Trey Smith
Among the questions of T'ang to Ch'i we find the same thing. In the bald and barren north, there is a dark sea, the Lake of Heaven. In it is a fish which is several thousand li across, and no one knows how long. His name is K'un. There is also a bird there, named P'eng, with a back like Mount T'ai and wings like clouds filling the sky. He beats the whirlwind, leaps into the air, and rises up ninety thousand li, cutting through the clouds and mist, shouldering the blue sky, and then he turns his eyes south and prepares to journey to the southern darkness..It has been said that, if you want to understand another person's perspective, you should walk a mile in their shoes or moccasins. This certainly is NOT bad advice, but we err when we mistakenly believe that we can truly see the world through the eyes of another.
~ Burton Watson translation ~
Our own myopic perception of the world we live in limits our ability truly to walk that mile. While we might like to pretend that we're experiencing life with new eyes, our own unique vision clouds the landscape.
To view the Index page for this series, go here.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are unmoderated, so you can write whatever you want.