1983.08.21: Latwii on acceptance, treating others

[rva_jeremy]

But I do not think it's the whole story—perhaps it's one layer.

I feel very confident saying that it is not the whole story and it is only one layer. It's just the layer I was exploring at that time.

The idea that we are all just a piece of something to which we must acquiesce does not take into consideration evolution and growth—of everything infinitely—unless you want to see this existence as nothing but finite slavery.

It's not simply about surrendering to a mysterious impersonal all. It's also about fully embracing the mysterious and quite personal self, which is the repository of potential for all that evolution and growth in the first place. Much of the work of acceptance is in counteracting the active and passive rejection we have put in place; not only do I not think about it as merely the impersonal sacrifice of one's particularity, I'm not sure it's a sacrifice at all, since in order to become one, you must not lose any, including yourself! I imagine in accepting everything as self, you're not losing any part of yourself as much as you're releasing that exclusive kind of personal attachment to them that feels like "you" in this life. It is quite astounding to start thinking of our individual, limited identities as not something that expands so much as something we stop overemphasizing within ourselves.

Acceptance goes in both directions, outward and inner, and while I think they're ultimately the same thing, it's worth explicitly including both vectors. And of course it's ill advised to attempt to reduce everything to the dynamic of acceptance. I appreciate your diligence in ensuring we do no unwittingly confine our conversations to an overly rigid, reductive, or shallow interpretation of the spiritual, Diana. As long as we're using words, we'll require your humble service.