1 (edited by dreamosis 2006-08-14 21:28:32)

Topic: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

After reading through a blog about "the only winning move" over at in2worlds (http://in2worlds.net/thoughts), I got to thinkin'...

The gist of her thought was: (in the spirit of the movie "War Games") the only winning move is not to play the game.

Walk away.

As I said, I got to thinking: many of our myths contradict that wisdom.  Deeply held archetypes all say, "Fight, you coward!...It ain't over till it's over!...Charge!"

There are stories of wise ones walking away as well.  Our civilization has non-violent heroes, but they are rarer.  The wisdom appears most conspicuously, to me, in the Tao: yield and overcome.

But stay-and-fight programming is more ubiquitous.  Take the story of Jesus.  He purposely got into arguments with Fundamentalists and atheists, challenged church authorities, and even sacrificed himself for his cause.  (As the official story runs).  Half of the New Testament is he said/she said.  From a certain perspective, it is the story of a serial arguer.  That's trivializing things, but really much of the text has that feel. 

Even politically fringe movies like "V for Vendetta" are, basically, all about fighting.  V, instead of spending years underground, could've walked away.  Did explosives need to be set in order for people to stop fearing their government?  Do the people need to make the government afraid of them in order to stop fearing their government?     
Is it one or the other?

There is a balance to be struck, surely, between walking away and digging in for a scrap.  Or is there?

Are all these stay-and-fight mythologies just mythologies of the ego?  Stemmed from a juvenile wish for payback? 

How much was V motivated by vengeance, and how much by egalitarianism?  The title is "...for Vendetta."

Where is the myth of the one who walks away?  Even Buddha stayed to face Mara.  He didn't walk away.  He didn't flatten Mara with an uzi, but the story is of staying and facing the music.

Where is the myth of the one who walks away?

You can't change a tiger's stripes,
but you can avoid its teeth.

2

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

dreamosis,
Interesting you should post about this, for in my personal life for the last few months I've been getting big intuitive nudges to just.... walk away.

I've always known that that's the best strategy but to actually do it, when in the heat of anger, or whatever, is something else.   I've even been forcefully guided to not engage people recently through a series of coincidences that woke me up since it was amazing how I was "lead" to just.... leave it alone.

Perhaps in the coming years this will be our only refuge, and it's best if we learn it now.   I know I need to be reminded of this too often, but looking back I see my angry response as just a habit and nothing more, break the habit and you're free.

So thanks for bringing this up... another reminded always helps.   And thanks to lyra for bringing it up in the first place.

PH

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

An easy answer would be that the story of the one who walked away was so uneventful that nobody bothered to write about it big_smile

But those are all really good questions!  Maybe there comes a point when one must stand up for him/herself?  When this person has to go through with it for personal reasons - but when those reasons also reflect the unconscious/conscious desires of others?

Like in V for Vendetta.  V seemed to be doing what he was doing for his own personal "vengence" (although I haven't read the comic - but maybe he is doing it not because of personal vengence for what they did to him - but because the crime that happened shouldn't go unpunished; kind of like karma) AND also that what he was doing would bring about a radical change in society and help people 'wake up'.  And blowing up that building although a destuctive action represented a symbol of hope.  Does that make the destruction bad?

In the movie Donnie Darko; he said something along the lines of "destruction is a form of creation".  Basically showcasing duality once again; like death/rebirth.

Well I sort of wandered off topic.  I don't really have an answer to those questions. 

You did meantion the Tao, and I don't know for sure, but when I think of Bruce Lee saying things like "Be like water" I bet his philosophy and martial arts were heavily influenced by the Tao.

Question: What are your thoughts when facing an opponent?
Bruce: There is no opponent.
Question: Why is that?
Bruce: Because the word ''l'' does not exist.
A good fight should be like a small play...but played seriously. When the opponent expands, l contract. When he contracts, l expand. And when there is an opportunity... l do not hit...it hits all by itself (shows his fist).
Any technique, however worthy and desirable, becomes a disease when the mind is obsessed with it.

