Distinguishing an Attitude of Equality From One of Indifference

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The mental framework frequently
wants to find an either or

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option rather than looking at
the nuance needed to resolve

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multiple views of pending
questions.

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Thus, when we are asked to
consider achieving a poise of

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equality in the face of
provocation of any sort,

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positive or negative, we will
tend to shift toward a poise of

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indifference and thereby give up
the initiative to action.

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It is difficult for us to
conceive of maintaining such a

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standpoint and at the same time
engaging in the action needed to

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fight for a principle or to
achieve the evolutionary goal

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before us.
This was the conundrum that

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paralyzed Arjuna on the
battlefield.

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When he said I will not fight.
Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita

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provided the answer to Arjuna.
He was not to demonize the

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opposition, but he was to fight
for the principle of truth and

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be ready to kill the opponents,
even those who were respected

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and honoured, elders and
teachers and family members.

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A tough lesson to be sure.
It is easy to become upset, to

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claim the enemy before us as a
demon or somehow utterly evil

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and worthy to be destroyed.
We may feel we are fighting for

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the truth, but this leads to the
question, particularly in

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complex areas that have
balancing aspects on each side,

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of whether we are impartial
enough to actually judge the

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truth of the situation, and if
so, are we ready to meet the

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challenge and do so without
demonizing the opponent?

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If we take a longer view, we can
see the arc of evolution tending

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towards greater understanding,
more harmony in our interactions

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with others and with nature, and
with more compassion and empathy

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as we identify suffering.
This does not imply that most of

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humanity has adopted these
principles as a basis for their

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actions.
It means that more people have

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been aware of these issues and
aspire towards realizing them in

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circumstances that are both
complex and mired in the ways of

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the past.
Change does not come easily,

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quickly, or on a scale that
transforms life all at once.

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This basic understanding
represents a true sense of the

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purpose of our lives and the
direction that we can support.

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Similarly, the apparent increase
in power of retrogressive forces

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does not imply that the
evolutionary change has failed

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or been reversed.
Rather, it may paradoxically

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show that the evolutionary trend
is gaining steam and those

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wedded to the old ways and
habits are fighting with all

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their power to derail the
changes.

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Fioro Vendo notes quote No doubt
hatred and cursing are not the

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proper attitude.
It is true also that to look

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upon all things and all people
with a calm and clear vision to

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be uninvolved and impartial in
one's judgments is a quite

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proper yogic attitude.
A condition of perfect samata

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can be established in which one
sees all as equal, friends and

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enemies included, and is not
disturbed by what men do or by

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what happens.
The question is whether this is

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all that is demanded from us.
If so, then the general attitude

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will be of a neutral
indifference to everything.

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But the Gita, which strongly
insists on a perfect and

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absolute samatta, goes on to say
fight, destroy the adversary,

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conquer.
If there is no kind of general

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action wanted, no loyalty to
truth as against falsehood,

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except for one's personal
sadhna, no will for the truth to

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conquer, then the summit or
indifference will suffice.

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But here there is a work to be
done, a truth to be established,

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against which immense forces are
arranged, invisible forces which

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can use visible things and
persons and actions for their

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instruments.
If one is among the disciples,

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the seekers of this truth, one
has to take sides for the truth,

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to stand against the forces that
attack it and seek to stifle it.

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Arjuna wanted not to stand for
either side, to refuse any

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action of hostility even against
assailants.

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Sri Krishna, who insisted so
much on samata, strongly rebuked

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his attitude and insisted
equally on his fighting the

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adversary.
Have Samata, he said, and seeing

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clearly the truth, fight.
Therefore to take sides with the

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truth and to refuse to concede
anything to the falsehood that

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attacks, To be unflinchingly
loyal and against the hostiles

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and the attackers is not
inconsistent with equality.

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It is personal, an egoistic
feeling that has to be thrown

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away.
Hatred and vital ill will have

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to be rejected, but loyalty and
refusal to compromise with the

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assailants and the hostiles, or
to dally with their ideas and

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demands and say, after all, we
can compromise with what they

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ask from us, or to accept them
as companions and our own

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people.
These things have a great

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importance.
It is a spiritual battle, inward

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and outward.
By neutrality and compromise or

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even passivity, one may allow
the enemy forces to pass and

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crush down the truth and its
children.

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If you look at it from this
point, you will see that if the

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inner spiritual equality is
right, the active loyalty and

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firm taking of sides is as
right, and the two cannot be

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incompatible.
End Quote.

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Reference Srioro Bindu and the
Mother, Looking from Within,

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Chapter 2.
Looking at Oneself and Others,

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pages 45 to 47.