Provenance
image: joseph lane
Sitting in the sun room at home I am caught by the statue of the Buddha’s head on the marble floor. There is a graceful line to the nose from the brow that the sculptor has captured with skill and finesse.
I am reminded of the saying from Eliphas Levi, “Refine, all can be achieved by refinement.” Development is a matter of engineering your circumstances so that the outer portrayal of your life is a manifestation of the inner state that you occupy. This means creating a symbiotic approach to your life so that there is a resonance or a frequency of sameness throughout.
It’s about consistency, it’s about integrity. The outer state is a representation of the inner state. It is in this way that you can read people, you can tune into precisely what is going on in any given situation according to the outer expression of what is actually at play.
People make excuses, we all do it and that is a part of living, we excuse ourselves and among family and friends we make allowance for the imperfections of each of us. The question is, of course, how far do you go with it? And, critically, do you make excuses to yourself?
You are the one who knows your inner state best of all, you are the one who has the greatest insight and are best placed to assess whether you are being true to yourself or not.
What you choose to surround yourself with, what you are attracted to, who you mix with, the thoughts you have, the things you do are all expressions of that inner state. That place which is closer to you than anything else.
If you are cold reading a person you will observe textures, movements, postures, speech patterns, clothing, hairstyles and so on. All of this will give a picture of where the person is coming from and where they are in themselves. What’s important to them, what do they emphasise or even what do they make a big play of not emphasising?
Reflection is everything. To understand yourself better, use the method I have described elsewhere of detached viewing and then look at yourself and your environment as though it were the very first time.