Being undisturbed or unhurt by the ignorance and ignorant behavior of others

Upon knowing Thyself, of knowing what is going on in the selfless mind, being undisturbed or unhurt by the presence of unpleasant, disagreeable and undesirable experiences in the present moment and the flashback memories of the past unpleasant, disagreeable and undesirable experiences, as well as being compassionate and understanding towards the presence of ignorance and ignorant behavior, it doesn't mean that one should be justifying and empowering the ignorance and ignorant behavior that are existing in one's life, in one's family ties or relationships and interactions with some others, or in the world. It also doesn't mean that one should become like them or behaving like them.

Inquire towards the many thinking, beliefs, ideas and sayings in the world that are justifying and empowering the ignorance and ignorant behavior in oneself, or in others.

"If someone is throwing a stone at you, you shouldn't shield yourself or move away."

"If someone is hurting you, you should keep silent, shouldn't retaliate, shouldn't move away, and should encourage them to hurt you more."

"Someone hits you on one side of the face, you should tell them to hit you on the other side as well."

"You deserve all these hurtful behavior and ill treatment from others, because it's your bad karma or sin, and you should be thankful and be grateful for that, because it's reducing your bad karma or sin."

"I should treat you with the same hurtful behavior that you had treated me."

"Everyone should be unattached, letting go and move on, and should not be disturbed or hurt by any kinds of hurtful behavior or ill treatment, and so, it doesn't matter if there are continuous and even more ignorance and hurtful behavior or ill treatment among one another in one's life and in the world."

"Family should stay together no matter what happens, even if there is presence of abusive behavior and ill treatment. Family should never stop loving and supporting and 'protecting' each other, even if everyone is continuously hurting one another, because we all are imperfect human beings. One is selfish and guilty, or it is very wrong and not good, if one abandons the family that is being hurtful and abusive."

That is pure ignorance.

If the house is on fire, and the fire is out of control couldn't be extinguished by all means, there shouldn't be any hesitation to leave the house immediately. There shouldn't be any hesitation such as whether to leave the house, or not, or there's strong attachment or intense love and affection towards the house, or even, the idea of one should let oneself be burnt down together with the beloved house, to show how much one loves the house, til death do us part.

If someone strongly thinks and believes that someone in the family or in the relationship is hurting oneself or is trying to hurt oneself all the time, then there shouldn't be any hesitation to just leave that family or relationship.

If there's some hesitation, or fear, or reluctance, or confusion occur in the mind, and hence, it doesn't want to leave the family or reluctant to let go the relationship that oneself strongly thinks and believes 'for sure' that oneself is a victim of the hurtful or abusive behavior of someone in the family or in the relationship, while keep thinking and feeling that oneself is constantly being hurt or abused by someone physically, mentally and emotionally, expecting that maybe one day that person will stop hurting or abusing oneself, but then, one also keeps blaming someone for causing disturbance or hurt in oneself, and keeps complaining to some others about something wrong and hurtful is happening to oneself, for years and years, and still oneself doesn't want to leave that 'hurtful' and 'abusive' situation for 'certain reason' of 'hesitation', or 'fear', or 'reluctance', or 'confusion'. Then know that, that is pure ignorance in oneself.

Upon being aware of the finger is accidentally being cut by the knife, one would either retract the hand immediately or let go the knife immediately, or both, without any hesitation, so that the cut doesn't go any further or deeper. If oneself is aware of the cut, with or without the sensation of pain, while continuing to keep cutting into the finger further with the knife, then that is something very 'wrong' with oneself. And it's more 'wrong', if one blames the knife for causing serious damage or injury to one's finger, while continuously cutting into one's finger with the knife repeatedly for many times, for years and years, and continuously blaming the knife for causing ongoing injury to one's finger. Mere madness.

Inquire the truth of everything.

Move away from the conditions and influences that empower the ignorance and egoism in one's mind

If the mind is mentally and emotionally independent, then this mind can mix and interact with anyone, and engaging in all kinds of worldly ties and connections, social activities and interactions. This mind won't be influenced by all kinds of condition and influence coming from everyone and everywhere.

If the mind is not mentally and emotionally independent, where it is easily being conditioned and influenced by the conditions and influences coming from everyone and everywhere that are detrimental to one's mental health, that empower the ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness in the mind, where the mind keeps behaving in the way that hurt oneself and those in one's life, unwittingly, and then, telling everyone, "You are imagining all this," or "I am sorry. I want you to know that I love you and I appreciate you very much," or "Get over it. Let it go. We all are not perfect. We all make mistake," while keep repeating the similar behavior, and repeating saying the same sentences to be justifying one's behavior, then this mind really needs to move away from such condition and influence, even if they are one's family, parents, siblings, spouse, or friends.

People talk highly about family love and support, but if domestic abuse is happening in the family, one needs to move away from the family. It's not wrong, or selfish, or unloving, to help oneself, to be kind to oneself, to look after oneself. Unless, one is mentally and emotionally independent, and has already transcended all kinds of experiences, and is not being disturbed or affected by any kinds of abusive behavior, where oneself isn't being determined and influenced by such experiences to also behave in such way that hurt oneself and others, while knowing how to not empowering the ignorance and ignorant behavior in others by covering up and justifying the ignorance and ignorant behavior in others, even if they are one's beloved family.

