By Scott Shaw
“I enjoy your book, About Peace. I was surprised to see
the photograph that you have chosen to put on the home page of your web page. I
am really disappointed that you have chosen to use women as objects to promote
yourself. Please consider how offensive this is. I had considered buying more
copies of your book to give as gifts, but now I am really disillusioned about
who you are and what you believe and promote.”
This
is an e-mail that I received and it pretty much speaks for itself. What it also
ideally depicts is the perceived illusion, the maya, if you will, of how people
expect other people to behave. In fact, what many people desire is that other
people act in a predetermined manner that they deem appropriate in accordance
with their own definition of reality. Which leads me to the point of this
article…
I
often discuss with people how personal judgment, about another person’s life
and another person’s choices, truly effects, in a negative manner, an
individual’s own life and their own interaction with life-fulfillment and
enlightenment. The statement that is posted above is an ideal example of what
keeps one from truly embracing all this world has to offer.
Is
the above e-mail based in spirituality? No, it is not. It is based in judgment.
And, this is the reason that I always suggest to people that they remove
themselves from all preconceived notions and never sit in judgment of another
person’s life.
Why?
Because, in a nutshell, no outside individual can ever possess all of the facts
and understanding about another person’s life and why they do what they do.
But,
let’s continue…
Buying a Book
If
a person buys one of my books and they enjoy it or it helps them, that’s great.
If while reading the book, they find some sense of deeper meaning and
life-happiness, even better. That is why I wrote About Peace and other books on
spirituality. But, you have to understand an essential fact about life, we each
seek what we seek. If we are seeking spirituality, then we will find
spirituality. We will travel to places where spirituality exists and we will
find books like About Peace and other spiritual writings.
It
is just the simple fact of life; we find what we are looking for.
But,
now here comes the other side of the issue, when we are looking for something,
we have already come to define what we consider the definition of that
SOMETHING to be. If we are seeking spirituality, we have already defined in our
mind what we consider spirituality to look like. As I have talked and written
about many times, spirituality is quite commonly defined in very limited terms:
a person must look a certain way, dress a certain way, and do certain things.
The
question then arises, however, is what you define as being spiritual, true
spirituality or is it simply what your thinking mind has decided spirituality
should look like?
You
really need to ask yourself that question, because if spirituality is only
defined by what you expect it to look like, then it is not spirituality at all,
it is simply mind-stuff and that is the chief causation factor for maya,
illusion. And, this is the primary reason why people never truly interaction
with enlightenment, (another subject I have written extensively about), because
then they are bogged down with their own created illusion of what they think
enlightenment is supposed to be. Thus, they never free themselves enough to
truly embrace Nirvana.
Now,
it is important to understand, I am not criticizing the individual who wrote me
this e-mail. In fact, I find it quite amusing, because if they knew anything
about me or my website they would know that I do not, ‘Use women as objects to
promote myself.’ I just thought the photo they referenced was a fun memory and
an interesting image. And, the photos on the website are in a continuous state
of flux.
Believe
me, I get e-mails and letters all the time, most are very nice and
complimentary. But, a few, like this one, want me to change who I am and want
me to behave in a manner that the author finds appropriate.
It
is essential to understand, however, that an individual who writes an e-mail
like this is not simply focusing all their attention upon me. They invoke this
type of behavior across the board. They want everybody to be the way they want
them to be. But, this is not true spirituality. And, someone invoking this
style of behavior has no right to judge anybody — not if they are an ordinary
person or a well-know spiritual teacher or guru. Why? Because, attempting to
dominate the actions of other people is based in ego; thinking, “I know more
than you. I know what is right, you don’t.”
That
mindset is not spirituality!
I
mean, let’s think about it; how many of us remember when churches across the
U.S. where claiming that rock n’ roll was the devil’s music and anybody who
listened to it was a sinner? How ridiculous was that? Or, remember in the 1960s
and into the 1970s if you were a male with long hair you were a totally outcast
and in complete opposition to all that was just and right. What a joke!
The
point I am making here is the same point that I discuss in the book About Peace
and elsewhere in my writings,
As
long as you have desires, as long as you have definitions, you will never be
free. Because, you will never be happy unless your definitions are met. Which
they never will be. And, you will never find enlightenment, unless
enlightenment meets your expectations. But, expectations have nothing to do
with spirituality or enlightenment. Expectations are not true spirituality.
They are simply judgment. And, judgment has nothing to do with true
spirituality!
Ultimately,
what you have to do is to define what you want out of life. And, as previously
discussed, you will find what you are looking for.
If
you are looking for someone to criticize, you can find a million reasons, in a
million people, to criticize. But, if you are seeking true spirituality, then
you simply allow everything and every person to be as they are.
People Are Beautiful
Let’s
face it, women are beautiful. Women find men beautiful. Everybody and
everything is beautiful. People ARE objects (as the e-mailer stated). We are
things — moving, living, feeling THINGS. So, yes, we are objects, if you want
to call people objects. But, that does not make us lesser human beings. What
makes us lesser human beings is to unleash our judgment upon the world. For
that is the basis of all conflict. And, conflict has nothing to do with true
spirituality.
Feel
what you feel. That is the predetermined condition of life. But, you do not
have to spread your own predetermined feelings upon others.
Art
How
many of us enjoy truly artistic photographs or paintings of people? I do. But,
do I sit there and say that a specific photograph or painting is not spiritual
or is not artistic because of what the subject in the photograph is or is not
wearing? No, I do not. I may like, I may not. But, that does not change the
fact that I appreciate it as art.
Here
is the question you must ask yourself, “Who has the ultimate knowledge that
gives them the right to judge anybody and tell them how they should live their
life?”
Do
you have that ultimate knowledge?
This is Life
This
is life, you must decide who and what you are going to be. Are you going to
walk through life full of predetermined judgment? Or, are you going to truly
understand spiritually and accept everything and everyone for what and who they
are - allowing each individual to be who they are, embracing the arts and life
as they see fit?
To
people who don’t know me, my life may appear to be a contradiction. But, it
really is not. For me, what my life is about is bridging the gap between
perceived spirituality and the world. You see, this is really common sense, but
many people do not understand the simple fact that you can live in the world
but not be of the world. That you can walk with sinners and still be a saint.
You do not have to dress a certain way. (I used to be a Swami. Think how I used
to dress.) You can do what you do, have some life-fun and still be contributing
to the overall good, as opposed to the overall-bad which is born out of
judgment.
We
all must understand that what we think is only what we think. But, do we need
to tell other people what we think? No, not unless they ask. Do we need to try
to influence other people to feel what we feel, do what we do? No, that is not
spirituality.
Ultimately,
we must learn to keep out opinions to ourselves. Because, in truth, the only
one who cares about our opinions is ourselves.
Live,
love, be who you are, do what you will do. Let go and be free of judgment. This
is Zen
IS — is enlightenment. This is
Zen.
IS NOT — is not enlightenment. It
is not Zen.
IS or IS NOT is your choice.
Enlightenment is your choice.
Who are you going to be? It is
your choice.
This is Life.
This is Zen
This is Scott Shaw Singing Out.
Copyright © 2007 — All Rights
Reserved.
