In a system of order based on real-time dynamic engagement, the experiences of commitment, intention, and decision look different than in other places. Systems of order rooted in maintaining separation or distance from the profane aspects of humanity carry a pull or sway. It seems prudent to make decisions based on the ability to “stick to” something or to hold to an agreement when what we are drawn to is kept outside of that pull. On the contrary, the system of order brought forward by Eros confers realization of life as a process.
To impose our will upon this reality in order to shape a particular outcome—even in terms of our own behavior—is a kind of aggression or violence against the way of things, the way things naturally are.
The common belief is that if we do not try to control circumstances, and we leave them to their own accord, they will turn evil, and we must counteract the inevitable. What we fail to recognize is that the belief itself and the actions issuing from it might be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Eros, as an aspect of the natural world, might suggest instead that we have it all wrong. The natural world, replete with its own laws and customs, functions quite well without our interference.
And yet, despite our ham-fistedness, it continues to welcome us as part of it. This is the humbling part—that we are not here to control and steer life but to become part of it and move with it.
This is why the instruction is to lock our attention onto the deeper truth. This is the one and only commitment we can make that will prevent us from clinging to conditions that have changed what perhaps was true at one time—and allow us to face the disappointment in ourselves and others when the truth that existed when we made the commitment is no longer the same. It can sound scary to commit to nothing but this truth in whatever form it arises.
There is only one reward in committing to deep truth: that we will live in the only reality there is. And so, while we can set intentions based on truths that have arisen from the depths, we need to have moment-by-moment connection with the truth and admit when it has shifted.
Even our most honorable intentions can change on a moment’s notice, where what was true in the last moment, bestowing that honor, is no longer true. The decision to remove ourselves from a situation we find untenable, while true in this moment, may not be true in another moment. The commitment to a way of being that seemed so clear and immediate then may not be effective in this new situation now. The choice to forgo untenable terms that we were sure were damaging, may in this moment, be an invitation to a deeper understanding.
If we live on the surface it will all look confusing and impetuous. We will feel buoyed about by the push and pull of life. Rooted into truth, we will experience living in a seamless reality, regardless of how the scenery is changing. The question is not what is honest; the question is what is honest now. We live our lives continuing to fortify our rootedness in truth. Allowing us to bend and sway and flow on the surface.
This prevents the residue that would later occur as regret or shame. And so we commit always to the deeper truth, to steadfast action in the moment, and to the willingness to be changed when change happens.
