The Master views the parts with compassion, because he understands the whole. His constant practice is humility. He doesn’t glitter like a jewel but lets himself be shaped by the Tao, as rugged and common as stone.
(Tao Te Ching, Chapter 39)
Wisdom, i.e. true understanding of the whole, is essential to compassion. It is only when you have a picture of the whole that you can understand the individual.
It is clear, isn’t it? It is easy to condemn a person if you do not understand the circumstances which led to the person’s acting in an “unforgivable” way. The moment you get a more comprehensive perspective, and you understand the background and circumstances, you can forgive, or at least act in a constructive way. Even the most despicable criminal becomes human if you can place him or her in a broader framework.
What the passage clearly shows is that humility is a natural product of true understanding. The moment you understand the whole, you realize that you are not better than a person who has fallen by the wayside. Looking down on others is a sign of ignorance. You might even come to the conclusion that you might have acted worse if you had been in the same circumstances as that person.
In some countries, many people are so poor that they are sometimes forced to steal to stay alive. I have often seen people in a country of chronic unemployment who would rather beg than steal. It is easy to look down on the beggar for begging, but wouldn’t you have done worse in the same circumstances? I have seen infinitely poor people smile at me without a sign of hatred, even though I represent everything they will never have. Would we smile at them and be without hatred if we were barefooted and in their ragged clothes?
When I see this nobility in suffering, I feel humbled, and the last thing I would like to do is “glitter like a jewel”, i.e. shine in my affluence. The true sage is truly like a “rugged stone“: his compassion forbids him to be anything else.
wow,this is a super extraordinary excellent shot !!!
bravo man,i really loved it … the colors are magic and mystic,did you use direct positive effect for this shot or you H2 camera captured it in this amazing way???
@-1q5yChØt!c-: oh… WoW… hehee… I just don’t know what to say… I’m shocked now…
Just thanks for this lively and exciting comment… when at first I saw ur comment in my admin area with all of these little smilies jumping and celebrating and doing everything… I just said to myself what the heck is going on here… but then I read and saw that it’s from u… I really got happy so much… and enjoyed it a lot.. Thanks…
and eemmm… about what u asked… I should say that no I don’t know what Direct Positive Effect is… it’s just a HDR photo, made up of 3 photos with different exposures in Photomatix Pro 3.1, so the colors and tones are only the result of HDR tone-mapping in Photomatix… I’m very happy that u liked this photo this much… u well transferred ur energy to me through this comment… thanks…
P.S. wait for the upcoming HDRs of mine… I’m sure u’ll like them too…
bravo man !!!
this is excellent in any way …
the colors are vivid and play with my eyes
be easy with smilies
they are funny and cute…i like them
Rock on man
It reminded me a documentary I saw a while ago, it was about the Netherlands where the soft-drugs are legal (a very liberal point of view I would say). Then there was an interview with the Chief of the police department about the hard-drug addicts, and he was exactly explaining what you wrote that you haven’t walked and been in their path, so you might have ended up even worse than them if you were. So don’t treat them as parasites of the society, but as some unfortunate people who wasn’t lucky enough to be in your place and grow up/live there.
@Amir: aayyiii yerim yerim ben seni abijim… Thanks… I’m so much happy that u liked both the text and photo… text and the philosophy behind a photo has an equal importance for me with the photo itself… I’ve seen some parts of that documentary too… and yeah… I agree with what was meant to be said in that… Tanx again… abijim benim… ayyyiiiii…
@Ilan: Oh Tanx Ilan… it’s a very happy thing that u come to visit my works here… Tanx… yes it’s amazing how rocks are shaped very smoothly by the wind… a fast wind is always present in that region… and it’s very interesting how the wind has shaped all of these rocks… I’m very happy that u liked it… Tanx again…
Notes
Understanding the whole
The Master views the parts with compassion, because he understands the whole. His constant practice is humility. He doesn’t glitter like a jewel but lets himself be shaped by the Tao, as rugged and common as stone.
(Tao Te Ching, Chapter 39)
Wisdom, i.e. true understanding of the whole, is essential to compassion. It is only when you have a picture of the whole that you can understand the individual.
It is clear, isn’t it? It is easy to condemn a person if you do not understand the circumstances which led to the person’s acting in an “unforgivable” way. The moment you get a more comprehensive perspective, and you understand the background and circumstances, you can forgive, or at least act in a constructive way. Even the most despicable criminal becomes human if you can place him or her in a broader framework.
What the passage clearly shows is that humility is a natural product of true understanding. The moment you understand the whole, you realize that you are not better than a person who has fallen by the wayside. Looking down on others is a sign of ignorance. You might even come to the conclusion that you might have acted worse if you had been in the same circumstances as that person.
In some countries, many people are so poor that they are sometimes forced to steal to stay alive. I have often seen people in a country of chronic unemployment who would rather beg than steal. It is easy to look down on the beggar for begging, but wouldn’t you have done worse in the same circumstances? I have seen infinitely poor people smile at me without a sign of hatred, even though I represent everything they will never have. Would we smile at them and be without hatred if we were barefooted and in their ragged clothes?
