10/12/2023
Life is meant to serve Life. When conscious, sentient beings “forget” this, believing themselves above this universal necessity, thinking that other life is only meant to be in service to themselves but never served in kind by them, the resulting imbalance is to the detriment of all. This is a degenerate state of localized existence, marked by stagnation, runaway egoic amplification and thus vast increases in “separation” of those egoic “islands” from the mainland of ultimate reality, the inherently unified fabric of the Source of all things, Being Itself.
The proverbial “horsemen of Apocalypse” ride in on these “local” waves of imbalance. Ultimately, the infinite cosmic ocean that is the Universe, will smooth out these perturbations, and restore order. This may or may not conveniently resolve in the span of an ordinary human lifetime. Usually, it will minimally require multiple human generations.
Emotions associated with compassion, and anger may be considered to be prime motivators of behavior for humans and countless other beings. But emotions being what they are, necessarily, are fickle. They might be viewed as “internal weather conditions.”
If you think you are good and compassionate because you did something good at the behest of your inner winds one moment, think on this: What if in another moment you feel a different wind - perhaps you are vexed, angered, or indifferent for any number of reasons? If your behavior depends on how you feel, then would you still make compassionate choices? Would you still do the right thing? Would you even know what the right thing might be in such a time? I cannot imagine, and nor have I seen much evidence that anyone could honestly answer “yes” to these inquiries.
If human beings are to have true realization of self and personal empowerment then, it will do them no good to moor themselves to such mercurial harbors. A person may be said to be truly (actually) compassionate not because they are always experiencing feelings of warmth and empathic satisfaction that are commonly associated with the concept of “compassion,” but because they have distinguished and determined that compassion is aligned with a vastly greater and infinitely more powerful aspect of “Self.” They have therefore made an unwavering commitment to making compassionate choices, independent of how they may or may not feel in any given moment. They do not rely on, nor do they indulge in any feeling of bliss or pleasantness. They work very hard to avoid failing to act and behave compassionately, despite any feelings of anger, apathy or resentment. They take on the mindset of the warrior, who strives against all odds and all difficulty, in pursuit of his mission that his family and people should be safe from all harm, free to live happy and fulfilled lives for the betterment of all.
While it is nice to experience pleasant feelings, especially evoked by compassion and familial closeness, and it can be very helpful for healthy self-formation throughout a lifetime, it’s important to learn independence from them as quickly as possible. We want to evolve ourselves in such a way that we do what is right, because it is right. Not because it feels good. Not because it is convenient.
A warrior fighting a just battle has no time to revel in his successes and victories, for he knows that the next battle is just around the next bend, and he must devote his entire focus to doing everything he can to be prepared for it.
A spiritual warrior does what is right, what is good, what is caring, no matter how he feels, good or bad. No matter whether it is convenient or not. There will be times when he will struggle valiantly to do so, when he may not feel the presence of love in his own heart, as anger is ever ready to eclipse its warmth and light. But as he persists, he will see this state as the illusion it is, and he will invariably dispel that darkening cloud. In time, and perhaps even quickly, he will feel the warmth of compassion's radiance once again, as surely as the sun rises after every long night.
I think that at the end of the journey, when one’s book of life is soon to be closed it may be given to them such a bliss - the accumulation of a lifetime of joy - bathing them in the happy light of all the good they had ever done walking and dwelling upon the Earth.
