17
“The Sage has no interests of his own,
But takes the interests of the people as his own.
He is kind to the kind;
He is also kind to the unkind:
For Virtue is kind.
He is faithful to the faithful;
He is also faithful to the unfaithful:
For Virtue is faithful.”
- Laozi (Daodejing 49).
‘Do unto others as you would have
done to you.’ - The Nazarene.
"Therefore, whatever you want
men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
(Bible, Matthew 7:12).
“...if there is any other
commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your
neighbour as yourself.' Love does no harm to a neighbour; therefore love is the
fulfilment of the law." (ibid. Romans 13:8-10).
"Give to everyone who asks of
you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as
you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those
who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love
them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to
you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope
to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners
to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for
nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the
Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful,
just as your Father also is merciful." (ibid. Luke 6:30-36)
The Supreme Virtue: “It is to love
all men and not to do to others what you would not wish done to yourself.” And
“Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness [return
good for evil].” - Confucius (Analects).
“Requite injury with kindness.” -
Laozi (Daodejing 63).
“Whenever some kindness comes to
you, turn that way, toward the source.” – Rumi.
"Kindness is the
golden key that unlocks the hearts of others." - Anon.
"No act of
kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop.
"Too
often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening
ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the
potential to turn a life around."
Leo Buscaglia.
“Kindness in words creates
confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates
profundity.
Kindness in giving creates love.”
- Laozi.
“Live every day,
use every thought, as if it were your last. Leave no kind action or peaceful
thought unexpressed.” - Jeshua (‘The
Christ,’ channelled through Virginia Essene, New Teachings For An Awakening
Humanity, Spiritual Education Endeavours Publishing Company, CA., U.S.,
1986, updated 1994, p.177).
“The man
who is kind and who practices righteousness, who remains passive amidst the
affairs of the world, who considers all creatures on earth as his own self, He
attains the Immortal Being, the true God is ever with him.” – Kabir.
"The
parts and signs of goodness are many. If a man be gracious and courteous to
strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island
cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them ; if he be
compassionate towards the afflictions of others, it shows his heart is like the
noble tree that is wounded itself when it gives the balm ; if he easily pardons
and remits offenses, it shows that his mind is planted above injuries, so that
he cannot be shot ; if he be thankful for small benefits, it shows that he
weighs men's minds, and not their trash ; but, above all, if he have St. Paul's
perfection, that he would wish to be an anathema from Christ for the salvation
of his brethren, it shows much of a divine nature, and a kind of conformity to
Christ Himself." - Francis Bacon (from the essay ‘Of Goodness and Goodness
of Nature’ (the
Rosicrucian philosophy in a single paragraph, notes an online friend).
Positive
Response. How to
meet evil with good by Acharya Buddharakkhita (A Buddhist Publication Society
booklet, Sri Lanka, 1987).
The
Buddha teaches the monk Phagguna (in The
Parable of the Saw):
Gentle...to a point (me!).
‘In the same way, monks, some monk
here is very gentle, very meek, and very calm, so long as disagreeable ways of
speech do not assail him; but when disagreeable ways of speech do assail the
monk, it is then that the monk is to be judged whether he is ‘gentle,’ ‘meek.’
or ‘calm.’ Monks, I do not call that monk ‘dutiful,’ who is dutiful on account
of the requisites he gets, i.e. the robe, almsfood, lodging and medicaments,
whereby he falls into pseudo-dutifulness. And why? For, monks, when that monk
fails to get the requisites of the robe, almsfood, lodging and medicaments, he
ceases to be dutiful, and is not in keeping with the norms of dutifulness.
(p.7-8).
Wood
from a Pyre
(Chavalata Sutta, Anguttara Nikaya, 4:95).
The modern psychoanalytical
technique known as T.A., Transactional Analysis, distinguishes four possible
attitudes that condition a man’s conduct. These are:
1. I
am not OK, you are not OK.
2. I
am not OK, you are OK.
3. I
am OK, you are not OK.
4. I
am OK, you are OK.