When I see this nobility in suffering, I feel humbled, and the last thing I would like to do is “glitter like a jewel”, i.e. shine in my affluence. The true sage is truly like a “rugged stone“: his compassion forbids him to be anything else.
EXIF
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18 Comments
Impressive text and photo!
Comment by Negar — February 21, 2009 @ 11:23 pm
@Negar: I appreciate it… Tanx…
good that u liked it… 
Comment by Kaveh Saffari — February 22, 2009 @ 11:23 am
wow,this is a super extraordinary excellent shot !!!
the colors are magic and mystic,did you use direct positive effect for this shot or you H2 camera captured it in this amazing way???
bravo man,i really loved it …
Comment by -1q5yChØt!c- — February 22, 2009 @ 1:15 pm
@-1q5yChØt!c-: oh… WoW… hehee…
I just don’t know what to say… I’m shocked now… 
when at first I saw ur comment in my admin area with all of these little smilies jumping and celebrating and doing everything… 
I just said to myself what the heck is going on here… 
but then I read and saw that it’s from u… 
I really got happy so much… and enjoyed it a lot.. Thanks… 
Just thanks for this lively and exciting comment…
and eemmm…
about what u asked… I should say that no I don’t know what Direct Positive Effect is… it’s just a HDR photo, made up of 3 photos with different exposures in Photomatix Pro 3.1, so the colors and tones are only the result of HDR tone-mapping in Photomatix… 
I’m very happy that u liked this photo this much… u well transferred ur energy to me through this comment… thanks…
P.S.
wait for the upcoming HDRs of mine… I’m sure u’ll like them too… 
Comment by Kaveh Saffari — February 22, 2009 @ 2:52 pm
this is excellent in any way …
the colors are vivid and play with my eyes
be easy with smilies
they are funny and cute…i like them
Rock on man
Comment by -1q5yChØt!c- — February 22, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
Excellent shot, and excellent text.
It reminded me a documentary I saw a while ago, it was about the Netherlands where the soft-drugs are legal (a very liberal point of view I would say). Then there was an interview with the Chief of the police department about the hard-drug addicts, and he was exactly explaining what you wrote that you haven’t walked and been in their path, so you might have ended up even worse than them if you were. So don’t treat them as parasites of the society, but as some unfortunate people who wasn’t lucky enough to be in your place and grow up/live there.
Thanks for the post
Comment by Amir — February 23, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
@-1q5yChØt!c-: Tanx man… Tanx…
it’s so nice to be here with u… I appreciate that… tanx… really… 
Comment by Kaveh Saffari — February 23, 2009 @ 8:38 pm
@Amir:
aayyiii yerim yerim ben seni abijim… 
Thanks… I’m so much happy that u liked both the text and photo… text and the philosophy behind a photo has an equal importance for me with the photo itself… I’ve seen some parts of that documentary too… and yeah… I agree with what was meant to be said in that… Tanx again… 
abijim benim… ayyyiiiii… 
Comment by Kaveh Saffari — February 23, 2009 @ 8:42 pm
Great HDR, like the framing and colors, well taken.
Comment by Mohamadreza Aghajani — February 24, 2009 @ 1:29 am
@Mohamadreza Aghajani: Tanx…
yeah it seems to me too that it’s a good work… 
I like it… 
Comment by Kaveh Saffari — February 24, 2009 @ 1:42 pm
Nice shot. I really like what you did here
Comment by Kourosh Rad — February 25, 2009 @ 7:22 pm
That’s a beautiful shot! The HDR is amazing..
I love how that brown (hot color) clashes with the cold blue color.
Nicely done!
Comment by Ilan — February 26, 2009 @ 11:31 pm
@Kourosh Rad: Tanx Koroush… Tanx very much…
I’m happy that u liked it… I like it too… 
Comment by Kaveh Saffari — February 27, 2009 @ 2:25 am
@Ilan: Oh Tanx Ilan… it’s a very happy thing that u come to visit my works here… Tanx…
yes it’s amazing how rocks are shaped very smoothly by the wind… a fast wind is always present in that region… and it’s very interesting how the wind has shaped all of these rocks… 
I’m very happy that u liked it… Tanx again… 
Comment by Kaveh Saffari — February 27, 2009 @ 2:29 am
Me encanta la prespectiva de donde has tomado la foto, por no hablar del procesado que has aplicado, buen trabajo.
Saludos.
Comment by Alex — February 27, 2009 @ 11:42 am
@Alex: Agradece a Alex
yo son realmente feliz que usted tiene gusto de él Aprecio tanto…
yo tengo gusto de esta foto también y sí…
sobre la perspectiva, debo decir que estaba en una situación peligrosa alta sobre las rocas
las gracias por su comentario bueno, aclamaciones
Please pardon my Spanish, my Spanish isn’t very good…
Comment by Kaveh Saffari — February 27, 2009 @ 8:25 pm
cool…
Comment by Moly — February 28, 2009 @ 2:31 am
@Moly: Tanx…
Comment by Kaveh Saffari — February 28, 2009 @ 8:09 pm
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