The Generous Prince and the Error of Presumption
The Master and the Student paused in their travels to observe a philanthropist: a prince who each day would go to among the lesser folk and toss handfuls of gold coins to a growing crowd to ease their lives and his own social conscience. Even before the prince departed, the people began to squabble and fight over the proffered gifts. The prince saw this and was visibly dismayed, and thus doubtless was sure to return the next day, resolved to distribute an even greater bounty next time, even as he had increased his generosity many times before.
And the Master said to the Student, "Long have I observed this one and his truly compassionate generosity, and likewise have I observed his compounded error. Each day he tries again, attempting to correct it. Do you see his failure?"
For a time, the Student considered the scene he had just witnessed, and pondered the pattern indicated by it.
"Is it that these people are not the poor?" asked the Student, noting the crowd, now dispersing, seemed made up of a solid middling class of society: one with lean, but not inadequate, means.
And the Master replied, "Perhaps, but who is to say that this philanthropist does not want these specific folk to enjoy a small bit of abundance in their meager lives, rather than to uplift the poor? The merit of such choices would be a debatable point, but it is not the prime error at work."
The Student considered this and the further contemplated the nature of the situation. Truly, there was nothing exceptional about the members of the crowd: typical people, their behavior all too normal in such a case as this. So the Student turned his attention to the prince, himself. Truly compassionate, the Master had named him, and that was to the man's good credit. And the Student mulled aloud, "Clearly, the method of this philanthropist is flawed: throwing random coins to the crowd forces all to compete for the bounty and this will almost certainly lead to conflict. If this prince wishes to improve lives by these means, this method he employs cannot but accomplish the opposite."
And the Master replied, "This chosen mode of distribution is certainly dubious in its effectiveness, but even if the prince were to place each coin in the hand of each recipient with great care, his prime error would remain."
The Student ruminated upon this point deeply and at length. Would not the error be corrected if the method were refined? And yet, it would not - of this the Student became certain. It could not: the problem lay not so much in the manner of the distribution per se, just as it did not lie in the choice of recipients.
And the Student perceived the prime error: "The prince is acting upon his ideals: high principles, high hope and high expectation. He is acting to address a situation that thus may lie solely in his idealized vision, rather than in the true conditions. By overlaying a presumption of circumstances and how people ought to be upon the reality, his actions are ultimately doomed to failure, even to the extent of dire consequences. Though his present reasoning on mode and manner of philanthropy is clearly flawed also, no matter how rationally perfect the method might be made in his mind, it will likewise be thwarted by its roots in idealistic presumptions."
The Master nodded in agreement, "Indeed, that is so: you now perceive the error correctly. The philanthropist tries his best and redoubles his efforts, but with his perceptions clouded by his presumptions, he cannot comprehend his lack of success and why each attempt to make matters right leads to an escalation of trouble. If he should solve anything at all by these actions, it will be as much accident as intent. And even if this prince does not continue in his present manner of mounting generosity - which would surely reduced him eventually to a beggar - he will doubtless have sowed more animosity than joy.
"If his judgement and actions were tempered by clarified perception, he would see that he must not only change his tact if the aim is to be positively accomplished. He must first come to recognize the reality that truly exists. The nature of the world and mankind are not likely to conveniently alter themselves to suit his noble ideals. Such things must be addressed at their realistic levels if they are to be improved toward such high expectations.
"Good intentions, high ideals, even the best of resources and most logical of plans: none of these can succeed unless one applies clear perception to the situation and the conditions involved, and thus begins at the beginning, the root of the matter. Acting upon presumption, even the most noble, is worse than proceeding merely blind: invariably doomed to gross error. In such cases, the very basis upon presumption is a serious error which compounds the error of everything that follows, no matter how procedurally perfect any portion may be in action.
"This is why Perception is named among the 3 Rays of Enlightenment. Without Perception, both Reason and Compassion cannot be effectively turned into practice and applied action, and may tend to error."
And the Student understood the lesson in this, and bowed to the Master, "Your teaching is very wise, and I will endeavor to put aside my presumptions, and open my eyes to reality so that I will reason, feel and act with true awareness." The Student paused then, suddenly gripped by a revelation: "Master, does this not challenge and invalidate any philosophy, even those that appear internally enlightened, that does not ground itself firmly upon clear perception of real condition? Does this not strike down the pedestals of ideology and absolute morality?"
And the Master smiled warmly at his pupil's epiphany, "Yes, my friend, that is so. Any philosophy - indeed, any modeled system - that cannot endure the test of perception proves itself to be a fantasy, no matter how ideal and logical it may internally be. This realization is a vital insight and will serve you well in all things."
