Responsibility

Fundamentally, it seems to me that analysis and observation and language, and in fact the mind itself, can only go so far in helping us to understand our place in this existence.  And so when we talk about the responsible delivery of information, or when we use the word 'fact', or 'reality', I think we might arrive at some difficulties purely because I do not think of these things as givens.  To use another route; there is a theory that most knowledge is a function of the method you use to achieve it; for example, if you want to know how many people there are in a room, you count them, and the knowledge you arrive at is a function of counting. But, you simply cannot say that this 'intuitive' or 'higher' knowledge was arrived at through some method like counting or reasoning.

As far as I can see, information largely depends on the interpretation of the receiver. Ah hah, I hear you say. For this is it, no? When we share incomplete information, we have no way of controlling how it is to be interpreted by the audience. In this case, if I were to wave my degree around and then launch off into an hour's lecture about 'particles' and 'waves' and 'quantum entanglement' alongside explanations of consciousness, my audience of esoteric enthusiasts would likely assume I was a high priest in this loathed Church of Reason, and therefore that the CoR must certainly support mysticism, that experiments done at the quantum level prove this and that idea, and perhaps even go on to spread my tales across the world with no sense of the power of such implications.

Therefore it is my responsibility to communicate what I know effectively and thoroughly, to research it as deeply as possible so that I am not passing on information that has no evidence. I strive every single day to use language that separates belief from fact, analytical evidence from intuition. I need to make sure that none of the information I pass on is at odds with evidence, whether that evidence is experiential or experimental.

However... I cannot be responsible for people's reactions to that. Like you once said, you can choose where to aim your arrow, but not where it falls.  That is just the ego getting involved.  How can I possibly expect to exert that kind of control?  No. I am not a tabloid newspaper, exaggerating the truth and leaving subtle, suggestive holes. But at the same time, my responsibility lies with the presentation of information in an open, encompassing, forgiving sense.  Even if I were a famous physicist, my responsibility would be to state the results of the experiment, and to acknowledge that any interpretation in the form of theoretical functions and formulae were just that: interpretations.

JIYA JULIA

Jiya works in the field of self-empowerment, particularly through creative expression, helping people to identify their challenges and fulfill their full potential.  A founder of international organization Kula Collective, Jiya offers her retreats around the world.