An excerpt from my current edit of my book, "The Way: An Ancient Map for Modern Men."
To be selfless is to be king.
To be king is to be grounded. To be grounded is to be in proud acceptance of life as it is. Not as you would have it be. But as it is. This doesn’t mean that you don’t work to raise it, to bring it into a greater state of glorification, or that you don’t have desires. It means that your starting place for any action is acceptance. It is only from a place of acceptance that you can see something as it truly is. Seeing clearly, your doubt is dissolved, and your energies are mobilized effectively towards the greatest possible outcome that you can contribute to. You get out of the way of what needs to be done.
This is the essence of effective leadership: objective seeing of a situation, uncontaminated by the data from your personal past accumulation. Now, there is a distinction between projecting your accumulated data onto the experience unfolding in front of you and giving your wisdom to the moment in order to serve it. The difference lies in instinct, intent, and consciousness. Accumulated data that you project is something that you haven’t yet put to rest within you. It has yet to be processed, categorized, and integrated into yourself as a beneficial characteristic. It is homeless, unconscious, and immature. The wisdom you give is a result of you working with your previous experiences in an effective way so that they don’t accumulate into stored data. It is rested, conscious, and mature. Working with your experiences effectively means letting them come all the way through you, learning what it is that they have to teach you, and then fully releasing their charge. That is the difference between a wound and a scar, a flaw and a character trait.
If only you are able to handle every experience as it happens, fully, then no experience will carry over into the next. That is the essence of selflessness. We’ve all seen the man that is still reeling from his divorce that happened ten years ago. He’s become bitter and resentful towards women. He thinks marriage is a scam and he pities any fool who would shack up with “harlots.” Is this a man that has handled his experience with dignity? Hardly. He has contracted into a form of weakness and self-pity. He has become identified with his injury. Sad and foolish, he has castrated himself from the feminine in order to protect himself from further injury. It’s selfish and insane to do this with our experiences, yet we do it all the time.
We need forgiveness. The King is gracious and dignified. Selfless, he is not concerned with being caught in the personal injury of victimhood. Therefore, forgiveness is his way. He does not fret about things that are not in his control. He takes swift action upon his kingdom. He does not spend any longer upon an issue than it takes to see clearly, to learn, and to resolve it. If it is upon his doorstep, it is his to handle. This recognition gives him the clear understanding of what actions are his to take. He keeps advisors and council close at hand. He knows that he is not omnipotent, omniscient, or infallible. He allows himself to be influenced by trusted sources. He is humble and he is powerful. That is why he sits upon the throne. Mutually generous and receptive, he maintains a state of perfect balance in which life can unfold fully.
You can download the first edition of the book on any brothersofwisdom web page.
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