Two Mutually Exclusive Paths

[Dimmesdale]

When we think of our formation by our parents, I think that, broadly, there are only two ways to go about it. Either we Accept our given situation, and use what gifts we still have, leading to a Surrender and admittance of Life as it has been granted us, or we do not. But this is the first option. On the other hand, there is the option of Defiance. Here we do not merely accede to what has been given or thrown at us. Instead we actively try to remake our lives in our own image, or better put, refashion it in our ideal Mind's eye. We may have the resources to do this. But then again, we may not. In which case the inevitable conclusion is frustration.

I genuinely feel that these are two fundamentally different Projects or Enterprises. You cannot mix the two, because they differ so much in essence. How could your attitude be one of bold defiance, like a Conqueror, and at the same time, live in a mood of gentle surrender? For me these are two distinct Paths or Choices one must make.

Of course, one may be a spiritual conqueror in the latter case. But that is not the same, because one's driving ideal is not the same. In the case of Defiance one's ideal is, at best, oriented towards the Self, in an attitude of personal intensification, of "making Best." In the latter, in Acceptance, one's ideal is oriented towards eradication of self-will, of ultimate Effacement. One may still strive for and use riches, in both cases. But what distinguishes them is the ultimate End: whether it is Peace, or Intensification.