Gullregel nr. 10

Mitt samvittighetsfulle selv;
Forsøm ikke dem som er avhengig av deg.

Pir Zias kommentar:
Upon entering this world as helpless infants, we were the very picture of need, the very embodiment of dependence. We depended upon our mother and father, but especially the mother.

In time we have developed the ability not only to care for ourselves but also for others. But we have never become completely independent because we depend on the help and assistance of many beings for the rudiments we require for our physical existence. Some of those beings we see every day, but there are also those who are invisible to us. There is a great network of interdependence that unites us all in our common goals of life, liberty, and happiness. Life is good when these connections are strong, when we can depend upon each other, when we fulfill our trust; life becomes hard, and sometimes tragic, when these bonds break down and we cannot rely upon each other. So this essential trust, the duties we have toward each other, is what makes the world whole.

There is a blessing no doubt for one who stands in the need of another to receive that which the other can give. But there is also a blessing in being needed, and giving to the one who needs something from you. Though we may sometimes complain of obligations that are put upon us in this life, there is a gift to us in being called upon to give to others. If we don’t see that now, surely we’ll see it one day with gratitude.

Although caring for another, fulfilling duty, being reliable, involves the sacrifice of certain freedoms, there is in it a satisfaction that cannot be found in the gratification of any appetite. And that itself is a kind of freedom. In a sense it’s the ultimate freedom. Murshid said: “The path of freedom leads to bondage, whereas the path of discipline leads to freedom.” Duty is harsh, dry, and brittle when there is no heart in it but becomes joyous when one’s sacrifice is truly for the sake of another, and one feels the happiness that the other gains. Then it’s all worthwhile.

This rule asks us to consider those who depend upon us. We look back at the times when we have depended upon others, and we feel grateful for those who have fulfilled their responsibilities toward us. Now we look at our own lives and see that there are those around us who need us in some degree, some more acutely, some more distantly; there are numerous bonds in our life of responsibility and duty.

No doubt we cannot meet every demand that is presented to us. The demands may sometimes be truly impossible ones. And the Rule does not require of us to satisfy every demand. It says only not to neglect those who depend upon us but to extend our sympathetic understanding and do what we can.

One will find that the circle of those with whom one is bound in duty, will gradually expand to encompass the whole world because, in some sense, this world needs us. We have been born in this world to fulfill a purpose, not merely to take our pleasure from it, but to offer a service. Our thought, speech, and actions reverberate and resound and become part of the fabric of the world. If the world is to thrive and to flourish, it needs the addition of what is noble in us. Humanity depends upon it. The whole world depends upon our choices. Our innermost being is looking on, waiting, watching. “How shall we spend these days that are given to us here?”

And above the soul, looming overhead, the cloud of witnesses, the holy messengers, prophets, saints, and masters depend upon us, because we are embodied, and they are now disembodied. If we remember them, if we attune to their Message, we are responsible to enact it. They are waiting and watching.

Let us resolve for each one of us, to attain the fullest possible clarity as to what is asked of us now, what our life’s purpose requires, and to offer it unhesitatingly and joyously, knowing that when we have left this world this is all that has mattered. Nothing else will matter but that, while on earth, we thought, spoke, and acted upon guidance in tune with that purpose which came from the light of our very soul.

Do not neglect those who depend upon you.