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A weekly e-newsletter from the publisher of Chronogram containing:
Up-to-date Mid-Hudson events, listings, selections of insight
for conscious living, and social & political commentary.
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View From the Top > Letters
The Road to UniversalConsciousness
In Jason Stern’s Esteemed Reader “wars in
the world and wars within us” editorial [April ‘03], the “us
versus them,” I-centered philosophy is mirrored in Jennifer Wai-Lan
Huang’s article about Cold Spring [April ‘03], where “Springers”,
“Townies”, and “Old Guard” resident distinctions
must create an underlying river of division that is unproductive for the
community.
“You’re not from here, are you?”
divisions fail to encourage people to relinquish some of their individual
survival fears in favor of considering the needs of others. However, I
would argue, (in agreement with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs), that
“the grosser psychophysical impulses,” as Mr. Stern defines
them, must be met, not only to survive, but as a prerequisite to transcend
to a more universal consciousness. There are too many of us in need of
food, shelter, and a sense of belonging. Those that have food and shelter
are keenly aware that they risk losing what they have. Whether or not
this is true in fact, it is the perception of risk that is real and cannot
be discounted.
I would argue that our psychological survival is very
much dependent upon the “fallacious pseudo-unified image we are
ever foisting upon the world.” (If we are all but illusion anyway,
our outward aspect hardly matters).
Rather than being a negative, our “self-picture”
may be the only thing preventing our descent into madness, as we recognize
all too well “the inconsistency and chaos that reigns within us.”
But also, those among us who fail to present the pseudo-unified image
risk societal ostracism and enormous pain. The monk, too, wears the saffron
robe.
Better to disregard concerns of “I”, “pseudo-face,”
or “real” face, and act for the welfare of others as much
as for ourselves. Then our faces will be just fine.
MARGARET TROUT, LAGRANGE
Hitched Glitch?
To the Editor:
I was under the impression that Chronogram was an alternative
publication; the Hitched inserts in, not one, but two, issues are eerily
reminiscent of Long Island’s straight, white, middle-class, Christian
culture. Have there been that many people who re-located to the Hudson
Valley that it’s now become the culture in this area?
Woefully,
SUSAN LEGGIO, KINGSTON
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