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An inspiring collection of original mandalas and articles about the peace, beauty and self-discovery found in the mandala.
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Double-Edged Sword: The Conflict of Self |
"In the great Simplicity lies the beginning of essential
qualities." (Lieh-Tzu)
After
a time the Universe arrived at a state of awareness, of consciousness,
of looking at itself with a sense of recognition never before
felt. Where all before was physics and chemistry, suddenly from
the Void emerged Thought. While terms like "looking"
and "felt" carry a distinctly anthropomorphic slant,
it doesn't detract from the concept of Universal Consciousness
at all. In essence, I see no difference between universal tendancies
and human ones. This is not meant to humanize the universe, but,
on the contrary, to point out that as elements of the universe,
our own tendancies are directly descended from classical universal
behavior—in essence, to "universalize" humankind.
We
are the originators of this new phenomenon, Thought, the bearers
of this great blessing. Through the ebb and flow of the cosmos
we have developed the ability to think, to analyze, to create.
Yet just as the tiniest dust motes and the mightiest stars, we
are but an element in the Universal tapestry. We must therefore
recognize that, as such, we are no more and no less than a wave
in the sea of everything, a crest in the ocean of night. We ride
the forefront of the evolution of the Universe and cry out into
the vast emptiness "We are here!" It is a wondrous
thing to know oneself, to see one's place and revel in the marvel
of existence.
But
from this place of wonder we must grow further, lest our zest
for life turn to hubris and decline. We strive too hard to assert
our selves, for it is this self that each of us can point to
and claim validity and worth. It is this self that separates
us from the stars, the planets, from each other. After all, no
stone can cry aloud into the wind, no tree can wonder at its
own beauty, and this awareness is power of a dangerous sort.
It is at once the most wondrous thing in the universe and the
most trecherous. It is a creature of elegence and intelligence,
and a monster of ever-increasing hunger. The more we assert our
self-strength, our self-worth, and ultimately our self-rightousness,
the less able we are to accept the selves of others.
This
manifests itself in every strata of human society, whether individual,
family, culture or nation. Everyone is struggling desparately,
viciously, even, to assert their position. The most grievous
example we see of this sort of thing tends to fall under the
disputes between religions. Especially in today's world, we must
ask how many people need to die before one's beliefs are secure?
Why can't people of different faiths live and walk and work beside
each other? Are we so spiritually weak, so insecure that we must
argue, kill and hate to claim our worth? There are disputes,
certainly, and injustices aplenty, but effort should be put toward
resolving these rather toward eliminating the perpetrators. One's
perceived enemy has a position, too, and is as confident in their
correctness as oneself. This is the key. If we all stop for just
a moment to think, we would realize that everyone acts from a
point of self-justified reasoning. And if all these conflicting
viewpoints are justified within the minds of the people, then
we must realize that such self-justification is worthless. I
can be vehemently confident in my position, but if you are equally
sure of yours, for your own reasons, then what makes me right
and you wrong? Once we logically eliminate certainty from our
moral position, we can more readily accept the positions of others.
This
is where the eastern concept of losing the self comes in. It
is not about remaining empty, but rather about discarding the
impulse to defend. We are too willing to fight, to argue, as
if we would be less worthy were we to withdraw from conflict.
We must look to the universe as a behavioral model-- in
the vastness of space there is no resistance, only harmony. The
cosmic particles work together in the manner determined by the
flow of the currents, and do not resist. Consciousness, our double-edged
sword, both allows us to recognize our place and compels us to
struggle against it. But this struggle is the source of all discord
and suffering. To move in harmony with the universe is to discover
the harmony within ourselves.
The
self is a curious thing. It seems to be our identity, but in
reality acts as a barrier. It glorifies us, yet calls upon us
to degrade others. To one degree or another it is the root source
of all conflicts within the panoply of humankind. Assertion leads
to dispute, dispute to violence, violence to death. Countless
bodies have been piled upon the pyre of self-assertion, and it
seems we are nowhere near the end. All of war, hatred and prejudice
can claim the self as its author.
The
essence of our self should be about an appreciation for the marvelous
place we hold, rather than an assertion of the righteousness
of that place. We have no need to defend that place, for no one
and nothing is trying to take it away from us—except, perhaps,
ourselves. It is like a room full of lunatics trying desperately to convince
each other that they are sane. The fact is that we are
here, we are wondrous, and we need prove it to no one.
When
we do not assert the self, we have no need to defend it against
others. When we do not defend against others, they in turn become
less defensive, and therefore less offensive, and in time the
cycle will slow and come to settle at a peaceful point of self-
and mutual-respect and acceptance.
The
greatest joy of self, of awareness and intelligence, is a true sense
of harmony with the universal flow. It is to see oneself as riding
currents that have moved for eons to a melody all their own,
to sing aloud to the stars, to the void itself. To look out to
the Universe and shout not "We are here!" but rather,
"We see you, and you are beautiful!"
April 29, 2003 by Peter Patrick Barreda. Material copyright 2011, all rights reserved.
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