Clarity

PBS's Holmes and Watson

Clarity comes with clarity. So much of today's life in the technologically dominated developed world is clouded with clouding information. Too much information (TMI) can be as problematic to to the affected mind as dark ignorance. The stupefying effect of LED screens is obvious on the many dull faces on a subway train. 

Clarity comes with the development of identity and purpose. If I know who I really am in the context of my own life and my environment, I have a conscious identity in my daily practice. If I understand where that identity stands in the context of my time (in the sense of history and current events), my own age and my environment, I can develop a purpose for my daily practice, my conscious daily existence. 

If I am secure in my changing identity and changing purpose (all things change), I can be clear in my daily process. I know what is a good decision for me. I know what is a bad decision for me. I am aware of my intuition. I am aware of the events in my environment which are affecting me. 

This is the clarity of Zen. This is the clarity of Tao. This is the clarity of any practice for positive life change, change for the good. Practicing clarity brings clarity. Learning to live ethically with the consequences of clarity of mental vision is at the core of humanist practice.