Normal human consciousness always depends on contrasts…and tends to ignore what is constant even though it provides the necessary background for the perception of change. … If a pleasureable state is to be conscious, it cannot be constant, for there will be no contrasting ground against which to feel it. … Pleasure is thus…the configuration pleasure/non-pleasure…in which the first term is the figure and the second the ground. … Therefore, to find or seek pleasure in the figure, it must be lost or hiddin in the ground. …No specific situation is constant, for whatever is constant tends to become the ground. (30) …
In watching drama or reading a story we know that the situation is “in play”…therefore we have no objection to there being a “villain of the piece” or other agency which upsets the status quo…this is just what we expect, and at the end of the show hero and villain alike are applauded. … the stage enables us to see that the deeds of the villain are grounds for the heroism of the hero, and we recognize the necessity for the relationship. …by framing the ground, the stage makes it mutually significant with the figure. (30)
… In life, however, the situation is different. We tend to ignore the significance of the ground, as well as its necessity. Hence the restless pursuit of pleasure as if it could be a constant figure, ignoring and making no allowance for its non-pleasurable ground. …it impinges on our senses however much our conscious attention may attempt to ignore it. (31) …
The ground sensations that we try to avoid are such things as disorder, emptiness, non-pleasure, boredom, monotony, anxiety, darkness, and death. In terms of most value systems, these are meaningless. But myth…is a comples of images which gives significance to life as a whole. [Myth] dramatizes the order/disorder of the world in such a way as to make disorder relative to order, to give the villain his part and the Devil his due. (31)
Alan Watts, The Two Hands of God
July 12
Overly sensitive people may not see the positive side of their character. They see the obsession but not the ability to persist. They see the sensitivity to pain but not the potential for sensitivity to others. They see their need for empathy but not their ability to empathize. They see their strong fear of failure but not their strong capacity to succeed. They see their cautious hesitancy to act, but not their imaginative foresight. For each neurotic problem area there is a corresponding positive desire and ability. However, because of their idealism and perfectionism (these qualities, too, have positive aspects) neurotic people focus on the defects and feel inferior. They use their strong analytical powers on themselves in a negative, unproductive manner.
David Reynolds, Ph.D.
Water Bears No Scars: Japanese Lifeways for Personal Growth
July 19
The Hero's Journey: A resource for educators, teachers, and students
Normal human consciousness always depends on contrasts…and tends to ignore what is constant even though it provides the necessary background for the perception of change. … If a pleasureable state is to be conscious, it cannot be constant, for there will be no contrasting ground against which to feel it. … Pleasure is thus…the configuration pleasure/non-pleasure…in which the first term is the figure and the second the ground. … Therefore, to find or seek pleasure in the figure, it must be lost or hiddin in the ground. …No specific situation is constant, for whatever is constant tends to become the ground. (30) …
In watching drama or reading a story we know that the situation is “in play”…therefore we have no objection to there being a “villain of the piece” or other agency which upsets the status quo…this is just what we expect, and at the end of the show hero and villain alike are applauded. … the stage enables us to see that the deeds of the villain are grounds for the heroism of the hero, and we recognize the necessity for the relationship. …by framing the ground, the stage makes it mutually significant with the figure. (30)
… In life, however, the situation is different. We tend to ignore the significance of the ground, as well as its necessity. Hence the restless pursuit of pleasure as if it could be a constant figure, ignoring and making no allowance for its non-pleasurable ground. …it impinges on our senses however much our conscious attention may attempt to ignore it. (31) …
The ground sensations that we try to avoid are such things as disorder, emptiness, non-pleasure, boredom, monotony, anxiety, darkness, and death. In terms of most value systems, these are meaningless. But myth…is a comples of images which gives significance to life as a whole. [Myth] dramatizes the order/disorder of the world in such a way as to make disorder relative to order, to give the villain his part and the Devil his due. (31)
Alan Watts, The Two Hands of God
July 12
Overly sensitive people may not see the positive side of their character. They see the obsession but not the ability to persist. They see the sensitivity to pain but not the potential for sensitivity to others. They see their need for empathy but not their ability to empathize. They see their strong fear of failure but not their strong capacity to succeed. They see their cautious hesitancy to act, but not their imaginative foresight. For each neurotic problem area there is a corresponding positive desire and ability. However, because of their idealism and perfectionism (these qualities, too, have positive aspects) neurotic people focus on the defects and feel inferior. They use their strong analytical powers on themselves in a negative, unproductive manner.
David Reynolds, Ph.D.
Water Bears No Scars: Japanese Lifeways for Personal Growth
July 19