Sunday, August 24, 2008

Acting loving or being a bastard

It is a common misunderstanding amongst people on a spiritual track, and one which I've had myself, that one has to act kind and loving all the time. Just not true.

For instance, I just watched a movie which just really rubbed me the wrong way, I just hated it.

Last year I would have hesitated (longer) to write a very negative review. But now I did it.

Just for one thing, if I'm right about the movie, it may save others the agony of watching it. And that is loving on a higher scale than being kind to the movie.

For another thing: even if my allergic reaction is just my own BS acting up, and an ego thing, so what? Spiritual paths are not a system of ethics, they are not made to make the world a more pleasant place. They are made for inner progress. And that is not accomplished by suppressing our nasty tendencies. They are made by looking at and recognizing our nasty tendencies. Self-awareness.

I am not saying go wild and be a bastard. I am saying that if you suppress all your impulses except the most saccharine ones, you're not doing anybody any favors, and least of all yourself. You can't change your mind by changing your behavior, you change your mind by changing your mind.

2 comments:

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Me, I would've said: "You change your behavior by changing your mind".

So, where's this review that'll spare us watching a teeth-cringing movie?

I've just watched Ratatouille yesterday. I like how Disney are toning it down with the maudlin. I mean, nearly all of Linguini's friends apparently never came back, following their own anti-rat prejudice. That's nicely realistic.
And educational for children.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

It's the movie "I Want Candy". On Amazon I wrote:
---
Sorry, I just did not like this film. Every turn in the script was totally unbelievable, and it was not very funny.

Maybe some will like it. Put it this way: if you think that somebody eating toast with pubic hair in the butter is hilarious, and if are not bothered by the logic of two guys apparently believing that combining their epic love story script with a porn movie will get them into Hollywood, then you'll like this film.