And it is no use to hide and tell us we are westerners, or 
conservative, and therefore not likely to understand you.  We are open 
minded and willing to learn.  We would not be here if not.  But we 
really need to understand you first.  It is your job to have us 
understand you.  Otherwise I can just blame English being my third 
language when people do not understand me.  But no, it is my job to 
make sure I am clear.  It is not the job of my audience.

Quoting Alon Serper <[log in to unmask]>:

> Jekan - We are your intended audience.  You produce your narratives
> (either visual or textual) for us and for our benefit.  And if we do
> not understand you then you have nothing.  And if an educator who is as
> patient, sympathetic and caring as Jack cannot comprehend and relate to
> you then you are ought to reconsider and learn and embrace constructive
> criticisms.  Hiding behind words such as 'excluded middle', thinking we
> will immediately repent and unfold, does not make us understand you
> more.
>
> The intention of any narrative is the timely and rigorous ethical
> contribution to the epistemology (knowledge/ theory of knowledge) and
> education of the writer/narrator's intended audience and those who are
> engaging with it/him. Otherwise it is just a person amusing or talking
> to himself/herself.  And taking a lot of space in people's mailbox. Alon
>
>
> Quoting Rev Je Kan Adler-Collins <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> “Without such an  understanding I doubt if many
>> viewers of the video-clip would  understand your values and commitment
>> from just watching
>> the video.  But I may be mistaken and my doubt could be inappropriate.”
>>
>> Your response was not unexpected and in a way I am glad that you did
>> respond as you have. It leads me to the issues that I am worried about
>> concerning how we see and what we see.  When I worked in my healing
>> research with indigenous healers of different countries ( South
>> America, Mexico, the first nation peoples, ) I did not know the history
>> or the language other than what my culture had fed me.  I had no terms
>> of reference and no pre conceived ideas about what I would or should
>> see/feel spiritually. The shaman, healers, priest and medicine men do
>> not give formal teachings as they expect your spirit to teach you. In
>> this way your questions, actions and insights, give a good indication
>> to the teacher of you understandings and awareness.  It is the same in
>> Japan. In traditional Buddhist teachings very little formal teaching is
>> given as it is for the individual to find there way towards,
>> enlightenment. Each different sect of Buddhism has its own philosophy
>> and thinking from which it builds it traditions and rituals. Over time
>> these become formalized and the meanings of the original thinking that
>> gave rise to the rituals are lost in the dogmatic teaching of the
>> knowledge in the box.
>>
>> My concern with western forms of understand is the idea of immediacy
>> and one where there is a knowledge giver and a knowledge receiver and
>> that knowledge has to be within a set of pre set conditions and the
>> context has to be known. This I feel is the main and crucial difference
>> between the analytical, lets understand the box , what the box is made
>> of, how to use the box and what is in the box thinking and that of;
>> well,  lets see the space that the box has created in space and see
>> what the box brings to both its internal and external space.
>>
>> I deliberately did not include a textual narrative as the idea was to
>> give and insight to practice. I had hoped that such questions and
>> observations would be evolve of the nature: what do I feel as I look?
>> what do I hear as I listen? I wanted the visuals to be virgin as it
>> were and then the questions that arise form engagement by inclusion
>> would be the meeting ground to understand .For me I believe that you
>> have set out the conditions you need in order to understand.
>>
>> I am different to you, with my understandings, I need no words as I
>> give space to the space. In the ideas of  Alan’s excluded middle I am
>> comfortable with having no terms of reference other than thinkable and
>> unthinkable.  Brian talks of esoteric words and thinking and how to
>> hold on to them. If you preset your viewing by context in the claim
>> that it is the only way to understand  Then from the very beginning you
>> are not allowing your self to engage in a form of inclusional
>> communication offered. If I use my understandings of my senses, with
>> the idea that the only truth that has any relevance is that; I know
>> there is much I do not know, I can expand the boundaries of my
>> ignorance because they are fluid in their dynamics of conscious open
>> enquiry.  Often I have to unlearn how I have been taught to see and the
>> blindness of expectations is shown for what it is, that of cultural
>> conditioning.
>>
>> I took a risk in offering insights to my practice as a mountain
>> Buddhist monk, knowing that many would have no terms of reference to
>> understand its context. I had hoped that some would be able to identify
>> the values even if they did not know the context. I am intrigued to
>> know if love and compassion can communicate non textually across
>> cultures. It seems so far that I have failed in that endeavor. smile.
>> I hoped that it would stimulate some questions that would indicate a
>> willingness to explore rather than set conditions under which the
>> communication can take place. What interests me as I know through our
>> friendship that we have on occasions been in different worlds, is that
>> your ground breaking work will lead you to having to become more
>> comfortable with having less control over your boundaries of learning
>> within a space and allow the space to teach you by reflecting back to
>> you.
>>
>> The most positive part of your response was that related to the
>> technology, which is used to create the box in cyberspace. Rather than
>> any engagement with what you felt about what you saw or did not see.
>> Interesting stuff other peoples’ worlds.. smile. If I was the sensitive
>> type of individual the silence to the posting could stop me trying
>> again as the time and effort to create, edit, post the clip is
>> considerable and the responses negligible. However I believe that it is
>> part of my learning to understand myself through the reflections of
>> others that continues and will continue to fuel my passion to
>> communicate. What our dialogue is showing is the difficulty and
>> complexity of forms and conditions of knowing. That is an exciting
>> challenge..
>>
>> Love and respect, grasshopper
>> Je Kan
>>
>> Rev Je Kan Adler-Collins
>> Associate Professor of Nursing
>> Fukuoka Prefectural University Faculty of Nursing
>> Tagawa City
>> Fukuoka Prefecture
>> Japan
>>
>