The Map is not the Territory...

By Tim Che'

I don't know about you, but I have always been fascinated by maps. Maps are handy things to have when you want to get somewhere that you have not been before.  I love getting a sense of the spatial relationship of where I am to my surroundings. I have spent an inordinate amount of time looking at maps and things like Google Earth. And, even as detailed as Google Earth can be, I am ALWAYS astonished to discover that the actual place is not at all like the map, or Google Earth with the street view! It is always MUCH more in depth, and full of life, and overwhelming to the senses... a profound level of awareness and presence in an eternal moment that no map could ever come close to.

There are many kinds of maps... not just about locations and roads or paths. Religions are a map to

God, supposedly. Science is the modern map of  the material world. Pharmaceuticals and surgeries are a popular map to health.

There are mind-maps, star maps, and even a map of human consciousness. And all maps are created through someone's remembered and recorded perceptions and/or analysis of hopefully accurate data. Hopefully, of course, for anyone who wishes to follow the map and get to a particular destination.

So, maps attempt to lay out the territory and build paths to destinations. Then we discover...

Truth is a Pathless Land

 click to read this famous speech

And what does that say about "destinations" as it relates to "truth"? Let us address that later as we continue to explore "maps".

Even the most accurate map that has ever been created, or is even possible, is not the actual area:

The Map is Not the Territory

Words are like maps. Words are attempts to re-present things, so we can have a discussion about them. But the words are not the things that the words attempt to describe. If you have never tasted a mango before... I could describe (make a map of it) for you... tell you its color, its texture, its unique combination of sweet and tart, etc; etc; I could tell you a thousand things about mango's and even write a book about it, which you could read, study and maybe even get a degree in. Then, when you finally actually taste a mango, you will most likely say, "That's not what I thought it would be like at all!"

And so it is with "maps". Look closely at the picture of the elephant. The blindfolded "examiners" have each been given one area, one "map" if you will, of the territory called "elephant". They each correctly describe the area they have been shown with the tools they have been allowed to use ie; the sense of touch.

We have been "educated" with only one main map in our modern society. And that is like the picture of the elephant... we are only being shown the map of the "rope", for instance, and only given tools to examine the rope. It is not possible to see the entire "elephant" if we are taught and believe that it is only a "rope".

By believing in the map of the "rope", the "semantic disturbance" is created.

Let us take a look at the example of modern chemistry used as a map for working with the physical world.  We are shown the "map" about atoms, protons, neutrons and electrons... about the bonding of atoms into molecules through valence electrons etc... etc... We are presented the "map" called
"The Periodic Table of Elements" and told that this is the map of how to navigate the world of "matter". This map has been well used by tens of thousands of people to get to destinations, such as plastic, latex paint, or metal alloys. The map has been verified and validated over and over again as a path to many destinations of manipulated matter. This map works really well for many things even though it is not perfect and has left some explorers stranded in pursuit of uncharted destinations.

Think about going to your friends new house, or a new restaurant. You look at the map, well used and verified by thousands of people for many years. You follow the map and it leads you to your friends house... all is well.

But what if there was a different map? 

And what if this other map could get you there in half the time? What if it showed you new areas and fascinating landmarks along the way?

In using the chemistry example, there are other "maps". Walter Russell, University of Science and Philosophy (www.philosophy.org), has a completely different "map" of the material world. His map lays out the territory we call "matter" using octaves of compressed light. The use of this map correctly predicted the heavy isotopes of hydrogen, while the chemistry map users were blind to it. Russell's map correctly explains all kinds of  phenomena the chemistry map can not, and lays out exciting new ways to arrange our material world to Man's benefit.

But the use of  Russell's map would shatter the entrenched industrial, financial, scientific, and governmental control systems. It would bring an understanding that would crumble the foundations of all religions while ushering in an era of peace and harmony that is tuned into this knowledge. As a result, no one has heard of this map, or of Walter Russell.

So, the "actuality" can never be precisely re-presented with a map and when we accept the map as "truth", the 'semantic disturbance' is created. This disturbance separates the individual from reality with words and ideas. This makes people easy to manipulate and makes it very difficult for them  to be present, to cultivate awareness... to be "still". And it is only from this stillness, that one can be in touch with the creative power of their Imagination.

"Be still, and know that your I Am-ness is God".

Awareness, presence and stillness, are the solution to this disturbance. If you look around today's world,

it looks deeply disturbed. We have been given a zillion maps through our socialization and told by very respectable, well-meaning and learned people, that these maps are the truth. We do not question these maps because we currently live in a map that tells us,"The experts know", "You do not know". The authority class of society rules over you through this map and if you are fortunate, or diligent enough, you may be in the authority class and live pretty well as a result of using this map to your benefit. However:

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" 

(J. Krishnamurti)

Just as it is no measure of knowledge to be well-adjusted to being profoundly ignorant of the truth. This ignorance sets up the semantic disturbance and is only resolved when we begin to awaken and see the "truth"... the actual "elephant"

Now, let us discuss the idea of "destinations" as it relates to the famous quote,

"Truth is a Pathless Land"

A destination implies distance; and distance implies separation; whether physical or psychological. The journey from where you are to where you want to be is the "path", whatever path you take to arrive at this destination.  If  "truth" is a "pathless land", then destinations and paths cannot be truths. Therefore, maps are obviously not truth either. So, if it is truth that you seek... maps, paths and destinations can only lead you away from it. because you are not separate from the truth. No separation -- no distance. No distance -- no path.  No path --no map.

All of that being said, we find ourselves in an experiential world of our own imaginings, where we find benefit in illusions for learning purposes. So, nothing wrong with maps, destinations or paths. When you begin to awaken from your illusions, this will make some sense to you.