Dishonesty

[TheFifty9Sound]

Can one honestly claim to care for another when they refuse to acknowledge the existence and legitimacy of their ENTIRE scope of hopes, desires and needs?

Can one honestly claim to care for another when they say some people deserve a certain level of care and others do not?

Can one honestly claim to care for another when they say a person deserves full acknowledgement only when they have earned it through unnecessary hardship?

I cannot.

It's one thing to give a PHILOSOPHY of care but to give a full SCIENCE of care one must start observing the entirety of a person's beingness, NOT A PICTURESQUE IDEAL OF WHAT A PERSON OUGHT TO BE LIKE.

As long as we cling to our ideals of what we prefer people to be and not what they are in the present moment, we will always fight.

With this said I am going to live closer to people emotionally and physically, closer to nature emotionally and physically, so I can directly serve rather than pretend to serve as our Northern Hemisphere often so does: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a3...an-island/

I am very much with you on this Adonai. This is something I have spent much time pondering, so I will share the conclusions I currently rest upon.

Something that I observed in myself and others, was that there was a tendency to "tolerate" others, rather than "love another as yourself". I saw this very much within Christianity. To "tolerate", at least in my understanding, suggests simply putting up and shutting up about something you do not like, or do not harmonize with. "Oh I don't like him very much, but I tolerate him" or "I'm very tolerant of people of other faiths".

When doing this in interactions with other-selves, most of our energy goes into maintaining the tolerance, rather than offering love. Whilst I recognise that one may try and do this out of good intentions, is it of love for the other, or love of keeping the peace? I do not know. I suppose it must vary.

And further, my definition of love is this - Recognising yourself in the other. How could one do this if they see no commonality between themselves and the other?

The Dalai Lama offered the most useful advice I have encountered that speaks to this end. He says that when he meets another person, inevitably the other person will have obvious differences - Buddhist / Christian, Man / Woman, Young / Old etc - but these are not the things he looks at. When he meets another person, the first thing he recognises is that they are a human being and desire the same basic things he does - to be loved and free from suffering. From here, he can relate to anyone, no matter which walk of life they may come from. They have common ground.

Whilst this does not mean one accepts an entire persons beingness (which is difficult work, even for those who are awake), it at least it provides a platform we can build upon, and a channel for love to flow.

So to bring it back around to your point, I don't think I can ever honestly claim to care 100% of the time - I fail at this just as much as the next person - but in trying to remember to see a reflection of myself in all other selves, I can honestly say I use this method to cultivate compassion as best I can.