Galactic Perspective
There are boundaries and limits, saturation and stasis, porosity and protection. In the great mess and chaos, most ‘things’ are themselves, without question, so there’s no need to flatten complexity, or subvert simplicity.[i]
Powers of ten and the relative size of things in the universe, was first explored in a film written and directed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1977. A couple have a picnic on a beach, we see them Birdseye view – then the film frame expands out x10. We soon see the Island of Sicily, the leg of Italy. The landmass is quickly overtaken by space, as the frame keeps expanding, Earth is suspended in space, then solar systems and galaxies.[ii] This gnawing question of relevance – or proportion - or a humbling of our human perspective. Then from witnessing the entire universe, we, as the audience, are pulled back inward until a single atom and its quarks are observed. The power of the U-Turn, back in. Galaxies within galaxies, the atom and cell.
As Einstein said:
‘We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.’[iii]
Structures cannot change within themselves; they limit themselves; no new knowledge can be found. If we think in Galactic terms, unknowing the unknown, different orientations and perspectives can be discovered, the mystery opens, free to reveal what you see is real.
Super-Massive Black holes are at the centre of all Galaxies, they are so ‘heavy’ (density of space) they stretch the fabric of nothingness, so it pulls in on itself, almost to the point of ripping the entire cosmos. They suck matter into themselves so fast that matter compacts and compounds and obliterates back into nothing, a heavy kind of nothing.[iv] The intimacy of this process of touching space with each particle of matter, mattering space into itself.[v]
In the true story of Sith, it’s not a revolution of good against evil – it’s a revolution against that framing entirely,
‘For a time in the Galaxy, no one imagined themselves to be avatars of good.’[vi]
Sith is akin to the English word sooth, that is truth. The work of the Sith is to reveal that which is hidden, in yourself and in the world, to dispel lies, question doctrines, break old stories – and welcome unruly truths.
A lot of truth is erupting in this time – it is beyond sides – beyond perspectives of good and evil. It’s time to broaden our horizons or obliterate them altogether. We must be willing to burn this forest down, the forest of misconceptions, falsehood, false identity [vii]– to unknow what we know and break the spell of loyalty to the ‘anthropocentric control’ of ‘business as usual’.[viii]
[i] Eisenstein (2021) The True Story of the Sith. Available at: https://charleseisenstein.substack.com/p/the-true-story-of-the-sith(accessed: 13 January 2022)
[ii] Jeffries, C (2012), Powers of Ten 1977. 21 August. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww4gYNrOkkg
[iii] Articulous (2015) Problem Solving. Available at: https://articulous.com.au/problem-solving/
[iv] BBC (2021) Our Universe is SO big it’s mindblowing! 11 November. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iAytbmXYXE(Accessed: 11 January 2022)
[v] Studium Generale Rietveld Academie (2018), On Touching: The Alerity Within, Karen Barad. 27 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7LvXswjEBY
[vi] Eisenstein (2021) The True Story of the Sith. Available at: https://charleseisenstein.substack.com/p/the-true-story-of-the-sith(accessed: 13 January 2022)
[vii] Moojiji (2016), I Came to Burn This Place Down – A Conversation with Mooji Baba. 3 August. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD0I9NWe2bA (Accessed: 14 January 2022)
[viii] BuddhaAtTheGasPump (2020), Bayo Akomolafe – Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview. 27 April. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkJhsJls2UA&t=2540s (Accessed: 3 December 2021) (01:34)
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