Out of these, the fourth one represents
the approach of positive response. The person who says, ‘I am all right and you
are also all right’ is optimistic and tries to find the best in every man and
in every situation. It is only when one seeks good that one finds good, which
leads one to the ultimate good. Whoever is committed to the philosophy of
positive response must necessarily seek good and discover good.
(p.25).
In a discourse entitled ‘Wood from a
Pyre,’ the Buddha classifies human beings into four distinct categories,
namely:
5. a
man who promotes neither his own good nor the good of another;
6. a
man who promotes another’s good but not his own;
7. a
man who promotes his own good but not another’s;
8. a
man who promotes his own good and another’s.
Of these, the last category represents
the man who is committed to positive response.
The Buddha uses very telling
analogies. The worst of the four, he says, is a man who is like a piece of wood
from a pyre, burnt on both sides and fouled with dung in the middle. It cannot
be used as firewood in the village, nor can it be used as timber in the forest.
Even so is the man who neither promotes his own well-being or another’s. He
represents a man of negative approach, void of love - metta.
p.26.
The man who treads the path of
positive response...has the bright outlook which says, ‘I am all right and you
are also all right.’ That is to say, ‘I have nothing to complain about, I
grudge none. I see good everywhere. Even from the worst of men, I can learn
something. Every impediment for me is something to be turned into an aid and
every failure into a step forward to success.’ (p.27.)
“That's what learning is, after all;
not whether we lose the game, but how we lose and how we've changed because of
it and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other
games. Losing, in a curious way, is winning.” - Richard Bach (The Bridge Across Forever, Pan Books,
2001).
Nosferatu
Angel Cards suggest Harmony - try to make and keep it.
Pigsy evidently is distrustful and
suspicious and this comes out when he’s at home - or especially when he comes home! He has to relax and face his
own emotions, and that he is fucked up and then wants to take it out on the
nearest person - his neighbour (not his girlfriend because she helps to sooth
his emotions like mama and help him forget this).
When a person commits an evil act
(and especially if one does the deed because one has heard or thought that the
other person was aggressive and evil and therefore feels that it was lawful and
justified and God is on their side) one then has to do more evil. One is
dependent on the other guy reacting and doing something evil in turn. This
justifies one’s evil actions, condones them, helps shift the blame and make one
feel secure and good. It may lead to support from others, and, also, one can
conquer the opponent when they finally commit an evil act themselves.
One needs them to do something
aggressive, evil, criminal, violent (or at least persuade themselves that this
has occurred, or could, or just make it up). Otherwise, one’s own evil actions
pile up and look bad. In fact, they make one look like the monster one has
become or was in the first place! He desperately needs you to do something evil
so he can directly point the finger at you and not worry about all the bad
things he has done himself, feeling that they are justified. In a sense, he
needs you to do something despicable (big) to make you react (then he can even
beat you up and enjoy it, feeling justified). And, perhaps, you need him to
carry on doing evil things so that he and everyone else can see what a monster
he is so he then can’t touch you. But, it doesn’t have to be that way.
"When
you blame others you give up your power to change." – Dr. Robert Anthony.
Master
Kan (Philip Ahn): What is gained by using
one’s strength in violence and anger?
Young
Caine (Radames
Pera): A victory that is swift.
Master
Kan: Yet, to be violent is to be weak.
Violence has no mind. Is it not wiser to seek a man’s love than to desire his
swift defeat?
-
Kung Fu (Season 2, Episode 15, ‘The
Way of Violence Has No Mind,’ 1974).
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui
Way of Knowledge
(Pocket books, New York, U.S., 1966).
“The quotations
were
taken directly from the explanations given to me as an anthropologist by my
teacher and mentor don
Juan
Matus, a Yaqui Indian shaman.” – Carlos Castaneda.
* You will have to make a very deep commitment because this training is
long and arduous.
Power
rests on the kind of knowledge one holds. What is the sense knowing things that
are useless?
* Nothing in this world is a gift, whatever there is to learn has to be
learned the hard way.
