have a battle going on with those that have not been indoctrinated in 'our' way of thinking, i.e., Iraq and the Muslim, Middle Eastern world. We are witnessing yet another duality - a war of faith, a war of politics, a war of religious differences. The terrorist faction 'over there' is as resolute about their religious indoctrinations as 'we' in the modern Western world is about our indoctrinations. This yin/yang is the cause of death and destruction that seemingly has no end in sight.

But if we stay within this third place and keep observing the happenings going on, it is evident that these idealogical and philosophical battles are, on one hand, stupid... and yet on the other hand they are the course of 'the flow'... Nature has more to do with these conflicts than we accept.

Why would I accuse Nature of war, of death and destruction...? Simply because when affairs of mankind become so large, so great in destruction it is foolish to lay the blame upon one person or one political stance or even one religious viewpoint. The world is in great unrest, and this unrest is due to change. Nature is filled with change. When volcanoes come to life, when hurricanes destroy human architecture, when tsunamis take the lives of humans and other life forms... we do not question that. It is 'natural', although we question God in His choice.

As difficult as it is to swallow, Nature is behind many of our wars, whether they be ideological or religious. The old ways begin losing their importance, their power and credibility. Just as a mountain top loses it's height from the volcano lowering the mountains peak... so it is with human transformations - in the political arena, the religious arena, the philosophical arena... whatever man has created eventually loses its power... loses its significance... it is the flow of Nature that continually changes. As has been said, 'change is the only constant.' And within the human stage, war is the friction caused by our personal changes.

From this third place we cannot react. From this third place we can only observe the conditionings. From this third place we cannot choose one side or the other. This third place, the place of strict observation, we can only witness the conditions. Ideally from this observing we can conclude an answer to all that we see within change, but then that observation no longer strictly observes - we choose, we judge, we pick a side. When we do any of these things we show our humanity, and our humanity is to side with one or the other... it stems from compassion.

This is not to say that compassion should side with one or the other. If we were to do that then it would no longer be compassionate of us to disallow the other side any of our compassion. But most of humanity is locked into the duality of one side or the other... it is engrained within us. It is our conditionings that prevent us from not choosing sides. If we were to be completely compassionate how could we choose sides between the two warring factions? That would leave one side or the other without our compassion.

Did the words of Siddartha speak to humanity or just to a chosen few? Did the words of Jesus speak to all of humanity or just to a chosen few? How about the words of Mohammed... did his words speak to only the people of the Middle East or to all of humanity? For any religion to deny all of humanity is an injustice to humanity. Religion must speak to all of mankind to be believable, to be accepted, to be embraced as some article of Truth.

Truth is not attainable until we become observational. Our observation is two-fold - observe the outer world and observe our inner world. The two must exist in tandem before realization is found. But we cannot see the duality, the inner and outer, without turning off our mind... for that is what is doing the judging, the choosing and even the warring... it is mind that causes the death and destruction of human against human.

When we become focused... observational... we do not choose, we do not judge.. we only see and see without mind the necessity of duality. If ever we are to observe peace amongst us, we cannot deny our inner peace, and that is only found when we turn off mind to judgements, to choices, to wants and desires. This is primarily what all wisdom has attempted to proclaim.

Desire is the strongest burning emotion within us. It is our desire that fuels our impetus. Our desires often mislead us away from Truth towards its own flame (burning desire) and in turn leads us into Maya, the world of illusion, where we think we can rise above the human condition.

We too often equate material wealth with spiritual wealth - why woud a god allow one person all that money and riches if that person was not in god's favor? Desire. We do not see beyond all the brilliance of material wealth the wealth of responsibilty, the grandeur of distrust, the riches of loneliness... the 'uber-wealthy' have few friends but many acquaitances, not unlike us. They too, like the majority of humanity, have been given their own lessons in life. We are all here to learn our lessons, no matter our lot in life. It is only compassion, the highest form of love, that can bind us together.

