Consider this …
Within goodness, it is inherently very difficult to be great. Very difficult. Greatness means being willing to risk precisely what kindness requires: the approval of those who say what is good and what is not.
However, consider that greatness is inherently simple. It’s natural. It is simply a matter of coming back to yourself, to your conscience or natural conscience, to your innate calling to bravely face reality with honesty and to act bravely in accordance with your values.
What is really difficult is being “good” in the eyes of many other people, all the time. Everyone judges you by different standards, standards that they can change at will. In addition to that, the perceptions that others have of you are always limited and always changing. Do you see how difficult it is to be good?
Now consider how your conscience or conscience continually reminds you not to ignore or compromise your values for others, and you can see how it can be more difficult to be “good, rather than great.”
However, we have been trained since we are born in the art of being “good.” We train at home, at school, at church, at work, etc., etc. We are so conditioned for goodness that goodness becomes easy and greatness becomes difficult.
Greatness becomes extremely difficult, because we have been trained all our lives not to think for ourselves and to act boldly on our own thoughts. Instead, we are trained to yield to the judgment of others and follow their example.
So when it comes time to defend something in the face of criticism from the authority or the majority, we don’t want to be marginalized. We don’t want to lose their esteem of us as a “good” person. This is why we choose goodness over greatness. And with each such choice, our spirit dies a little more.
Being true to yourself and living a heroic life doesn’t have to be a constant uphill battle. The more willing you are to let go of “goodness,” the faster and naturally you can return to greatness.
INTRODUCTION:
In a related article, we asked, “What separates the person of goodness from the person of greatness?” and we saw how the great person is guided mainly by his own conscience and conscience. The person of kindness, on the other hand, is primarily guided by others.
We also saw that being guided by consciousness is quite natural, and therefore greatness could be quite natural for human beings. So why, we ask, do we receive so much kindness training?
There are many good excuses for kindness training. Rather than worry about why it exists, let’s take a closer look at how it works and what its effect is on our natural greatness.
Kindness training starts early. Most of us have been taught what to believe, who to follow. We have been rewarded when we believe and obey, and punished when we question and disobey.
In fact, to be successful, kindness training must nullify one’s natural greatness. Let’s see how this works. Natural Greatness is evident in the two functions of consciousness, as discussed in the last session:
1. To take us to FACE (honesty in self, courageous inquiry)
2. To lead us to REMAIN (brave integrity)
Kindness training requires that we,
1. Look at the leader for guidance (instead of the face)
2. Follow and obey (instead of standing)
ORIENTATION:
Highest value:
Trained Kindness – Appear good in the eyes of others
Natural greatness: respect and honor in your own eyes
Guide values:
Trained Kindness – 1. Blind Faith (not seeking inner guidance, not questioning, not confronting) ABOUT honesty / self-vision (seeking inner guidance, questioning, facing)
2. Blind obedience (being true to the highest outer guidance) OVER integrity (being true to the highest inner guidance)
Natural greatness: 1. Own honesty ON blind faith
2. Conscious integrity ABOUT blind obedience
Orientation awareness:
Trained Kindness – Turn outward, away from consciousness, toward a leader’s vision.
Natural greatness – Turn inward, toward consciousness, and toward your own vision.
Consequences:
Trained Kindness: Increasing self mistrust, anxiety, self doubt, dependency, disconnection from self.
Natural greatness: increased self-confidence, peace, confidence, inner power, connection with oneself
Reaction / response to consequences:
Trained Kindness: Seek More Outside Guidance
Natural Greatness: Seek More Inner Guidance
Results:
Trained goodness: vision, awareness and understanding of reality less and less powerful.
Natural Greatness: Increasingly Powerful Vision, Awareness, and Understanding of Reality
Caution: Kindness training often results in fearful minds. And fearful minds seek agreement and disagreement first, as if exploring new ideas were a matter of defense and attack. “I agree with this, but not with that.” Fearful minds react quickly to ideas that seem to conflict with their own. They run back to their position and hide behind the safety of the walls of their beliefs and judgments.
Great minds deal with conflicting ideas differently, and the result is ever-emerging wisdom and insight. So be aware of how you explore.
And remember to relate to the terms in this article, as defined in this article, rather than how you can define them. For example, if faith means something different to you, then understand that we are not talking about that kind of faith.
Most of the disagreements and miscommunication in the world occur when we assume that another person means the same as we do when we use a certain word, when they mean something else entirely. So if there is disagreement, first seek to understand the context or definition of the other person. There may be no disagreement at all.
And, instead of looking to see if you agree or disagree, try putting the new ideas together in a puzzle you haven’t seen before.
VISIONARY ADVANTAGE:
The visionaries of tomorrow will not be accidental or “born” visionaries. You will consciously be guided by new protocols that empower you with increasing powers to guide yourself with awareness, wisdom, and vision.
VISIONARY DYNAMICS:
The more you face yourself and reality and look within for guidance, the more powerful your vision becomes.
VISIONARY CHALLENGE:
As a leader in many areas of your life, look for areas where you doubt yourself. Who do you mean? Whose guidance are you looking for? What gives them more capacity than you to know what is like this or what is best for you? How can you reverse the cycle of dependency and get on the path of looking inward to build more and more wisdom, power, and vision?
