We all see what is happening around us and to us through filters. Our conditioning, our reality-tunnels, our meaning grids. Whatever you wand to call them, they are there. Another word for these filters might be our maps of reality. Bearing in mind that the maps are never the territory, they can nevertheless prove immensely valuable when dealing with the overwhelming amount of input that we constantly receive as parts of reality. Looking at, working with, and editing these maps consciously, I would argue, is better than the alternatives; either having them occur by accidental trial & error, or (and this is by far the most common) having them handed to us by others and taking them on without questioning their validity.
One of the maps I am very fond of is the Integral Model put forth by Ken Wilber and the other researchers at the Integral Institute. It makes a (very good) attempt to be a model/map of the territory of all that is while remaining simple enough to use easily. One of the basic components are the four quadrants of reality. The idea here is not to pigeon-hole any particular occasion into one of these quadrants, but rather to recognize that any occasion can be looked at from these four distinct areas.
The four areas are made by crossing two borders. The first border is the one between the interior feeling content of an occasion and its exterior form or composition. This can be visualized as a square with what it feels like to be a thing on the left, and what that thing is constructed of on the right. The next border is is the one between being a single instance of the thing being examined, and multiple instances. On our square the upper half represents the single, the lower represents the plural.
There is a further distinction which need only be held lightly for the moment, which makes the four quadrants of the square into eight sections of a cube. Namely the front of the cube being the structure of the particular quadrant, and the rear of the cube being the raw material of that quadrant. In the upper right quadrant of the examination of a human being, the back of the cube would be the raw energetic and material bits, the front would be the organization of that stuff into atoms, molecule, cells, tissues, organs and what not.
If we examine a person in this model we see several areas where examination of the self can prove advantageous. In the rear of the upper right quadrant we can make sure we are getting proper nutrition to build the structures of the front of that quadrant and make sure proper healing and recovery are taking place. We can look at our place in society in the lower right quadrant and consider our job, and our social actions. We can look to the lower left and see how we are contributing to, and benefiting from our relationships and culture.
Now, to the point of this post. The upper left quadrant. This area is, in a nutshell, what it feels like to be a self, and the thoughts we juggle and recycle as we make our way through reality. The front of that quadrant is somewhat (if we are being honest and authentic in communicating our feelings and thoughts) open to examination by others by means of psychological modeling and behavioral mapping. The rear part though, the raw feel of being, is all us. Anything we communicate about this region obviously passes through the right side of our cube, since that is where external communication takes place. The inside (rear-upper-left) of our being is also not open to plumbing by anyone else. Here, in this most intimate of realms, we are on our own.
No one can access, or make changes to the inside of us as individuals. No one else can find the truth there. No one can explore this region but us. It is for that reason that I say that the Buddha never enlightened anyone. He had no way of pushing a magic button in this area that would make us “get it.” That’s why his dieing words were an exhortation to us to work out our own salvation and to do so diligently. Those sentiments appear again and again in all of the mystic and wisdom traditions of the world. If we want work done here, we have to do it.
Another implication is that, if we want to work on the totality of what we are, we need to not ignore any of the sections of our cube. I don’t mean an exhaustive exercising and improvement in all these areas is necessary, but an occasional looking in and watering of these different portions of the garden of our life seems to me to be a good idea.
