{"id":2237,"date":"2013-03-08T11:23:28","date_gmt":"2013-03-08T05:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/srinivasv.com\/?p=2237"},"modified":"2017-08-27T17:26:02","modified_gmt":"2017-08-27T11:56:02","slug":"our-structure-of-values-determines-our-choice-of-ideal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/our-structure-of-values-determines-our-choice-of-ideal\/","title":{"rendered":"Our structure of values determines our choice of ideal"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/p>\n

An Ideal, in essence, represents first and foremost a structure of right and wrong, moral and immoral, good and bad, valid and invalid.<\/p>\n

This structure of \u201cvalues\u201d is embodied in –<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
      \n
    1. the way we \u201care\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n
    2. the way we judge (if we must judge at all)<\/em><\/li>\n
    3. the way we live<\/em><\/li>\n
    4. the way we behave<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

      II<\/p>\n

      Let us examine these four ideas:<\/p>\n

      \n
        \n
          \n
        1. \n

          The way we \u201care\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          This represents our \u201cideal of being\u201d \u2013 for example the Greek Ideal of \u201cyouthful perfection\u201d versus the Buddhist Ideal of \u201cwise silence\u201d are both Ideals of being. Western Society therefore celebrates youth and enjoyment; Buddhist society celebrates the notion of monkhood, practice and silence.<\/li>\n

        2. \n

          The way we judge<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          This represents the \u201cmatrix of measures\u201d.
          \nIs polygamy right or wrong? Is being transactionally correct better or giving intrinsically better than taking \u2013 thereby rendering all transactions incorrect?
          \nThe \u201cmatrix of measures\u201d is the \u201cIdeal in Context\u201d of a society, religion, clime, profession, etc.<\/li>\n

        3. \n

          The way we live<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          This represents the \u201cjourney of becoming\u201d which is life itself.\u00a0Why and for what purpose do we ‘become’? In other words, why must a man struggle at all?
          \n\u2013 An ideal of \u2018wealth\u2019 connotes a journey of acquisition of wealth. An ideal of devotion connotes a journey of renunciation of world and the development of devotional attitudes. An ideal of contribution connotes the development of the \u201ccapacity to serve\u201d and the deployment of that \u201ccapacity to serve\u201d in the correct and appropriate manner. An ideal of \u201chouseholdership\u201d connotes a journey of growing up, marriage, bringing up children, and helping them participate in the world.<\/li>\n

        4. \n

          The fourth dimension, the way we behave, is the most immediate of all<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          What is our conception of “inter-human relationships”? What is our meaning of valid \u2018inter-human behavior\u2019? Must men resolve then by force? Is conquest and dominance intrinsically true? At a personal level, is the purpose of a relationship ‘specifiable outcomes’ or is there another form of relationship where outcomes don\u2019t matter but it matters whether the journey is one of peace and harmony?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

          III<\/p>\n

          These questions represent the four dimensions of the \u201cstructure of values\u201d that itself determine our choice of \u201cideal\u201d. i.e., men choose ideals \u2018externally\u2019 that appeal to them most.<\/p>\n

          IV<\/p>\n

          So the propagation of an ideal is an iterative process \u2013 people choose ideals that they find suitable \u2013 the ideals themselves shape choices and values further strengthening their roots in the ideal \u2013 and so on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          People choose ideals that they find suitable. Further, the ideals themselves shape choices and values further strengthening their roots in the ideal \u2013 and so on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[119],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9357,"href":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237\/revisions\/9357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/srinivasv.com\/mapsofbecoming\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}