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It is a divisive world. It is a divided world. But there is a way out. It is by pursuing our awareness.
We are too caught up by men who shape our divisive thoughts. It is the way of the world, to be caught up thus. We endlessly hear divisive words and watch divisive actions in our media, in our movies, in our political speeches, and largely unaware, over the years we fall for them. History, though, has this tendency to forget those men who sow the divide. It remembers those who have helped forge unity across the great divides. Kingdoms of wealth have come and gone, and kings aggrandizing fortunes have ruled, disappeared, and been forgotten. But those who built their empires on the foundation of peace and kindness, justness and tolerance, are the immortal emperors.
It boils down to what we want to hear and how we want to shape our thoughts. And where we want to go. There is a lesson from the Cherokee Nation. A father is telling his son about the two wolves that reside inside a human. He says that there is a terrible battle going on between the two, day in and day out. One of the wolves is unhappy, and ugly and in anger. He is envious, selfish, sorrowful, full of greed, warring, is full of guilt, has false pride, is coarse, and arrogant, and periodically suffers from superiority and inferiority complexes. He spreads lies, deceives, is fearful, hates easily, blames, and is forever sucked into the whirlpool of scarcity, poverty and divisiveness. The excited son wished to know what the other wolf was like. “He’s beautiful and good. He doesn’t have an ugly thought, is always friendly, full of cheer, is loving, serene, humble, kind, just, fair, benevolent, empathetic, generous, honest, compassionate, grateful, brave and inspiring. Love and compassion are its greatest qualities and it has them in abundance. He can make nations move with his wisdom,” his father tells him. The son now wants to know the outcome of the battle. “Who wins, father?” he asks. “The wolf that you choose to feed, son. That one wins.” The choice is ours. The more we get sucked into the whirlpool of competition and materialism, the more likely we are to be swayed by that hate speech, and by the rabble-rouser who so wishes to divide us. The choice to be free of division inside our minds is ours entirely. Then lasting freedom is guaranteed. —The author can be reached at
sayantanc@gmail.com
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