This Is The Need For Discernment.

This is the need for discernment.

I often refer to these images from the HSBC ads a few years ago to talk about interpretation of images/symbols in artworks and how our experiences can alter how we read things.

edit: added more from @sevenhued-cerise

Some good words. I have a bit about Secular Spiritualism that I'll get to one of these days.

“Man is a social animal” — Aristotle.

I have been getting a lot of messages about loneliness in the past few weeks. So many that I thought I should address the problem in a general post:

As Aristotle said we are social animals as are all primates. I have read of experiments where young Rhesus...

a wonderful explanation of discernment.

We should all care, all the time.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -MLK

I just found myself pondering: You do a lot of public support for racial/ethnic diversity in media, which I very much support! Do you ever get questioned as to why, as a white person, this means so much to you? Because I've done a lot of LGBT-supporting stuff in the last five years or so, and every once in a while get asked/told that because I care about it so much, I must be SECRETLY GAY. I need to know your answer because I'm sure people don't call you SECRETLY ASIAN or something.

My white Israeli boss, when we got into a discussion about Trayvon Martin a while back, asked “What happened to you?” when I was explaining racism, as if some tragic event must be behind a white person caring about racism.

My parents are often baffled by it too. They have asked, “Who told you this?” and “Why does it matter?” and “What made you feel this way?”. It’s especially weird to them because when I talk about sexism and stuff they like to accuse me (subtly) of playing the victim, but they hate when I do the opposite and say “Hey, we’re kind of wealthy and have benefited from whiteness.” Like, they don’t think that’s true and also don’t see the benefit of claiming it and they ask me why a lot. (One conversation in Disney World a couple years back about the white princesses being so overtly first tier while the POC princesses were second tier comes to mind, where my mom said something like “I remember you loving having your blonde dolls! Why do you want less of them?” and “What would be wrong with it if the princesses just were all white, anyway?”) [you would seriously never know, until you bring these things up very directly, that my mom feels this way]

White people, especially in public forums or online where people are mostly strangers, have also asked me, “What, are you dating a black guy? Why do you care?”

And I have been, at least once, asked if I was mixed only after talking about racism (so I guess that’s the SECRETLY ASIAN thing).

In short, yes, I get questioned as to why, as a white person, it would mean so much to me.

I just don’t understand why it WOULDN’T. I mean, people are being mistreated. I’m benefiting from it. Of course it’s important to me that that stops.

Why Do I Study Physics? (2013)

There is no "perfect" or "imperfect," only things we feel line up nicely and things that don't quite fit with our assumptions of the world. The true perfection, then, is accepting things as they are.

"The world is not beautiful, and yet because of that, it is."

Some more wise words.

How do I balance compassion and not let people be rude to me? I am forgiving but sometimes it makes people think it is ok to be careless towards me... Thanks! :)

A mother is most compassionate to her children. She loves them with all her heart and yet does she allow them to misbehave, to take advantage of her love, to use her as a doormat?

The mother tempers her kindness with firmness. She may have a soft spot for her children sometimes and may be tough of them at other times. 

It is similar with the compassion we practice towards all. People may be rude and careless regardless of your compassion, that is something you simply need to accept. But that doesn’t mean you have to meet that kind of behavior with passive allowance. You can remove yourself from the situation or respond to it with tough love, that’s up to your discretion. 

But the crux of compassion is acknowledging what is best for all. If all the cars coordinated perfectly, there would be no traffic. Similarly, if all were compassionate toward one another, life could be more harmonious. 

You do not need to wait for everyone to take up the practice of compassion. Being a practitioner of compassion yourself is enough to ease up the traffic around you. Just remember the tao of the Mother: absolute love tempered by having people’s best interests at heart. 

Taking advantage, being harmful toward one another, and general carelessness is in no one’s best interest. But there is also a line between knowing when to stand up to it and knowing when to let it go. Time and experience will make that clear to you. 

Namaste :)