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Resistance is necessary to development. We had that repeated, and understood its principle. An airplane cannot rise without resistance of the air. But how about when this resistance extends into the field of human relationships? Are we, ideally, always to turn the other cheek? Are we to be thorough-going pacifists? |
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"Properly to understand human relations on what might be called the conflict-and-suppression side," said Gaelic, "it would be necessary to survey the whole field of what you call 'the struggle for existence'. Each entity is engaged busily in gathering according to its own and its quality experience - and hence memory - conditions for the fullest expression of the law through the awareness-mechanism peculiar to it. These conditions are made up, first of physical juxtapositions of various elements, corresponding to your kindling and firewood in the making of a fire; second, and secondarily a gathering of subtler conditions composed not so much of materials as of the actions of assisting and complementary laws; and, third, the personal intention that places these conditions in such situation (not necessarily a point in space) as, so to speak, to allow the current of law to flow through them. "Now part of the material conditions may be possessed of what you arbitrarily call 'life'. Semi-figuratively the conditions of a hawk's existence involve gathering of a shrew on which he feeds. Without the shrew, or some other nutrition of the carnivore the condition - one condition of the hawk's existence - is not fulfilled, and the law of his being fails to act. So immediately you emerge from a simple uncorelated placement to an interplay, in which the very gathering of conditions fulfilling the intention of one thing, modifies the conditions fulfilling the intention of another. "The same state of affairs obtains in the collection and manifestation of subsidiary and assisting laws. In order that a culminating law of a particular intention may be made to act, it is sometimes necessary that in extended preparation many other laws must be made to act and produce their manifestations. Quite simply, in illustration, before a tree can grow, there must be a succession of arrangements, beginning with a simple electronic substance up through the formation of orbital systems, by way of planetary evolution, to the production of soil and climate which will permit the embodiment of the tree intention. "Each step of the process has required the action of numberless phases of law. And for each of these phases conditions had to gather. Now, as I hinted, the interplay of those various things is sometimes in more or less antithesis. If the laws which are to result in one thing act fully, the laws which would result in another thing are hampered, hindered, or perhaps estopped. "From this you get a spectacle of an apparent struggle or conflict in which many entities strive one against the other, each grasping with all its might for those things which it needs, taking them when it can, wherever it finds them, irrespective of what other entities' interest in the matter might be. Is that picture clear?" |
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"But there is a larger consideration which governs. See if I can express it. "We will say that each entity occupies its own radius of life; that which by its acquisition in evolution - or the acquisition of its quality - it has, so to speak, earned. We are not yet touching that point of free will where right and wrong choice, from the moral point of view, begins. But by the health of its effort, the vigor of its quality, the perfection of its correspondences to what it represents, its quality has nevertheless exercised a certain moral effort, whatever may be the individual capacity of any of its offspring. In a way of speaking, it has earned its place in evolution. Now that place, as I said, has a definite circle within which it works. Any expression of itself within that circumscription is in harmony, not only with its own being, but also with the greater harmony of which it is a part. Conditions it finds within that circle are its own to use, whatever they may be; for its moral and legitimate use. "The conflict, the apparent conflict, occurs because of the overlapping and overlying of these circles. The decision as to which intention shall prevail in its grasp toward completing its own conditions - which, remember, often involves the greater part, or even the whole of other entities - depends not on the entity's desire or even his unaided strength, but upon the pressure at that point of the greater, all-inclusive Intention. If the harmony of the whole is balanced by the success in its effort of one entity, that very fact renders it possible for that entity to complete its own conditions of manifestation. At the expense, apparently, of other entities whose potential contribution is not essential to the greater harmony. "Do you see in that a reasonably vivid picture of the reason for the struggle for existence in non-thinking nature?" |
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"It would be a fair and legitimate question to ask, how about those entities which appear to lose out in the struggle for existence? Whose very lives, perhaps, are obliterated as part of the conditions of manifestation of that entity which for the moment happens to survive the conflict? It is a question often asked by the sentimentalist, and it is a state of affairs often pointed to by the pessimistic philosopher as indicating an iron and unjust system of warfare in the conduct of the universe. The negative philosopher even uses it as an argument against any ordered and beneficent system at all. It must not be forgotten, however, that up to a certain point in development - which we will shortly examine and define - the individual importance is entirely subordinate to the Quality importance. "The defeated entity, to adopt your classification, has in his defeat - as to the gathering of conditions within the field shared in common with the conquering entity - had opportunity to exercise on behalf of his Quality certain powers of resistance which are, in their very defeat, made strong, tempered and more rapidly developed along certain lines than would be possible in a forward moving conquering action. This development is not on its own individual behalf. It is part, becomes part, of the possession of its Quality. |
