How can a contemplative reach the same conclusions as a practitioner?

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How can a contemplative reach the same conclusions as a practitioner?

One of the great mysteries of philosophy and science, as well as the martial arts, which, believe it or not, involves both philosophy and science, is the ability of the contemplative thinker to foresee things that the practical scientist will not be able to prove for centuries or decades.

It is also one of the great mysteries how a monk who sits


contemplating the patterns of bat guano

on a cave wall for thirty years can reach the same conclusions

as a sensei who has been getting the crap beat out of him

and vice versa for thirty years.


Now, we are told, by people who believe that they should

know these things and we should listen, that some things

cannot be understood unless you actually experience them

and them who are the experienced, no matter how stupid their

reflections and observations about said experience, take

precedence over anyone who imagines that they understand

the experience based on knowledge, logic or extrapolation.

This kind of attitude, of course, avoids the fact that the

government, industry, and the film people constantly ignore

the truly experienced in favor of the imaginative.

If the truly experienced, no matter how stupid, actually had

any say about anything, then a lot of historical mistakes

would not be repeated and the truly imaginative would

have room to create new and exciting mistakes.


Kaiser Von Wilhelm once said, "Read biographies! Nobody has

enough time in their life to make all those mistakes themselves!

If they were stupid enough to do it and silly enough to write

about it, then you should be smart enough to learn from it. And

if they are lying, then the result is probably a more entertaining

story than what really happened."


Or something like that. I was half asleep at the time because

the Reisling was very good that year.
































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Infinite Improbability Drive

Infinite Improbability Drive

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