One
can feel with the eyes, when the eyes are not looking right into things.
You
have to be inflexible with yourself if you want to learn.
You
must have command over your resources.
* There is nothing wrong with being afraid. When you fear, you see
things in a different way.
I
am going to teach you the secrets that make up the lot of a man of knowledge.
You
will learn in spite of yourself; that's the rule.
You
are a serious person, but your seriousness is attached to what you do, not to
what goes on outside you. You dwell upon yourself too much. That's the trouble.
And that produces a terrible fatigue. Seek and see the marvels all around you.
You will get tired of looking at yourself alone, and that fatigue will make you
deaf and blind to everything else.
* A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with
respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any
other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it will live to regret his steps.
When
a man has fulfilled those four requisites there are no mistakes for which he
will have to account; under such conditions his acts lose the blundering
quality of a fool's acts. If such a man fails, or suffers a defeat, he will
have lost only a battle, and there will be no pitiful regrets over that.
* Man lives only to learn. And if he learns it is because that is the
nature of his lot, for good or bad.
* A man of knowledge is one who has followed truthfully the hardships of
learning, a man who has, without rushing or without faltering, gone as far as
he can in unravelling the secrets of power and knowledge. To become a man of
knowledge he must challenge and defeat his four natural enemies. A man can call
himself a man of knowledge only if he is capable of defeating all four of them.
Anybody who defeats them becomes a man of knowledge. Anyone can try to become a
man of knowledge; very few men actually succeed, but that is only natural. The
enemies a man encounters on the path of learning to become a man of knowledge
are truly formidable; most men succumb to them.
To
be a man of knowledge has no permanence. One is never a man of knowledge, not
really. Rather, one becomes a man of knowledge for a very brief instant, after
defeating the four natural enemies.
‘A message for the life sustainers’ by the Hathors (channelled through Tom Kenyon, 21 June 2004, www.tomkenyon.com).
Finally we wish to say to you that as difficult as
the challenges are, you are still the Masters of your destiny, although you
slumber in forgetfulness. If you are to survive you must awaken. In our world
we have a ritualistic object. It is made of the finest gold that has been
culled from the ninth dimension. In this box there are three symbolic stones.
We refer to this box as the Ark of Humanity, as a symbol for that which will
carry you (humanity) into a new dimension.
The
three stones represent the three within humanity. There are those who would
rather kill and die than awaken to the truth of themselves as Creator Gods.
They remain asleep, though dangerous, since they sleepwalk and appear to be
like everyone else. These are the people of the first stone.
The
second stone represents those who do not wish to be bothered; do not wish to
change how they live life. They are not particularly violent, just numb. The
third stone represents those who are awakening and have awakened to themselves
as Creator Gods, understanding that they are responsible for their aspect of
Creation and who willingly accept the responsibility of living upward through
joy and harmony in a world so full of
conflict.
The
Ark of Humanity holds all three stones, and if the Ark of Humanity is to carry
the entire collective into the fifth dimension and beyond, it must carry all
three stones. The task for collective transmutation rests upon the shoulders of
those of the third stone. Even though you are late in the hour (so to speak), total
catastrophe can be averted. Ironically, it has more to do with how the third
stone of humanity chooses to live their life.
If
you succumb to the emotions of fear and horror, the Ark of Humanity will not be
carried into the fifth dimension and beyond, because the purification will
destroy most life on Earth. If this occurs, you will simply find that you will
return to the spiritual realm according to the level of your development and
spiritual attainment.
So
we speak not to the first or second stones, for they cannot hear us; although
their eyes may see these words or their ears hear the words, they will not
comprehend. This is for those of you of the third stone. You know who you are.
For you will have been electrified by what you have just read.
We
bow to you, the protectors and the guardians of the human spirit. We bow to
you, sages and masters, for your spiritual courage to have incarnated upon this
Earth at this time. Live more fully. Laugh more heartily. Forgive more
completely. You are the Masters of your destiny. Be Happy.
The Hathors.
Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson): Oh,
don't worry sir, please. Just consider that life is a valley of woe filled with
pain, misery, hunger and despair.
The Prince Regent (Hugh Laurie): Well not for me it bloody isn't! As far as I'm concerned life is a big
palace full of food, drink, and comfy sofas.
Baldrick (Tony Robinson): May I speak, sir?
Blackadder:
Certainly not Baldrick! The Prince is about to die. The last thing he wants to
do in his final moments is exchange pleasantries with a certified plum-duff.
The Prince Regent: Easy
Blackadder, let's hear him out.
Blackadder: Very
well Baldrick. We shall hear you out, then throw you out.
Baldrick: Well,
Your Majesty, I have a cunning plan which could get you out of this problem.
Blackadder: Don't
listen to him sir. It's a cruel proletarian trick to raise your hopes. I shall
have him shot the moment he's finished clearing away your breakfast.
The Prince Regent: No wait Blackadder. Perhaps this disgusting degraded creature is some
sort of blessing in disguise.
Blackadder: Well
if he is, it's a very good disguise.
The Prince Regent: After
all, did not our Lord send a lowly earthworm to comfort Moses in his torment?
Blackadder: [Firmly]
No.
The Prince Regent: Well,
it's the sort of thing he might have done. Well, come on Mr. Spotty, speak.
Baldrick: Well,
Your Majesty, I just thought - this Welliton bloke's been in Europe for years.
You don't know what he looks like. He don't know what you looks like. So why
don't you get someone else to fight the duel instead of you?
The Prince Regent: But
I'm the Prince Regent! My portrait hangs on every wall!
Blackadder:
Answer that, Baldrick.
Baldrick: Well
my cousin Bert Baldrick, Mr. Gainsborough's butler's dogsbody, says that he's
heard that all portraits look the same these days, 'cause they're painted to a
romantic ideal rather than as a true depiction of the idiosyncratic facial
qualities of the person in question.
Blackadder: [Impressed]
Your cousin Bert obviously has a larger vocabulary than you do, Baldrick.
The Prince Regent: No,
now, he's right damn him. Anybody could fight the duel and Wellers would never
know.
Blackadder: All
the same sir, Baldrick's plan does seem to hinge on finding someone willing to
commit suicide on your behalf.
The Prince Regent: Oh
yes yes yes, but he would be fabulously rewarded. Money, titles, castles..
Blackadder: A
coffin, arm...
Baldrick:
That's right, I thought maybe Mr. Blackadder himself would fancy the job.
The Prince Regent: What
a splendid idea!
Blackadder:
Excuse me Your Highness. Trouble with the staff.
[Baldrick and Blackadder leave the room. Blackadder grabs Baldrick by
the Lapels]
Blackadder:
Baldrick, does it have to be this way? Our valued friendship ending with me
cutting you into long strips and telling the Prince that you walked over a very
sharp cattlegrid in an extremely heavy hat?
Baldrick: Mr.
Blackadder, you was only just saying in the kitchen how you wanted to rise
again - now here the Prince is offering you the lot.
Blackadder: But,
tiny tiny brain, the Iron Duke will kill me. To even think about taking him on
you'd have to be some kind of homicidal maniac who was fantastically good at
fighting, like McAdder, like McAdder... [excited] Like McAdder could fight the
duel for me!
[Blackadder re-enters the Prince's bedroom]
Blackadder:
[calmly] My apologies sir. I was just having a word with my insurance people.
Obviously I would be delighted to die on your behalf.
The Prince Regent: God's
toenails Blackadder, I'm most damnably grateful. You won't regret this you
know.
Blackadder: Well
that's excellent. There's just one point though sir, re: the suicide policy.
There's an unusual clause which states that the policy holder must wear a big
red wig and affect a Scottish accent in the combat zone.
The Prince Regent: Small
print eh? Huh.
- Blackadder the Third (Series 3, Episode 6, ‘Duel and Duality,’ written by Ben Elton and Richard
Curtis, BBC TV, 1987).
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