A mentally disturbed father was being abusive towards his children, while his wife or the mother of the children was covering up and justifying such abusive behavior, and then, the children growing up behaving exactly like the father and the mother. Everyone is behaving hurtfully under a disturbed state of mind, while covering up and justifying for one another's behavior out of family love and support. None can help such family, as anyone who tries to help will be recognized as 'the enemy that tries to hurt the family' by the entire family, where everyone justifies, "There's nothing wrong with our family. We all are good and loving people. We love and support one another very much. You are the one that is trying to hurt our family."

Pretending to be strong, and becoming a bully, in order to stop oneself from being bullied by others, is not a solution at all. One doesn't need to be strong or become a bully. One just needs to walk away from the bullies.

Look after one's mind, so that one can truly love, appreciate and be kind to oneself and all and everyone, while not being determined or influenced by any conditions or influences, and not being disturbed, or affected, or hurt by all kinds of ignorance and ignorant behavior in anyone.

Lockdown expose the mental state of many people

After many days/weeks of observing lockdown in many different countries, not just that the process of lockdown could help to contain the global epidemic effectively, but unintentionally, it also helps to expose the mental state of many people, where many people themselves are not aware of their own mental state that is not so well. Some people appreciate and enjoy the many days/weeks being with their family/relative/friend physically under the same roof at this time being, but there are also many more people are starting to behave in the way that is not how they usually behaved due to being restricted from the freedom of going somewhere and doing something that one likes and familiars with, as well as being physically constraint in a limited space all the time being with the family/relatives/friends.

People are worried about those who lives alone during this time being, and encourage companionship of family, relatives or friends staying close together under the same roof during the lockdown for a prolonged period of time, but actually, that could be generating or exposing more 'human interactive problems' among one another physically/mentally/emotionally than those who lives alone.

Some people are developing momentary mild mental stress/instability due to anxiety towards the present situation, but some are already suffering from mental illness/breakdown even before the lockdown that never been treated properly as they weren't even aware of it, but now, it's being 'forced' to be exposed due to there's not enough personal time and space where two or more people are being 'stuck' together physically sharing the same limited living space under the same roof being refrained from their many out of the house social leisure activity with some other 'beings' or just to be having some personal time and space being alone by themselves to 'escape' the 'tension/stress' built up at home being with the people that they live with.

The accumulating tension, stress, frustration and dissatisfaction are not only deriving from anxiety generated towards the pandemic situation, but also from dealing with the 'normal yet abnormal' human's behavior of the other members living in the same house undergoing the process of lockdown. People under stress are starting to loose their limited patience/tolerance and behaving aggressively towards one another who live under the same roof. It's not strange that there will be more and more family/relationship problem brewing slowly/rapidly and domestic abuse are increasingly happening everywhere.

Meanwhile there will be somewhat 'mentally/emotionally healthy' people are appreciating the 'enforced' time and space being with their loved ones and learn how to be more patient and tolerant under this lockdown situation for a prolonged period of time.

 

(Updated in August 2021)

After a prolonged ‘failed’ ongoing lockdown authorized by certain ‘authority’ that think they know what they are doing but actually they don’t really know what they are doing, that doesn’t really help to contain the pandemic, but generating further stress to the common people as they are losing their livelihood and maybe also losing their loved ones due to the disease, on top of dealing with fear towards contracting the disease and fear towards being prosecuted under the many added ‘new’ rules and regulations that are being introduced from time to time with the ‘intention’ to curb the pandemic, and hence, there are more and more people are suffering from intense anxiety and depression due to financial and health crisis, especially living in areas that are under an authority that didn’t provide sufficient finance and health care assistance to their people.

 

The many ‘information’ towards the vaccines that are circulating on social medias also doesn’t help. However, everyone have their own freedom of thinking, belief and choices towards any information about vaccines, especially the role of vaccination, as well as whether certain people might have certain health complications or allergies that don’t allow them to take certain drugs or any form of vaccines, even if they would prefer to be vaccinated against certain diseases. Everyone have the freedom to express what they think and desire, and what they do or don’t do with their body or life existence. Everyone also take the responsibility towards one's desire and the consequences of one's desire.

 

For yoga practitioners, it’s not about how all the others think, believe and desire, not to say, to reason everything based on what others think, believe and desire, but one would reason and inquire what are the most beneficial actions that can be done in this present moment for helping the entire world to move forward, without being influenced by any particular thinking and belief in the world of ignorance and egoism. More importantly, yoga is not separated from science. Life is science. Human’s body mechanism is science. Human’s behavior is science. Hormones, secretions, bodily organs and systems, cells, atoms, neurons, muscular and bone structures and etc, are science. Selflessness and Impermanence is science. How everything exist, change, and ceased existing, is science. The nature’s law of cause and effect is science. Yoga of silence is science beyond names and forms.

 

One is fearless towards making the appropriate decision and the consequences of one’s decision, uninfluenced by one’s family and friends and community’s different opinions about the vaccines. There’s no perfection in any decision and action. There are pros and cons in any actions. The fearless beings perform actions based on what is most beneficial for the world to move forward, without attachment, identification, judgment, or expectation.

 

The teachings of yoga doesn’t discriminate any kind of names and forms, not to say, anyone’s decision towards getting vaccinated, or not, especially in a prolonged pandemic situation. The difference between yoga practitioner and non-yoga practitioner is whether one inquires the truth of everything without being influenced by any particular worldly thinking and belief that are under the influence of ignorance and egoism to judge everything, or not.