September 20, 2024
Principle 9. Liberty. Week 4
When you harm others, you remain enchained, but if you do not harm anyone, you may freely do whatever you want.
Last time: The Internal Judge
This time: The Future and What is it that I Want?
This Week:
In previous weeks we have looked at the structure of the principle, and how it was, or could have been applied in the past, and the present. This week we’ll focus on how we might apply this principle in the future, to our pending situations.
For example, I know I have a difficult work meeting coming up, or I have a family dinner where certain conflicts will likely surface, or I think about the state of the world and fear the growing chaos, etc.
If I can see conflicts emerging on the horizon, can I also see the root of their arising? Can I through that comprehension avoid those future conflicts? What circumstances seem to make that possible? What are the conflicts that I seem to fall into again and again?
No doubt we’ll once again wrestle with what it means to harm, and what does it mean to be enchained. And where’s the future anyway? And shouldn’t we all just live in the present?
This week to help gain some new perspectives on this principle we will consider not only how it might apply in the future, but we will also play the game of
Explain It!
The Game of the Week:
Feeling Playful?
This week’s game is simple: explain your basic understanding of the principle. Maybe, you slip it into a conversation. Maybe, you announce your intention, e.g. “We are studying these principles of behaviour, let me tell you my take on one we have been discussing this week”.
Of course, you might find it more interesting to engage another player (or players). So, if you can manage to talk to someone that’s great but if you can’t, maybe write down your understanding in an email and send it to me, or to another friend, or to yourself - or don’t ever send it. The point is to put your thoughts, and intuitions into a form that is suitable for sharing.
Of course, not having anyone at hand to play the game with might get you thinking about why that is. Perhaps, it is best seen as an opportunity to reflect on what that absence implies, and perhaps even take measures in enrich your social environment.
Another thing this game has in common with the game of Ask About It! is that it’s a game! In this game our interest is on engaging and communicating. Convincing, preening, recruiting, etc. are outside of the goals of the game. Rather, you are simply sharing your interpretation of something you find interesting.
Personal Reflections:
I say these are my reflections, and obviously that’s true as far as it goes. But in another sense, they are our reflections. That is, they are informed by our ongoing conversations and exchange of experiences.
I think this is not an easy principle to “get”. Looking back at my life so far, I remember situations in the past where I’ve felt hurt, used, misunderstood, and mistreated. But, to my surprise I find it even more difficult to deal with those situations where (intentionally or not) I hurt others. Even when these events took place so long ago that I almost feel they happened to someone else, after all this time, I still feel enchained to those situations.
In the present moment I can see tense and conflictive situations, and I can see how in anger, or in my inattention, I might indeed harm someone.
But what about the future? How can I know how I might treat someone in the future? How can know how, or even if I would become enchained. For that matter, enchained to what?
As I try to live more in my centre (neither lost in my head, nor in the world around me), to be more in the unfolding situation, I almost paradoxically discover, that a great deal of my internal life, is dedicated to what is a sort of “rehearsal for some possible future”. Whether you call them reveries, daydreams, divagations, or internal dialogue. I spend a lot of time anticipating what might lie ahead. But I go even further and play out scenarios: “…she’ll say that to me, and I’ll tell her…” If they blame me, I’ll…” And from this almost rational seeming planning I spin out into imagining situations and scenarios meant to amplify, or compensate climates of anxiety, fear, desire, hope, etc. And so, I find myself immersed in images and climates, far from “my centre”, and increasingly enchained to those climates, moods, and images.
But there’s much more involved. I know that images (reveries, and so on) lead me to act in a certain way, in a certain direction (remember the veggie burger we talked about a few weeks ago). If I add to that the idea we find in the aphorism about “images repeated with faith” having the greatest strength, I can see that all this internal noise is not just “blowing off steam” or thinking things through. I am also setting myself up to act in a certain way. For example, since the climates I need to deal with often have to do with anxieties, and insecurities (with fear) the responses they push toward are a kind of lashing out. So, many times where the situation might call for me to explain my concerns, my action (having anticipated resistance) is way too strong (too tense, too violent) for the context. Not surprisingly, the other persons involved may end up feeling hurt or upset.
Now, my head is full of what I should have said, or done, irritated that they insist on misunderstanding me, etc, etc. And I enchain myself further.
What can I do? A few things immediately come to mind. First, do no harm! Wake up. Understand that this daily life is your inner road.
Observe how “On the Inner Road you can walk darkened or luminous. Attend to the two ways that unfold before you.”
In any case these are some of my thoughts on this principle. I look forward to seeing you at our meeting on Wednesday, or just hearing about your own reflections.
Worth Repeating:
The question remains; what is it that I truly want?
Remember:
Do not let your life pass by without asking yourself, “Who am I?”
Do not let your life pass by without asking yourself, “Where am I going?”
Do not let a day pass by without giving an answer to yourself about who you are.
Do not let a day pass by without giving an answer to yourself about where you are going.
Excerpt fromThe Path _ Silo
Coming up:
So, here’s the problem: if I don’t harm anyone, and I’m free to do whatever I want the question remains; what is it that I truly want? What will I choose next?
This principle observes that you remain enchain when you harm others. It also sets a kind of lower limit to our actions — do whatever you want but don’t hurt anyone. But next week we start a new principle, and it takes us beyond that basic condition of “no harm” and clearly defines a direction for our actions.
Next week we’ll turn to principle 10 “The Principle of Solidarity” it says: “When You Treat Others As You Would Have Them Treat You, You Liberate Yourself.”
Note:
Peter J has volunteered to host (guide) our next meeting.
These notes have been posted on Facebook and sent to our email list, and, on my website www.dzuckerbrot.com
Don’t forget:
In some moment of the day or night inhale a breath of air and imagine that you carry this air to your heart. Then, ask with strength for yourself and for your loved ones. Ask with strength to move away from all that brings you contradiction; ask for your life to have unity. Don't take a lot of time with this brief prayer, this brief asking, because it is enough that you interrupt for one brief moment what is happening in your life for this contact with your interior to give clarity to your feelings and your ideas.
Silo_ La Reja, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2005
See you next time…
