The Only Place Where Conflict Exists

"You know, most people around the world believe that there is a great conflict in the universe, a conflict between good and evil.  Well, this is not true.  It's true that there is a conflict, but the conflict only exists in the human mind, not in the universe.  It's not true for the plants or the animals.  It's not true for the stars or the trees, or for the rest of nature.  It's only true for humans.  And the conflict in the human mind is not really between good and evil.  The real conflict in our mind is between the truth and lies." ~ Don Miguel Ruiz,The Voice of Knowledge

I'm trying my best to finish my first book, which will be an extensive annotated book of quotations. (This explains my light posting schedule lately).  The quotes, along with my notes in the book, will cover a wide range of topics and come from some of the greatest human beings that lived over the past 2500 years. 

The featured quote in this blog post from Don Miguel Ruiz is a good representation of a primary theme of the book, which is to bring about awareness that humans tend to complicate things with words and concepts and are thus misled by them.

If asked the question, "Why do you do what you do?" and the answer is, "Because that's the way it's always been done," you may have a problem waiting to happen.  This is where conflict begins.

For example, people follow abstract concepts, such as retirement and financial freedom but never form their own definition.  They spend decades of time and tremendous financial energy on something that is not only impossible to accurately foresee years in advance but is also something defined by social conventions, not the individual.  This behavior is paradoxical--it is contradictory because people desire freedom but they uwittingly enslave themselves by following abstract concepts--things they didn't define for themselves--and thus they are not free and may never be free. 

On a larger and more damaging scale, people argue and fight wars over political ideology and religious dogma. Put simply, these conflicts arise because people do not follow their own path--they accept ideas, concepts and ideology without question and thus the conflicts are preventable and not necessary.

"To be a light to oneself is not to follow the light of another, however reasonable, logical, historical, and however convincing." ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

Conflict does not exist in Washington, D.C. or in Syria or in Gaza or in Egypt.  The only place where conflict exists is in the human mind; the conflict is between truth and lies; the Self is truth; and the crowd is untruth.  The prevention of conflict can only begin with you.  If you do not follow your own light, you dim the light of the world.

I'll expand on this theme and many more in my book.  Now I must go back to writing!

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Related:

Dogma Deconstruction and Abstraction Subtraction

The Greatest Deception in the History of Finance

Comments

[Jamie Salcedo]

So true. Conflict is always in the mind and nowhere else. This reminds me of a conflict I had with my parents about their asset allocation in retirement through http://www.premierplanning.net/. We both thought that how they were going to split their money would be detrimental not just to them, but to my kids who were to get a some of the funds for their college education. Thank god, everything is settled now.

[Drey]

Amazing how clear you have expressed a thought I experienced only this evening! There I was thinking that all of us get only one life and no one has the right to insist that another act in the same way as the majority. It was then that I realised that I had thrown off certain shackles from my mind. And I was thinking I am indeed free. Thanks to my relationship with my creator and saviour. And then to read this. Thank you so very much for these words.

[Kent Thune]

@ Jamie: Thanks, for sharing your experience.

@ Drey: A great aspect of spirituality is reconnecting with the authentic Self by removing outside influence, which consists primarily of social conventions. I'm currently reading "Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality." The author, the late Anthony De Mello, was a religious leader who said that one's relationship with God is only real when the individual casts away their current understanding of Him. This is because the human mind wants to "know" things, whereas God is not knowable.

Kent

When you let go of concepts and abstractions from social conventions, you are enabled to know the Self, be free, and to connect with spirituality.

[Jon]

Thanks so much for these recent posts on Awareness and book references. They've helped get back to certain basics I'd explored when I was younger.

[Kent Thune]

Glad to help, Jon. Writing and reading on awareness is therapeutic for me as well...

Kent

[best dissertations]

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