For the most part it is simply said like this: “All you need is Love”
Jesus said the whole law hung on two bits – loving God and loving your neighbor as much as you love yourself. [which obviously there are quite a few self loathers out there.]
Obviously there is an issue of not quite grasping what this concept of ‘love’ is about.
Paul gave a pretty detailed definition of love – no, not the Beatles Paul… John wrote that song anyway ![]()
But still, the meaning and practicality is lost for the most part to the masses.
Quite simply Ill put it this way… “live and let live” [I know, a couple of you are going to think Ive been listening to too many songs] lol
But really, its all about acceptance – which does not mean you cannot make change.
If someone is an idiot, thats their problem… dont make it yours. ![]()
Something I have been learning over the years with Aikido [and this isnt what is taught, its my own understanding of things] is that the way to win a fight is to not even create the situation in which the fight may occur.
Its amazing how often we believe that things could be no other way… we are quite stubborn as a human race. We dont see the myriad of options out there available to us, or we feel weaker if we have to choose that which [to our ego] would make us look weak. [break the consistency of the little story we fabricated about ourselves.]
I was in a fight before… [couple times actually]
It started because two dudes thought they were ‘right’. – Ever get that feeling ‘you are right’ and the whole world has to see it ‘your way’…
This broke out into a shouting match, and the next thing you know Mr. Judo jumps on me and I end up getting him in a headlock waiting for him to chill. Of course this really didnt help, so I end up on the floor and as the bear comes toward me I kicked him in the face, popped up and to make sure he wouldnt further attack me… I popped him in the nose.
Somewhere in there, his nose started bleeding. [We had a previous encounter where he put a joint lock on me and my finger was sensitive for about a year... in that time I did not fight him as he had someone with him.]
Anyway, now that I know Aikido, I can verify for both of these situations that I could have pinned him down and not ‘worn out’ like with the head lock… until he calmed down.
But, what I also learned is a simple fact… even though the dude came up trying to push his ideas on me – I could have simply walked away before the whole thing blew up in both of our faces. – No shame in this, as there really is no truth to egoic stories anyway.
This lesson took way over 30 years to finally sink into my head… but I believe I got it. My temperament has quite mellowed over the past few years as a few facts have begin to take hold on my life… one being this concept of love.
Part of this concept of love is the realization that we are not tied to these stories that we make up and so often identify with. Life is fluid – like Bruce Lee said, “be the water and eventually you will make an art peace out of the mountain side as you continue to rub up against it.” [rough paraphrase]
Anyway, I share this story [again] as its a real and practical example that conflict can easily be solved by how we choose to react to the present moment. If we treat it as an enemy, it will be so. – The only person who has power to move you emotionally is you.
So people dont have to conform to your likeness before you can have peace, nor do people have to be convinced of anything. – Perhaps this is the greatest change for me as I was quite the zealot my whole life… missionary, etc.
But with all my zeal and witnessing, some facts came to light in my younger years.
You will never… I will say this again, never will you be able to truly convince anyone of what is real.
Sure… you will be able to potentially get them to swop to the polar opposite – but thats not “change you can believe in” – its just the egos last stand to ensnare you fully.
If you ponder this all the way through you will understand Jesus teaching about “Twice the Son of Hell”.
I have written about this before, and may do so again to give it a bit of clarity. But any change someone makes has to be of their own… no amount of arguing or debating will matter when it comes to the one truth that actually exist.
So what is outside of this one truth – or better yet, what does this one truth consist of?
Letting people be. “Let it be, let it be” [o.k., now Paul gets some credit.]
Sure, share, whatever – and you dont have to feel isolated from someone as they ‘dont believe in your way’, etc. There is a tendency to feel threatened by people who do not ’see the light’ as so many people claim to have… and people continue on in their little closed circles., etc.
But if you can see that the person is not what they identify themselves with – you know what… they are less threatening. [hey, I have a mother-in-law - I speak from experience]
When you unwrap the person from mental labels, you do what Jesus did and allow people to change paths and try new things. – Again, this is why things like A.A. really dont solve anything. [I have written about this as well.]
All this, when clearly understood is the catalyst for true change… that change starts and ends in you. Too often we try to change what is outside of us, while struggling inside… it will not work.
Hey, things may take time… Paul said that you have to be changed “by the renewing of your minds” – simply stated, you created a certain neuro path way… it may take some serious effort to reprogram that path.
In a sense, we are all brainwashed with our ‘truths’ and we have to watch, or put an effort into what we feed ourselves.
As the good book says, you dont need a teacher, you have the spirit – in short this means that you can loosen up and stop the fear and do your searching. “When you search with all your heart you will find”.
For me two things were a vital influence in my life…
1- the unconditional love my wife showed me
2- Eckhart Tolles audio books. [I listened to him practically day and night and its like an onion where I get something deeper as time goes on.]
I realize that for some Christians, and non-Christians alike, Eckhart doesnt vibe.
Well Ram Dass, Jesus, Buddah, all say practically the same thing. [If you disagree I would probably think you never 'searched with all your heart' as the writings speak for themselves... God is not limited in how 'it' expresses 'itself'.
But as I mentioned, it is your choice, and there really is nothing to convince anyone of... the fact is as I just pointed out, you will know when the truth hits you... no matter what form it may take. [like that donkey in the Bible, truth may come in forms your not looking for.]
A true test of faith like Naaman the leper dude who thought things should be a certain way, and deemed the prophets way as a little unorthodox and downright dirty. – who was ‘right’?
Again, its not about ‘right’, but there are underlying principles to everything being said here, and like Jesus said, “he who has ears let him hear”
Peace
dAlen
On a side note: I started this whole thing out after remembering a comment by some rabbi which said, “to save yourself from a lot of anger, try to do things yourself as much as possible rather than asking others to do them for you.”
Nothing against delegation, but there is something to this… especially if you find yourself bickering at people for not doing things how you want it done.
Posted by dAlen
Posted by dAlen
Posted by dAlen 


