Something About Insight

Many people are fearful towards insight because of the possibility that their most cherished opinions and beliefs might be disproven. This is one important reason why we are wise to be careful about attachments to view. If one is free of attachment, then one is intellectually free to expand one’s vision. Of course, this is an opinion upon which to attach. When one realizes how easy it is to form attachments, one gains a nugget of insight.

Insight is a precious instrument we can use to understand nuance. We discover unformulated, subtle understanding of how something exists and works. Sometimes insight arrives as an epiphany; sometimes it dawns on us after considerable amounts of study and observation. The wise person tests to disprove or verify the veracity of the insight whenever possible.

Generally speaking, truth is difficult to see due to our subjective manner of viewing things. We mistake opinion for truth because the easiest way to validate our way of thinking is where it aligns with our self-centered emotions and attachments. We make mistakes in living and thinking but are reluctant to admit that we do so. This reluctance obscures insight.

Is this Honda Insight insightful?

One thing about gaining an insight is that usually obtaining one insight, leads to discovering other insights. Eventually, one notices that the melting away of previous opinions and beliefs does not threaten the integrity of who one is. When we expand understanding, we become insightful. After awhile, insightful people do not obsess about insight nor worry whether they are right and others are wrong. They realize the obsession over insight interferes with the integration of the mind with the business of living.

This requires a sense of balance because without attaining insight, we bind ourselves to fabrications, fictions, and notions about the nature of the world and ourselves. A balanced approach to insight frees us from rigid opinions, fixations, and ineffective ways of thinking. With this approach, we use insight as a tool and set it aside when it’s not necessary. There is an old parable about a ship and an ocean that illustrates this. We use the ship to travel from one shore to another shore. Upon arrival, the boat is anchored at a dock, not carried on the passengers’ shoulders across the land.

If we study the biographies of scientific and artistic people, we read stories about how great discoveries and masterpieces came about. The scientists and the artists were not consciously obsessed with what they were working on. They were concentrating upon tasks in a sort of automatic mode. The final results occured seemingly out of thin air as a flash of insight. Anyone who has engaged their creativity in a project has also experienced this effect. The insights were not coaxed out of hiding nor forced to manifest; they simply arrived.

We have all gained insights into various ways of thinking and doing. When we prod and stretch what we have learned, there is a good chance that we will stumble upon further insight. We can encourage this growth through study of various sources and practical experience. We become the best versions of ourselves by insightfully engaging with life.

Ciao

The Blue Jay of Happiness quotes 20th century Canadian philosopher, Marshall McLuhan. “A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.”