"Beyond the stars a new world awaits me now" - Wintersun

4 (edited by Sowelu 2006-08-14 22:33:07)

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

There is no drama in just walking away... This being a world of drama, it's no surprise we don't see it much in mythology, I suppose. It just won't do for keeping the looping and feeding frenzy going! wink

But being truly able to just walk away is not as simple as it sounds, of course. Whatever one was faced with outside now has to be resolved inside. But that works! Cuz that's the only place of real change anyway, the only place of true resolution. It also takes self-responsibility of a degree not common nor supported in any common venue in this world. And courage and strength and faith and trust (in self and Self)... just a whole bunch of stuff we don't see a whole lot of on the gameboard of duality.

And we're back to the root of the Law of One, btw.

Great questions, dreamosis, thanks.

"The most important decision you have to make is whether you live in a hostile or friendly universe."
~ Albert Einstein

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. ~Marcel Proust

The evolution of humanity is an evolution of the heart. The path is through the heart.

5 (edited by Sowelu 2006-08-14 22:56:42)

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

You've got me thinking about it now... and I wonder if man has just not been ready for such a response (walking away) to what's outside himself before now. But perhaps your musing is evidence of the idea being on the rise in the mass consciousness (it's been with me for a while as well). So perhaps we're witnessing a shift in [some of] humanity's awareness/consciousness beyond whatever lessons mythologies of the past might have taught us... moving past beliefs of what might work as revealed in those myths... and into a new era of practical truth.

In other words... perhaps we've hit that time where we finally realize that all the things we learned from mythology and history can only take us so far... and then we loop back 'round. And it's not so appealing anymore. There is no longer that feeling of potential thrill in giving it another go. There's a real sense of the futility in playing out the archetypal dramas one more time, or in fighting ourselves in myriad form outside of us. (And maybe even inside ourselves, as well? Not sure there)

So now, after enough repetitions of having done just that, we are en masse, perhaps, coming to the realization that we actually have another choice. To just walk away. I say "en masse" because I've encountered this idea a number of times recently, with people consciously on an awakening path as well as some just living "the daily grind". There's a common sense in all of them that there is something just not satisfying anymore, about going through life as we've been, as we've known it, in the same old "competitive" ways.

Thanks again!
Sowelu

(sorry about the edits, I seem to be having difficulty lately expressing myself with words... I'm a bit out of practice, it seems.)

"The most important decision you have to make is whether you live in a hostile or friendly universe."
~ Albert Einstein

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. ~Marcel Proust

The evolution of humanity is an evolution of the heart. The path is through the heart.

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

Maybe the myth of the one who walks away is in the concept of karma.

It is my understanding that the laws of karma changed fairly recently and 'instant karma' is now the new rule, as opposed to being served in the next incarnation.

Strangely enough, the topic entered my life last night, - my sister is seperated , her kids have grown up and left and she now lives alone, with her little Jack Russel dog.

Now the next door neighbour has been complaining that the dog is barking and crying during the day (while she is at work), and for some time now, my sister has tried every type of preventative medicine, collar, bleeper, comforter,etc available. The neighbour has now called in Environmental Health, who say the noise is annoying. She wants the dog put down, and every time my sister comes home the neighbour is there, moaning again.

My sister is very, very upset, and doesnt want to lose her little dog, and has now decided to move house, as the last resort.

I said, wouldnt it be nice if instant karma came down on the nighbour and she went deaf.   I then made the mistake, in my anger, of asking for instant karma to be dealt.
I was asked if I would like to recieve my instant karma, too, or continue to learn at a more gentle pace?  Point taken, request recinded.

If we do not judge others , we will not be judged.   I don't know what the answer to my sister's problem is, maybe she has to walk away. Maybe that is the trigger for her next stage in life, and the neighbour is actually helping her to make that change. Although it would only look like that months, or years after the event, I suppose.

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

Oh wow guys, these posts came at just the right time for me!! It gave me my answer to a small dilemma with a friend. I need to just walk away.   I have always thought that one needs to "pick your battles". This is where intuition comes in handy, whether to fight or flight.