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"The pulsation of development requires two distinct motions. The first is development of powers of compression, so to speak; and the other is the use of the power in manifestation. The same Quality whose one individual, perhaps, suffered extinction, in the case we examined, will in the rhythmic compensation when the time is ripe, be enabled completely to manifest itself in another individual. Whereas, to consider merely two Qualities for the sake of simplicity, the Quality that overcame in the first place may in its turn, in the person of one of its individuals, be defeated in the struggle, and so furnish conditions for the manifestation of the other. "Of course the case is infinitely more complex, actually; but there is a rhythm of give and take, of pressure and expansion, of tempering and of full use throughout all created things. And remember that it is the Quality, not the individual creature, that so acts and reacts, and the individual case is of no final importance. |
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"Where does the individual become important, and to what extent? "The individual obtains his first small importance with the birth of free will. He becomes of first importance in balance with his Quality with the birth of the person as distinguished from the individual. He becomes of the first importance over his Quality - that is to say, the individual becomes more important than the species at the point where he knowingly utilizes his free will within his knowledge to choose what you define as rightly or wrongly. "The introduction of the free will on the moral plane alters in no respect the nature of the struggle for existence on the side of its mechanics. A man gathers within the radius of his life the conditions necessary to him for his complete manifestation, just as did the lower entities; and what he needs within his circle is his legitimately for the taking. Other circles overlap and sometimes overlay his own and conflict results because of this. In mechanism there is no difference. "But free will brings with it a recognition of the power of choice. A man may choose what is beyond the circumference of his circle - his own circle - and may attempt to grasp it. We must again define his circle as measured by that radius whose length he himself has determined by development through the legitimate use of free will. When he so reaches beyond his own circle in ignorance he encounters blind struggle, in which he cannot succeed; and the benefit of his failure is to teach him that fact; and the use of his struggle is not to gain power - as he does by his legitimate defeats according to harmonious rhythm - but to teach him practically the truth just enunciated theoretically. If he goes beyond his circle knowingly, graspingly intent on power which is not his right, he commits what you call a sin; not so much against those who dwell outside - for they have the whole cosmos behind them - but against himself alone. "In this aspect, and at this stage of earth-embodied man's development, it is not a pretty sight, but it is working out according to the intention of the method and in the only way by which the All-Consciousness could become self-aware on the side of free will. For free will must choose; that is its very essence; and to choose, it must know. Otherwise it but grasps blindly in the dark that which first touches its hand, and knowledge can come only by actual experience. You may be inclined to dispute that statement, but it is a fact; and you have yourselves stated the thing inside out when you have said that you could be told nothing of which you were not already aware. Experience can be gained only by action; and new actions, exploratory action, can be directed to a certain extent by analogy and experience and wisdom, but in the end there is always a residue of pure experiment. It is this residue of pure experiment which leads man beyond his circle ignorantly into conflict which (when it approaches) must result in his defeat and at the same time by that increase of knowledge, expands the circle. "So you see - perhaps - that even in the realm of free will conflict is necessary?" |
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But, queried some one at this point of the argument; how about aspiration? Is not that an attempt to get beyond one's circle? "Yes" admitted Gaelic. "That is where the residue of experiment comes in. A man is morally responsible only when he knows. The venture, in ignorance, results at least in increase in knowledge, and hence an ultimate enlargement of the circle. "When," Gaelic reverted to his former statement, "I said you cannot get experience except by action, I did not necessarily mean physical action. But you cannot learn by more talking. "You can be told no new thing. You can be told the words, but you will not understand them. Action is all of development. The very first slight wee crawly movement on the part of the most microscopic creature you can discern is an action whose first and foremost reason is not existence or insuring the means of existence - though that apparently is the sole reason - but the basic real reason is development action. By the fact that any new thing must be acquired by experience by action before it can be told, either by you to yourself or to you by someone else, in that resides the vagueness and the groping and the dissatisfaction of the approach to any new thing. You must first confront it, become aware that it exists. It is something - just something. You cannot understand because you have no experience. Then you must act; and from the act and its result you have knowledge. For that reason you can never see clearly ahead of your experience. Beyond must always be mystery." |
