Hey there good people. I'd like to first off say I am not technically a rastafari, but iI have been reading quite a bit about it lately, and it seems alot of the things i do fall under the religion, so i have been thinking about it more and more. one thing i came across is the "Love your enemies as your friends" saying. Now this seems hard to do and im looking for some wisdom on the matter. I am still in high school (grade 12) and in my group of friends is kind of dived in to two, with a couple of people braching between the two. On the one side which people sterotype as the "rednecks" there is one kid that constantly calls me " a dirty hippy" and other such things and is completely ignorant and blatetantly rude about everything I do, which is quite ridiculous if you ask me because frankly, he doesn't even know me. i am always calm and never retaliate, but my questions is how do you find the tolerance to love someone like this when all they ever do is down talk you and have no interest in settling differences?
Love is tolerance, forgiveness and the understanding to separate ones behaviour from who they are and so to not identify who they are by their behaviour; to not create an identity in your mind based on their current behaviour. The quotes in my sig' may explain more:-
"Love your enemies as your friends". This is not implying that you have to like the personality or actions of you enemies, or even that you find a common ground. Love is not something that has conditions. It is about acknowledging something deeper than the surface value of a life form. Understanding that you 'enemy' is the same as you are. Living, maybe reproducing, and dieing. You are part of the same life. All life must come from life, so we must all come from the same source. The personality traits we pick up as we age are moot. I personally find tolerance in understanding. I like to ask, and find answers to a lot of questions. Why dose he do the things he does? Why don't I like the things he does? Don't we all make mistakes? How can I judge him if I can not see the chemical make-up of his mind? How can I judge him if I can not live his life? Why do I make expectations for others? Why do we both need to settle differences, if I can settle them myself in my head? Once I understand that people will always do what ever they want to do for what ever reason they want to do it, then the next step if forgiveness. For me forgiveness comes when I realize that it is impossible for me to truly understand anything about another persons personality. I will never understand truly what goes on in another persons mind. I have but one mind I can control and that is my own. I choose to forgive because its easy and it feels a lot better than harboring unjust negativity. I chose forgiveness because, every one makes mistakes. Some people make horrible, terrifying mistakes. Some make copious amounts of daily mistakes. It happens to them, it happens to me. Shit happens. Forgiveness takes place in response to an action. Its important for me to never forget what precipitated the forgiveness. "Forgive but never forget." You forgive your 'friend' for putting you down all the time, but you don't have to let it keep happening. Take him to the side, tell him how you feel, but don't expect change. If it were me I would just avoid him. "Love your enemies as your friends" is not about letting people walk all over you. EDIT: I agree with Liquidlight
Heh, i wasn't mutch in the mood for writing when i posted but willy wonka 27, ... you've summed it up pretty well and i think you're lucky to have such an understanding at age 22. I was 27 when i really saw this and it took a whole load of pain and heartache getting there; simply realising that people will do what they do for reasons you may never know and often there is nothing that you can do about it but let it go and move on. But you can help simply by recognising that underneath the surface veneer of ones personality, belief system and behaviour is someone just navigating life the only way they know how. Do we expect a child bought up in poverty by a single mother who shouts at it all the time, a father who constantly puts it down and never seems to care, who gets picked on by kids at school for not having what they have, who get's into drugs in a big way because all his friends do it and it helps them to mask the deep pain for lack of love that they feel, who flunks school because nobody ever pushed him or engouraged or praised him. Who's self worth was so demolished from the start that any 'success' in life seems impossible? ... can we expect this child to grow into a shining example of human strength and virtue?; Of course we cannot although it's not impossible. It is often for reasons like this that we can forgive people, because we see that it wasn't their sole choice or fault and that the circumstances and conditioning surrounding their life was also responsible in a big way. - And if we don't know these reasons then we can know that there must be reasons. Nobody really wan'ts to act like a jerk ... and often people who act like jerks don't believe they're acting like jerks because they have already justified their behaviour by their beliefs that it is ok - and the ironic thing is that it is ok, because that is what they sincerely believe. So we may not be able to change how others behave, but we can at least be at peace with it.
Ahoy Revolver Just two things that need clearing up … First, Rasta is not a religion and while on the topic it is not an ‘ism’ or an ‘ian’. Put very simply, it is a culture founded on biblical premises and has the specific purpose of continuing the works that have been started by His Majesty. Whether every Rasta is vigorously dedicated to this end is debatable though. Second, what you are asking about Rasta and ‘Love Your Enemies’ has not been addressed by any of the above posts, what peeps have been mentioning does not relate in any way to Rasta itself. OK, this is a very brief rundown to answer your question: Rasta, is an expression of where our reality is in ‘time and place in space’ … and where we are is outlined in biblical text. When the King Of Kings, in other words when the descendant of King David, which at the same time is from the Tribe Of Judah, sits on the throne, our reality will enter the Age of Apocalypse. This will be a period of many, many wars, which will peak until the final war … End Times. I could go into the start of Apocalypse relating to the Four Horseman and the Seven Seals and His Majesty’s role in these aspects of the Prophecy, but I’ll leave that to you read about it if you are interested. The point is this, when the Age of Apocalypse reaches its peak, what is referred to as the ‘wolves and the sheep’ will be revealed. When this happens the lines between mortal enemies and allies will fade and a single line will be ‘drawn’, dividing ‘Us and Them’ … When this happens Brother will turn on Brother and many foes will become allies … the true line of immortal ‘friend and enemy’ will manifest. Until the peaK of Apocalypse, one does not know which so called enemy is actually really one and which is not … and the same with one’s friends. So the issue of ‘loving one’s enemies' is actually more of a case of ‘love all for now’, because when the line is drawn the final war will begin. But anyway, if you do find any of this interesting, do some reading, engage with Rasta about the issue … Rasta forums like ‘Africa Speaks’ is a good place for reasoning on this topic One Love … Jah Guide!
Im Buddhist, not Rastafari, but everyday i say a homemade prayer, of which the most important part (for me) comes from someone who was neither Buddhist or Rastifari-William Shawn, editor of the New Yorker magazine in the 1950's. He said, and im paraphrasing-i'll look the exact quote up later "God bless my enemies, for if I can't love my enemies, i cannot breathe"
I also think one of the keys to being successful in loving or forgiving your enemy is to have a good grounding in loving yourself. Have compassion for yourself and a healthy esteem and the ability to do the same towards others will fall into place.
LOL peeps, this is not a thread on a flower power, turn the other cheek, happy hippy forum ... this is about Rasta Jah Guide!
You are demonstrating the principle every time you remain calm and do not retaliate. Every expression of love or respect is maximal. Every time and as often you do this, you lend sanity to an obviously insane commentary.
