Our Duties Are Revealed by Our Relations With One Another

Tweet

You are not an isolated entity, but a unique, irresplaceable part of the cosmos. Don't forget this. You are an essential piece of a vast, intricate, and perfectly ordered human community. But where do you fit into this web of humanity? To whom are you beholden? Look for and come to understand your connections to other people. We properly locate ouselves within the cosmic scheme by recognizing our natural relations to one another and thereby indentifying our duties. Our duties naturally emerge from such fundamental relations are our state or nation. Make it your regular habit to consider your roles-parent, child, neighbor, citizen, leader-- and the natural duties that arise from them. Once you know who you are and to whom you are linked, you will know what to do. If a man is your father, for instance, certain emotional and practical claims follow from this. That he is your father implies a fundamental, durable link between the two of you. You are naturally obligated to care for him, to listen to his advice, to exercise patience in hearing his views, and to respect his guidance. However, Let us suppose that he's not a good father. Perhaps he is fatuous, uneducated, unrefined, or holds views quite different from your own. Does nature give everyone an ideal father, or simply a father? When it comes to your fundamental duty as a son or daughter, whatever your father's character may be, whatever his personality or habits are, is secondary. The divine order does not design people or circumstance according to our tastes. Whether you find him to be agreeable or not, this man is, when all is said and done, your father, and you should live up to all your filial obligations. Suppose you have a brother or sister who treats you poorly. What difference does that make? There is still a moral imperative to recognize and maintain your fundamental duty to him or her focus not on what he or she does, but on keeping to your higher purpose. YOur own Purpose should seek harmony with nature itself. For this is the true road to freedom. Let others behave as they will that is not within your control anyway, and thus it's no concern to you. Understand that nature as a whole is ordered according to reason, but that not everything in nature is reasonable. When you are faithfully occupied with performing the acts of a wise and decent person, seeking to conform your intentions and acts to the divine will, you do not feel victimized by the words or deeds of others. At worst, those words and deeds will seem amusing or pitiable. Except for extreme physical abuse, other people cannot hurt you unless you allow then to. And this holds true even if the person is your parent, brother, sister, teacher, or employer. Don't consent to be hurt and you won't be hurt --- this is a choice over which you have control. Most people tend to delude themselves into thinking that freedom comes from doing what feels good or what fosters comfort and ease. The truth is that people who subordinate reason to their feelings of the moment are actually slaves of their desires and aversions. They are ill-prepared to act effectively and nobly when unexpected challenges occur, as they inevitably will. Authentic freedom places demands on us. In discovering and comprehending our fundamental relations to one another and zestfully performing our duties, true freedom, which all people long for, is indeed possible.