Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
jective assessments of the physical and mental states of farm animals are highly correl-
ated, and are a very good indicator of the overall health of the animals.
Active Looking
Hold a small stone comfortably in your hand, and keep it at the same orientation
for the duration of the exercise. Relax, and let go of any determination to achieve
a result.
Now look carefully at the parts of the stone's surface. Pay very careful attention
to all the subtle changes in colour and texture, to any scratches or marks, to any
dimples or hollows. Do this for 30 seconds to a minute, and then close your eyes.
Now, for about a minute, visualise what you have just seen as clearly as possible
with as much detail as you can. Now let the image go, and just do nothing for a
few seconds.
Open your eyes and look at the stone as a whole, without focusing on the details
at all. Allow yourself to take in the stone as an entirety, as a single unified phe-
nomenon. Allow the wholeness of the stone to waft into your being without asking
yourself what the whole is or how you can actually see it. As before, do this for 30
seconds to a minute. Now close your eyes and in your mind's eye see the stone as
a whole for about a minute. Then let the image go.
Repeat this cycle for about fifteen minutes, and then enter into a quiet period of
reflection. Were there any differences between the two ways of looking?
Intuitive, holistic perceptions of wholeness naturally connect us with Jung's feeling
function, that is, with the domain of ethics. Ethics, simply put, is the ability to decide
whether a thing is right or wrong, whether it is good or not. Conventional science ig-
nores ethics, leaving it to society to decide how to use the fruits of scientific research in
the world at large. However, in holistic science we realise that perceptions of wholeness
arrived at through active looking are inseparable from a deep sensitivity to the intrinsic
value in the being or entity we are interacting with, making it very difficult for us to do
anything that would harm or disturb the 'inner necessity and truth' of that being. For
holistic scientists, many forms of genetic engineering are ethically unacceptable because
intrinsic natures are violated when alien genes are transferred from one being to anoth-
