Q: Jim, I would like your thoughts on the philosophy of Jesus and others concerning turning the other cheek, surrender, going with the flow, etc. In some of my classes the response I get back is that by using force we defeated Hitler, and that if we had been passive hundreds of millions of people would be living under a nazi state now. Would you share your thoughts on this?
J: A profound and beautiful question. I hope I can do it justice. My slight translation of the question might go something like this:
The teachings of Jesus and others seem to be the ideal, and yet we must live our lives in the real world. How to reconcile the two?
First, in my opinion, if we're looking for a one-size-fits-all set of rules about life we're probably doomed to frustration. Why? Because the web of existence is far too complex and mysterious to be truly encompassed by any set of human rules, no matter how brilliant those rules may seem to us.
When Jesus preached, he was teaching us a great truth which will indeed tend to lead to more harmonious solutions most of the time. Look at the results that Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr achieved, and compare those results with what the current leaders of Israel and Palestine are achieving.
Yet we can't make an absolute rule even out of non-violence, because existence works in mysterious ways (see "The Law Of Opposite Effect") and we can't predict the ultimate outcome of anything. And Jesus was aware of this, of course.
The best approach I've come across is to become as quiet as possible and bring our deep listening—our most receptive consciousness—to each situation and then see where “it” wants to go.
In my experience, this deep listening to our inner guidance tends to lead to the greatest overall harmony for all in each situation. And yet there's no guarantee of that; life doesn't offer any guarantees. And we must ultimately recognize that this inner guidance will go in whatever direction it goes.
Second, surrender does not necessarily look passive; in fact it usually doesn't. Surrender is more about surrendering to the deep knowingness inside of us rather than some external picture of passivity. One can be extremely surrendered inside and yet appear—and be—quite active on the outside.
Surrender does not necessarily look non-aggressive either. True, it will have a strong tendency to be peaceful and non-aggressive, but again, we can't make a rule out of it. When we are listening deeply to life we absolutely can’t predict where it’s going to go. Consequently, we give up trying to figure out how it’s “supposed” to look. Or where it’s "supposed" to go.
There can arise a deep willingness for life to go wherever it wants to go—especially since it’s going to go there anyway. And the recognition of the inherent goodness of life, that is the inherent goodness of the totality, even in the face of the most terrible tragedy, is the mystery that one is actually surrendered to.
Thus it is possible that one could find oneself involved in a war against Hitler in some capacity, and yet feel even so a sense of deep surrender and compassion for all involved.
Third, surrender has a lot to do with compassion. In my experience compassion has almost nothing to do with being a kind of doormat. Some of the most compassionate people who ever lived were capable of being tough and resilient when the situation called for it. Just think of Lincoln—a man of tremendous compassion—pursuing the U.S. Civil War to its conclusion.
On a more personal level, one can be saying “yes” internally to all of existence, to everything being exactly as it is, and yet a “yes” or “no” can still arise for any given invitation: for dinner, for sex, for working together, for anything at all. The response just comes from our deep knowingness inside, and that "inner guide" is essentially unpredictable. (Search on "inner guide," button at left, for more info.)
Finally, there's the recognition that wherever life goes, it will always be just “here,” meeting itself, everywhere and always.
Then one knows that nothing truly matters, because all phenomena are just manifestations of the one energy, which is doing all things. Futher, that our sense of being a separate being among separate beings is a complete illusion. To begin to grasp one's own inherent non-existence is the doorway to freedom.
Nevertheless, we do whatever we can to contribute however we can. As Castaneda’s Don Juan put it, “We know that nothing at all matters, and yet we still act as an impeccable warrior.”
Surrender, compassion, deep listening and so on are all actually words for the same thing, a deep sense of being in love and let-go, of being surrendered to existence while still acting as if there were a personal doer making decisions.
If this sounds like a deep mystery, it certainly is, because life not only can’t be encompassed by a set of rules but ultimately can’t even really be understood by the rational mind. It can only be understood by the heart, which just lays back upon the mystery while seeming to act within it.
—jim sloman, for 6/27/02
|
