Scorn or Praise

This is an old saying, O Atula, not one merely of today: "They blame him who remains silent, they blame him who speaks much, they even blame him who speaks in moderation." There is none in this world who is not blamed.
    There never existed, nor will there ever exist, nor does there exist today anyone who is always scorned or always blamed.

Dhammapada 227-228

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A very few months ago I became willing to take the middle path and, on this path, I have taken a vow to refrain from blame and to use praise with utmost caution. This has often resulted in being told that I am wishy-washy about the important issues of the day or when group or personal disputes demand my attention. However, the advantage I have gained is powerfully more than I ever expected. Being able to see clearly, without prejudice, is of immense value that far exceeds being oh-so-right about everything in every dimension; whether it is being right in politics or personal disputes. Honest debate is not avoided but honest debate has become far more meaningful when I take the side of compassion in whatever argument that confronts me. Taking the side of compassion requires me to be informed as well as loving. I suppose it might have been one of those apes recently down from the trees, following the herds, which were so inclined to flip-over cow turds just to see what was under them. What was found there was probably the one simple act that furthered our evolution in the long distant past (according to the ethnobotanist, philosopher and psychonaut guru, *Terrence McKenna).

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* Terrence McKenna contended that the first ape human prototypes stepped out of the trees onto the grasslands where the great herds left cow patties in great abundance. Under these there were grubs to be found, high in protein and the addition kick, magic mushrooms. He proposed that these two findings provided nourishment and raised our ancestrial consciousness leading humankind into an awareness that was, at once, communal, cooperative and evolutionary..