by LaoDan on Wed Aug 07, 2019 7:21 am
It is human nature to be wary of the unknown, for good reason since the unknown can easily conceal dangers. It is also human nature to attempt to explain unknown things in order to ease our discomfort. Rituals also comfort people because it is a repetition of something that is familiar. But none of that means that we understand things as they actually are.
Explanations of the unknown often become cultural rituals, and traditions are tied into theoretical frameworks that incorporate numerous individual rituals. This is human nature. It is also human nature to yield to our egos in the ways that we attribute cultural superiority over others who do not share our specific culture. Ego corrupts the actual truth. Our egos drive us to want to discover secrets so that we can be superior people. But usually this becomes merely ACTING superior.
But the explanations underlying most rituals do not really explain things as they actually are. They are typically only based on guessing at the unknown. The Chinese culture seems to me to be historically very superstitious and ritualistic. Therefore I am rather skeptical of the explanations behind Chinese rituals. There are often some truths hidden underneath the ancient information, but it is not easy to parse out. If different cultures manage to exist perfectly fine without the rituals and explanations of unknown things given by different cultures, then those rituals and explanations are likely to be unimportant outside of their specific cultural environment.
For example, if a culture is unaware that the Earth is round and is constantly spinning as well as rotating around the sun, and attributes the unknown of Heaven to the up direction, then it is easy to understand why temples are built on mountain tops, or that steeples are put on churches. But that does not really mean that god(s) or other heavenly attributes are actually in that (fixed) up direction. We know now that that up direction is constantly changing in relation to the rest of the universe, yet we persist in various cultures in assigning Heaven to the up direction relative to our own local perspective.
The pole star is the one location in the heavens (in the northern hemisphere of Earth) that seems to maintain its position while the other stars (constellations) move from season to season. It is human nature to assign special importance to the constant item within the changing unknown. But this does not mean that the pole star (or Big Dipper) has any real significance. It does not even mean that there is a real relationship among the stars that make up constellations. However, magnetic north on our planet, though it moves slowly and imperceptibly to our innate senses, seems to be a constant presence (although there is evidence for pole switching at various times in history). So, it is possible that magnetic north of Earth could be of some influence on humans (could this be the parsed out information underlying the speculations and rituals concerned with the pole star?).
Unfortunately, it is also human nature to self-deceive. We often cannot differentiate between what we wish or believe to be true, and what the actual truth is. People can come to believe many things that are not true, and have experiences that one’s brain interprets as support for those untruths. How can we really know?
If something requires belief (or the milder form of dedicated practice) before “getting it”, then how do we know that we are not just programming our minds to experience something that is not actually real? Is it good enough to think that it COULD be real? Can we trust past practitioners who have a strong belief in the rituals and practices? If it deals with the unknown, can we ever really know?
So far it seems to me that facing south is more ritualistic than it is substantive. But there could be SOMETHING underlying it. For me it is in the realm of the unknown. I admit my ignorance. However, I have not encountered substantial increases in skills or abilities, from those who follow the ritual of facing south, over those who do not. If there is a benefit, then it appears to me to be minimal.
What practices derive from gaining comfort over the unknown, and which actually utilize information about things as they really are?