So much of human history has been based on a sort of action/ re-action. One person does X so another person does Y.....Perhaps the easiest to see examples of this are in countries, or religions going to war with each other....France's and Germany's history with each other is a prime example of this. Or another example is the church's reaction to the new discoveries of the Renaissance in the sixteenth century where they could only base their views against the dogma of the past and re-act to the new thinkers and brand them as heretics. Often, the really new arisings in history cause a major re-action as it threatens the old order. At a more local level, we all know the story of kids re-acting against their parents through the centuries....more of this action / re-action.
New science is confirming today what mystics and Eastern theology has propounded for millennium...that we are all part of an interconnected living web....how we think, how we re-act, actually alters what happens to us, and alters the world we live in ...so what better topic of contemplation for any thinking person than to consider what they actually want in their life....not only based against the past, but with a vibrant view to the future they would want to build.
I was reading a book recently, which dealt a great deal in revenge...and I found it poignant and profoundly sad. One person is offended by what they consider foul behaviour from another and then enter this tangled web of paying them back. They start to engage in the very kind of thing that offended them in the first place. In other words, they move away from who they really are, away from the best of themselves, and become more like the person or incident which has upset them. Expressions get used like 'what goes around comes around' but what a very unfortunate and personal adding up about the meaning of a profound statement which reflects the truth that life is accountable.
Something I personally find really useful is when I feel myself getting drawn into conflict...is to go through a three step process... See it from my point of view, then imagine it from the other's viewpoint, then thirdly try to find some third place, some neutral context to try to see something of the truth and flaws in both sides of the story , try to rise above the bias of both of us and find a new context within which to re-appraise the whole situation.
So, with a revenge situation , a person might pause when they feel themselves drawn into this to and fro, this see saw effect .."they did this to me, so I'll do this to them"....and stop and consider firstly perhaps what provoked the first action, secondly what they really think about the vengeful thoughts they are having, and thirdly the context might be what kind of future do they really want, and whether the consequences of their re-actions are where they want to be heading. This rises above the action /rea-action where one's past governs one's future and instead one's intention about the future pulls one's forward.
It's a much brighter and more positive energy.
And wouldn't it be so brilliant, if we collectively begin to build the history we want, and let the worst of the past stay right there..in the past?
One of the happenings of the last fifty years has been man's space travel. When we first saw photographs of the earth from space, it was absolutely awesome - our first view of our beautiful blue planet. Now we receive images regularly from all over the universe...of the planets, stars and galaxies.
A friend today emailed me some fascinating facts about the ocean ...sent out by Conservation International
It strikes me yet again, how utterly vital it is for us to think as citizens of the planet, with respect for the whole eco-system and the part all life plays with it. To think with self interest, either individually or as a country is simply a non sustainable way of going on ...as the current trends demonstrate all too well.
