Chat
10-17-2014, 06:36 PM
This is an extremely important post by our resident advisor and DFer, Alexander. Since we are still miles away from installing and truly initiating the program to which he warns (i.e., P2), let me just throw out this simple contrary viewpoint:
Pacifism has an even worse record than ill-applied activism. Of course, pacifism and activism are but two sides of the same coin also, so it's not and should not be about one or the other. THAT is dualism. But when you can flip the coin and see the value of both sides, that is NOT dualism. In fact, trying to escape dualism in the 3D plane by way of transcending is but an apologetically concealed version of apathy, aka. pacifism, aka. escapism. Some (mainly Eastern-based) spiritual traditions have produced some fantastically glorious maneuvers against suffering in the sphere of self. However, the very act of preventing suffering in self by way of transcending (or in psychology, disassociation), actually at a minimum ALLOWS suffering in others but in its worst actually CAUSES suffering in others. Indeed, reducing self suffering can and does cause (certainly not at a 100% ratio) other people to suffer, and here we've already come full circle....because the same people who teach how to evade self-suffering also teach to avoid being the cause of other peoples' suffering. Well, I'm here to state for the record that one cannot stop others from suffering simply by inaction. Sometimes reducing suffering in others REQUIRES action.
Thus we have the simple finale: ill-applied pacifism/activism = suffering.
Pacifism has an even worse record than ill-applied activism. Of course, pacifism and activism are but two sides of the same coin also, so it's not and should not be about one or the other. THAT is dualism. But when you can flip the coin and see the value of both sides, that is NOT dualism. In fact, trying to escape dualism in the 3D plane by way of transcending is but an apologetically concealed version of apathy, aka. pacifism, aka. escapism. Some (mainly Eastern-based) spiritual traditions have produced some fantastically glorious maneuvers against suffering in the sphere of self. However, the very act of preventing suffering in self by way of transcending (or in psychology, disassociation), actually at a minimum ALLOWS suffering in others but in its worst actually CAUSES suffering in others. Indeed, reducing self suffering can and does cause (certainly not at a 100% ratio) other people to suffer, and here we've already come full circle....because the same people who teach how to evade self-suffering also teach to avoid being the cause of other peoples' suffering. Well, I'm here to state for the record that one cannot stop others from suffering simply by inaction. Sometimes reducing suffering in others REQUIRES action.
Thus we have the simple finale: ill-applied pacifism/activism = suffering.