Others’ Spiritual Ways

It’s a touchy subject, isn’t it?
😀

Meeting others on spiritual paths can be – and often is – a catalyst for all our feelings and emotions. They make us a little crazy, because they seem a little crazy, right? In meeting ordinary people, the atmosphere is less charged, but ‘spiritual’ people often appear to act oddly. This is because we hold on to whatever we believe is precious, and fear our view being contaminated by the expression of others. One who is a genuine practician is naturally empathetic and generous.

If all we do is repeat the same words from the same books and agree on the same meaning, then all seems well – but the moment we see the meaning slightly differently, communication has to stop.

To be honest, I have to say to myself, “Leave them alone!” every day 😀 The words of the Buddha come to mind; “Do good, do no harm, tame the mind.” Damn! Can I at least punch a pillow? I chant OM MANI PEME HUM mentally, very quickly, to crowd out the frustration, and blot out my reactions. 😀

Our actual path to enlightenment is the recognition of our own confusion, bias and behaviour – this persona we in which we walk around – that clouds our clarity. The path is not about collecting a load of information that adds to our karma. It does not matter what we perceive in others as we all hold to a precious view of ourselves: it is the recognition of what is happening in our mind that cuts through the cloud of unknowing and separation.

If we have pride – which is a negative emotion because we feel superior to others – there is wisdom within this emotion. Whatever we feel that we know or realise, others will, at some time, reach that same realisation, and it is for that reason that wisdom-pride is known as the wisdom of equality.

The same applies to jealousy: whatever qualities we see in others which we feel we lack have to be already within us for us to be able to recognise them. For this reason, the wisdom aspect of jealousy is all-accomplishing wisdom.

Always be positive; life is too short to be otherwise!