Hey gang!

This month, we are going to continue to look at the Aesop stories in relation to the Path.
The one we are going to delve into this time is "The Shipwrecked Imposter".
The Shipwrecked Impostor The shipwrecked Chimpanzee had been clinging
Ior a long time to a slender spar, when a Dolphin came up and oIIered to carry
him ashore. This kind proposition was immediately accepted, and, as they moved
along, the Chimp commenced to tell the Fish many marvelous tales, every one oI
them a bundle oI Ialsehoods. "Well, well, you are indeed an educated chap," said
the Dolphin in admiration. "My schooling has been sadly neglected, as I went to
sea when but a week old." Just then they entered a large bay, and the Dolphin,
reIerring to it, said, "I suppose you know Herring Roads?" The chimp, taking this
Ior the name oI a Iellow, and not wishing to appear ignorant, replied: "Do I know
Rhodes? Well, I should almost think so! He's an old college chum oI mine, and
related to our Iamily by-" This was too much Ior the Dolphin, who immediately
made a great leap, and then diving quickly, leIt the impostor in the air Ior an
instant beIore he splashed back and disappeared. "A liar deceives no
one but himselI." (1.)
That's one oI my Iavorites. It tackles a moral issue that is not oIten discussed and is pretty
taboo in normal Jedi circles. Honesty is a hard thing. Jedi have lied. Sith have told the
truth. But, at the same time, the Sith deceive and the Jedi bring to light. And, what's
scary... they each do the same. Yoda keeps inIormation to himselI, Palpy has no problem
telling someone "how it is". This means that honesty is not a Jedi versus Sith issue. It is a
people issue. So, in order to deIine how to lie, we must Iirst realize the consequences that
go along with deception. I had an interesting time looking up the consequences oI lying.
So, I will draw on what I Iound and Irom personal experience. I was doing some research
on the placebo eIIect, the idea that your body will react by pure knowledge (even iI it
does not actually undergo a physical change). (2.) And, more scientiIically, it is the use oI
inert medication that actually produces results. I Iound that iI the body was not aware it
was being deceived, the mere belieI it worked had a hand in the healing process. This
might explain the hundreds oI years that primitive species used spells and worshiped the
gods Ior health and prosperity. In those simpler times, they had less to go oII oI. They
didn't have medicine at all. So, this is kind oI a placebo. Witch doctors said an incantation
over a patient, and the patient had nothing else to believe but that he/she would get better.
Lo and behold, sometimes it would work! And, the medicine man was heralded as a hero
because he, too, believed in his magic. I don't know how much oI this is accurate, seeing
as I do believe in Magick and everything else, but at the same time... it does bring up an
interesting question. Does benevolence, deIined as good wishing on the world, have some
sort oI ground? Does positive thinking, even iI it isn't real and it is based on deception,
have some sort oI physical grounding? This is where Absolute truth and Subjective
reality comes in. We have to make a choice: Do we believe that placebo deception is not
real and it is just talk. Or, is talk real? Can we invent our own reality Irom perspective
and experience? Is it subjective? That's where the ideology oI lying comes in. Deception
that is helpIul is still deception. I believe, personally, that we DO create our own realities.
I can use somebody else's lack oI experience to help them. I can heal someone by making
them believe I know what I am doing. They Ieel comIortable and trusting, and their body
is more ready to receive positive energy. Talk is very real. It is a way oI introducing
yourselI and your reality into the world. Each person buys in to this Absolute Reality.
And, sure, in that case, there IS an absolute reality. However, it does not exist iI we each
put in our own Subjective truths and experiences. Facts DO happen, but the only way
they are proven is iI they are measured against what we know or don't know.
So, when ignorance comes into play, there are pieces Irom the Absolute Truth that are
kept Irom us. Deception can be good or bad, depending on how you use it. This is where
it begins to relate to the Path (year, 820 words into the article... haha). Funny, I was
reading an article about the consequences oI lying in relationships (4.), and I discovered
that Jerry (Irom the article) believes it is ok to lie to your partner to protect them. And, he
puts this under the motivation category. We deIine how we use Deception, Ior the path,
by what makes us want to deceive. The "why" behind the deception is really what the
Aesop story is about. Lying is not even the goal. II you look back at the Placebo article,
you will Iind sections on the ethics oI deceiving people in order to heal them. They had a
reason Ior deceiving the people, and it was justiIied by helping them get well and healthy.
This is ok, in my opinion. However, there is a problem with deception: it causes us to
lose trust when those whom we deceive Iind out. (3.) This should play into your decision
to lie, and it should also play into your decision to keep the lie going.
Here is where the real meat and potatoes Iactor comes into play. In the story, the chimp is
grateIul Ior the help; however, he also has a pretty good ego. He believes that because the
dolphin does not know about the chimp`s liIe, that he can spew out anything he wants
and it will be alright. The chimp has a real chance to impress somebody. UnIortunately,
his stories were so out there that the dolphin had no trouble in discerning the chimp`s true
intentions. And, even with no schooling, the deception was easily Iound out. What
lessons do Jedi and Ashla people learn Irom this? My belieI is that it is related to the
ideology oI intention. When we try to impress people with lies, we become arrogant. The
selIish nature oI our actions Ialsely gives US a sense oI accomplishment. Funny how that
works. We really only hurt ourselves. It should be a Jedi tenant not to be arrogant. It is
not becoming and is not based on any sort oI ground. I think this is where the line oI
absolute truth and subjective reality really Ialls in Iavor oI subjectivity. II somebody
else`s experience conIlicts with yours, there is a problem. When you use 'truth, in the
common sense oI the term, you are matching subjective realities with one another
because they do not conIlict. This is important, I Ieel. We need to take a step back and
realize that in order to be arrogant, we need to stop deceiving ourselves. It is the greatest
crime. When we lie to ourselves, we immediately lose Iaith in our actions. We are
creating a new Universe that doesn`t really exist. And, this seems like it is the same
'contrived universe that healed the patients by the hands oI a Medicine Man; however,
there is one key diIIerence. This diIIerence is that when we are deceiving ourselves, we
are stepping into dangerous places. We are destroying our perspective when we start
letting ourselves into the world oI our own creation. This perspective is Ialse, and will
eventually lead to our demise. Just like the chimps.
So remember, when dealing with deception, think about the means. Think about the way
you go about it. And, think about what would happen iI you start believing in your own
deception.
All three oI these gone unchecked could bring about your downIall. Have Iun!
With peace,
Morivou
Source - 1. http://www.aesopIables.com/cgi/aesop1.cgi?sel&TheShipwreckedImpostor
2. Miller FG, Wendler D, Swartzman LC (2005) Deception in Research on the Placebo
EIIect. PLoS Med 2(9): e262. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020262
3. http://www.truthaboutdeception.com/lying-and-deception/detecting-
deception/consequences.html
4. http://jerryjrelationshipcoach.com/Test/wp/blog/?p107