Tesshin used his talk this week to explain Chaos/Complexity Theory and how it relates to our practice.  This set of theories started with a desire to predict and understand the weather, but it became a more generalized endeavor to build a conceptual framework to aid in general decision making.  Tesshin noted that this is the same goal of our practice – namely to act skillfully and compassionately in all situations.  As such, this framework can serve as yet another teaching tool on our path to awakening.  One common framework to understand chaos and complexity is the “Cynefin Framework“

The easiest way to think of this framework is a quadrant.  On the horizontal axis we measure how much knowledge or control we have in a situation.  The further to the right we travel, the more control we have.  On the vertical axis we measure complexity.  The higher we travel; the more factors need to be considered.