"Violence, after all, is nothing more than a fear of love. And whne you fear love, where do you turn? To pride. The pride of your own self-defense.
There's a great secret here that philosophers have known for ages. And it's a secret only because it's so obvious that no one botheres to notice it. Consider the nature of water, a weak and lowly substance that flows freely around all obstacles. If you live a life of the same 'humility' as water, even the jaws of hell cannot bite into you. But the more solid you become in the pride of your own strenth to avenge yourself against insult, the more those jaws have to grasp onto-- and once they have you, you can't fight free, no matter how many bandoliers you have draped over your shoulders.
So the more you let go of your 'identity'-- the more you die to yourself in perfect humility-- the less you have to defend; and the less you have to defend, the less reason you have for anger."
There's a great secret here that philosophers have known for ages. And it's a secret only because it's so obvious that no one botheres to notice it. Consider the nature of water, a weak and lowly substance that flows freely around all obstacles. If you live a life of the same 'humility' as water, even the jaws of hell cannot bite into you. But the more solid you become in the pride of your own strenth to avenge yourself against insult, the more those jaws have to grasp onto-- and once they have you, you can't fight free, no matter how many bandoliers you have draped over your shoulders.
So the more you let go of your 'identity'-- the more you die to yourself in perfect humility-- the less you have to defend; and the less you have to defend, the less reason you have for anger."
pastura:
i know it's almost pointless to argue this because i know where that argument is coming from and it is logical - at least to me - but i feel somehow like i should, well, stand up to it. i'm being very unwaterlike at the moment, but i think that's natural. while there are some definite benefits to forgoing nature and supressing certain characteristics of being human, we also have to recognize the fact that it is going against nature to do that. lots of folks out there have caused lots of hell just because they let their egos rule or got too hung up on something abstract. but conflict also brings about progress. and i'm not necessarily talking about the kind of conflict going on in the middle east, i'm talking about the kind of conflict that brings out competition and creative thought...
nena:
Thanks for your comment on my last set! 