“Changing the world” when the Dao is so far beyond influence
I suppose I’m a bit disenchanted with being a hero. Yes, I’m helping people. Of course I am, I wouldn’t be doing anything else, that’s just how I was raised. But honestly, given truly infinite karmic exponentially, AND truly infinite meritorious action and results… does one ever cancel out the other? Said differently, is ‘ freedom from suffering for all beings’ even actually possible? This is not, of course, the first time I’ve asked myself this question. I had to grapple with it before taking the Bohdisattva vows. The convincing factor was my Teacher at the time asking me, “If eventual enlightenment for all beings is not possible, would you still come back and help?… and, If eventual enlightenment for all beings WAS possible, would you still come back and help?” - my answer of course to both questions was, ‘yes’. So I took the vows. When it comes to marketing and making real income, I run into three issues, 1) what do I actually do? And how do I actually do it? 2) If “saving the world” is in fact not possible, then why am I busting my ass?… I cover my bases, and cover my bills, but honestly not much more than that. Is that “existing in the middle way” and therefore karmically healthy, or, am I shooting myself in the foot? 3) as per Matt’s recent Facebook post, advertising a ‘self’ is the opposite of transcending a self. Even though yes, I can see how, using ones self-based identity to serve the world, ultimately benefits others in their path towards transcending their selves. But honestly, I truly ask myself, whether or not transcending the self, is a worthy cause. People are generally more happy and less existentially tortured when they are more ignorant of complex ideas of reality. And, who am I to say that other people need to walk the same/similar path that I have walked? Going deeper down a rabbit hole of dissolving an identity and understanding my soul, has not necessarily led to a significant improvement in my ability to provide for myself . So why lead people in the same direction?