The third place does far more than offer answers. The third place offers, if not Truth certainly, a glimpse of Truth, for Truth is not an answer. Answers are choices, answers are our reaching out blindly for one or the other. Truth is both the one and the other - together. Truth has no answer. Truth has no judgement. Truth is the mother of Love, compassion for yin and yang... the duality that must exist for the sake of Life.

To experience the third place, the place away from yin/yang and completely in focus with yin/yang, lessens our violence, weakens our defenses and strengthens our compassion. Enter the third place and taste Truth...


Cecil
29 May 2005

Brilliant.

Perfect.

Truth shines

from the 3rd Side.

May I pass this along to everyone I know with hopes that they will pass it along to everyone they know?

This begs to be read.

... whatever man has created eventually loses its power... loses its significance...

ten four big buddy, man has dropped a rich load of knowledge where ever he goes, and a woman usually has to clean up after him,
I don’t know jack shit about quantum mechanics but I remember a bit about the observer changing what he observes, just by observing it, the uncertainty principle??. Not sure about that. The east has embraced western science, the west has started to embrace eastern thought. The Chinese have been at for five thousand years no wonder they are going to eat our lunch. I myself prefer the third coast.

Man I wished I had read this about a week ago. THe thing with Bush and his true believers. I got a brother who has reads the bible through every year. I have never heard him call himself a chirstian, he is the kindest person I know. When he was younger he loved to listen that devil african music that we called rock and roll, our father used to call him jitterbug, and tell him that he was peasure mad. Jitterbug has a way of seeing the humor in all things. There is a book called The Humor Of Christ, mostly Quacker propaganda but he does a good job of showing His irony.

Thanks for the stream, I mean that, I really do.

edited once
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FYI

But what if just stepped back from both sides..?

I think you left a pronoun out. I am glad nobody points out my mistakes. They would be at it for hours. I am like that bear in Pogo, the one that could write but not read. Aphasia?
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No practice, still restless, I can't sit still long enough to read a book.

Thanks Dor'... pass this on to whoever you'd like... I'd like their replies, too...

Hey, Jack - I corrected the 'empty word'... thx for catching that. And thank you for reading this and your replies... they make me smile at times and wonder at others... just an observer, ya know..?

In France of the ancien régime and the age of the French Revolution, the term First Estate (Fr. premier état) indicated the clergy; the Second Estate were the nobility, and the rest of the population constituted the Third Estate.

The Fourth Estate was the observational estate--the press.

Good morninig, elRod! Interesting info there... and times have changed, at least in the U.S. - the 4th Estate is controlled by the 2d Estate using the 1st Estate to plant fear into the 3rd Estate so the 4th Estate treads carefully to not upset either the 1st or the 2d Estates thus weakening their own 4th-ness into mere relics of what it once was.. or strove to be. This I observe... there are still only two estates: one is odd and the other is even... numbered that is.

Ten four on the too serious, if you could cut me some slack on my seriousness it would be truly appreciated. That is why I am trying to keep a low profile. THis in responce t the post below this. Cecil I been thinking about people who lie for a good cause. Like the one who passed the fake typewritten sheets to Dan Rather. THe secretary who kept the National Guard personel records on Bush said that the record was probably true, but the guy kept hand written notes in his files, not typewritten... Then ther is the guy mentioned as an authority of Depleted Uranium in the music video on the profile of cottonmouth soldier. Maybe he is the victim of a smear but little things he said don't add up. He has been criticized for saying all members of his thirty man team that cleaned up after the DU weapons have died. Truth seems to be that three have died (that don't seem so bad, sarcasm emoticon here) Then he is not feeling so good himself, says his urine still gloes in the dark.
I think they called those DU shells hellfire, seems like an appropriate name. Too serious, too serious, you ought to see my morning glories, serious growth going on.

