Resistance is futile
and causes suffering.
The more we oppose Life, the more we suffer. The more we resist and fight against what is, the longer the influence and control of oppression will last, for example, if we constantly rebel against a strict upbringing, the upbringing stays with us all our lives. If we accept the way things are then we can roll up our sleeves and enter into possibilities and freedom. Paddling against the current is hard work, floating down stream is easy.
Yes, we may point out lies, deceptions, abuses and genocides that we observe as clearly as we can- but we detach ourselves from all the outcomes that we want to see.
We must come constantly back to centre, constantly back to discovering how our thoughts are conditioned by our whole childhood, upbringing and exposure to media. None of it is who we really are. And the more planks we remove from our own eyes the more dust we may be able to guide others to remove from theirs.
Anyone who practices meditation knows we can't even control how we think- let alone take responsibility for how anyone else does. The more detached we are from control and the effect of our words and actions on others the more likely the information will be received without prejudice or emotional barriers in the other person. For example, giving lots of info on heart disease to a loved one we think should go on a diet may not always go down well and my cause even more resistance.
What about acts of violent resistance? In a sense the Palestinians are not resisting the brutal Israeli occupation; they are leaning into it. Their willingness to use the lives of their children and the Hamas leader’s full acceptance that they are assassination targets has brought the ink black heart of Israel into full view of the world. Israel cannot survive the world looking directly at it. Is the axis of ‘resistance’ retaliating? Or are they letting Israel hoist itself by its own petard? I think the latter.
Empire was ever thus though it has never been so widely televised. This will be its undoing, Israel accelerates its demise with every brutality it gloats over. In Wing Chun weaker combatants and women can defeat strong men by using men’s strength against them: by yielding and feigning the enemy comes crashing down.
The response to Gaza proves the humanity of humans. It shows how we will no longer accept the western patriarchy or allow it to bring up children believing that some lives are superior to others or to reward dominance. It's horrific: though Hamas’ actions and Israel's predicable response is ending the Empire and white supremacy itself.
Environmentalists also do no need civil disobedience in order to resist the oil barons. We don’t need to just stop oil; we need to lean into it. The sooner we reach peak oil, the sooner the global petrochemical economy comes crashing down, thus ending this extractive, commodified and exploitative iteration of human society. Together with the effects of climate change- this is also going to be brutal- the assault on Mother Earth and her inhabitants will end.
Suffering (and addiction) is caused by resistance to and avoidance of pain. Suffering is far more damaging and hurtful than accepting and feeling the pain of life. Allowing the emotions to pass through our bodies, leaning into them, releases us.
Resistance or freedom? The choice is ours.
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