I have in the past few months adopted
four specific principles that I believe are critical to my positive
advancement as a person, whilst a fifth is continually in mind but a
little beyond my own personal will for which to reach.
The first of these principles is that
all life should have an equal opportunity to continue living happily.
This can be difficult, one might imagine, either when confronted by
certain breeds of evil that can be witnessed in humankind or when the
urge to swat an annoying fly overtakes your body as it buzzes
incessantly about your head. I have come to see that either life is
just as valid as the other, and neither life is less sacred than my
own.
This principle is guiding me towards a
feeling of fellowship with all humankind (at a minimum) and is
helping me to feel compassion for those that I meet from day to day,
whether at work or out and about town. In an odd fashion, I actually
feel connected to other people, and it is a very positive feeling for
me.
The second of these principles is
abstaining from taking that which is not given to me. This goes a
little further than stealing, as I do not think that I am stealing if
I take a piece of my child's Halloween candy (calling it his “taxes”)
or, while at work, borrowing a cart or tape dispenser that I know
someone else intends to use without asking. Regardless of whether
theft takes place, it is not appropriate for me to simply take what I
need for my own benefit, even if only momentarily, without taking
proper consideration for the needs of others.
This of course ties into my above
statement about compassion for others. Many times, the people I meet
at work are already feeling terrible, depressed, or otherwise
negative. The last thing they need is another person making anything
worse, and if I can make anything even marginally better for them, we
are both better off for my trying. In fact, I have noticed in the
past weeks how nearly every coworker I meet seems to “shine” if I
simply say a nice “Hello” to them in passing from time to time.
That by itself is enough for me to feel like I'm doing something
right.
The third principle is difficult for me
but speaks very directly to my largest problems in life: I choose to
abstain from sexual misconduct. No, I don't have a habit of cheating
on my wife, but even the prolonged attachment to a sexual thought
that is not of the proper nature must be shunned as it constitutes a
huge distraction me and does absolutely nothing positive for me or
anyone else. By actually paying attention to the thoughts in my mind
as I see an attractive woman, for instance, I can often halt them and
refocus myself of what I ought to be doing, and this can be done
without feeling shame or guilt.
As I have found some measure of success
in recent weeks on this matter, I am hopeful that continued
contemplation will provide me even more mental stability in the face
of the many physical distractions I see from day to day. Further,
the unproductive shame that I might have felt trying to force this
behavior “because of someone else” is avoided, furthering my
ability to maintain as much focus as possible on my own path and
work.
The fourth principle is, in short, to
not lie. I don't really lie, as a general rule, but I can exaggerate
from time to time, as if such exaggerations somehow make the things
I'm saying so much more interesting to those who might be listening.
This, for my purposes, constitutes a lie and is to be avoided. If I
am asked a question, I should answer simply “It is so,” or “it
is not so.” I need not make anything seem to be anything but what
it in fact was.
By virtue of this blog, I'm sure some
might notice that I can be a wordy person. I suppose it should
suffice to say that I see how my wordiness leads me away from my path
from time to time, and it is a choice to avoid such straying of my
mind.
There is, of course, a fifth principle,
but my own conditioned nature and personal will are not quite to the
point where I'm ready to follow it fully. Maybe I never will, but
(there is always a “but,” isn't there?) I have something to
strive for. There should come a time in my life when I will choose
to abstain from alcohol. The argument here is that the mind is
muddied by such drink far more often than not, and my own intent to
better myself and contemplate the self is not readily clear when
alcohol is present.
Like
I said, I'm not sure I'll ever be truly ready to give up alcohol, but
I can say firmly that it's advance on my life is halted where it is,
as I certainly gain nothing from progressing further into an
alcoholic stupor. Today, while I cannot in earnest vow to undertake
the abstention of intoxicants, I will vow to prevent myself from
willingly consuming intoxicants to the point of heedlessness.
Whether that is sufficient in the present time shall be henceforth an
issue of karma and continued contemplation.
And
so I write and post this somewhat for the benefit of others who might
be walking the same path, and somewhat for myself as a reminder of
where I have been and where I want to be later. I hope that makes a
little sense...
Be
well, friends.
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