On Sunday I had the opportunity to meet a lovely group of students of Orikalankini Teen Fellowship. Students are necessary because it teaches all of us how to be good learners of life & not the labels we will continue to gather.
In all my interactions with everyone, often things can become brutal when truth hits. One question remains the same - how do we implement these inspiring philosophies in actual realities. For me it’s taken 3 years of working closely with my first batch of students of K C Thackeray Vidya Niketan High School . I always ask myself : Not what I taught them, but what is it that I took away from class today.
From the teen fellowship session on Sunday, one of them said; their takeaway is to ‘Honor the asshole in me’
This is not to suggest that we can go about being assholes and hurting others. This is to know that all of us are assholes. There are some assholes that are considered ‘evil’ for their ways in the context of our social world. We call them by many names: rapists, peadophiles, brutal killers etc etc.
Then there are assholes like you and me. We are assholes to the very people we love. To the very people we call family or friends and often we don’t see it. This then does not allow us to also accept that we are capable of hurting others and no pain should be measured as big or small. Pain is pain it leaves a mark.
However, when you honour your own ‘negative/evil’ side you will also shift the way you see the other person & accept them for who they are. Again this isn’t suggestive of accepting their actions or cruelty (in some cases). This merely allows you let go of your pain & the attachment. Honour is something we present to others. It has a direct connection to our Ego-Identification which is necessary to live in this world. But it must start from within.