Interesting discussion. Even though I often share Amos’ disappointment with western cultures, we both know quite well that the difference is really just cultural. Eastern cultures tend to view the individual as an inseperable part of a larger unit—culture, society, species, life, existance. Western cultures on the other hand, tend to view inviduals as separate, unrelated beings who must struggle with each other and their environment to earn or take their “natural” place.

We all know how ephemeral and slippery are concepts like truth, reality, fact, fiction, dream and illusion. We just filter these elusive notions through our own cultural bias.

Our global notion of east and west is just another example of our cultural limitations. The great thinker, teacher and design engineer, R. Bukminster Fuller, designed a new projection (map) of the earth he called the Dymaxion Projection. He projected the spherical surface of the planet onto an icosahedron (20-sided regular solid) to keep distortion to an absolute minimum, then unfolded the icosahedron to demonstrate that the earth's peoples really live on a fairly consolidated land mass (island) surrounded by ocean. The reason we think of east and west is only because of the way early map makers chose to project the earth's surface.

Okay, all together now, everyone sing The Universe Song.

      - Mark