Mercy and strength

I really like that kaballistic tree of life picture. Although I don't study Jewish mysticism, and don't know much about the tree of life, just the picture you can see when you Google the image I continue to verify it's accuracy through personal life experiences over time.

I wish I could make this thread better by posting a picture, but the phone I use to come to ATS on isn't very user friendly. But please, if you have never seen a picture of the tree of life, check it out. It is a very intelligently crafted image.

Now on to the topic.

Knowledge gave me mental strength. I was on top of the world and not afraid of anyone and was ready to take ke on anyone and anything. I adopted a survivalist attitude where it was me or you and I chose me. It got to a point where I became intolerant of weakness. At the same time, I didn't tolerate disrespect either. That's about the time I lost my soul, so to speak.

This went on for a while, not too long though, until I had enough of feeling empty inside. I realized that no matter how bad I want to, I can't make people smarter or stronger minded. I also realized that some people are going to be disrespectful no matter how much you fight them. That only left me with one logical way to handle it. Have mercy on them.

Before, this was unthinkable. Being merciful, to me, seemed like a threat to my survival. And I'm not about to stop being a survivor. But I wasn't sure if this was entirely true, so I did give mercy a chance. What I learned is that letting people insult you and forgiving them for it doesn't make you vulnerable or weak. It makes your life better and makes surviving easier. Insults aren't really threats most of the time. Most of the time, people can't help it. I just walk away. I don't defend myself. What's the point? It won't stop them. I be the bigger person and acknowledge it in my head and then just let it go. I'm not even mad at them as much as I used to would have been.

Showing mercy has not ended my life, but filled a void in it and made my life how I think it should be. I still think it is good to be strong, but preying on the weak and looking for trouble to prove a point is a weakness from where I'm sitting.

reply to post by smithjustinb

Before, this was unthinkable. Being merciful, to me, seemed like a threat to my survival. And I'm not about to stop being a survivor. But I wasn't sure if this was entirely true, so I did give mercy a chance.

Awesome - imagine a world where others have the same insight?! Unfortunately, our conditioning is exactly what you stated - it's a threat. Mercy IS strength. Hopefully more people will give it a try - not easy though.
.

reply to post by smithjustinb


Greetings Smithjustinb!

I'm sure anyone can google "Otz Chaim" or "Tree of Life" and find a common Theosophical or Golden Dawn diagram of the tree. I'll leave them to do so. I myself had a copy, one of my own studies of it, already uploaded to ATS. So, I figured I would post it here for you.

This is not from the Golden Dawn, or Thelema, or Kaballah/Qabalah/Cabala, but from my own personal studies. Take it or leave it. I'm sure any number of others' reading this thread will post the traditional images.



I enjoyed reading your anecdote, and was glad to see you building off of what the Tree of Life meant to you. Often I am dismayed that ATS doesn't have a larger thread dedicated to Kaballah, or Qabalah. I'd start one, but I myself have also moved away from the practice, taking from it what worked for me, and leaving behind that which did not.

Best of luck to you!

~ Wandering Scribe

Admirable and touching...it takes a special brand of humility to be truly merciful...

A99

reply to post by smithjustinb

Thanks for sharing your experience and honoring the change. I was reminded of an eastern philosophical similitude, in that the reed will endure and fair better than the stick, because it is flexible and can bend, then returning to it's original flexing. The stick, stiff and resistant cracks and will break under pressure.

A man is born gentle and weak.
At his death he is hard and stiff.
Green plants are tender and filled with sap.
At their death they are withered and dry.
Therefore the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death.
The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.
Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle.
A tree that is unbending is easily broken.
The hard and strong will fall.
The soft and weak will overcome.(Tao Te Ching, LXXVI)

"To bend like a reed in the wind, that is real strength" - Bruce Lee

The weakness you describe, imo could be a result of unhealthy level of ego that so many of us have carried. That impulse is instinctual to a more primitive state of being, but we are more than that, and the awareness of the difference brings clarity and fuels the effort to maintain balance.

Showing mercy has not ended my life, but filled a void in it and made my life how I think it should be. I still think it is good to be strong, but preying on the weak and looking for trouble to prove a point is a weakness from where I'm sitting.

The preying on the weak and looking for trouble are more primitive instinctual attitudes, as in the wild, animals will often badger and kill a weaker member of it's group, serving to keep the genetics optimized to ensure the survival and endurance for the group and species. Though we harbor these impulses, we can also, and more predominantly, manifest the other end of the spectrum, patience, tolerance, forgiveness and non judgement. These are all acts of mercy I feel, and not that they should be the only attitude, but when included creates balance for oneself, for others and for general harmony in day to day life.

Peace,
spec

Knowledge gave me mental strength. I was on top of the world and not afraid of anyone and was ready to take ke on anyone and anything. I adopted a survivalist attitude where it was me or you and I chose me. It got to a point where I became intolerant of weakness. At the same time, I didn't tolerate disrespect either. That's about the time I lost my soul, so to speak.

This went on for a while, not too long though, until I had enough of feeling empty inside. I realized that no matter how bad I want to, I can't make people smarter or stronger minded. I also realized that some people are going to be disrespectful no matter how much you fight them. That only left me with one logical way to handle it. Have mercy on them.

How arrogant.
You have "mercy" on people who you perceive are not as "knowledgeable" as you? Is that truly what you are stating?

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 1 Corinthians 8:1

Instead of understanding that the world's knowledge is foolishness, you instead exalt it to the point that you must show "mercy" to those who don't exalt it? Keep studying that Jewish mysticism and you'll never understand why the Jews were judged and found severely lacking.

Originally posted by WhoKnows100

Keep studying that Jewish mysticism and you'll never understand why the Jews were judged and found severely lacking.

You mean by Hitler?

Are you a Nazi?

reply to post by smithjustinb

You mean by Hitler?

Are you a Nazi?

I suppose you put aside your mercy to get this little jab in? I don't know whether to believe your words or believe your actions.

reply to post by TheSubversiveOne


I'm trying. Some people though...

I didn't write this thread to tell you all I'm some benevolence hero. I just wanted to share my recent experiences with mercy. I hope none of you got the impression that my mercy was perfect. Obviously, it's not. But it's not about my mercy, it's just about mercy.

reply to post by smithjustinb


This thread needs another little boost.

OP, have you explored the opposing side of the Tree of Life? The Pillar of Severity? If so, what have you discovered about yourself, your world, your connection to it, or your connection to whatever Higher Power you believe rests at the apex of the Tree?

~ Wandering Scribe

Originally posted by Wandering Scribe
reply to post by smithjustinb

 

This thread needs another little boost.

OP, have you explored the opposing side of the Tree of Life? The Pillar of Severity? If so, what have you discovered about yourself, your world, your connection to it, or your connection to whatever Higher Power you believe rests at the apex of the Tree?

~ Wandering Scribe

I've discovered that when I discover things I keep asking questions and the relevance of what I'vediscovered seems to fade away unless i remind myself every minute of every day why it's relevant. So I've come to the conclusion that I'm tired of looking for a way out. So I will just accept what is here and do nothing more. You can see from this reply where there is severity and where there is mercy.

reply to post by smithjustinb


That's a clever response, I like it.

Honest, as well.

Probably more honesty, in regards to the impermanent nature of "understanding the self," than most are willing to admit.

Enlightenment as a fool's errand is something I've always considered, but I'm a sucker for a puzzle, and a long game of chase. If it weren't for those, for my "bored" mind, I'd probably cast off my desire to understand our place, and purpose, in being alive.

At least the literature makes for an interesting read.

~ Wandering Scribe