Try to count the nails you see in this picture. You know it is possible, but without help, it is mere impossible. These randomly placed nails are, for me, a metaphor for the society we live in. We all try to count the few nails around us and succeed, giving some of us the hubris to think that if we continue counting, we will eventually count them all and find an answer.
Do we dare to admit that we never find the answer to our problems? The irritating thing is that we know there is an answer, but one we never will know because of the lack of an arbiter. We are all alone.
I maintain that truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or to coerce people along any particular path. If you first understand that, then you will see how impossible it is to organize a belief. A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must not organize it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallized; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others”
116 The everyday Christian. – If the Christian dogmas of a revengeful God, universal sinfulness, election by divine grace and the danger of everlasting damnation were true, it would be a sign of weakmindedness and lack of character not to become a priest, apostle or hermit and, in fear and trembling, to work solely on one’s own salvation; it would be senseless to lose sight of one’s eternal advantage for the sake of temporal comfort. If we may assume that these things are at any rate believed true, then the everyday Christian cuts a miserable figure; he is a man who really cannot count to three, and who precisely on account of his spiritual imbecility does not deserve to be punished so harshly as Christianity promises to punish him.
137 The worst readers. -The worst readers are those who behave like plundering soldiers: they take the few things they can use, leave the rest dirty and disordered, and slander the whole.
104 Of one substance. – If we are of one substance with a book or a work of art we are quite convinced it must be excellent, and we are offended if others find it ugly, over-spiced or inflated.
I know that we humans can never fulfill the ideal of what we have of ourselves. Can I blame someone for their behavior if it comes to them without warning or chance to change it? Is my self-absorbed boss like that out of a choice, or is he just grown into that character? Can you, in short, blame someone for their character, the behavior you see, and/or interpret?
I know I do; I do blame but mainly as a first reaction, an instinct. The potentially harmful behavior of someone else towards you needs to be addressed, of course, but my struggle is often on how to do that. Most of the time, you can avoid the nuisance, but if it is your boss, like in my earlier example, then you have limited options to choose from. I often tried talking or writing a letter to them wherein I showed myself as vulnerable in the hope of speaking to their humanity. But as often, my character takes over, and I lash out verbally. In the past, I treated my unwilling explosions as if I burned my bridges which forced me out of the situation. Quitting my job, in this case, is often what I have done to resolve the problem that cannot be solved: how to communicate with yourself and with the characters you meet without getting lost in the translation, expectation, and…
Nochrisis 