There is a beauty in taking stories as questions…
When I do so, it invites in a receptivity here that reminds me that any story can serve as a pointer and a guide, and that it happens within the context of don’t know.
It is a pointer for own exploration. What do I find when I explore for myself, with some sincerity?
It can have a temporary and practical value as a guide for action, in some situations. What happens when i take it as a guide for action in any particular situation? In what situation may this story be helpful as a guide? Is there another story that seems more helpful in this situation?
And I am also reminded that this happens within the context of don’t know.
There is a reminder that I don’t know in a conventional sense. I have (very) limited experience, as do all of humanity combined. There are always other interpretations that make equal sense within any particular worldview. And there are always other worldviews that make equal or better sense, and produce interpretations that make equal or better sense. And the interpretations I am familiar with only scratch the surface here. Most are beyond what I am – or anyone is – familiar with, or even can imagine.
And there is a reminder that I don’t know in the context of what I am. At most, what I am may be aware of itself and know in that sense. It may know what it – and everything – is. But it is not the knowing found within stories.
So in a practical sense, it can be helpful to take stories as a question. What happens when I take a story as a statement, as either true or false, right or wrong? What happens when I take it as a question? As a pointer for exploration, or a temporary guide for action? In what type of situations may any particular story be helpful as a temporary guide for action?
And after a while, we may notice that stories are really just innocent questions about the world. They are thoughts asking questions about the world, as an aid for us to function in the world. Sometimes, we take them as more than that and create drama and struggle for ourselves. And sometimes, we recognize them as innocent questions, and they function as helpful tools for us.
….
Draft…
There is a beauty in taking stories as questions…
They still serve as a pointer and a guide. They are pointers for own exploration. And each one may have a temporary and practical value as a guide for action, sometimes.
And when they are questions, this happens within the context of don’t know.
There is a reminder that I don’t know in a conventional sense. I have (very) limited experience, as do all of humanity combined. There are always other interpretations that make equal sense within any particular worldview. And there are always other worldviews that make equal or better sense, and produce interpretations that make equal or better sense. And the interpretations I am familiar with only scratch the surface here. Most are beyond what I am – or anyone is – familiar with, or even can imagine.
And there is a reminder that I don’t know in the context of what I am. At most, what I am may be aware of itself and know in that sense. It may know what it – and everything – is. But it is not the knowing found within stories.
So in a practical sense, it can be helpful to take stories as a question. What happens when I take a story as a statement, as either true or false, right or wrong? What happens when I take it as a question? As a pointer for exploration, or a temporary guide for action? In what type of situations may any particular story be helpful as a temporary guide for action?
And after a while, we may notice that stories are really just innocent questions about the world. They are thoughts asking questions about the world, as an aid for us to function in the world. Sometimes, we take them as more than that and create drama and struggle for ourselves. And sometimes, we recognize them as innocent questions, and they function as helpful tools for us.
Initial outline…
- stories as questions
- a pointer and guide
- temporary and practical value
- within the context of don’t know
- in a relative + absolute sense
- within stories: don’t know (limited experience, always other interpretations w/in same context, always other contexts, etc.)
- outside of stories: don’t know (know what am, but not the type of knowing found within stories)
- in a relative + absolute sense
- a pointer and guide