What’s behind great acts of bravery?
You hear of some heroic deeds ever so often of some brave person who at personal costs to their own lives, dived into the sea to save someone, or run across a busy highway to help someone in an emergency.
Ever wonder, what really inspires such people. Do they have special qualities. Something in their nature or how they have been nurtured?
Truth is, all such people when interviewed, did not consider their acts out of ordinary: they did not believe they were doing anything special or extra-ordinary. Nor did they think they were special in any way, different breed from many others. Turns out they saw themselves as just an ‘ordinary person’ no different from any other, nor did they think, their act was something, someone else would not do, under the circumstances. When asked they believed that it was just the right thing to do, that seemed the only choice as opposed to just watching, or moving by. Almost as if configured in them, was choicelessness: see emergency, respond. Not to Think, just Act.
True intelligence comes from choicelessness. The phenomena presents but only one choice: responsiveness and to act, without thought about self. As of the firing of mirror neurons is, but automatic, instinctive, natural and spontaneous.
Question that arises is how can we possibly just be responsive to situations all the time: not just act in an emergency but act at all times, in complete integrity to that which unfolds before us. If as Leo Tolstoy in one of his stories confirms: the most important thing to do, is always what you are doing now, and Who you are with is the most important person, and when to do the most important thing is right now. This requires working from awareness, from naturalness, from all that is within us, connected with existence, seeing me and the other, one and the same in the larger game of life. What else is beautiful earth when viewed from space: no boundaries, no nations, absolutely no division. That exists only in the mind!
Then self is oblivated to the other, the task seems just ordinary. To be extraordinary one just has to keep in mind to add the extra to ORDINARY!
Completely agree Steve... When you speak to such people they are very 'humble' and full of 'humility' - asking what I did different ? Concentration, Focus and doing what you are doing now is very important to them
ReplyDeleteSankara, thanks for sharing. Contrast this with messaging - Be somebody, Be something. Who we are is not valued!
ReplyDeleteAnd as you say Dhyan, Dharna, critical to being in the flow.