Rather than advance an inch
it is better to retreat a yard.
This is called
going forward without advancing,
pushing back without using weapons
Being in my mid 30’s, I never anticipated that I’d ever have to raise my fists against another person. It has been years since striking someone in anger.
Last night I was at a gathering when a fight began. Immediately I jumped between the 2 people. Keep in mind, when a person does this they run the risk of taking a blow meant for another person, this was true in this situation as well and I accepted that. My impedance was enough to slow the fight allowing others to restrain the opponents. While one was restrained I turned and helped restrain the other. Another person thought that I was attacking his friend and sent a couple of blows at me. He ignored his wife pleading for him to stop and me telling him to stop that I wasn't fighting.
Two options were available, fight or run. Immediately the thought to give a yard rather than take an inch came to mind. I defended myself enough and caused no damage beyond what was necessary to leave. While some of my self defense caused him to bleed, once out the door I went straight to my vehicle and went home.
While the whole start to the fight was silly, this was a significant change for me. The old me would have sent the guy to a hospital in bad condition. It felt cowardly to abandon the situation for home, but the person will return to his life today hardly any worse off than what he woke up yesterday. It was a win – win situation, even if my ego thinks otherwise.
8 comments:
Good on ya. There is a happy medium here and I reckon you found it.
Sounds like you handled it far better than I would have.
I still haven't let the anger go, it is a complete loss for me at this point.
The anger isn't you.
You are observing the anger.
With observation comes separation.
Separation is 'inner space'.
Inner space is your reality.
1yogi2many :)
I don't think that I've been studying long enough to fully understand what you mean 100%. I understand about the separation but not how there is separation.
There is the observed and there is the observer.
The observer is your intelligence, you, observing the activity in the mind; thought and emotion.
So, you, the observer, observe the discursive activity of thought and emotion within your psyche.
The more you observe it (thought/emotion), naturally, you begin to separate from it because you realize, 'It isn't me, I'm the one observing all this activity within the mind.'
Eventually, given a long period of self-observation, one separates from the observed . . permanently.
At this point the observer and the observed both dissipate (because there is nothing left to observe), and being reigns supreme once more.
Separation happens because you realize that what you are observing 'Isn't me!'
I hope that helps:)
That clarified things significantly. The full concept is understood as well as the seperation. This might take a bit of time to completely grasp. It is like trying to grab something from the top shelf, you can see it but need to stretch as much as possible on your tip toes to grasp it.
Really it is just creating more questions than it solves. I've time, though.
Thanks!
It is a great paradox Mr. Methodic, that nothing positive can be done in order to realise 'truth'. It is a process of negation; requiring us to shed ourselves of the false.
You have to shed the false, but paradoxically, you lose nothing of who, or what, you really are.
You lose only what you are not; the false aspect of yourself.
What is the false? It is everything you think you are but are not; and that is your conditioning.
Self-observation allows you to become more and more aware of what you are not.
What you are not . . is discursive thought and emotional reactivity; your conditioned past.
Discursive thought and Emotional reactivity are simply a regurgitation of the past.
The past in you is a gathering of past moments that no longer exist anywhere . . except as your impressions/memory.
These impressions of life have gathered together over time to create your conditioned personality.
You 'believe' that this conditioned personality is who you are.
Self-observation allows awareness to grow. Awareness of what?
Awareness of the conditioned personality.
Who is aware?
Your intelligence is aware of what it is observing.
What your intelligence/awareness is aware of is the false.
It is this false 'self' that you eventually separate from.
At first you observe.
Then some space between the observer and the observed appears within your psyche.
You keep observing yourself thinking and getting emotional and . . . 'CATCH' . . the thoughts/emotions as they take possession of your mind and psyche.
Each time you catch though and emotion in action within your mind you separate from it.
Can you see where this is going . . ha, ha? I sincerely hope that you can . . should I continue with this pattern, or are we already reaching critical overload levels?
May I suggest you read the things I write over and over at separate sittings until you have an 'Aha' moment? And then? Come back for more . . . . ;-)
1yog2many
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