It has been argued that the spiritual evolutionary clock is always being reset to zero because one of the truest tests of a person’s spiritual development is their willingness to forego violence and to lay down, even their very life, for the benefit of another.
And so it is that the more awakened persons in any arena of life, in order to be ‘true’ to themselves, invariably and inevitably will choose to pause, to let up and/or to lay themselves down. The less enlightened are so unaware in those moments of what is actually happening that they sincerely have a sense of triumph as they seize the advantage and do their worst. The less enlightened see only the vindication of their long held belief that goodness and mercy are the attributes of losers.
For those who are primitive in spirit, decency, fairness and restraint are considered liabilities or weaknesses. They believe that those notions, depending upon the circumstances, will get you humiliated, hurt, fired or killed. Nothing ‘good’ ever comes from being ‘good’ in their world view. They know from their own experience with people like themselves that doubt or a moment’s hesitation is all the opening a ruthless spirit needs in order to strike and do damage.
“Eat or be eaten”. “Do unto others before they do unto you”. “Nice guys finish last”. These clichés, and there are many others, describe this mental and emotional world view. They are indicative of a closed system of thought that entertains no other possibility. It assumes the worst and acts accordingly. And, accordingly, it perpetuates the worst. That’s what a closed system of thought does. It fulfills itself. A fear based system of thought can only produce more things to be afraid of. A mind that looks for fear…surprise surprise…will find fear. Rather than protecting a person from fear, which is what such thinking claims to want to do, a mind based in fear traps a person into believing and behaving more and more fearfully.
We know all this….and still feel to give the urge to give that rude driver behind us the middle finger. We want to somehow let them know that they are not winning as we drive safely and let them pass.
So, I’ll tell you a little story:
Once upon a time, a small group of banking vice presidents were attending a seminar focused upon ‘effective communication’. One of the main points being emphasized was that effective communication was based more in good listening than in good speaking. Not everyone agreed with that proposition and the topic was opened up for discussion. The discussion became lively. It ended when one of the attendees stood up, pointed his finger at the person next to him and called him a coward for not agreeing with him that the idea was a load of horseshit and a waste of his time. He then stormed off. The room fell silent. The man who had been yelled at and called cowardly sat calmly the whole time. After a few minutes, he smiled and looked around. “Why is everyone being so quite?” He asked it rather humorously. The president of the company then answered, “Well, we knew there had been one asshole in the room. We were waiting to see if there was going to be two.”
In a room filled with executives, there was laughter and a ripple of love.
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