We discern distance and depth in what we observe. The world does not present itself to us as a flat surface, like a drawing on a piece of paper. We are able to observe that some things are closer to us than others. Those that are closer are better defined, outlined more sharply. Their edges are more distinct. Those objects that are further away have smudged contours. This difference, between edges and smudged contours, is one of a number of indicators that allows us to determine whether an object is close to us or at a distance from us.

Propositions

In this chapter I want to argue four things.

The first is that it is important for us to be able to determine what is near and what is far and to view each in relation to the other. In other words, like the artist, we need to master perspective.

The second thing I will be contending is that our ability to determine whether objects are close or at a distance will be facilitated by the degree of light directed onto the scene. Light will tend to exaggerate the edges of the objects that are close and it can increase the haze that smudges distant features. [17]

The third thing that I will be suggesting is that those elements that are closest to us and those that are furthest away are both important. We need to attend to the things that are near and the things that far away, and we can only attend to both adequately when each is seen in relationship to the other.

The fourth comment that I will make is that it is only as we can distinguished between what is near and far that we can gauge the distance we still have to travel to achieve our objective.

My ruminations on edges and smudged contours, on near and far, and the importance of seeing each in relationship to the other, where both perspectives are honoured, will focus on the physical world, on ideas and perceptions, on personal development, on relationships and on the development of human community.

The Physical World

Whether we stand on a mountain top, or sandy beach, and look out towards the horizon, we are able to distinguish between the foreground, the middle ground and the background.

The leaves of the bushes that are several meters from us, or the shells that are embedded in the sand at our feet, are clearly outlined. What is in the foreground is characterized by sharp edges. We do not need to use our imagination to fill out the visual image. What is in the middle ground is still relatively easily discerned, though we need to fill in some details from memory. The edges are less distinct. We have much greater difficulty discerning what is in the distance with any degree of precision. Contours are smudged. [18]

Colours are indistinct and tend towards pastel shades and the rich colours of the spectrum dissolve into shades of grey.

The fact that there are differences between foreground, middle ground and background is what gives us a sense of depth and perspective. It also helps us, as observers, to determine where we are situated within the broader environment.

The stronger the light from the sun the more the edges of elements making up the foreground are accentuated. This is a function of the juxtaposition of light and shade. This contrast will also better define objects in the middle ground, and even in the background, provided that neither is obscured by haze.

The positioning of the light will accentuate different features of the landscape at different times of the day, and, as a consequence, will give some indication of the timing of our observations. We are familiar with the changing play of light on the ridges of distant hills in the late afternoon.

It is important to be able to distinguish between near and far. We need to be aware of what is close so that we don't walk into obstructions and damage ourselves, walk over cliffs, or cower before distant mountains.

It is equally important for us to be aware of what lies in the distance. The far horizon furnishes the background, the setting against which what is in the foreground can be evaluated. When near and far are in balance, they can be seen in relationship to each other.

Situating the near in relationship to the far, and the far in relationship to the near, enables us to gauge the distance we still have to travel in order to reach an objective. When our [19] perspective, our judgement of distance, is realistic, the assessment of the time it will take us to reach our destination will also be realistic. We will not over-reach ourselves. We will not set ourselves difficult, impossible targets, nor will we be frustrated with ourselves, or with others, when we do not achieve unrealistic objectives.

When we are able to put the foreground, the middle ground and the background in proper perspective, we will also be able to determine how to reach our objective. We will be able to sketch out the path we will take. The route we devise may need to be modified as we progress, when what is now the middle ground becomes the foreground and we are more aware of possibilities and obstacles.

In engaging the physical world, the ability to determine what is near and far gives us perspective and enables us to locate ourselves as observers in the broader environment. The stronger the light falling on the scene, the more able we are to distinguish elements in the foreground and the middle ground. Being able to determine what is in the foreground helps prevent accidents and enables us to avoid being intimidated by distant elements. It also helps us hold the elements of the scene in balance. It enables us to assess the distance we have to travel in order to reach our objective and helps us determine how we are going to get there--the route we will take and the provisions we will need.

