Principle 12 Accumulating Actions – Week 1 – 2024

December 5, 2024 

Principle 12. Accumulating Actions. Week 1

“Contradictory and unifying acts accumulate within you. If you repeat your acts of internal unity, then nothing can detain you.” 

Last time: If I’m Not That, What Am I?

This time: From Tiny Acorns.

An Invitation

Each week we propose considering a principle in light of its general meaning, and its application in our past, present, or future. 

We also suggest a series of “games” that can enrich our understanding of the principles. Setting aside a minute or so every day to try and find one or two concrete examples in my life is a simple and powerful tool that can dramatically increase my understanding of the principles, and illuminate a path of increasing internal coherence, equilibrium, and growth.

Interestingly the crucial thing isn’t whether I find clear examples or not. Like many of others, I have discovered that just making this simple effort is well rewarded by the new intuitions and understandings that arise over the next days.

All that also applies to the playing of the proposed games. 

Week One:

Since this is our first week devoted to considering this principle, we will try to get an overview of its basic structure and implications.  To help gain some new perspectives we will also play the game of the week. And this week it’s

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 the game of Find It! we extend that to the cultural environment around us. 

This week’s story, quotes, images might be considered as examples of what someone playing this game found. During this week keep your eyes and ears (and memory and imagination) open for things around you that illustrate the principle. Like the unusual retelling of a famous story that we present here to hopefully inspire your reflections. 

Your examples can be drawn from contemporary culture, and might include jokes, songs, movies, etc. The point is that the thing you have found casts light on some aspect of this month’s principle. 

Personal Reflections:

What follows are my reflections. I make no greater claim for them but offer them in the spirit of exchange and dialogue.  

Internal coherence, or unity is thinking, feeling, acting in the same direction, it is being-in-agreement with one’s self. Contradiction is internal conflict, a kind of being at war with yourself. Sometimes that involves ignoring yourself, or at other moments ignoring your environment. I can choose to be shaped by my unitive acts that are aimed at the well-being of others — what we call Valid Actions.

Our entire proposal, our vision of a spiritual path can be understood in terms of moving toward unity, and away from contradiction, and helping others interested in the same direction.

This principle, the principle of “accumulated action” which is about summing it all up, does just that, it sums it all up!

It is perhaps obvious that repeating your actions helps form habits of behaviour that in turn reinforce your future actions. This is true whether these are acts that produce internal unity (i.e. agreement with yourself) or contradiction (internal conflict). In either case repetition forms habitual ways of facing life, and feeds into a particular mental direction.

This principle reminds us that it is not a matter of acting according to one principle, or even a few principles in isolation. Consistently making the effort to incorporate the principles as a whole into our daily lives helps us shape a coherent way of approaching life. It’s about giving our actions a direction toward the well-being of others, and to our own internal unity.

The sustained attempt to apply the principles in this way turns them from catch phrases, or platitudes, into an integral discipline capable of transforming our life into one of growing internal unity, and therefore of growing happiness and liberty.

Sometimes an individual, or group builds their entire life out of contradictory acts. This can apparently result in ‘success’ at least in the short term. A more careful observer will note that sooner or later the results will be catastrophic because the foundations of that life (individual or collective) lacks integrity. Many people, seeing only a moment in that whole process think that it is “successful”. Seeing it in process, observing how it evolves (or decays) over time, reveals a very different situation.

A Story:

The following story, translated from Spanish, is a variant of a well-known biblical tale. It illustrates the results of accumulating unifying or contradictory actions.

In his vanity a prideful prince decided to build a tower whose heights would reach into the heavens. So, he gathered fully one third of the able-bodied men, women, and even children of his kingdom and set them to work. 

The people of the kingdom, with the exception of a few who could be called the wise or the compassionate, were corrupted in the same way as their ruler. In their greed they preyed upon neighbouring kingdoms and were vain about their wealth. 

Over the years the immense undertaking grew. The building of the tower required more and more workers, and resources of all kinds. From the remaining population, that were not labouring day and night on this extraordinary construction, the prince raised a mighty army and sent it out to conquer more lands so that those people might be enslaved to work on the tower and so that their riches should refill his coffers.

And so it went; stone was piled on stone, and effort was accumulated on effort. The tower rose to astounding heights, taking with it all the wealth, effort, and suffering. It was like those times that the waters rise to heavens but do not return as rain, those times when only drought descends on to the sad earth.

So, the wise people gathered, and they asked their spirits: “What unites these people?” And their spirits answered: “Their pride unites them.” Then they asked their spirits: “What divides these people?” And their spirits answered: “Their pride divides them.”

Then the wise ones, carefully calculating the consequences of their actions went among the builders labouring on the tower. And they said to them: “This tower which will be gazed on in awe and submission by all the nations requires its builders be seen in the same way. It is only fitting that the leaders be raised to the heights so all may see the merit they have earned, and the lesser ones should struggle below so that they may earn merit and so ascend.

Immediately the people started to push and shove and fight for prominence. With the architects, engineers, and other leaders far above the others could not hear their instructions. Soon they were all shouting and since no one could hear above the din all guidance was lost and chaos ensued. Contradictory and misunderstood orders brought rope to where mortar was needed, and mortar to where scaffold was required. Ropes frayed against projecting walls that were meant to be smooth. Baskets tipped over. Ladders slipped, bricks and mortar were misplaced and soon the tower itself, no longer rising straight as a pillar, began to teeter. The building however continued without rest, until finally with a foundation that no longer anchored it the swaying tower crashed to the ground dragging with it all who had guided the work from the heights.

Then the wise gathered once more. They said: “Let us find some way to make use of all this so at least some benefit should return to our people.” And so, the bricks and tools that now lay scattered were gathered and the people worked on new projects: homes were built, aqueducts were extended, and granaries repaired. The people laboured at peace with themselves and in friendship with their neighbours.

Coming Up:

Next week we’ll consider this principle of accumulating action in relation to our situation in the present moment.

Remember:

The Principles of Valid Action can be useful in developing a coherent life built on two basic internal registers: unity and contradiction.  

Worth Repeating:

Our goal is to weave these general ideas into a permanent way of facing life. With time and application, the effort to understand and apply the principles will give all my activities a particular tone, mood, and mental direction. 

Note:

* has volunteered to host our next meeting. These notes have been sent to our email list, posted on Facebook and on my website  www.dzuckerbrot.com