LISTEN TO OTHERS!
Generate the exposition of
the other person’s self,
that he might pour himself out,
and confirm himself;
that he might let his needs
and wants and wisdom
flow out, and that in
revealing himself he may
help himself.
Many believe that they cannot be creators of things, creators of life;
that they cannot set new patterns, be different.
They assume that any new things that come into existence must be by
someone else’s hand.
They take the creation of another person, embellish it, and give it
authority.
They then kneel before it, learn to fear it, retain it as a dogma, and
perhaps for a whole lifetime follow it, instead of calling forth a creation
of their own.
We must attempt to rout any deep-seated distortions in
ourselves: the accumulated debris, the elusive and craven
fears, the inhibitions, the stultifying inertia; that which has
crowded in on us, clogged us up, corroded us, and clouded
our vision and consciousness.
Most of the time we are ordained to be our own judge and executioner.
This is at once a difficult but potentially thrilling task, for it is like
shedding an old skin. In this procedure a cleansing and purifying
process goes on.
If one cannot purify oneself, one cannot be of much help in purifying
society.
A high peak of being is to be able to
rediscover and to return to one’s
inviolate self: removed from all
that one has absorbed or inhibited,
cleansed, so to speak, and purified;
all things set off.
There need be no denial
or renunciation of anything vital,
beautiful, true or rewarding; only
a return to a full possession of
one’s self, completely free of
all things.
First you learn from yourself
and then you learn from
others… if necessary.
In human life it
is usually the other way
around. First you learn
from others and then,
hopefully, through the
whole maze of mislearning,
you try to finally learn
from yourself… if it is
still possible.
When a way of
life you have been schooled
in, or a state you have
lived in, falls apart, you
are on your own–very much
on your own.
And your lifetime
could almost be over
by the time you realize
how it should have been
in the first place.
Far Beyond Words 