Ideas

The principles that we have enumerated, in relationship to our observation of the environment, are equally valid in dealing with ideas, perceptions and intellectual commitments. [20]

When playing with ideas, it is usual for our focus to concentrate on the foreground, on the perception or idea we are entertaining. It is only rarely that we consider the middle-ground or background.

Ideas, perceptions, and their issue, intellectual commitments, do not exist in isolation. They are set within a broader range of ideas. It is, therefore, important for us to ask ourselves the question, "What is the broader framework within which this idea or perception is located?"

In answering this question, we should determine two things--whether the idea sits comfortably within the broader context of ideas within which it is situated, and whether this broader context is itself consistent or sustainable. It is important for us to explore this middle ground.

The background, or horizon, is of equal importance. There are two elements to this background.

The first is associated with the history of the idea, with a matrix out of which it has arisen. There are few original ideas. What appear to be new ideas are usually generated by other ideas. Researching the history of an idea will help us assess it.

The second element will involve us tracing the implications of the idea.

We will need to ask ourselves, "Where is this idea leading?" We need to determine whether the idea sits comfortably with our overview of reality. Is this new idea consistent with other intellectual commitments?

Of course, there are times when fresh ideas, or the accumulation of new information, will challenge and [21] overturn our worldview. But this does not happen frequently, and is usually the result of a long gestation. While it is possible for new ideas to transform our world view, many of the novel ideas we entertain, because they are presented persuasively by others and enjoy an initial plausibility, are often inconsistent with core, intellectual commitments. For this reason, it is important that we investigate where new ideas have come from and where they are likely to take us.

By exploring the middle ground, and the background, of the ideas, perceptions and intellectual commitments that invite our allegiance, we can discern their value, pedigree, implications, strengths and weaknesses. To surrender unquestioningly to novel ideas, because of their initial attractiveness, is to surrender our judgment. If we remain uncritical, we run the risk of being seduced by pernicious ideologies.

When we are able to view the foreground against the middle ground and the background, we are also able to determine the position that we, as observer, are occupying. We are able to situate ourselves in the context of a broader range of perspectives. This also frees us from blind captivity to our cherished notions, and helps us more clearly articulate our worldview, our philosophical position.

The degree of light that we allow to fall on the idea, the perception or the intellectual commitment, influences our capacity for discernment. This light may derive from understandings and insights from a range of academic disciplines, a lifetime of experience, or from the wisdom that is the gift of consistent meditative practice.

If the light that we are focusing on the foreground is too intense, it can result in a sharpness that will blind us to the [22] subtle nuances of the situation. The edge between the surface reflecting the bright light, and the shadows that it accentuates, can present us with invalid either/or choices. What is to be striven for is not intensity but clarity, and that clarity is more likely to be provided by a combination of comprehensive inter-disciplinary research informed by the wisdom and compassion deriving from a self that is not at the mercy of un-met ego needs.

With ideas, as with geographical features, near and far are equally important. The near focus will help us assess the integrity, consistency, structure, beauty and the fault lines of the idea. The far will furnish us with the over-arching vista within which the idea is set. It will also allow us to discern whether a not the idea fits comfortably within this framework.

If we concentrate both on the near and the far, and see them in relationship to each other, we will be able to gauge the time required to make this assessment, and to integrate the idea into our worldview. This principle is evident in scientific exploration.

In the area of ideas, perceptions and intellectual commitments, as in geographical exploration, this exercise is humbling, because it will convince us that we can never know it all, never explore the whole territory. On the other hand, it will cushion the blow to our pride that this understanding delivers, because we will realise that it is unrealistic to expect that we, or anyone, however well endowed intellectually, can know everything about everything. [23]

Personal Development

While the ability to situate ourselves in a complex physical environment, and the capacity to locate our ideas within a broader framework of understanding, is critical, they hardly compare with the task of gaining an accurate perspective on our personal development.

