Long ago in a distant galaxy there was this very old movie, "The Face of Fu Manchu," circa 1965 starring Christopher Lee. This image reminded me of "Facing Violence" with its references to "losing face." This seemed so important that when I thought of it and the image of the movie came into mind it spurred me to write this post.
We humans assume many "faces" in life. We have one when we are alone, another when with a loved one, then there are those other faces we put on when we are at work, on vacation or in a very stressful encounter. We also change faces constantly when we are in a primary face. In a stressful encounter the exchange can change a face from easy conversation to irritation and if it escalates into a "war face (courtesy movie "Full Metal Jacket.")."
Our many faces are an intricate part of us, our personalities (those vary with the facts too) and our communications. The words we use are supplemented and dominated by face and body language, i.e. the many faces can achieve aggression or deescalation.
Our perceptions will be skewed to the face we put on or shift into from moment to moment. How we see things, how we hear sounds and what we feel are also driven by face resulting in our primary faces deflecting those sights, sounds and tactile/kinetic energies, data and perceptions.
Much like misdirection of the mind by magicians, our minds will misdirect those we encounter by the face we assume directly influencing the person or persons perceptive filters as fed through the lenses of the eyes, the microphone of the ears and the tactile input of the skin.
Face can change by proximity to persons/humans, their face projection and the make up of the environment. I am reminded by the clever computer graphics that can morph many faces depending on the ad and associated implied meaning of the admen.
This all begs the question, "How we lose face?" In face loss philosophy we then need to know, "which fact" is lost and the importance of that face in the scheme of all the faces we use from moment to moment.
I then began to freely associate this ideology with that of the ken-po goku-i with the following results:
Heaven, Earth, Sun and Moon are referenced so I started to think of the many phases (faces) of the moon. The cycles it travels through similar to our travels through life provide the face, i.e. waxing or crescent moon; waning or crescent moon; waning gibbous with three quarters moon, etc. This changes as the moon changes in relation to the position of the Earth and the Sun. The moon by this proximity and from influences of the Sun and Earth result in an affect on humans, nature and the Earth itself, i.e. tides, etc. This can be looked upon as the faces and influences of the moon.
The faces we see of the Sun come at sunrise through mid morning, noon, mid-afternoon and finally the face we see reflected by the sunset. The varied influences of the sun are by the intensity of its light, heat and radiation dependent on its location across the sky. The shadows as well are dependent on that position and present a set of different facts as that changes. We can perceive this through the needs of artists and photographers for that "face" provided by the sun's position changes the face of the portrait taken.
Then we can see within the other references to humans in the gokui that hard-n-soft can be displayed in the face we assume and speaks to those viewing the face as to a disposition, etc. The balance or lack thereof, the eyes, the skin (flushed, white or pale, etc.) and how they manifest and display control our "face" and thus the perceptive filters of those we encounter.
Hard-n-soft can infer such emotional states as to face such as "anger-n-love, hate-n-like, etc." We show our unbalance as well by the "fear, anger, frustration" we experience, face. Then we show our balance by the "love, pleasure, excitement and affection" we experience, face.
If we lose face, which one? If we lose face, how does it affect our whole "one self" and does a connection to the other faces cause as much damage? These and many other questions are to be asked when you encounter others as to the "face" and more importantly as to others affect on you as to your "face," which ever face that may be at that moment in time.
This type of perspective as to "face" may alleviate the perceived loss of said face into a manageable form allowing you to accept and believe that losing face might not be all that important in the overall scheme of life. Lets not forget that what we perceive through our perceptive filtering is also greatly influenced by the "face" we assume in any given situation. Does the face you wear blind you to the truth or to something that could tell you to take a different tactic or strategy?
If we assume an angry and offended face does that shut down our ability to objectively assess any given situation to "see" or "hear" the other person? How can we deescalate or avoid if our angry/offended face is in control? Isn't this just another "way" for the monkey brian to take over driving the bus?
Hmmm, questions-questions-questions but of course that means possible "answers-answers-answers."
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