Sunday, September 8, 2002

Avoiding the Real

"...It seems that the mind of a person cannot accept reality but tries to project into the obvious all kinds of mystery to keep from consciously accepting the truth as it is. It has been always amazing for me even with myself to look at someone who is truly a negative or evil human being and try to find in my mind and emotions excuses for what is obvious. It is no different than looking at a rattlesnake and hearing its rattle and then trying to look beyond it to see if some child were shaking this provocative instrument. It is necessary to accept reality before spirituality can be attained."

-Rudi (Swami Rudrananda)
I think a great deal of the problems the west and especially Europe have in dealing with someone like Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden is perfectly encapsulated in the above quote. We just don't want to see or accept the evil before us, it is so alien to our mind set. While it is unthinkable for members of the European Union to now wage war on each other, it took quite a history of warfare to reach this point, with 2 World Wars in the last century alone. It is far easier to deny reality, than to accept it.

6:23:00 PM