Large Fierce Mammal

“Next time we’ll begin looking at these in concert with the other concepts I’ve introduced in previous chapters, as they are being delivered by a selection of Teachers, and the motivations of students who seek them out.” ~ The Goode Fyght — Chapter the Fifth

Welcome back to the fireside Goode and Worthy Reader. Please take your ease as we begin by revisiting and expanding on the concepts I spoke of in my closing remarks when last we met.

In Chapter the First of The Goode Fyght, we introduced “polarity” — the Natural kind described by chemistry and physics, and most particularly the societal flavours in all their wondrous variety. In both cases, polarity is an outcome of polarization, and polar opposites cannot, indeed need not, exist without it. Where polarization of any kind holds sway, the pressing together of polar opposites will meet with increasing resistance as external forces strive to bring them closer, and while in Nature such proximity may serve to neutralize the influence of both extremes, there are cases wherein the outcome may be total obliteration of all concerned. The magic lies in knowing if, when, how, and where to press.

Polarity.

In Chapter the Second, we spoke of “stress” and “conflict”, and how both have always existed as positive components in the world. While Man in his capacity as conceitful latecomer to the party may have granted them names, he has also applied strict limitations on their application and placed each firmly beneath the Cloud of Judgement whose shadow marks all things deemed wrong and needful of eradication.

Stress.

Conflict.

In Chapter the Fourth, it was “survival” and “self-defense”, and how notwithstanding the definitions granted to each by the industries built around them, neither meant once what it has come to mean now.

Survival.

Self-defense.

Surrounded by the wonders of technology with its endlessly head turning entertainments, the promise of better health and longevity than ever before in history,  it comes as no surprise to me that so many still feel drawn to address a gnawing sense of vulnerability to loss of control over their lives, and most particularly to violence. I call these The Unsettled. Viewed through a lens of misleading vividness, in a society that no longer understands manners, treating with others, and the meaning of Community, what exactly one must be prepared for becomes skewed. Awash in a continuum of actions and reactions, one leading into the next, interpretation of feedback and adjustments accordingly, the path to salvation is blurred when one gets sucked into another polarized binary narrative where the only states are hunky dory and shitstorm.

In the former case, the message is don’t rock the boat. Everything’s being handled. Just keep having fun and go try that new sushi joint down the block, and dial 911 if you feel offended. In the latter, there’s nothing you can, could, or should do about it. Run. Hide. Call for Daddy. Seeking Truth in a world devoid of it, The Unsettled have come to suspect, if not realize, that Western society as it exists at this dangerous moment is a legacy not of learning and advancement, but of forgetting and relinquishment. That in these pivotal times, it sits tottering atop a foundation of antagonisms, built both of ill considered conceit in its superiority to all others, and an avalanche of atonement and appeasement born of a burning need to offer apology for its success.

Much irreplaceable time and  treasure may be squandered in an unmeasured hand wringing approach, and the risk exists that a decision may be made to exhaust limited resources in equipping and learning to deal with the most feared threat or threats of the moment rather than the most likely and perpetually looming ones. That teaching may be sought based more on good marketing than pragmatism.

There are teachers and there are Teachers, and going forward from here we will be naming names and speaking to why I’ve uttered them. For today however, I will leave you with the names of two of the best, at the feet of whom have studied every one of the Worthies to follow:

• Nature, and Her disciple;
• Reality

Until we meet again Goode Reader.