April 2, 2026
Principle 4. The Principle of Proportion. First Week
Things Are Good When They Move Together Not In Isolation.
Last time: Death and Taxes
This time: folk wisdom
To do list for this week:
-consider the general structure and implications of this principle.
-play the game of Find It!
This Week:
We are beginning our exploration of the “The Principle of Proportion” the fourth of the principles of valid action (all twelve can be found in chapter XIII of The Inner Look). This principle says: “Things are well when they move together not in isolation.”
This week we consider the structure, sense, and scope of the principle, and take a first pass at understanding it in general terms. To help with that you will find below a story that illustrates some of its aspects. We’ll also look around to see what other expressions of the principle we can find.
In order to help ourselves see the principle in new ways we will, over the next weeks, games as well as consider the principle in the light of the past, present, and future situations.
Our next meeting will be a chance for an interchange about your thoughts, insights, examples and questions about this month’s principle and related matters.
General Considerations and Personal Reflections:
I hope these reflections might be useful raw material for your own meditations and they are being shared in that spirit.
Process and Structure:
As for the structure of the principle, it is perhaps interesting to note that with principle four, we discover a group of principles that have a different focus than the first three. Those earlier ones seem to be about dynamic forces, and how to position yourself in terms of them. Now we encounter one of the principles that seem more focused on relations between parts, rather than forces in movement - a shift to considering how things fit together.
Overview:
Most of us will not find it difficult to remember, or imagine a situation where, because we were overly focused on a goal many other things in our life were not given the care and attention they required. But we can also probably recall situations where our attention was given to many things and we lost sight of our priorities. These kinds of situations often result in “accidents” that can even make the attainment of our goal more difficult or even impossible. Worst of all, if we do reach it – having wreaked havoc in our life as a whole – we may find ourselves with the bitter consequence of discovering that our all-important goal is much less rewarding than we imagined.
Which one of us hasn’t encountered experiences like this in their daily life, or perhaps in fiction where a person sacrifices love, friendship, or family in the pursuit of fame and fortune (or whatever it is they consider important, valuable, or “prestigious”)? As a consequence, they sacrifice their health, their loved ones, and the values they once held sacred. Even if they attain their goal, they don’t have the health to enjoy it, or loved ones to share it with, or values that give our lives meaning.
Things are well when they move together not in isolation is a sort of tautology. That is, it’s true almost by definition like saying: all bachelors are unmarried. Its truth seems to follow from the fact that one’s life is a whole and requires overall, not just partial, balance and development.
That doesn’t mean that everything should move in the same way or the same time or considered to have the same value. On the contrary, everything doesn’t have the same importance and so we need to prioritize in a way that reflects that truth. In fact, it is only by having clear priorities and acting accordingly that things will truly move together.
This Week’s Game
Find It!
The rules for week’s game are simple, and summed up in the name of the game, Find it. We are always looking for examples of the principles in our daily life and personal experience. In Find It we extend that to the cultural environment around us. The stories we traditionally use every month are examples of playing this particular game.
During this week keep your eyes and ears (and memory and imagination) open for things around you that illustrate the principle.
What examples will you find?
I often illustrate this principle with a story from the third century BCEIndian collection called the Panchatantra. In this context it is sometimes called The Lion that Came to Life. We call it The Four Magicians but regardless of its title or pedigree, you may find it cast s an interesting light on this principle. If you find that intriguing, and don’t know it let me know and I’ll get you a copy.
So let me start off with this example of a bit of folk wisdom from China.
同舟共济 (tóng zhōu gòng jì): Literally "crossing a river in the same boat," meaning to share hardships and work together to overcome challenges. It’s kind of got that all for one and one for all kind of feel, doesn’t it?
And here’s another expression of this principle of proportion in a story called The Town Musicians of Bremen it’s a European tale courtesy of the famous Bros. Grimm. According to Wikipedia here’s a summary.
In the story, a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster, all past their prime years in life and usefulness on their respective farms, were soon to be discarded or mistreated by their masters. One by one, they leave their homes and set out together. They decide to go to Bremen, known for its freedom, to live without owners and become musicians there.
On the way to Bremen, they find a cottage with light in the windows. Inside, they see three robbers enjoying their ill-gotten gains. Standing on each other's backs, they decide to scare the robbers away by making a din; the men run away in fright, not knowing what the strange sound is. The animals take possession of the house, have a good meal, and settle in for the evening.
Later that night, the robbers return and send one of their members in to investigate. He sees the cat's eyes shining in the darkness and thinks he is seeing the coals of the fire. The robber reaches over to light his candle. Things happen in quick succession; the cat scratches his face with her claws, the dog bites him on the leg, the donkey kicks him with his hooves, and the rooster crows and chases him out the door. The terrified robber tells his companions that he was beset by a horrible witch who had scratched him with her long fingernails (the cat), a dwarf who has a knife (the dog), a black monster who had hit him with a club (the donkey), and worst of all, a judge calling out from the rooftop (the rooster). The robbers abandon the cottage to the strange creatures who have taken it, where the animals live happily for the rest of their days.
Coming up:
Next week we’ll look to the past and explore how applying or ignoring this Principle of Proportion has impacted our lives, and the lives of those around us.
A Question Worth Repeating:
Can you sit with eyes closed and go deep inside to discover the source of inner peace, vital force, and real joy? Can you open your eyes and discover how to transform daily life into your spiritual path?
Remember
For things to move together things means I need to recognize that not everything has the same importance. Things need to be prioritized. In fact, it is only by having clear priorities and acting accordingly that everything will truly act together.
Note:
I’ll be your host next week. I hope you can join us.
This week another illustration from Rafael Edwards
These notes have been posted on Facebook and sent to our email list, and, on my website www.dzuckerbrot.com
