Isolation & Branching Out

No man is an island. Yet even if one tribe is on the island, is that not some form of isolation from the world? I am also reminded of the story of Plato's cave and the shadows on the wall. If you don't go out of the cave then you never know.

I remember in this tradition I followed (I never reached that certain state) you were to be isolated for a lunar month where there would be a person who'd deliver your food but they wouldn't walk to you. It was supposed to be a time of meditation and dare I say gnosis? A realization? It reminds me of the little spiel in lecture 3 about Joseph's Campbell thing about the woman, where she has to sit there and realize what she is, a vehicle of life.

So the people go out of the cave and experience one thing, so side A and B argue. Or group A leaves the island come back and the other group, B argue. The world was considered once flat, now it is considered round. So we must explore, branch out, so the world is not just flat, but we understand it is round. Then we branch and understand that the sun doesn't move around us like the moon, but we move around it. Through this exploring and branching out we awaken I guess, a great consciousness, awareness of ourselves and our place upon Earth and the cosmos.

I'm throwing out bread crumbs.

I will quote someone from a different site to help spark such a discussion

Is isolated training/learning really conducive to actual learning?

Personally, I do not think so. If your beliefs are solid and your logic sound, would it not hold up anywhere other than in a place where only like minded individuals might contribute to your learning, and therefore challenge your perceived points of view and thereby force you to adapt more often and learn more?

Here's the disclaimer: I am not saying private journals aren't useful, by and large. I have a deep appreciation for private logs, as they are very important tools for personal growth, reflection, and revisiting one's own past states of mind. Same goes for a private place to fall back and study.

I'm simply of the opinion that actual learning takes place primarily in the world, not primarily in the dojo. What do you guys think?

Yeah, I think that's pretty understandable. If you sit in a box alone all your life you might learn something, but probably not near as much as if you stepped out and experienced the insanity of the world. Kind of how the internet has allowed people to explore different cultures and ideas even if they can't afford to travel far from home.

Though, I wonder what it would have been like to be someone like Helen Keller? How different you might think, what the world would seem like...

I prefer to think of the conscious mind like an estuary with the forest and river the subconscious, and the ocean the Force around us. On a rainy day, the river overfills the estuary with sediment, the high tide draws it out to sea, and the low tide turns it into mud. On a clear day the estuary is full of sediment, the high tide slowly mixes it around and around, and it is not until the low tide forms a lake, that it can settle and turn pristine.

Explanatory notes; rainy = stress, sediment = emotions.

Edit; the point being its always going to rain, and there is always going to be tides. Life is about managing change.