Categories that don't exist
49
The Masters
don't make up their minds.
They turn their thoughts
to other people.
They are good to good people,
and they're good to bad people.
This is real goodness.
They have faith in the faithful,
and they have faith in the unfaithful.
This is real faith.
A Master throws himself
into the world completely,
forgetting what he's been told.
People pay attention to him
because he lives a life of child-like wonder.
The Beatrice Tao, Ron Hogan
******
I think masters are good to all people because categories like "good people" and "bad people" don't really exist. Behavior exists, choice exists, and habitual patterns of behavior that eventually harden into so-called "character" exist.
But each person has choices in every moment about what to do and what to be. Habits of behavior do not have to dictate choices. They often do, but at any time, change is possible, and a different choice can be made, a different path can be laid.
I think "good people" and "bad people" are constructs we mostly use to torture ourselves, usually by putting ourselves in the "bad people" spot.
And that's just a human thing.
And I think this is also why masters have faith in everyone, even those who have repeatedly broken faith: they know that real choice always exists, and they wait patiently for the moment in which people finally, finally get this themselves, so they can make a choice to be faithful to something.
And I think masters can do all this because they make their own happiness inside of themselves and don't depend so much on the outer world, with all its changes and choices, to do that for them. So they mostly stay upright in the middle of a storm, and if they capsize amongst the waves, they right themselves pretty quickly.
These are my theories.
Who knows?
Hugging you, sweet friends.
The Masters
don't make up their minds.
They turn their thoughts
to other people.
They are good to good people,
and they're good to bad people.
This is real goodness.
They have faith in the faithful,
and they have faith in the unfaithful.
This is real faith.
A Master throws himself
into the world completely,
forgetting what he's been told.
People pay attention to him
because he lives a life of child-like wonder.
The Beatrice Tao, Ron Hogan
******
I think masters are good to all people because categories like "good people" and "bad people" don't really exist. Behavior exists, choice exists, and habitual patterns of behavior that eventually harden into so-called "character" exist.
But each person has choices in every moment about what to do and what to be. Habits of behavior do not have to dictate choices. They often do, but at any time, change is possible, and a different choice can be made, a different path can be laid.
I think "good people" and "bad people" are constructs we mostly use to torture ourselves, usually by putting ourselves in the "bad people" spot.
And that's just a human thing.
And I think this is also why masters have faith in everyone, even those who have repeatedly broken faith: they know that real choice always exists, and they wait patiently for the moment in which people finally, finally get this themselves, so they can make a choice to be faithful to something.
And I think masters can do all this because they make their own happiness inside of themselves and don't depend so much on the outer world, with all its changes and choices, to do that for them. So they mostly stay upright in the middle of a storm, and if they capsize amongst the waves, they right themselves pretty quickly.
These are my theories.
Who knows?
Hugging you, sweet friends.