Where am I? Why am I not in control of myself? Should I write a poem? Nothing comes to me. No rhyme or rhythm, no meter out of the thinking box. No words that are stuck on an emotion.
No essays come to me either. No rambling that makes sense and yet doesn't. Nothing that can connect me to you. Except...wait! There's something. Or maybe not. There was definitely something. What is it? Why is it illusory? Why is it both present and absent? Why does a problem seem stupid and unconquerable at the same time? Why is it so hard to think from the perspective that you'd like to think? Does meditating and fixating have anything to do with the solution? I think it does. If habits and repetition can develop and create instinct, they can develop new thoughts too, those that are revolutionary — new but yet obvious, unexpected but yet already known. What makes the difference? Is it action instead of simply knowing the solution? Some say knowing the path is not the same as walking it. Maybe that's the difference. How do you start on it? Some say a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. How do you know in which direction you want to take a step? Why are we all so confused all the time? Why do we care so much about what other people think? Why do other people matter to us so much in the first place? Why are we so attached to others?
I know that there is equilibrium in people because they are all possessed by souls. Souls are always seeking equilibrium and peace. Hence people must seek them too, whether they are aware of it or not. There are virtues and vices among people. There are right and wrong people, good and bad people, real and imaginary people, stupid and intelligent people, emotional and rational people, dualistic and non-dualistic people, believing and atheistic people. There is definitely equilibrium among people by the above explanation. But why are we still attached? Should we seek unattached people instead of those that we are attached to? That I think is definitely better. Attachment brings only misery. Desire brings only misery. All pursuits of desire end in disgust, because the materialistic world does not provide an answer, end or a solution to our false and unreal pursuits.
People. The word comes with a connotation. Let's get that connotation out, because that's where the real meaning lies. What comes to you when I use the word 'people'? I don't know. What comes to my mind is simply 'stupid'. That's it. Because I have always heard and used the word in only that sense. "People are idiots," "Why do people do such things?," "Why do people believe the government?," "Why do people leap before they look?"
I can see that writing about it is bringing meaning to it. Yes, I found it. To me, people seem stupid, because I think of them as stupid. There's the actual problem. Thoreau said, "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one striking at the root." I found the disease and diagnosed it, and it took me so long because I have been concentrating on the symptoms, not the root disease itself. Treat one symptom, another will appear. Treat that and you'll be tired and looking at two more symptoms. Treat the underlying disease, and both the symptoms and the illness will disappear. There's the Way. Thoreau also said something like, "Catch one disease, you are healthy. Catch no disease, you are forever sick." Because the answer is neither health nor treatment. The answer is recovery. It's the Way.
So, how do you start thinking of people as clever, intelligent and virtuous instead of dull, stupid and vicious? How do you appreciate the whole of mankind for it's collective virtue and goodness? Where do you take the first step of the journey? Which direction do you head to? I do not know the answer. But I know this — now I have the diagnosis. I can find the appropriate treatment.
Every time someone someone gives a compliment, I think of it as shallow. This has to go. As I wrote a year ago, that's a Basis for connection. Shallow compliments and gestures — I think it's time to recognize what they are called: greetings, handshakes, introductions, etc. — are the basis for connecting strange and unknown people. That's where we'll start. That's where society makes sense. But when does it not make sense? They stop making sense if you offer them to someone who you already are connected.
Going deeper, where do we find ourselves? Actually, maybe we should surface instead of going deeper. Here, we come to talk about non-existent people. Not necessarily those who are not on earth, or imaginary fictional characters, but those who are not participating in our discussion. Should we talk something good and great about them? Maybe I should try doing this. But I am afraid. Afraid of the fact that people will find it annoying. There we are again. People again. I should learn to handle such people, both inside and outside my mind.
There is one thing that I'd like to note. This is not going to end. This might take a lifetime to get accomplished, but it's definitely not going to be covered in a single written article. We know where to start, we know where to go. We know the path too. Now, all we have to do is execute. Let's meet up on the way, stranger! Let's have a cup of coffee and introduce ourselves.
