Animalistic Behavior
Posted on Jul 19th, 2008
by 
Woman, Interrupted
Woman, Interrupted
"A generous friend
gives life for a friend
lets rise above this
animalistic behavior
and be kind to one another"
~Rumi
LOL
That's like the Rumi quote of the week - or whathaveyou.
Lets rise above. Shall we? Over 700 years ago, that was probably pretty revolutionary. I can see them now with blank looks on their faces,
"What? Rise above the willingness to die for a friend? But that is the highest call! What could we possibly give more than that? And how is being kind more than being willing to die?"
The failure to identify and articulate why being kind is "higher" than being willing to die is the main reason we are in the mess we're in today economically, politically, religiously and culturally. And it's gonna take a while to untangle this mess. Most people just don't get it.
And it's not because they're not "willing" to get it. Willingness is one of the strengths of people who are "willing to die". Before the arival of this level of development was a true lack of willingness to care much for others. So, willingness is not the problem. The reason we're not going to "rise above" that brutal mindset is because our lives are still being asked of us. Until our lives are no longer asked of us, we're not going to let go of this level.
As the Jewish scriptures say, "The life is in the blood." But it's also in our time and space and energy. Every living resource that is limited is a container of our life. If I give it to you, it is gone. I'll get more time and energy, but that is for tomorrow. Yesterday's is gone. And if I have spent it unwisely or you have lied to me or exploited me in order to get it, I have given my most precious resource in exchange for something that will not serve me or what I am trying to serve. And if I am willing to give my life to serve something beautiful and true and good, but you take it from me without allowing me to serve those things, you are still demanding my life. No paycheck is enough to compensate me for that. No number of years of good to fair physical health will make the loss of my life any less real.
So, everyone who thinks we need to "rise above" should take a moment and take a little inventory of how much of their lives are actually still required of them, and what unkindnesses they've had to perform in order to meet that demand. No time to stop and help someone at the side of the road because you're already late to work. Being snippy to the bank teller because she's new and slow and you're on your lunch hour which is now almost over and you still haven't eaten. Being indiferent to the desperate pleadings of a family member, friend or beggar because you've struck a deal with the housing authority who says you can't have guests or pets.
I know of people who are voluntarily homeless because they won't let anyone make those kinds of demands of them. They won't relinquish their autonomy to give to whom they want, when and for what they want. I admire those people so much. I wish I was strong enough to do that. ...and strong enough to bear the derision of people who ass-u-me they are merely sponging off of society...
Our lives will never stop being asked of us. Therefore it is not appropriate to ask us to "rise above" giving it. The only way to reach something greater is to transcend and include that "animalistic behavior" and offer our lives with as much autonomy and in service to as much kindness as possible.
[since when are we not allowed more than 10 tags? That's really annoying.]
gives life for a friend
lets rise above this
animalistic behavior
and be kind to one another"
~Rumi
LOL
That's like the Rumi quote of the week - or whathaveyou.
Lets rise above. Shall we? Over 700 years ago, that was probably pretty revolutionary. I can see them now with blank looks on their faces,
"What? Rise above the willingness to die for a friend? But that is the highest call! What could we possibly give more than that? And how is being kind more than being willing to die?"
The failure to identify and articulate why being kind is "higher" than being willing to die is the main reason we are in the mess we're in today economically, politically, religiously and culturally. And it's gonna take a while to untangle this mess. Most people just don't get it.
And it's not because they're not "willing" to get it. Willingness is one of the strengths of people who are "willing to die". Before the arival of this level of development was a true lack of willingness to care much for others. So, willingness is not the problem. The reason we're not going to "rise above" that brutal mindset is because our lives are still being asked of us. Until our lives are no longer asked of us, we're not going to let go of this level.
As the Jewish scriptures say, "The life is in the blood." But it's also in our time and space and energy. Every living resource that is limited is a container of our life. If I give it to you, it is gone. I'll get more time and energy, but that is for tomorrow. Yesterday's is gone. And if I have spent it unwisely or you have lied to me or exploited me in order to get it, I have given my most precious resource in exchange for something that will not serve me or what I am trying to serve. And if I am willing to give my life to serve something beautiful and true and good, but you take it from me without allowing me to serve those things, you are still demanding my life. No paycheck is enough to compensate me for that. No number of years of good to fair physical health will make the loss of my life any less real.
So, everyone who thinks we need to "rise above" should take a moment and take a little inventory of how much of their lives are actually still required of them, and what unkindnesses they've had to perform in order to meet that demand. No time to stop and help someone at the side of the road because you're already late to work. Being snippy to the bank teller because she's new and slow and you're on your lunch hour which is now almost over and you still haven't eaten. Being indiferent to the desperate pleadings of a family member, friend or beggar because you've struck a deal with the housing authority who says you can't have guests or pets.
I know of people who are voluntarily homeless because they won't let anyone make those kinds of demands of them. They won't relinquish their autonomy to give to whom they want, when and for what they want. I admire those people so much. I wish I was strong enough to do that. ...and strong enough to bear the derision of people who ass-u-me they are merely sponging off of society...
Our lives will never stop being asked of us. Therefore it is not appropriate to ask us to "rise above" giving it. The only way to reach something greater is to transcend and include that "animalistic behavior" and offer our lives with as much autonomy and in service to as much kindness as possible.
[since when are we not allowed more than 10 tags? That's really annoying.]
Access: Public
autonomy
July 2008 