| Re: Jacob 5 [message #2658 is a reply to message #152] |
Sun, 11 August 2013 22:32  |
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Elejian
Messages: 39
Registered: June 2013
Location: United States
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Since there are multiple levels of symbolism, I enjoy studying it on a "mental-spiritual" level. On this level, the vineyard represents our mind.
This allegory discusses interactions between static, established perceptions in our memory and new, dynamic perceptions. To summarize briefly, there are a couple of things to beware. Too many static perceptions can stagnate and decay over time (Jacob 5:3). Too many dynamic perceptions can cause corrupted perceptions over time (Jacob 5:48).
The solution is to maintain the right balance between the two types (Jacob 5:65-6). Since these perceptions can be grafted back and forth amongst each other, there should not be a great distinction between the two types of perceptions. Studying and pondering established gospel doctrine can solidify static perceptions, and can lead to revelation as dynamic perceptions. Spiritual experiences can foster the reception of dynamic perceptions, which can then be recorded and remembered as static perceptions.
To use a non-LDS quote: "Life can't exist on Dynamic Quality alone. It has no staying power. To cling to Dynamic Quality alone apart from any static patterns is to cling to chaos. . . . A Dynamic advance is meaningless unless it can find some static pattern with which to protect itself from degeneration back to the conditions that existed before the advance was made. Evolution can't be a continuous forward movement. It must be a process of ratchetlike steps in which there is a Dynamic movement forward up some new incline and then, if the result looks successful, a static latching-on of the gain that has been made; then another Dynamic advance, then another static latch. . . . Without Dynamic Quality the organism cannot grow. Without static quality the organism cannot last. Both are needed" (Robert M. Pirsig, Lila: An Inquiry into Morals, 139, 169-70).
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