An insidious aspect of the pride mind is that it will treat any information that exposes it, especially information that exposes any of its rationalizations obscuring a deeper truth, as a threat; this is because such exposure would require it to change. In the face of exposure, pride will either immediately combat the information with further justification, try to cover the behavior by insisting on its positive intent, or project that the external world is trying to take something away.
It will brace by refusing to acknowledge, receive, or allow us to be impacted, changed, and to respond. It will instead attempt to bring the incoming force down by asserting dominance through criticism, critique, or suggestions. It may under-respond and attempt to inspire doubt and insecurity in the sender.
At the extreme, when pride is dominating our mind, it asserts that the exposure requiring us to change is taking away our right to free will. In this protest, it foregoes the deeper truth of being on the spot. This is a misuse of the law of free will as a means to obscure the greed or delusion that often lies beneath its actions.
This is a particularly difficult tendency of the mind to address, because in the culture of the Erotic, the assertion of violation of free will carries with it the weight of committing the most heinous crime. So, as an erotically mature person, if we are accused of such violation by someone refusing to see the deeper truth, we will face a grave quandary.
Will we be loyal to the deeper truth that would point to the off-the-spot nature of this action, and face the odds stacked against us on the narrow chance that this other person will wake up? Or will we cut our losses and potentially betray ourselves and the truth in order to save ourselves from potential damage? The quandary becomes a real choice point once the assertion of violation has been made.
The rule of thumb in these cases is to recognize that unless we are highly skilled—and even if we are—this prideful aspect of mind operating in another person is extraordinarily dangerous. Upon witnessing this behavior, it is always wise and suggested, if possible, to remove ourselves entirely from this person's presence. They have demonstrated they are mentally incapable of holding the weight of Erotic responsibility. And yet, they have found themselves in the Erotic domain with tremendous power and a lack of skill in wielding it.
This is one of the rare cases where the removal of self is suggested, so that person cannot cause a harm they will later regret, and so we do not put ourselves in a situation of not acting on what we know to be true. In the rare case we choose to remain and speak to the deeper truth, the only reason that would justify this course of action is if the person, left to their own devices, would cause greater damage.
Sometimes the only option is to attempt to wake them up, but this is the exception to the rule and it is a choice fraught with difficulty and risk. The only way to enter this domain is with both tremendous humility and confidence.
