Modes and Paths

There are people who tend to different modes of experience and relating; and these are described best by understanding the mode they most select. People who listen most to their conscious ideological or religious convictions are best understood by understanding these convictions, as it is these that most guide their behavior. People who listen the most to their feelings are best understood by understanding their feelings; ones who tend most to psychological factors, by understanding them; and further on down the line.

In understanding the person this therefore must be seen first: What do they follow, or focus upon, the most? And then work with that. A person who is a devout Christian will not be described adequately by psychoanalysis, nor a person who practices the scientific worldview by Christian or Islamic beliefs. And it is when the ideology is ill-fitting that it becomes useful to open doors to other forms of experience and relation.

One danger in doing the same is being seen as an evil-doer. Ideologies and religions carry moral aspects, and when these are challenged those who do so are seen as villains of one or another kind. Which requires careful handling as well as effectiveness in defending oneself and anyone else who may get the fallout from whatever it is that gets thought, said and done. Value clashes lead to war when improperly handled, and that is the case also for people who would be better served by doing away with the beliefs that they have. A person may be injured or oppressed by their convictions and see the wrong in them or be looking for other things, but that still does not keep many from being deeply ingrained with them and their conceptions of right and wrong. Solving such problems is akin to defusing a nuclear bomb: Careful handling required.

People exploring philosophical and spiritual matters using scientific and intellectual paths are frequently accused of arrogance. The response that is given - or should be - is that they are producing replicable results and creating paths that can be reliably followed by others, which is a benefit missing from many religious pathways. That sets such efforts apart and make them worthy of respect. In case of wisdom attained through inspiration and exploration, these produce reliably reproducible results in some cases and do not in others; but even in those cases they provide direction for furter study, and that makes such efforts likewise valuable.

The different aspects of attaining knowledge and wisdom have different effects on the character of the person doing it. If something is a divine revelation, then the responsibility for it belongs with the divine (however such may be construed), and its logical effect on its recepient is being humbled as one does when coming in contact with higher entities than oneself. If something is a discovery or a realization, then the responsibility for it belongs with the individual, and its logical effect on its recepient is being proud of what one has discovered or realized. In both cases some form of knowledge or wisdom is attained, but the method through which it is attained results in opposite effects upon the character.