But the main character, Kat, always bugged me! She was ‘one of those’ people who denounced capitalism and consumerist culture. (In the not-so-good television spin-off series she stood for all sorts of other issues as well: feminism, being environmentally conscious and on and on.) Of course, that’s not what bothered me about her. It’s that she responded to these “injustices” by holding herself above all others. She was self-righteous, stuck to herself without trying to make any difference or change anyone else’s mind, seemingly content to be the only one who was getting it right. I felt that she just wanted to let everyone know that they were wrong. I never liked her character and would probably never be changed by her approach to right and wrong: after all, “people don’t like to be ‘should’ upon.” (Dass 157) Kat was missing an essential bit of ‘making a difference.’ Just simply “being right” isn’t enough. There has to be service and action and the hope that the outcome of these acts will be for the good of all....or at least as close to ‘all’ as we can get.
This last reading was really about unity, what Kat was missing. And it related a lot to what I had just read for my cultural anthropology class about cultural relativism, that what is right for you or I isn’t always the case for others. Take cannibalism for instance. The book gave an example of one tribe which eats its dead. For them it is an integral part of their grieving process, as they wish to be rid of all reminders of their friend’s life on earth. When they were told that they could no longer do this and had to bury their dead, the idea disgusted them. Similarly Dass gives the example of the one hundred and one year old man who relates to the man who helps him that “before I met you I never had all these problems.” (Dass 204) He had been just fine with his life without anyone tampering with it. An important part of helping is understanding because without it you may not be helping at all. We all must strive to understand each other, definitely not to agree with everyone, but just to realize where we are all coming from or at least that there are differences that we need to take into account.
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/images/news/article_main/news_cannibalism_main.jpg
And now we are back, once again, to listening as a skill highly necessary for service. I might think with all my heart that cruelty to animals is wrong, but I’m not going to change very many minds if I just tell them that. Maybe one person has been attacked by dogs and has pent up anger and fear against all animals after that experience. Perhaps another has just been around hunting for sport their entire lives. I may not be happy with their actions or approve of them, but no effective change could occur if I felt that this made me “better than them” or that we would never be able to come to an understanding. Similarly with volunteering or regular service. We need to view each person as just that—a person and not a task. After all, as Dass and Gorman explain, “we’re strongest when we act from what we have in common” (Dass 160) and what simpler similarity is there than just being human? All of us can attempt to understand, to just listen. What a simple first step to true service!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frwaGCQooPE
I really liked the meditation we did in class, and I feel that it may be easier to listen to the differences in people when you are at peace and relaxed.
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