If I had to choose which one of these qualities to develop in myself, I would choose humanity.
Morality vs Humanity
Morality is defined as the “principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong, or good and bad behaviour”
Extreme morality is an extreme sense of what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. When morality becomes extreme – it can be frightening. Extreme morality results in violence, deaths, punishment, discrimination.
There are a lot of horrific things being done in the world these days out of an inflated sense of morality.Humanity, on the other hand, is defined as “humannness, benevolence”
Extreme humanity would be an extreme sense of love for humanity. Extreme humanity sounds like a wonderful thing!
FanatiCIsm
I disengage with any and all forms of fanaticism in any religion or belief. Even amongst my own beliefs.
How can we take anything, especially ourselves, so seriously? How can we make such serious proclamations about what is the right and only way in life? As they say, only a fool is sure of everything.That’s why I enjoy writing in my blog because it gives me a space to share and write about issues that are close to my heart, while not forcing anybody to be subjected to it. If someone is interested they can come here and read about it, and if not, they don’t have to.
My mistake is that I paid so much attention to the rules at one point in my search for spirituality. The right and wrong, the good and evil. I didn’t like how it changed me internally. These “Rules” did not enable me to open my heart more to the world. Sometimes, I even think they made me more closed to the world.Instead, I realized what is more important is to learn how to expand my heart and learn how to truly love everything about this life. This is my spiritual practice.But I believe that once you do this, the “right” way to live becomes obvious. You always choose the path of love and non-violence. You don’t need to be told it. You don’t need rules or guidelines on how to live.I try to accept that every body acts out of their own understanding of what happiness is. I believe that people rarely do things only to suffer or cause suffering to another person. Most people live their life the way they do, and cultivate the interests they have because they believe that this will lead to their happiness and fulfilment.
Humanity encourages us to be flexible but morality encourages us to be rigid.
Humanity teaches us that life is wonderfully varied and so it should be. We come in different shapes and sizes, we meet at different levels, on different paths, on different journeys with different karmic tangles. The colours of our stories are different, but woven by the same thread in the human fabric of life.Humanity is flexible because it is about acceptance and nurturing things for what they are. You learn to adapt. You learn to flow around. You learn to stretch and understand.
Humanity encourages us to be innovative and adaptive, not obsessive. There is so much variety in this world, we have to be innovative when it comes to dealing with the planet and the people on it. It takes true creativity and innovation to know how to handle a difficult neighbour, family member, a boss. What works for one person won’t always work for another. Humanity means understanding that and being creative. It means persevering in loving.
Humanity is about being faithful, not fanatic.
It is about being faithful in the pursuit of love for humanity.
Be devoted and faithful to life. Not just “your life” but to life in general. Immerse yourself in it and live it intensely. But do not feel that you need to live it fanatically. There is no sense in that. Your life is not a monument or a proud statue, it is a beautiful flower, growing and blossoming in a garden. There is nothing to conquer, there is only expansion.
Humanity is Inclusiveness.
Humanity is all inclusive. Every living being and non living being is part of it. Everything you see and everything you feel is part of it. Nothing gets left out.
Life is everything that is. There is no sense in pointing at something and saying “this is part of life. That’s good.” and “this is not. That’s bad.” We have a relationship with everything in life because on a spiritual level, everything is a part of it. I believe we were created from it and we will die within it and become part of it again.
The new morality: Sensibility and Spiritual Intelligence.
I think we can see that morality without humanity is an obvious combination for disaster.
But does humanity without morality work? Or does it become too messy?
I think that for our sense of humanity to be helpful in this world, it should be coupled with our intelligence and sensibility. The kind of intelligence I am talking about is a spiritual intelligence, and not the kind you get from knowing facts and figures. This type of intelligence helps us work for the greater good for all, to choose steps and action that will move us in the direction of a joyful and peaceful way of life.
In a practical sense, this means that in any situation in life you can:
1. Choose to respond from a sense of humanity, a sense of humanness instead of a black and white “This is good/this is evil” dichotomous thinking.
2. Choose to use your intelligence to look at the deeper level of the situation, to see what it requires, the lessons it is teaching, who and what exactly is involved, and how you can bring value to it.
3. Act according to this. Live a life devoted to benevolence.
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I hope you are all having a lovely Tuesday!
All my love to all of you,
Malavika
