From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fairfieldl...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of authfriend Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:13 AM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: "Is that so?" -- an homage to Rick and his equanimity --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com <mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com> , "Rick Archer" <r...@...> wrote: > <snip> > I think the Vedic literature is written the way it > is, with so many expectation-shattering stories, to > culture the perspective that one's own little peephole > on the Universe does not afford a view of the whole, > and that therefore one should not take oneself too > seriously.
Because if you don't take yourself too seriously, you never need to take a stand on anything; you don't need to take any risks or fight any battles. The injustice and cruelty and suffering you see through your little peephole just doesn't matter in the larger scale of things; no need to exert yourself to remedy it. Q: If everything is perfect just as it is, why are we working so hard to change things? MMY: That too is perfect just as it is. "...There is no room for timidity. The fact that you might be wrong is simply no excuse: You might be right in your communication, and you might be wrong, but that doesn't matter. What does matter, as Kierkegaard so rudely reminded us, is that only by investing and speaking your vision with passion, can the truth, one way or another, finally penetrate the reluctance of the world. If you are right, or if you are wrong, it is only your passion that will force either to be discovered. It is your duty to promote that discovery--either way--and therefore it is your duty to speak your truth with whatever passion and courage you can find in your heart. "You must shout, in whatever way you can." --Ken Wilber Busy week, but I've been meaning to respond to this. I agree about being passionately committed to things, but I think that development of consciousness results in the tendency to consciously incorporate paradox in pretty much all situations. One may be fighting fiercely for something one believes in, but that focus is never the totality of one's life. One lives a larger reality that incorporates not only that conviction, but a simultaneous appreciation of other, possibly conflicting perspectives. It's hard to take anything utterly seriously. Think Krishna smiling on the battlefield. Most wars, suicide bombings, abortion clinic bombings, church burnings, religious inquisitions, and chat room arguments result from a failure to have developed such a vision.
