Today we ask that you look at things you stand strongly opposed to.
Many people live their lives in a state of opposition. They derive their identities from it.
You might be opposed to a political party, to religious people, to corporations, to people in your family, to people you work with or for.
You spend a great deal of energy in opposition. You obsess over these people. You feel a sense of deep outrage.
But there is a paradox that most people are not aware of.
The things you oppose have a powerful influence over you.
And the angrier you are, the more outrage you feel, the more power you give to the very thing you oppose.
Many of you have seen the “Star Wars” films. In those stories, the heroes are opposed to “The Empire,” which is ruled by the “Dark Side.”
However, when the hero Luke Skywalker battles against the villainous Darth Vader, Vader not only attacks Skywalker physically but emotionally — pushing Skywalker’s buttons to arouse feelings of anger and hatred. Vader makes it clear that the more anger and hatred Skywalker feels, the more the “Dark Side” takes hold of him. It is Skywalker’s challenge to remain calm and even compassionate toward Vader. That is the only way to prevail.
There is a deep truth to this.
When you feel anger and hatred in opposition to something, in a very real way, the “Dark Side” is winning within you. And this is true, no matter how justified your feelings of rage may be.
The people you oppose may be doing real harm in the world. But when you are consumed by hatred directed toward such people, in a very real way, the harmful energy is winning.
It is best in this life to use your energy constructively. Create the sane, loving world that you wish to live in, through your own self-expression. If possible, do not get locked into angry disputes with other people. This is a great energetic drain.
If you must take action against some who is behaving harmfully, do so without carrying rage or malice in your heart.
Try to cultivate neutral equanimity, or even compassion. People who behave harmfully are usually ignorant and brainwashed. Most of them have been conditioned and programmed to behave as they do, because of what they believe.
Mostly, people who engage in harmful action do so from a place of fear and rage.
That is why meeting them with fear and rage is so counterproductive. That is how the “Dark Side” wins. When you oppose people from a place of fear and rage, you may win the battle, but you will lose the war.
Do not form your identity in opposition to other people.
When you do so, you create a pattern by which you actually need these people in your life. Otherwise, who would you be without them? All professional pundits would be out of work if they did not have people to be opposed to.
Perhaps without this opposition forming your identity, you would actually be free to discover who you truly are.
You can do this right now, without anything external changing. And it will open up so much energy for you.
wordfromthewell 