November 13, 2006

• One man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole.

  MAHATMA GANDHI

    

  Some say the world is full of love.  Others say the world is full of sadness, pain, and suffering.  Is the perception of the world based on the identification of the perceiver?  Is joy-and-suffering a man-made thing? 

   

  We tend to preoccupy ourselves with the bad conditions of the world. We have an urgent need for settling things right.  We have no patience for people who preach inner personal improvement as a preconditioned for the improvement of the world.  We want to help now.  We want to solve others’ sadness and suffering right now, so that we may satisfy our own egoic needs to help. 

   

  Someone asked me of my opinion on the latest preacher’s scandal.  The result of the preacher scandal is a classic example of the “quick-fixed” culture of the world today.  We want beautiful sweet fruits and fragance flowers but we do not take the time to cultivate our garden.  The preacher jumped directly into improving the outer world first and skipped the important process of improving his inner world.  He skipped the painful process of grappling with own identity, attempting to avoid pain and seek pleasure.  He did not attend to his own business and clean his own house first.  He is only interested in attending others business, neglected his own, and now he’s back to square one, forced to grapple with his own doing.  This is what happen when we put the carriage in front of the horse.  When we put the horse in front of the carriage (inner improvements before outer improvements), the journey is alot smoother and faster.  We can avoid unnecessary pain and suffering if we do things in order, that we temporarily sacrifice our egoic needs or desires to please, to help, to be approved, and to be loved by the outer world.   

   

  Striving for improvement for others is the most praiseworthy occupation.  It clarifies the mind and purifies the heart when done selflessly.  If not done selflessly, it would add more to the suffering of the world.  But to be in the state of selflessness, one must be free from desire and fear.    After all, desire what is wrong and fear what is right is what create chaos and despair for this world; it is what cause human to inflict pain upon each other.  But how can we tell what is right and what is wrong?  For me, what brings me back to reality is right and what dims reality is wrong. 

   

  So when we talk about helping others, what do we mean?  Do we mean to alliviate their suffering?  Can we truly end suffering for good by merely providing them with money, foods, and other basic needs?  Have you ever helped, really truly helped a person?  Try putting this person beyond the need of further help.  If I am serious about the suffering of mankind, I must perfect the only means of help I’ve got–me.  And same with you.  So try helping yourself by spending sometimes looking within.  By helping yourself, you help everyone else.  When you do not know what is good for yourself how can you know what is good for everyone else?

   

  • 2:33 pm
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