Help Always, Hurt Never

Revenge, the desire to hurt others who have hurtimbue a poison that will return to destroy us.
us, only bears bitter fruit. It hurts those whom weThe greatest illusion is this: that we can hurt and not
have inflicted our wrath upon. And it hurts us,be hurt, that we can wound another and remain
because no single act in the universe goesunscathed. When we inflict harm upon another, we
unrewarded. From that singular act, our owninflict harm upon ourselves. What goes around comes
consciousness is wounded by the expression of ouraround. A rudimentary study of history will prove this.
animalism.When we love, we reach out to align with life, to
Nations pride themselves on the swiftness of theirnurture and make others better, and in that act, we
retribution but inevitably collapse in on themselvesredeem ourselves from our own past follies.
because the seeds of discontent that they sow,This love is a precious act. It is our extension of
hurts all of life. Rome, the greatest civilization thatspiritual power in the world. It is a moment of
the world had ever known, built on the finest artssympathy and support that we have for life. When
and sciences known to the ancient world, theyou bend down and help a child tie its shoelaces, you
epitome of legal and architectural order, collapsedare tying up all the knots of the world. When you
from within, destroyed by its own impulse to use itslisten in silence and understand another's intention,
mighty force to strike out and subdue.you are spreading the meme of empathy through all
Today our world is dying because of this impulse toof time and space, for thoughts are cosmic waves
strike out.that do not know any barriers.
We are destroying each other at an alarming rate,As we extend love to others, it comes back to us.
both individually and collectively.Yet we cannot love others unless we love ourselves
And even the earth itself, is collapsing at a fasteras well.
rate than we can repair. Scientists now estimate thatWe cannot live without making mistakes of judgment
by the year 2050, we will have exhausted the earthand do things that we will later regret, because we
of all its natural resources.are naïve and do foolish things out of that
The science that we celebrate, the genius of ournaivety. But we do grow, and looking back at the
efforts, are wasted on destructive uses. Instead ofharm we have invoked, we feel grief. Our act of
using the power of the nucleus to build greatlove, then, is to forgive ourselves. Yet instead of
civilizations we are busy using it to stockade bombs.taking this simple act, we damn ourselves repeatedly,
Billions of dollars that could be used to heal theand in this way, we still hurt life, because we are life.
broken places on our planet are used to send peopleWhen we feel the urge to strike out, we must
to horrific deaths.remember how it feels to have the wound inflicted
When we seek to hurt life, we hurt ourselves, forupon our own flesh, because everything returns to
we are life.the author of a deed.
Revenge it is said is a dish best served cold; butHelp always, hurt never. Do this and your life will be a
whether it is served with cold deliberation or hotblessing to the world and you must reap the harvest
reaction, it is a dish in whose very preparation wefrom what you have sown.