Berig     Created on Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:42  
  To Understand  
 
"In order to understand, one must be willing to understand" is a cliche often told to the young who refuse to see a situation from another angle; however, it is a cliche in itself simply because it is an understatement to those who do not recognize the harsh consequences of refusing to see a situation through another's eyes.

In order for one to understand, he or she must be aware that the progress of understanding does not come to light so easily. 'To understand' is simply a small portion of 'understanding.' 

If the confusion is not enough for you 'to understand', seeker, then perhaps there needs to be a new light of 'understanding.'  Confusion brews a whole new sense of 'understanding' to those who try to 'understand,' yet brews a whole new sense of .. 'understanding' to those who are 'willing to understand.'

Do you understand?

If you do, then you need not read further for you obviously understand my purpose of confusion.  If you are confused, however, and are willing to understand why I have taken a confusing approach, read on.

                                          --------------------
Review this cliche once more:
    --"In order to understand, one must be willing to understand."

Now, close your eyes and imagine you are on the shores of Dae allowing the presence of tranquility overcome you.  Vestiges of peace surround you -- a cheerful songstress, a bird, soothes you with a mellisonant tune of faith, the wind caresses your hair, and the waters of the sea gently brush your feet.  Suddenly, the clouds turn a dark red.  You come out of your state of peace and realize that the songstress is not an enchanting bird, but a dark crow of fervid distaste; the caressing hands of the wind are really the desperate claws of the lost; and the waters of the sea are nothing more than a lingering darkness slowly creeping towards you.             ...

Do you understand why you have witnessed such vivid contrasts?  If you have an answer, then you understand why I have asked you to picture the above.  If you do not have an answer, then you break the cliche.

You do not have to be 'willing' to understand in order to understand.  Moreover, you do not even have to understand any series of events at all for the state of confusion is only a knot of knowledge anticipating a moment to unwind.  As a seeker of an open mind, by choosing not to drill an understanding out of a situation and instead allow situations to understand you, you can begin to 'gain an understanding' from one angle or another.  It is not until you 'gain an understanding' that you are 'willing to understand' and thus 'understand.'

With that, I present you a new cliche to break:

        "In order to understand, one must be willing to understand --                 
       but one willing to understand must first gain an understanding."


-Cristiana
Guardian of Star