The Student bowed to Master again, in gratitude "I would not have seen this without your teaching. I shall strive to avoid empty philosophy in favor of perceptive contemplation."
And the Master laughed, "As must I, as must we all!"
And the Master said to the Student, "Long have I observed this one and his truly compassionate generosity, and likewise have I observed his compounded error. Each day he tries again, attempting to correct it. Do you see his failure?"
For a time, the Student considered the scene he had just witnessed, and pondered the pattern indicated by it.
"Is it that these people are not the poor?" asked the Student, noting the crowd, now dispersing, seemed made up of a solid middling class of society: one with lean, but not inadequate, means.
And the Master replied, "Perhaps, but who is to say that this philanthropist does not want these specific folk to enjoy a small bit of abundance in their meager lives, rather than to uplift the poor? The merit of such choices would be a debatable point, but it is not the prime error at work."
The Student considered this and the further contemplated the nature of the situation. Truly, there was nothing exceptional about the members of the crowd: typical people, their behavior all too normal in such a case as this. So the Student turned his attention to the prince, himself. Truly compassionate, the Master had named him, and that was to the man's good credit. And the Student mulled aloud, "Clearly, the method of this philanthropist is flawed: throwing random coins to the crowd forces all to compete for the bounty and this will almost certainly lead to conflict. If this prince wishes to improve lives by these means, this method he employs cannot but accomplish the opposite."
And the Master replied, "This chosen mode of distribution is certainly dubious in its effectiveness, but even if the prince were to place each coin in the hand of each recipient with great care, his prime error would remain."
The Student ruminated upon this point deeply and at length. Would not the error be corrected if the method were refined? And yet, it would not - of this the Student became certain. It could not: the problem lay not so much in the manner of the distribution per se, just as it did not lie in the choice of recipients.
And the Student perceived the prime error: "The prince is acting upon his ideals: high principles, high hope and high expectation. He is acting to address a situation that thus may lie solely in his idealized vision, rather than in the true conditions. By overlaying a presumption of circumstances and how people ought to be upon the reality, his actions are ultimately doomed to failure, even to the extent of dire consequences. Though his present reasoning on mode and manner of philanthropy is clearly flawed also, no matter how rationally perfect the method might be made in his mind, it will likewise be thwarted by its roots in idealistic presumptions."
The Master nodded in agreement, "Indeed, that is so: you now perceive the error correctly. The philanthropist tries his best and redoubles his efforts, but with his perceptions clouded by his presumptions, he cannot comprehend his lack of success and why each attempt to make matters right leads to an escalation of trouble. If he should solve anything at all by these actions, it will be as much accident as intent. And even if this prince does not continue in his present manner of mounting generosity - which would surely reduced him eventually to a beggar - he will doubtless have sowed more animosity than joy.
"If his judgement and actions were tempered by clarified perception, he would see that he must not only change his tact if the aim is to be positively accomplished. He must first come to recognize the reality that truly exists. The nature of the world and mankind are not likely to conveniently alter themselves to suit his noble ideals. Such things must be addressed at their realistic levels if they are to be improved toward such high expectations.
"Good intentions, high ideals, even the best of resources and most logical of plans: none of these can succeed unless one applies clear perception to the situation and the conditions involved, and thus begins at the beginning, the root of the matter. Acting upon presumption, even the most noble, is worse than proceeding merely blind: invariably doomed to gross error. In such cases, the very basis upon presumption is a serious error which compounds the error of everything that follows, no matter how procedurally perfect any portion may be in action.
"This is why Perception is named among the 3 Rays of Enlightenment. Without Perception, both Reason and Compassion cannot be effectively turned into practice and applied action, and may tend to error."
And the Student understood the lesson in this, and bowed to the Master, "Your teaching is very wise, and I will endeavor to put aside my presumptions, and open my eyes to reality so that I will reason, feel and act with true awareness." The Student paused then, suddenly gripped by a revelation: "Master, does this not challenge and invalidate any philosophy, even those that appear internally enlightened, that does not ground itself firmly upon clear perception of real condition? Does this not strike down the pedestals of ideology and absolute morality?"
And the Master smiled warmly at his pupil's epiphany, "Yes, my friend, that is so. Any philosophy - indeed, any modeled system - that cannot endure the test of perception proves itself to be a fantasy, no matter how ideal and logical it may internally be. This realization is a vital insight and will serve you well in all things."
The Student bowed to Master again, in gratitude "I would not have seen this without your teaching. I shall strive to avoid empty philosophy in favor of perceptive contemplation."
And the Master laughed, "As must I, as must we all!"