Balance !
So many are in need . . . so many good causes in
the world today.
Many of us feel torn between the call to inner work
and the call to social and political action. We sense
a need for working on ourselves, but an
equally-compelling urge to help make changes in
our community or nation.
The following story may help bring balance to
the push and pull between the internal and external challenges
that we face:
One day Socrates and I were walking back toward the
Berkeley campus during a period of intense
self-analysis, self-healing, and other forms of inner
work. As Soc and I neared campus, a student handed me
a flyer.
I glanced at it. "Soc," I said, "will you
look at this. It's about saving the whales and
dolphins."
" Last week," I sighed, "I got one
about oppressed peoples; the week before it was about
starving children. Sometimes I feel so guilty, or
self-centered, doing all this work on myself
when there are so many people in need out there."
Socrates glanced at me but said nothing.
"Did you hear what I said, Socrates?"
Abruptly, he stopped, turned, and said, "I'll give you
five bucks if you can slap me on the cheek."
"But . . . what does that have to do with ..?"
"Ten bucks," he interrupted.
I figured it was some kind of test, so I took a swing and found myself on the ground in a painful wrist lock.
As Soc helped me up, he said, "Notice how a little leverage can
be quite effective?"
"Yeah, I sure did," I replied, shaking my wrist.
"It's admirable to want to help the world," he said.
"But to best help someone, you have to understand
them and to understand others, you have to first
understand yourself. So do what you are moved to
do but at the same time, prepare yourself so you can
develop the clarity to know how to exert the
right leverage, in the right place, at the right time. Then
your actions will carry the power to make an effective
difference.
"History, he added, holds many examples of those who
acted without the wisdom to foresee the consequences .
From Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior
-Dan Millman
Many of us feel torn between the call to inner work
and the call to social and political action. We sense
a need for working on ourselves, but an
equally-compelling urge to help make changes in
our community or nation.
The following story may help bring balance to
the push and pull between the internal and external challenges
that we face:
One day Socrates and I were walking back toward the
Berkeley campus during a period of intense
self-analysis, self-healing, and other forms of inner
work. As Soc and I neared campus, a student handed me
a flyer.
I glanced at it. "Soc," I said, "will you
look at this. It's about saving the whales and
dolphins."
" Last week," I sighed, "I got one
about oppressed peoples; the week before it was about
starving children. Sometimes I feel so guilty, or
self-centered, doing all this work on myself
when there are so many people in need out there."
Socrates glanced at me but said nothing.
"Did you hear what I said, Socrates?"
Abruptly, he stopped, turned, and said, "I'll give you
five bucks if you can slap me on the cheek."
"But . . . what does that have to do with ..?"
"Ten bucks," he interrupted.
I figured it was some kind of test, so I took a swing and found myself on the ground in a painful wrist lock.
As Soc helped me up, he said, "Notice how a little leverage can
be quite effective?"
"Yeah, I sure did," I replied, shaking my wrist.
"It's admirable to want to help the world," he said.
"But to best help someone, you have to understand
them and to understand others, you have to first
understand yourself. So do what you are moved to
do but at the same time, prepare yourself so you can
develop the clarity to know how to exert the
right leverage, in the right place, at the right time. Then
your actions will carry the power to make an effective
difference.
"History, he added, holds many examples of those who
acted without the wisdom to foresee the consequences .
From Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior
-Dan Millman
Have you ever had a "gut feeling" about something that's later turned out to be true? Have you ever felt "open-hearted"? Ever encountered a situation that's made you "hot under the collar"? Or a person who is "a pain in the neck"?
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