There is a war on, I suppsoe there is always a war on somewhere, and when this merrry go round ride is starting again in a billion billion years, or if it never ends, someday i believe that we can still say all is well like Oedipus at Colonus. Meanwhile "strangers had forced him to live in his head" john prine
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Hey, truck - is it just me or are you taking life a wee bit too seriously? Going by your more recent posts/replies here and there, there is quite the overtone of 'deadly seriousness'... not good, my friend. The world is spinning as it should... do not let the spin get you so dizzy that you forget the earth you're grounded in. Too much seriousness is the most deadly condition of all - witness the warriors and those that urge them on... on this our Memorial Day. I never saw a light-hearted warrior... it would be an oxymoron, not to mention a dangerous mindset to have during combat.

Peace out,

C

God Cec, this is a great stream.
This is what so many people are trying to put words around for themselves.
I don't understand why your stream is not published in the media, as I think there is a huge well of eyes that would become clearer if they had your streams to read, especially this one.

I'm with Doreen, this is brilliant.

Thank you Cec. I'm definately passing this one on.....
I'm amazed and so lucky to read you.
Salute!
H

Third position, Third Sector...yes, as long as you have one and two first.
The press: no more politic programmes here on TV since Mr. K is president. No debate. No disonant notes in the written press. Everybody knows the deals. In two or three years, if you´re lucky, maybe we can read a book about it.
Yesterday we saw with some friends a theatre work "The cage, life, dreams and fights of our working class". The work was written in the late seventies but it felt very contemporary. A lot of emotion in the public. A posterior debate: "once you see things you can´t not pretend not had seeing them", power, fear, the need of knowing the needs and value them, the need of agroupation and to fight for the good of the mayority, the repetitions, the possibilities of change... but fear was the emotion-star of the night.
Thanks for the stream, as usual, cecil!
good sunday,

Arcadia

Too kind, good woman. Hes' your words both make me smile and blush... it feels pretty damn good! Thanks alot!

Y Arcadia... mi amiga. Paz a usted y ustedes. Recuerdas el silencio, por el silencio tiene toda Verdad... nosotros gentes solamente piensas tenemos la verdad pero no esta la verdad... estan duermas. Espero compredes...

2 sides make yin/yang
but yin/yang together make a whole

seeing that whole implies total awareness (i wouldn't mind)
but often i'm distracted
first one side then the other find techniques to make me gasp

i'm taken in or repulsed, but there i go easing off towards an extreme

keeping the balance, my balance is the trick. No trick, simple skill.
i'm simply trying to learn it.

thanks, Cecil. You're a flashlight on chaos. (i don't see well in the dark)

judih

Hi, Judih - the way I look at it is yes, yin/yang is the whole, but once we can 'see' that, we are in the third place, i.e., that of the observor... if we can see both sides, we are not of any one side.

Something about the third place and how it equates with 'third eye', the trinity, pyramids (three sided) and other things which I can't think of right now. But I know you get the drift...

Thanx for the reply. I do appreciate it, as you know.

Cecil

the observer stands outside -
s/he sees the whole picture,
but cannot touch soil and hearts,
cannot feel the inside's vibes.

s/he who is taking sides
feels the emotions,
experiences incentive and passion,
confirmation and affection,
but also gets stuck in desire and judgement,
vulnerability, bias and fear.

the obeserver understands through distance and objective observation.
the one who takes a stance understands through nearness, contact and immediacy.

up on the bridge, looking down, seeing the pattern of the crowd.
down within the crowd, touching ground and hands, being part of the beat.

both view(touch)points are equally essential and important.

wisdom lies within the ability
to flow to and fro from one and the other -
to balance not only the yin and the yang
but also the experience and the observation.

the third place must be something beyond a place,
a motion rather than a state or standpoint.

it must transcend both the observer's and the affected one's position,
so that it doesn' make us "move between" these two,
but make both observation and direct experience
our free and constant movement itself,
in which we feel true and authentic.

Yes, Panta... the yin/yang of observation/participation... the necessity of balance even on this level - balance bringing awareness.

Nice seeing you! Thank you for your contribution... focused, as usual.