Preface
I spent most of my life believing that people can be taught anything, something my father had passed on to me in my youth.
As part of my personal journey through life – trying to learn more about life, reality, existence, the laws of the universe and so on and so forth – I slowly began to become aware of another reality.
A reality that says there are truths that can only be accepted after a personal journey, not one minute before.
The hill – a real time example
Imagine that you are standing on a foothill, admiring the view, not yet convinced that you are ready to take the path that will lead you to the top of the hill.
All you can say about your surroundings is what you see as you examine your surroundings from the foothill.
Then you make a decision to take the path and climb up the hill to the top. The journey is not easy, but you persevere to find yourself at the top of the hill.
You are at the top of the hill, miles and miles of beautiful views surround you in every direction, you can now say much more about your surroundings than you could when you were standing at the foot of the hill.
It never ceases to amaze me how much more.
Latest ‘coincidences’
I guess this idea, this understanding that people aren’t ready to learn certain things, was already there for me. I think it was ‘picked up’ during my journey. But I was not ready to accept it. Certain views taught me that it was unkind to think that way about others. Wasn’t it dangerous to feel superior to others? I still struggled with that idea.
As is the way of the universe, certain ‘coincidences’ led me to understand that this lesson was important for the continuation of my journey and that I should accept this truth before moving forward.
The first ‘coincidence’ I found was in a movie called “Circle of Iron” from 1978, which was written by Bruce Lee in an attempt to educate the western world about a philosophy of life called Zen.
One particular phrase from the movie stuck with me. It said: “One is taught in accordance to one’s fitness to learn”.
A week later I was reading a book called “The Kybalion”, an attempt by three hermetic teachers to write down the principles of the hermetic teachings, when I came across this quote: “The Lips of Wisdom are Closed, Except to the Ears of Understanding”.
The importance of enlightening others
Up to that point in my life, I had spent countless hours in debates with others, trying to get them to open up and ask more questions about the reality of their lives, about things they thought they knew (but couldn’t be bothered to learn), about things they let other people teach them, even if it led them down a spiraling path.
I always thought I was helping them in some way.
My Conclusion and moving forward
Since this is my personal journey through life, I felt that my understanding and interpretation would be served by accepting this simple truth and continuing on my journey.
I will no longer engage in debates with people who I believe do not yet have the ‘ears of understanding’.
I remain faithful to my journey of enlightenment, feeling a little sad again as I think that the pool of people I can engage in conversation with is shrinking.
I remain optimistic and encourage people to be patient with others and not to judge, you never know where you might find ‘The Ears of Understanding’.
Stay educated,
Aviram
