August 10, 2023
Principle 8. Comprehended Action. Week 3
You Will Make Your Conflicts Disappear When You Understand Them In Their Ultimate Root, Not When You Want To Resolve Them
Last time: Conflicts and Contradictions.
This time: Phantoms and Laughs
This Week:
In previous weeks we’ve looked at the basic structure and general scope of this principle. We have also tried to understand it in the light of past situations. This week focus on how the principle might apply in the present moment.
Consider your personal life. At this moment, are there conflicts, strained feelings, tensions, or disagreements between you and your friends? What about members of your family? Perhaps with co-workers, or neighbours? What about in yourself, are there disagreements between what you are trying to do, your thoughts, and your feelings?
No?
Well, that’s good. Move along then. Nothing to see here…
General Considerations and Personal Reflections:
Here are some personal reflections. I offer them in the spirit of dialogue and exchange, and look forward to hearing your thoughts about, and experiences with, this principle.
Among the themes that seem to come up when considering this principle are for example those related to questions about the “roots” of a situation, what they might be, how I might find them, and how understanding of those roots could change things. We can find conflicts in different ambits (eg. at work, with friends, family, and so on), and also, conflicts about different things (eg. about money, politics, ideas, values, etc). And of course, internal conflicts (eg. between desires, hopes, fears, and between my thoughts, feelings, and actions).
The Phantoms that Haunt All of Us
There are also certain conflicts between what I want, what is, or what might be. The past (and its phantoms), like my future (with its phantasmal fears) are present now. They are neither finished, nor waiting to happen. They are present, here and now.
For example: the fear of losing what we have; fear of not getting what we want (or need); fear of poverty; of illness; fear of loneliness; and at the bottom of everything the great knot of suffering — the fear of death. Somehow, it seems we usually manage to ignore these — or at least distract ourselves from them. But who is unfamiliar with them? And who knows their ultimate root?
But let’s lighten things up a little.
As many of you know I’m on a quest, a search for at least one joke to illustrate each principle. We don’t need great jokes. Lame jokes will do. as long as they are not too long, at least mildly humorous, and capture something of the principle.
It’s a tricky business considering how humour is so culturally, situationally, and temporally bound. Nonetheless, and despite all that, I think these are a great complement to the stories we currently use to illustrate the principles. And while we’ve certainly shared a few of them, I always keep an eye out for more of them as well). Please let me know if you have a joke you think might be suitable for this, or any of the principles.
Like folktales, and teaching stories some people feel jokes are proper to a certain culture, or tradition. And sometimes they certainly are. But often determining origins of these things is very difficult, if even possible. Certainly, jokes can be appropriated, they can also migrate, and cross polinate when exchanged, but similarities also arise because of the situations common to all human beings. Perhaps the origins are the least important issue in any case. In any case try this one…
How Not to Find the Root:
In the late hours of the night a policeman came upon an apparently very inebriated fellow muttering to himself as he crawled on hands and knees under a street light. As is the custom in those parts, the officer interrupted our intoxicated friend and asked what he was doing. The drunk replied: “I’ve lost my keys”. The helpful public servant asked “Well, where did you last see them?”. Gesturing at the faded sign of a popular drinking establishment a few blocks away the reply came: “I had them in my hand after I left that bar”. The policeman immediately said: “Well why aren’t you looking back there?” With a note of pity in his voice our friend looked up and said: “well, the light’s much better here of course.”
Remember:
In meditating on, discussing, and trying to use the principles we are really trying to weave together a way of facing life, a general direction, or style of life.
Worth Repeating:
The direction I am looking for goes towards a situation where I’m not at war with myself, where I can tap into my vital energy to face life’s challenges, and where I can face the uncertain future more joyously.
In other words, what I want is to make the phrase Peace, Force and Joy, into more than a slogan.
Coming up:
Next week we will turn our focus to reflecting on this principle in the light of our future experiences.
Until the next time…
