Monday Musings Part Twenty-five: Boomerang

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Boomerang

Most of us desire a happy, smooth existence, right? Some of us, of course, chase the thrill, but even that is on our terms. We might go and climb Everest or swim the English channel in deepest, darkest, iciest winter, for example. However, in other aspects of our lives, we want to be treated in a certain way. Whether that be from other people or simply circumstances.

The law of karma is such that ‘what goes around, comes around’ and ‘we reap what we sow’. So, with that in mind, it makes a lot of sense to treat the world and its occupants the same as we want treating, doesn’t it?

This also ties in with the teaching that we make our world and then we live in it. So many apparently different things come back to the same laws of nature time and again.

If we distrust others, they will distrust us. If we live an angry life with a vicious tongue, then people (in their turn) will treat us the same way, eventually. This is because of conditioning. Over enough time, our family/friends/acquaintances will come to expect certain behaviour from us and will behave in kind, quite irrelevant of our actual behaviour. (Remember, most of our brains put in what they think should be there, not what is actually there.)

So, if we desire kindness, honesty, love, truthfulness, and genuineness, then we have to be all of these things for them to come back to us. First and foremost, we have to exhibit grace under pressure. After all, it’s easy to be nice when things are going well.

Although on the surface this looks like we’re talking about treating others well, and doing unto others as we would have done unto ourselves, what it comes down to is being kind to ourselves. Valuing ourselves.

If we truly loved ourselves, we could never hurt another. Whenever we behave unskilfully, it has its roots in some kind of confusion, which in turn, arises from some kind of pain or hurt. Some kind of self-doubt or self-loathing. We have something that we just cannot accept.

To behave cruelly, we have to shut some important part of us off. We stifle compassion. And whenever we wall any part of us in, we build barriers around our hearts. We cut ourselves off from the world. It can’t get in, not fully, and we can’t get out.

In the wise words of Zen:

 ‘Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world.’

If you’ve missed my previous Monday Musings, you can find the links here: https://harmonykent.co.uk/category/monday-musings/ :)