Observation has two parts to it: 1) faculties, and 2) motive(s). The word observation is meaningless without identifying its powers, limitations, and capacities. The physical faculties it utilizes are obviously the 5 senses (touch, sight, etc), all of which are subject to error (vision makes mistakes, hearing makes mistakes and same with other senses). It also operates through three non-material domains two of which are: tradition and reason. The third we won't go into in this article for limitational reasons.
Reason and logic which are two valid and important faculties within the scheme of observation are important, but they also are fallible regardless of how advance we become as human species. Ancient philosophers and scientists and even modern-day thinkers frequently used and still use reason and logic to prove something and decades and centuries later, others would come along and using the same facilities, disprove the old logic and reasoning of their convinced predecessors.
In martial arts-----Wing chun practitioner may say center-line is where it's at, and they reason with you and their logic, of course makes sense. But the boxer also reasons and says NO.........although hitting in the center is good, yet sometimes you must step to the side, pivot and hit the opponent from off center. He reasons, and his logic makes sense too. Now of course the boxers spar all the time with full resistance, so their logic carries them through most often, but nevertheless both are logical and reasonable in their own fields, yet they constantly cancel each other using their own reasoning and logic, at least through traditional debates. we can also talk about the reasoning and logic of the wrestler and boxer in the same way we talked about Wing Chun and Boxing-------Muay Thai practitioners and Judo players, same thing. Our point is that logic and reason as tools of observation have their own limitations and in some instances, unfortunately they have contributed more to the divergence and conflicting theories than to the factual phenomenon, and therefore, a unifying vision.
Now we come to observations done through [tradition]. If we observe a phenomenon through the eye of tradition, we are forced to use reason again and we end up in the same place. Most people hanging on to outdated traditions reason with you and tell you, it is because of this and that, that it is important to keep doing the same thing for another 5000 years. Therefore, whatever their limited reasonings sees, that's how they interpret tradition. This has been one of the biggest problem in the martial arts world. It has been keeping people back from advancing their martial arts.
The second part of observation is extremely important, and it is THE [motive]. We mention that in the beginning of this article. Motive is the actual motor and the foundation of your inner vision or intellectual telescope so to speak. It is supposed to turn your inner eyes in perfect alignment with the actual object being observed. If your motive in martial arts is kicking ass then all your inner eyes and intellectual capacity would be manipulated and distorted through the idea of kicking ass only; which if you look closely, in the middle of that kicking ass there is a big ME (my ego). Therefore, you are placing yourself between your inner intellectual eyes and the object you are trying to observe. So, there is no way that what you are observing is the actual pure object, because you yourself are distorting your own inner sight. In other words, YOU are in the way, and YOU are the problem!
If your motive is only making a name for yourself, to become rich, to have the luxuries of life, to feel pumped and distinguished so people look at you as the man or the woman, to feel important--------in fact if you have the slightest idea of ME in the center of your observations (studies, experiments, exploring, questioning, etc....), then there is NO possibility that what you'd be able to observe anything, AS IS. Worse yet, if you have several of those ME's in the middle of your observation, then one view would be distorted by another distorted view by another distorted view and so on. And yet most of us do this all the time, and we call it empirical evidence based on observation and even experience----not realizing that even your experiences are grossly shaped by the your own self-inflicted distortion.
We must learn to remove ourselves entirely from the center of the circle before we can even approach the idea of observation. This idea is of course not a popular one in the world at the moment, since everything we hear from almost any source, emphasizes, and is geared to pumping the ME ideology.
The less you are present the more real the object being observed. When we have removed ourselves completely, and our motives have been transformed into doing everything we can for the best interests of others (I know the idea is alien to many) and for absolutely no other reason whatsoever, THEN we are actually beginning to exercise our observational capabilities. Until then, what we may be considering to be observing, could well be the figment of our own imagination or at minimum a very distorted one. There is a lot more, to looking at things. In fact, you must learn to look NOT AT things, but through things.
Highest level of martial artists, physicists, researchers, innovators, inventors, engineers, thinkers, and etc. have all sort of roamed the edges of what we have talked here in this article----- often unconsciously.
On a side note, I need to give FULL credit where credit is due. Everything in this article that I wrote----was inspired by my only Master and Mentor, `Abdu’l-Bahá'. He is the one that has taught me to think independently, taught me how to look into everything, taught me the instruments of growth and development, and how critical it is to remove myself slowly from the center----even though most of the populations of the world are marching in the opposite direction. It is a hard process and it will never end. It will continue to the end of one's life.
Good luck my friends on your journey.
SHAHRAM MOOSAVI
480-489-7202