The Bottom Line
The following article includes pertinent information that may
cause you to reconsider what you thought you understood. The
most important thing is to study with an open mind and be
willing to revise your understanding if necessary.
What Really Matters.
We are here on this earth to learn acceptance. Acceptance of
everything that life can throw at us, the good and the bad. One
still needs to work at right livelihood and fight for truth and
justice, but there will always remain many things we simply have
no control over, and we must learn to accept this. We have no
other choice but acceptance if we want to progress. Acceptance
leads to forgiveness which leads to progression, but it is never
easy. How does one accept the continued support and popularity
of war criminals masquerading as leaders or child molesters.
To embrace acceptance is to become objective...about everything
in this life and on this planet. By becoming objective we are
able to disconnect from many of the attachments that bind us to
servitude. In the ultimate scheme of things our lifelong
tribulations are insignificant. We are here such a short time,
and for most of us, our influence and ability to change anything
for the better is limited or remote.
The path of least resistance for most unwary souls is to be
caught up in the obligations pertaining to cycles of birth,
family, children, and the roles we are taught or forced to
assume. In this mode the freedom of disconnection alludes us.
But it is through the gradual disconnection to our worldly
attachments that allows us to realize how trivial jealousy,
deceit, anger and acquisition are in relation to the big picture
of existence which extends well beyond our occluded perceptions.
True freedom comes when one is free of these distracting
imperfections and can find forgiveness towards those who have
wittingly or not caused us harm or pain.
The most difficult part is to forgive yourself, but this becomes
available once you realize that most of the wrong decisions
made, and hurts caused to others, were made from the immature
vantage point you were in at the time. You didn't have the tools
or perspective you now have to realize that bad things happen to
good people, that what you may have thought was important and
worth the shortcuts, was in fact just a blind alley of glitter
or delusion. If you can reach this level of awareness, to see
that past decisions and actions were made by a less complete and
understanding self, you will then be able to find compassion and
eventually forgiveness of yourself for the harm you caused to
yourself and to others as a result of your shortcomings.
Nobody said it was easy. That is why, in my view, most people
continue to go round and round in their mental prisons, some
eventually spiraling downwards, most doomed to instant replay,
and only a few who find the doorway leading to salvation. Is
deliverance available to everyone? I don't know, in fact, I
doubt it. So many with besmirched and sullied egos will
inevitably follow their ill conceived prejudices to the grave.
Or perhaps we all have epiphanies at one time or another and it
is up to us whether this brief unanticipated opening into other
domains should be acknowledged and pursued, or simply dismissed
as a momentary slip of the gears as in a dream.
One thing that cannot be dismissed or ignored is the reality of
life, death, corruption and beauty. Also intelligence, as it is
apparent that this faculty, above all, has allowed our species
the ability to comprehend these very notions, and through
freewill, choose to manipulate them for better or worse. Most
social manipulation via political, monarchal or religious
constitution, served some evolutionary purpose but ultimately
failed, because no man or demigod can impart spiritual
epiphanies on another. Each individual soul must make a choice
to see or not to see. On a collective scale, sooner or later any
Emperor in any guise is observed to have no clothes, in fact
never did, and becomes exposed.
We find ourselves at this time, in this hyped electro-techno
modern world, either intellectually adrift from the old paradigm
of institutional oppression and its attendant restraints and
excesses, living in our own delusions, or blindly and
fanatically grasping its slimy tentacles as evidenced in the
Muslim world. Neither is sustainable, and more likely than not,
to clash inducing further misery. Attachment to any belief, even
if it's a non belief, is sowing the seeds of eventual
self-destruction. Only through disconnection from externally
imposed belief or self-seeking illusion, and by acceptance and
the fostering of forgiveness, can we hope to find redemption.
Furthermore, this enlightenment can only be realized on an
individual basis. The only exception where group fervor is
benign is in the unfettered praise of the gift of life through
gratitude and thanksgiving, as evidenced by the enhanced aura of
such gatherings. The best we can do towards the edification of
grace in this world is to help others by encouraging them to
follow their own insights, to impartially lend a genuinely
helping hand in practical and useful areas, or to communicate
love through art and beauty if we are so gifted.
Sadly, scientific studies tell us that in the marketing world at
least, only 2 percent of any given population can think for
itself. The remaining overwhelming majority can only act when
persuaded or cajoled by an external entity, which usually means
political, religious or commercial coercion. And of course,
foolishly allowing this majority to lend control of our lives to
any of these interest groups has resulted in our collective
consciousness being entangled in yet another fine mess. The best
we can hope for now, as thinking individuals, is to be adept and
agile enough to position ourselves as advantageously as we can,
in circumstance and place, without sacrificing our hard gained
spiritual insights to expediency especially at the expense of
others. We must continue to disconnect while at the same time
investing in pursuit of right livelihood, which usually means
sharing the best of what is in us, not an easy feat. Writing
this article is my humble attempt to add some clarity to the
constant clamor of present day unconscionable
self-aggrandizement, and the inevitable pervading
disillusionment that will soon be swirling around us.
The day will come when you can use something you read about here
for beneficial impact. Then you'll be glad you took the time to
learn more about actualizing acceptance.