The way most people are accustomed to think most often produces only immature products. Thoughts begin to crystallize, and the moment something has clearly appeared in the mind it is considered finished. But for thinking to be productive it isn’t enough end with this initial image. Thinking is really a process of grasping and releasing, making contact with some facet of the idea and then letting go and creating space for another piece crystallize.

Each individual is really like the group of blind men all touching different parts of the element and proclaiming it a different kind of thing. But unlike the blind men who cannot assimilate the whole picture, we can know all of the experiences of the blind men and though this form a more complete picture.

To really form complete thoughts requires refraining from forming a conclusion from the initial thoughts which arise. Effort is put toward seeking other facts or “thoughts” which are put together with what came initially. As the different facts are sought out and collected the thinking is applied to their relationships so that a multitude of perspectives is developed.

The process is similar to sketching with a pencil, lines are put down which are useful at the time, but which may be erased as the picture develops. No single line is allowed to dominate the emerging picture, it is the multitude of tentative lines which help the artist find and work toward the final image. The task of the artist is spend effort till a time when he or she steps back and sees the piece which is now finished and recognizes it as the formed product of their inspiration.

The task of the thinker is to create a space for thoughts to crystallize, and then dissolve them so that they may form again. It is by watching the ideas form and reform that the nature of the idea is revealed. Any single facet is incomplete, it is the aggregation of them that forms the thought.

Part of the challenge of thinking this way is holding the thoughts in a pregnant space without speaking or writing them down. Something happens when the still forming thought is communicated which robs it of the ability to reveal further facets. It looses its plasticity and becomes hardened. With practice it is possible to allow embryonic thoughts to remain in silence as we grasp and release them.

With practice the secret inner structure and development of the natural world can be learned. Seeing beyond the present and into past and future, or below the skin and into the fundamentals of structure is possible. It takes great patience and discipline to learn and read the script of nature, but it can be done.

It is different with man-made objects. Their surface indicates little of their inner structure as it is often designed simply as a cosmetic treatment. Man brings a cleverness in creating his objects which is not found in nature. Nature’s laws are complex, but they are truly open secrets. Purposeful deception cannot be found. Animals frequently feature coats which camouflage them, but the deception is a visual trick, not deception which hides their inner nature or structure.

Looking at a car the body gives little clue about the inner workings. A hybrid or electrical car works quite differently than a gas powered car, but they may look indistinguishable from one another. Further man can intentionally create objects which deceive. A ring which carries a platinum coating, but cheaper metal inside requires specialized tests to discover this. It is possible to develop expert skills and abilities which enable deeper reading of the products of man’s design, but the fact that man can intentionally deceive means the observer cannot ever be sure.

Drama is a space between reality and the pure fantasy. This gives it special properties to create space for personal or social transformation.

When something happens in real life it can’t be undone, and while this is true with the drama, what has transpired, has not really happened. Drama shares the magic of ritual, where what is performed as impact, but the impact is limited to the psyche. It is possible to explore the impact of murder, death, infidelity, without actually performing the acts themselves. This kind of magical space can be used to develop relationship to things that we can’t easily develop relationship to in the real world.

Ritual serves the same kind of function, marking inner transformations, which have little outward corollary.

While largely unconscious in everyday life use the tools of drama to explore impact in our relationships. When a frustrated husband raises his voice and shouts back at his wife, he is acting. When the hurt wife pouts and slams doors, she too is acting. These actors are seeking to discover the impact of their actions without actually performing what they feel like doing. The husband may actually want to physically harm his wife, and the wife may actually physically want to leave the husband. By acting instead of actually doing things that can’t be undone, they create space to interact and explore relationship.

Drama, theatre, and ritual all have a place in the individual and collective which is a delicate balance. Drama is powerful because it isn’t real, but moves things in us which are.

To be effective a delicate balance must be struck between believing and disbelieving the drama.Those watching the drama where must believe it enough that it will have an effect on them, and they must not believe it enough to take it as capital R real. If they don’t believe it at all, there can be no healing, no catharsis. If they believe it entirely they are delusional.

The drama can heal when it validates the feelings of the individuals or the society. They see what has previously not been spoken live, but live in a harmless way. It is real, but not Real. Once it has been spoken, healing can begin. It is then possible to let go a little, to move on, to drop the fight about beliefs. There is a little wiggle room which is created and in that space new things can happen. The balanced individual can find healing though the validation of the drama.

The unbalanced individual falls either into deep cynicism or into total delusion. If they don’t allow for the dram to move them they become cynical and strive toward more facts and figures, “none of this fluffy art stuff.” If they go the other way they fall into delusion, they believe the drama is reality. Instead of validating their view, the drama confirms it. The confirmation is dangerous because the drama isn’t real. It can’t really confirm something, only validate it. Those wrapped in the delusion of the dram grab onto the drama, they dig in and can’t let go. We see this especially strongly in the recent health-care town halls. The whole act has been a drama, but many people are either checking out (cynics) or are falling for the drama as if it were reality (delusion).

It is the rare individual who is able to see that the drama represents the struggle and can give some level of validation, which will allow them to let go, to move on and heal.