It seems ironic that what we know least about is ourselves.

We are confronted by challenges every day, challenges to our self-esteem, self-knowledge and security. Our responses to these challenges could reveal to us hidden aspects of ourselves. However, because we very rarely reflect upon these responses, on why we respond as we do, we forfeit the opportunity of becoming better acquainted with ourselves and of playing a more intentional role in our development. Those who do pay attention to self-development are more likely to be influenced by folk mythologies, by the media, and by the ill-informed comments of their peers, than they are by the informed insights of those who have studied human development.

Most people live superficial lives, not because they lack depth, but because they are unaware of the depth they possess. For instance, they are more likely to believe that wealth will bring happiness than that happiness derives from contentment with one's lot, and the ability to share oneself with others.

If we are to escape captivity to the foreground, to superficial opinions, we need to be engaged in a process that allows us to transcend this captivity. This transcendence involves the ability to stand aside from ourselves, so that we can observe ourselves, our commitments and our reactions, from the perspective of an informed external observer. [24]

This will mean that we need to cease identifying exclusively with the ego and its superficial judgments. It will be important for us to explore the deeper levels of the self. Light is thrown on the process when we study the insights of experts, seek out guides we can trust, and commit ourselves to the process of self-exploration. I have found dream interpretation, and meditation, to be useful tools. The discoveries we make, when we descend into these deeper levels of the self, can be validated by the testimony of the world's wisdom traditions.

The foreground and the background, the near and the far, are both important. We need to give sustained attention to that which is engaging us. At the same time, it is important that we be aware of the possibilities that lie in the future. Furthermore, the near and the far need to be evaluated in relationship to each other. When this happens, we will discover that it is easier for us to relax into the process of self-development and actively participate in the emergence of inbuilt potential.

If we are able to keep the near and the far in balance, we will be better able to judge the distance we still have to travel to reach our objective. We will be able to situate ourselves in the continuum of human development. This will help us avoid impatience and despair and gift us with persistence and patience.

This comprehensive perspective will also help us devise practices that will enable us to participate intentionally in the process of our development, a development that will ultimately free us from desperate egoic needs and release us to be involved in the lives of others, and of our world, without our pathologies contaminating the involvement. It will release us from narrow, sectional and racial [25] commitments, and help us appreciate that we are citizens of the world and brothers and sisters of all people.

These practices will include exercises that will keep our bodies healthy and our minds alert, and disciplines that develop emotional, mental and spiritual capacities. They involve commitments that embrace family, friends, and neighbours, indeed all sentient beings. They also encompass exercises that develop compassion, and engagements that foster involvement in educational, political and civic duty.¹

The ability to see what is close at hand, in the context of what lies in the distance, will also help us appreciate that the process of self-development is a lifelong task.

Relationships

The importance of identifying foreground and background is critical in the area of relationships.

Few give attention to analyzing the nature of their relationships until these relationships are under stress, and even then, many will merely lash out in anger, blaming others for their faults. Few are aware of factors within themselves--physiological or environmental--that impact upon their relationships. Fewer still are conscious of the rich possibilities open to those who are willing to work on these relationships.

There are three levels of relationship open to us all--relationships with ourselves, with others and with God, that is, with that Presence many discern as a foundational aspect of their environment.

While it is impossible to conduct a relationship on any of these levels in a way that does not impact on the other levels, [26] it is important to distinguish between the levels, as this will help us appreciate the comprehensive nature of our relationships.

Relating to ourselves involves dialoguing with ourselves. This includes self-talk, the discernment of the many personalities, or elements, within the psyche, and communication between these sub-personalities.

At one level, our dreams reflect the way our minds sort out the thoughts, events and emotions of the previous day. At another level, they are an example of the sort of dialogue that the unconscious can initiate in its endeavour to communicate with the conscious mind. When the conscious mind, or the ego, tunes into the symbols that the unconscious throws up, and reflects on them, this intra-psychic communication becomes more intentional, and, therefore, more beneficial.

