Fighting the Tyranny
The fact always amazes me: the Romans nailed Jesus (PBUH) to a cross, and he was literally one of the nicest men to walk the earth. I mean what were they thinking?
Does it pay in the long run to kill Virtue? Of course not!
And history repeats itself, that's the brilliantly idiotic thing about us. It's the infinite loop of tyranny, of senseless suppression of free will, of virtue, of kindness.
Modern times:
The Cross has been replaced by chemical attacks. There's a list of drugs you can use to hurt others. Sarin, soman, vesicants of various colours and so on- the list speaks eloquently of human malevolence.
It depresses a person to see the chemical attacks in Syria, unceasing since 2013. Does it pay Bashar Al Assad to kill his own people especially the children of his land, the meek, the innocent? Nah! It doesn't. Its absurd in its painfulness. It's senselessness.
The point I'm making is this:
The suffering in our world can bow you down till nothing remains of you but a distracted shell. It happens to all of us to a certain degree. The word distracted is the key. Here, it means numb, indifferent, opiated. The paradigm here is to shrink from the suffering till your compassion shrinks, then and only then you live normally, settling like sediment to the bottom of your self-created ocean bed, ensconce beneath the sand. Be happy. Otherwise, the pain! It's excruciating. It's persistent.
Or, yeah there is the alternative of looking at the horror in its cadaverous face, of acknowledging its existence, patting it on the cheek and saying, no more of you!
My teacher would say, for some people, Syria will be the trigger, for some, Peshawar might be the trigger, and for some, Somalia will serve as a wake-up call, the will to stand up and fight the malevolence.
Then there is the need to ameliorate the suffering of others, because yes you will be asked about it.
Certain practicals stem against the heart of darkness:
1- Give your life theory of meaning, because it'll serve as an antidote to chaos and suffering.
2-Fight the bully: the nature of the beast is that it creates a facade of invincibility. But it's a chicken in the inside.
Just attack evil, unkindness especially. It doesn't have to be a frontal attack, a direct one with a Kalashnikov. It need not be physically at all. Many war strategists use the oblique tactics to win in war (they are also more fun). Educate your body and mind on these.
There is a bully inside each of us as well.
Starve it till you control it. Subjugate it with self-discipline.
3- Be more knowledgeable. The battlefields are as numerous as there are people. Choose one and learn about it in detail until you know how the tyrant lives, breathes, acts.
Analyze till each facet of Bashar al Assad, to give a convenient example, is apparent to you. Then attack. And persevere.
The truth I've learnt from my teacher is that each human being will pass through that filter, that absolute filter called death. The accessories will remain, the possessions will remain, the deeds will pass through. The suffering will pass through. Your acts of kindness will pass through. The blood of the innocent will pass through and the staunching of that blood will pass through.
So yeah if you're not with us, you're against us.
Are you on the side of, say, the Romans or Jesus?
Assad or the innocent?
Who's side will you be on?
Don't sit on the fence though.
The fence is for idiots.
You, my friend, are smart.
And kind.
Maryam Salman (Batch of 2020)
Does it pay in the long run to kill Virtue? Of course not!
And history repeats itself, that's the brilliantly idiotic thing about us. It's the infinite loop of tyranny, of senseless suppression of free will, of virtue, of kindness.
Modern times:
The Cross has been replaced by chemical attacks. There's a list of drugs you can use to hurt others. Sarin, soman, vesicants of various colours and so on- the list speaks eloquently of human malevolence.
It depresses a person to see the chemical attacks in Syria, unceasing since 2013. Does it pay Bashar Al Assad to kill his own people especially the children of his land, the meek, the innocent? Nah! It doesn't. Its absurd in its painfulness. It's senselessness.
The point I'm making is this:
The suffering in our world can bow you down till nothing remains of you but a distracted shell. It happens to all of us to a certain degree. The word distracted is the key. Here, it means numb, indifferent, opiated. The paradigm here is to shrink from the suffering till your compassion shrinks, then and only then you live normally, settling like sediment to the bottom of your self-created ocean bed, ensconce beneath the sand. Be happy. Otherwise, the pain! It's excruciating. It's persistent.
Or, yeah there is the alternative of looking at the horror in its cadaverous face, of acknowledging its existence, patting it on the cheek and saying, no more of you!
My teacher would say, for some people, Syria will be the trigger, for some, Peshawar might be the trigger, and for some, Somalia will serve as a wake-up call, the will to stand up and fight the malevolence.
Then there is the need to ameliorate the suffering of others, because yes you will be asked about it.
Certain practicals stem against the heart of darkness:
1- Give your life theory of meaning, because it'll serve as an antidote to chaos and suffering.
2-Fight the bully: the nature of the beast is that it creates a facade of invincibility. But it's a chicken in the inside.
Just attack evil, unkindness especially. It doesn't have to be a frontal attack, a direct one with a Kalashnikov. It need not be physically at all. Many war strategists use the oblique tactics to win in war (they are also more fun). Educate your body and mind on these.
There is a bully inside each of us as well.
Starve it till you control it. Subjugate it with self-discipline.
3- Be more knowledgeable. The battlefields are as numerous as there are people. Choose one and learn about it in detail until you know how the tyrant lives, breathes, acts.
Analyze till each facet of Bashar al Assad, to give a convenient example, is apparent to you. Then attack. And persevere.
The truth I've learnt from my teacher is that each human being will pass through that filter, that absolute filter called death. The accessories will remain, the possessions will remain, the deeds will pass through. The suffering will pass through. Your acts of kindness will pass through. The blood of the innocent will pass through and the staunching of that blood will pass through.
So yeah if you're not with us, you're against us.
Are you on the side of, say, the Romans or Jesus?
Assad or the innocent?
Who's side will you be on?
Don't sit on the fence though.
The fence is for idiots.
You, my friend, are smart.
And kind.
Maryam Salman (Batch of 2020)
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