In man's analysis and understanding of himself, it is as well to know from whence he came as whither he is going.   Edgar Cayce

Beliefs are tools for social conditioning, rather than expressions of inner realization or inner truth.   unknown
Ad Verecundiam

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

Walking away  has definitely been my modus operendi lately.   The only times I do stay and engage (not fight) are when I feel someone may listen and actually be swayed.  For one thing, I have this strange need to feel incognito (gee, an I feeling Latin today, or what?), to fly under the radar.  Who's radar that is, I'm not sure, but it's almost like being undercover.  In that regard, choosing battles wisely is an art.

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

Treehugger... the thing is, walking away isn't really a "fight or flight" thing, as walking away is not "flight" by a long shot.  Flight requires investment in the confrontation in order to attempt to avoid it, just as fighting requires investment to engage in it.  But walking away is a lack of investment in that path; it cuts off fight-or-flight at its source.  It's an important distinction to make.

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

kinsei wrote:

Treehugger... the thing is, walking away isn't really a "fight or flight" thing, as walking away is not "flight" by a long shot.  Flight requires investment in the confrontation in order to attempt to avoid it, just as fighting requires investment to engage in it.  But walking away is a lack of investment in that path; it cuts off fight-or-flight at its source.  It's an important distinction to make.

???Okaaaaay.

In man's analysis and understanding of himself, it is as well to know from whence he came as whither he is going.   Edgar Cayce

Beliefs are tools for social conditioning, rather than expressions of inner realization or inner truth.   unknown
Ad Verecundiam

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

Kensei, if i understand you correctly, you're saying that walking away has more to do with simply not investing energy than it does an actual physical or mental action.   Is that right?

12 (edited by lyra 2006-08-15 08:19:03)

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

It makes sense to me what kinsei is saying, and I found myself nodding when I read it, like, Yup. Very true.    Running from a conflict out of fear or nervousness is to still be emotionally invested in it in some way.  When you just don't care, period, you walk away shaking your head like, Yeah, whatever, with a dismissive wave of your hand and an eyeroll.   wink  In my own case, the one dreamosis is referring to in his opening post, I did "care" emotionally about what was being said about me, but I chose to walk away because there is no way to "win" against the people who were making gossipy speculation about me and my relationship.   I've seen them in action before, and it's a waste of time.  There's no tactic that can work, no way to come out a victor.  It's like duking it out against a black hole.  !

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy shit ... what a ride!"  - Anonymous
-----
"I get by with a little help from my (higher density) friends."
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Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

Okay, geez, I guess I worded what I said wrong. Maybe Ishoudnt have used the word "flight".

In man's analysis and understanding of himself, it is as well to know from whence he came as whither he is going.   Edgar Cayce

Beliefs are tools for social conditioning, rather than expressions of inner realization or inner truth.   unknown
Ad Verecundiam

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

treehugger wrote:

Okay, geez, I guess I worded what I said wrong. Maybe Ishoudnt have used the word "flight".

No worries....... even if it was a miscommunication or miswording of some sort, a good point still come out of it.  smile  It's a point worth considering, the idea of fighting or fleeing based on emotional caring, versus having no investment whatsoever in the conflict and walking away.  One of my goals over the past year and a half or so has been to be able to "see through the illusion" in the sense of realizing that so much of what I would have cared about or gotten riled up about in the past actually doesn't matter and isn't worth it.  So instead of trying to squelch that caring down, and suppress it, it becomes a case of not feeling it in the first place due to seeing through it all.

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy shit ... what a ride!"  - Anonymous
-----
"I get by with a little help from my (higher density) friends."
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15 (edited by feedbaxlow 2006-08-18 23:10:35)

Re: The Wisdom of Walking Away and Mythology

THis is a really intelligent topic, perhaps the most, imo.
Perhaps most of our problems, in personal and national conflicts could be resolved by owning the talent and ability to walk away.

Not so easy to do as to say! because the seeing has to come before any doing and it gets triggered... and defenses and counter-defenses automatically come into play

I have been wondering recently if the whole mideast political problem is not merely intended to defeat "us" by provoking that investment that leads to reaction and entanglement.

If we could let it be what is (the inevitable result of personal/global ignorance) with out getting so emotional about it,
it might still go down, but in some way we don't go down with it.

Leaving our own energy circuits left intact to observe at perhaps the crucial moment.
As Hendrix said in... If 6 were 9
"go ahead and fall world, just don't fall on me"