What You Understand

Some time back, my friend and I helped another with a blog about following the rabbit of reason along the road of understanding. In talking with a recent friend, I realized something needed to be added. A caution.

The caution is intent. You must be honest with yourself. Because, when you follow the rabbit of reason, what you come to understand may not be to your liking. Understanding is understanding. Truth is truth. Real is real. So you must know, to some degree, what you’re looking to find, for some you will not know until you see it, then you cannot unsee.

Once you begin to understand things, more understanding will show up. You might be walking down the road, and bling, you see and understand. You might be driving, working, watching a movie, reading a good book, and bling. And some of it, depending upon the direction, you might not like. You might even want to stop seeing. And that might not be possible. Like the Matrix, you have to decide between the red and blue pill.

I’ll give a for instance. It’s a made up situation, but based in part in reality and personal observations, also talks with others. Let’s say, you’re wondering why people tell lies, or perhaps someone you have in mind. So, at times, you ponder. Maybe you ask a friend and discuss. Maybe, you read books and discover. However, in following the rabbit of reason, you start to see your own “lies” or “deceit.” Or you really see the reason why your friend hasn’t been up front with you, why he/she has not always been honest, and so forth. But there’s another difficulty. You might start seeing “lies” where none exists, having thought about this too much. So, we have to be honest with ourselves. We can’t be “excited” to follow the rabbit of reason down the road of understanding. The rabbit isn’t excited. He’s calm and thoughtful, and isn’t always thinking. Sometimes, he’s just smelling the wonderful flowers, talking with friends, watching the sun set, or reading a good book. In other words, we can ponder without becoming obsessed. Understanding takes it’s own time.

But I believe, it’s important to understand. It’s also important to forgive, and realize not everyone see’s their own errors. They may not even realize their own motivations. So, we have to be patient, thoughtful, and also forgiving because we also have wrongs in our own lives that we haven’t seen.