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"In dealing with the human being it is desirable to modify the rigidity of our figure of speech; considering his placement, not as a clearly defined circle, but as an area of vaguely defined boundaries, clearly recognized at the center of being and knowledge, but gradually fading in definition as it extends outward into the unknown. The area of complete self-knowledge is a compact though expanding nucleus which, as it spreads, pushes before it, so to speak, the ill-defined penumbra about it. This penumbra, to pursue the figure, has not as its boundary a balanced arc, but an irregular line, sometimes extending far out in promontories, sometimes sticking at one undeveloped point or another in deep bays. "The effect of growth is two-fold; one to extend the clearly and completely understood nucleus within which dwells rigid responsibility, and the other to push outward boldly in that experimental exploration of which we spoke. "Conflict thus naturally divides itself into two classes: of resistance - within the area of fully understood rigid responsibility - to outside power that would grasp and make its own conditions found therein; and conflict outside that fully understood nucleus. The former is a duty; for within that area it is impossible that outside power can find conditions appropriate to itself which are not also appropriate to you, and the use of which does not result in a mutual benefit and cooperation. In that area of complete self-awareness can exist no honest doubts and within that area no conditions can be honestly used in disharmony with the great Pattern. Whatever conflict there takes place is a righteous conflict against illegitimate aggression. Its avoidance is as much what you name sin as is illegitimate aggression on your own part. It is a duty to fight with all the weapons at your command within the area. You need not fear defeat provided you put forth your full effort and provided you restrain the field of combat to that area. "Do not forget - remind yourself momently when you consider this question - that the nucleus is the area of complete and satisfactory self-knowledge, however small it may be; and that within that area - and that area only - dwells rigid responsibility. "I wish once more to emphasize as strongly as I can that this territory of complete and honest self-awareness is your dwelling place of responsibility. And if you permit illegitimate aggression therein you always know, in that particular place, what is illegitimate; and you are permitting a disharmony which is fundamental." |
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"But this is only one aspect of your duty towards others, and hence your duty toward yourself; or toward yourself and hence toward others. You have also the duty and the pleasurable instinct, or passion, toward expansion and growth. This cannot be done primarily by building the walls of this inner self-awareness stone by stone a wee bit farther out; it can only be done by bold and joyous excursion into your outer circumferences in experiment toward that which calls the honest thing that dwells at the center. "Therein, once more, is a beat or pulsation. The outflowing of aspiration is determined in its direction and power by the compression, so to speak , of the life properly fulfilled within the center; and the compression of the righteous conflict which we have defined; the compression of self concentration within the limits of responsibility; the gathering of power that comes with the satisfying and complete functioning of that which is fully understood. These generate an impulse which must have its expression in expansion. It is again a rhythmic process. Neither systole nor diastole of these functions can exist without the other. An attempt to perform either without the complement of the other results always in disaster of one sort or another. "In the region of personal occupation outside the nucleus of complete knowledge must also exist conflict. This conflict, unlike that which takes place at the center - even if conducted with complete honesty of purpose and full effort - may nevertheless result, from the individual's point of view in defeat. This is owing to the fact of the overlapping and overlying of the fields of life of others, so that both are grasping for the same conditions but for opposing purposes. Whether one or the other will prevail depends on the needs in accordance with the Harmony of the moment. That has been explained before. "It is evident that were the field of possible conflict* the area of complete knowledge of both entities conflict would not take place at all for the knowledge would convey to both an intellectual appreciation of the needs of harmony, so that cooperation rather than conflict would ensue. Only when one or the other of the entities involved is working outside the center of complete knowledge is there a struggle. Or when both are so working. The struggle is always beneficial, either in the direction of compression for power, or for manifestation through success - either systole or diastole. Only when an entity knowingly grasps for that which is not its own, is there harm and confusion and disharmony. "That is the general principle. It is necessary, however, to define more accurately the word knowingly. It does not mean, necessarily, that in any given case a man should consciously, deliberately, with malice aforethought, so to speak, go on a plundering expedition. It is much more subtle than that. In estimating any man's ignorance in the sense of his innocent reachings, we must estimate what faculties of moral knowledge actually exist in him as a being in a certain state of development, and to what extent he has in this case used those faculties. An omission to employ fully those criteria - methods of intelligent estimation and standards of human interrelation which his experience plus his natural moral aptitude have given him - is as serious an indictment against his innocence as the actual commission of a planned piracy might be." ____________________________ * Through the desire of entities for the same conditions but for opposing purposes, |
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