The fact that we are communal beings means that we are constantly dialoguing with others, sometimes about mundane issues, and sometimes about things that concern us deeply.

The level at which this communication takes place will largely depend upon the quality of our self-communication. If we are aware of the many elements, or sub-personalities, that constitute us, we will identify the existence of similar elements in others. This means that we will be able to relate on a number of levels, separately or concurrently. This will enrich our communication and deepen our relationships with others.

Relating to God, or to a God-image, is a very subtle and complex process. [27]

I have argued elsewhere that our relationship to this felt Presence could progress through four stages.²

As young children, we develop a God-image, based on our experience of early care-givers, particularly our mothers. As we become more involved with our fathers, and as we are increasingly influenced by patriarchal elements within our cultures, this God-image ceases to be exclusively female. During this early phase, whether our mother or our father's image predominates, we experience God as parent.

We next experience God as a projection of unconscious elements in the psyche. These elements, which include the energy of an inner divinity, as well as feelings of guilt, self-recrimination and self-hatred, are projected onto a god-image furnished by the culture.

If we reach the stage where we no longer project the energies associated with this inner Presence onto an external object, but begin to descend within ourselves, where we encounter this Presence, we begin to relate to the Presence directly. At this stage, God is encountered in the depths of our subjectivity.

In the next stage, God is experienced as a universal Cosmic Presence. We find that the Presence we have discerned within is equally present in the world around us. The world, the universe, despite its moral ambiguity, is alive with the glory of God.

Once we begin exploring the three levels of relationship, it is not long before we recognise that our ability to relate on all three levels can be enhanced.

If we are to grow, we need to re-negotiate each of these relationships in order to relate more deeply within each of [28] them. Furthermore, increasing our capacity to relate on any one of these levels will have a positive effect at the other levels.

Directing light onto this process, by sharpening our awareness of issues and possibilities, will help us relate more effectively. This light derives from the experiences of others and the insights of experts.

Experience suggests that the two most significant lessons to be learned at each of the three levels of relating are that the deepening of relationships is painful, and that the most painful of lessons involves us facing up to the truth about ourselves.

Relating to ourselves is foundational. If we cannot relate to ourselves, we will have little hope of relating to others or to God. A purposeful descent into ourselves, and a willingness to face our demons, is a precondition for effective communication with others and with God.

It is also important, in developing relational skills, to identify the foreground, and the background, and to see each in relationship to the other.

Our focus on the near will remind us of immediate issues we must tackle. Our scanning of the horizon helps remind us of future possibilities.

By keeping the near and far in perspective, we will not fall victim to easy solutions, or imagine that heaven is around the next corner. Nor will we give up hope. We will not collapse the near into the far or the far into the near.

One of the values of the concept of karma, for Easterners, is that they are convinced that they have many life-times in [29] which to pursue the developmental journey. They consider that the Christian concept of an instant heaven, for the chosen, is too slick. If we are to be perfected in an instant, why bother to instigate difficult changes now. Hang in, remain faithful, and you will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye! Of course, not all Christians react this way. Many pursue growth goals. Some, however, who conscientiously seek to improve themselves, feel guilty about their lack of progress, place unreal demands upon themselves, and castigate themselves for their lack of progress, thus lessening the likelihood that they will achieve the progress they consider is expected of them.

By identifying the relationship between the far and the near, and by realistically appraising the progress that is possible, we are aware of the distance we still have to travel to reach our objective. This will help us avoid frustration, self-recrimination and will make us less inclined to blame others for our failures.

Human Community

If the many communities that make up the human family are to live together peacefully and fruitfully, it will be important to identify the foreground and background of our expectations.

In order to help us do this it will be important for us to distinguish the nurturing, educative elements of community from its functional dynamics.

