Jernregel nr 9

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Pir Zias kommentar:
My conscientious self, seek not profit by putting someone in straits. And the other is very similar: My conscientious self, harm no one for your own benefit. So I think that these two principles can be considered in tandem; they’re very closely related. Do not seek profit by putting someone in straits and do not seek to benefit by harming someone. Like so many of the Iron Rules, these are common sense ideas and probably every one of us naturally accepts the principle and would never consciously harm another person for one’s own advantage or put someone in straits for one’s own profit. But what is at stake in contemplating these thoughts is not only to act according to one’s awareness but to expand and deepen one’s awareness, to make conscious the unconscious. We might find that we often do not sufficiently probe the depth of a situation in order to determine whether someone has indeed been put in straits, harmed by our actions, because we are so naturally fixated on our own ends. If we were to be made aware of the trouble we are causing to others, no doubt we would change course, but we don’t take the trouble to make ourselves aware. In fact we might even do the opposite, we might look away, avoid the act of witnessing that would complicate the situation. But that avoidance introduces a note of false consciousness, because somewhere, in the depths of our mind, in our soul, we cannot but be aware of the impact of our actions. It lurks in the depths and becomes a source of guilt and shame and fear. Even if those feelings are not consciously recognized, they remain below the surface.
When one does exclude the well being of others in the insistent pursuit of one’s own personal gratification, then one may well succeed. Very often the world is set up in such a way that ruthlessness is an effective strategy. So one may, in the short term, succeed in this way and gain a measure of happiness. But that happiness is the happiness of the Nafs al Ammara, the “commanding,” imperious self, the self that utterly distinguishes itself from every other and doggedly pursues its self-interest at the expense of others. It has its own happiness, and that happiness has a certain pleasure, but it is a short-lived pleasure, a hollow pleasure, and it is fraught with fear and anxiety tinged with guilt. So ultimately it proves to be no satisfaction at all because it is exclusive.
But there’s another kind of happiness, and that is the happiness of the Nafs al Lawwama, the nafs that sees itself as part of a greater whole. And that whole might be one’s family; that whole might be one’s neighborhood; that whole might be one’s nation, one’s religion, one’s species, the whole biosphere, or even the whole of being. But one sees that one cannot, ever, sever oneself from this web of life and expect to find satisfaction autonomously. One realizes more and more that one’s own true fulfillment lies in one’s contribution to the fulfillment of the whole. And that happiness is a much greater happiness. It, too, has its triumphs; it, too, has its successes; it, too, has goals that are achieved and enjoyed, and the enjoyment of those goals is something very special because there is an utter absence of the guilt and shame and fear and anxiety that comes with dominating and succeeding competitively, ruthlessly over others. It’s the satisfaction of participation, the satisfaction of being a part of something greater than oneself, of contributing to the building of a world that is for the fulfillment of the whole of being.
When one looks back over the course of one’s life, those ephemeral pleasures in which only one’s small self benefited, really lack lasting value. They are just as quickly effaced as they are enjoyed. But those triumphs that are triumphs of participation, inclusion, compassion, witnessing, those are the immortal triumphs that are recorded in the ledger of the divine evolution, and that will be the lasting happiness.
So we are reminded here, in every decision that we make, to look beyond our own personal gratification, which however is also important. Do not deny your own personal needs and your own satisfaction. That is part of the satisfaction of the universe; if you exclude yourself, the happiness is incomplete. You are an integral part of that satisfaction. But so is the community of beings that surrounds you. So one wishes to calculate, are the beings around me, those who take part in this, those who are affected by this decision, are they benefited? Is their happiness, and that of future generations, increased? As a nation, we rarely take account of the future of our children, and their children, and their children down seven generations as the indigenous people of this country counted. We are creating a huge deficit, spending the resources of future people and, if we were to apply this principle in our collective institutions, we would perhaps live in a very different way. So we have to think about all the people, animals, and plants who are affected by our actions and make every action one that contributes to the building of the beautiful world that we envision.