In certain circumstances, it is appropriate for us to lose ourselves in the inner life of communities, so that we are participants, rather than observers. On the other hand, some exchanges, such as selecting and paying for items in a supermarket, or filling in a tax return, do not involve the [30] same degree of interpersonal exchange. In the first instance, we are contributing to the relational life of the community. In the second, we are engaged in functional transactions.

The Germans use two words to distinguish these two aspects of community. When they speak of gemeinschaft, they are talking about the inner life of the community. When they talk about gesselschaft, they our referring to the organizational structures of the community.

While it is possible, for purposes of analysis, to distinguish the inner life of the community from its organizational structures, in practice, it is impossible to separate these two elements. They overlap.

The way a community is organized will impact upon the nature of the relationships that are possible within that community. On the other hand, the degree to which the communal mythologies are owned will impact upon functional relationships within and beyond the community.

This means that when we talk about the foreground and background of human communities, we are talking about the foreground and background of at least two different aspects of community, the rich relational life of the community and its functional relationships.

On the one hand, we are talking about a range of concentric, ever-enlarging social systems, ranging from one's family and close relatives to a world community made up of many peoples, cultures and nations, as well as an ecosystem on which all living things depend. To gain perspective on where we are situated functionally, within this expanding, interlocking system, we need to be able to distance ourselves from our immediate circumstances. [31]

This organizational aspect of human community is paralleled by its internal life. The systems that embrace us can be experienced from the inside. We can know what it's like to belong to a particular profession, class, cultural group, or nation, through our participation in them. It is important for us to experience and compare the texture of community in each of the systems that encircle us. This comparative analysis, by honing our awareness and empathy, will also help us identify with others who are in totally different circumstances to us.

Directing light onto the situation will also help.

Disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, evolutionary biology, politics and economics are able to throw light on the dynamics of group interaction. On the other hand, the study of language, symbology, mythology, theology, philosophy, ethics and aesthetics help us appreciate the unique texture of distinctive communities.

It is important for us to identify the background, as well as the foreground, the near and the far, in order to gain an adequate perspective on the mythological and functional dynamics of the array of systems in which we are enmeshed.

When we are able to relate what is near to what is far, and see each in relationship to the other, we are better able to determine our social location, and its internal dynamics. We also have a better idea of the distance we still need to travel in order to reach our communal objectives.

Our growth in community also involves ever widening insights and sympathies. [32]

Some people are captive to the mythologies and ideologies of their intimates. Others have a global sympathy, which overrides the narrow sectional interests of their group.

There is a sense in which our social development needs to make the transition from an egocentric to a socio-centric, from a socio-centric to an anthropocentric, from an anthropocentric to an ecocentric, from an ecocentric to a cosmocentric, and from a cosmocentric to a theocentric perspective. When we make this journey, we discover that our embrace broadens to include all people, all creatures, all creation, including the Presence that sustains that creation.

Those who have achieved this breadth of sympathy are not always understood by others who are dominated by narrow sectional interests, and who consider those interests will be threatened by their rivals or enemies. These are driven by fear and frustration. It is easy to understand why they take the stance they do. Nevertheless, the reaction they epitomize spells death. It will be death to them, to their communities, to the human community and ultimately to the trans-human ecosystem.

Summary

It has been suggested, in this article, that we must pay attention to sharp edges and smudged contours, to the foreground and the background, to the near and the far, in our observation of the external world, in our ideas, perceptions and intellectual commitments, in our personal development, in our relationships, and in the development of human community.

It is only by honouring the near and the far that we will gain perspective. [33]

We have also argued that we must throw what light we can, from study and experience, on that which we are exploring, in order to accentuate the edges of the foreground, to light up the middle ground, and to bring the background more into focus.

It has also been contended that we need to give equal attention to the near and the far, and to see the one in relationship to the other. This will give us distance from ourselves, and our circumstances, and enable us to situate ourselves in relationship to the whole. It is only thus that we will appreciate how much distance we still have to travel to reach our objectives. [34]

[ROI 17-34]