Plumb Line: used for finding the depth of water or determining the vertical on an upright surface.

Unity

I recently had a conversation with a brother about naysayers, haters or people who are simply jealous of what you seemingly have and/or who you are. I say "seemingly" because in the grand scheme of things, in a universe that's one where every force and object is interdependent, it's impossible for someone to actually have something you don't. In other words, whatever a person has, whether it's materialistic such as clothes, or immaterial such as patience, it is not a personal possession. Those clothes didn't come out of thin air; they were created from the materials of the planet, with the hands of many people, including those who contributed to its marketing and promotion. Patience isn't an immaterial quality that one person on the planet personally owns. Every one, in some capacity, demonstrates it; some more than others and even a child with ADHD has some degree of patience. Even on a subatomic level we're all composed of the same stuff; undifferentiated matter energy. Psychologically and Socially? The source of all thought processes is one Collective Consciousness or Universal Mind. Our brain is a conductor, our bodies are physical vehicles and as sentient beings we interact with one another and our planet. So at the root of any naysayer, hater or person that's jealous of what they believe someone has, is a cosmological glitch. Somewhere along their journey they never evolved to the degree of grasping the oneness of the universe, understanding how interdependence works or recognizing the role of dynamic opposites.

When a child is incarnated [born] and they're discovering themselves and how to attend the world, one of the first lessons they must learn is how to share and cooperate. Developmentally, psychologically and socioeconomically the world revolves around a child for a number of years because its very existence [ex. food, clothing and shelter] depends upon what its parent/guardian must do for them. Every person began from this state of only receiving and giving nothing in return, yet not all people evolve beyond this parochial mindset to understand the importance of equality, reciprocity and the interdependence of our universe. The jealous banter adults make about what someone has or is doing is no different than the teasing five year old children do in a kindergarten classroom. The pouting response a middle schooler gives you when they're asked to clean their room is no different than the antagonism a neighbor shows you when they're encouraged to clean up their community. The petty competitiveness, constant comparisons and insecure commentary 16 year olds make amongst each other in high school hallways across America is no different than the petty competitiveness, constant comparisons and insecure commentary adults make across social media. Some of us have not grown up. Some of us are striving to grow up and some of us could care less about ever becoming a mature adult. As my Enlightener's Enlightener Life Justice once told me, "The child doesn't go willingly, it must be driven out of a person in order for them to evolve."

Toys R Us Kids

So what does, "The child doesn't go willingly, it must be driven out of a person in order for them to evolve" actually mean in quantifiable terms? For one, it means that life needs to show a person how to share and that lesson may come in the form of giving away one of your most prized possessions. If we never learned how to work in a group and cooperate, life may teach us the need for cooperation and teamwork with the policies and procedures of our place of employment, or risk being fired. Sometimes people have a toy hording mentality; they're like a child that only plays with other children if they have control of the toys and make up the rules. A person with this mentality often only learns when life puts them in a position where they have no control over all of their toys [material possessions] being taken away from them and they're forced to follow the rules of someone else. This is what I alluded to earlier in this article about recognizing the role of dynamic opposites. Because every child comes into this world polarized, leaning in a way where they depend upon everything for their very existence, part of its evolutionary process is to learn independence and ultimately interdependence. From the beginning, a child is on one side of the scale of interdependence. That side is dependence. The other extreme, or polar opposite is independence. Both perspectives, dependence and independence, are 'horizontally' the same on a vertical scale of interdependence. In mathematical terms, interdependence is the right angle of this horizontal plane. In some circles it's also known as the living perpendicular, being upright or symbolized by a plumb line in the building trades. A person who is heavily dependent and a person who is grossly independent both fail to realize the importance of equality and reciprocity. While the dependent relies on what you give, the independent relies on what they can get. Both of them are primarily concerned about their singular needs and wants, and neither of them have evolved to the point of considering the needs and wants of the collective. Throughout the chronology of humanity, from our most classical endogenous societies to our most contemporary, the greatest examples of peace and harmony have always existed amongst people who demonstrate(d) the highest expression of interdependence amongst each other and our environment. The opposite is also true, the greatest examples of war and disharmony have always existed amongst people who demonstrate(d) the lowest expression of interdependence amongst each other and our environment. This also implies civilization and the degree to which a people are civilized. You can measure the level of knowledge, wisdom, understanding, culture and refinement of a society by how well it provides for and protects its most vulnerable members; its women, children, elders and the disabled. If those provisions and protections are in place, that society will function with a high level of civilization. Whenever you see those provisions and protections not in place, that society falls into a pit of savagery and despair. The story that Yacub was a six year child playing alone when he came up with his epiphany of making a Devil when he got older is not a game. This, amongst other things about his upbringing, suggest many things about his maturation process and his personality later in his life. We also learn that central to his life story are the themes of dependence, independence and how this ultimately exposed the importance of freedom, justice, equality, reciprocity and interdependence of the human family.

In closing, I want to remind you that everyone does not mature at the same rate. Some people may chose to never grow up and that's their choice. Sometimes I witness my seventeen year old daughter behaving more maturely than women approaching their forties. Personally speaking, I am far more mature than I was five years ago. With that in mind, it's important to respect where people are and not try to force them to be something they clearly aren't right now. "The child doesn't go willingly, it must be driven out of a person in order for them to evolve" doesn't mean that we go on a crusade to change adults who behave like children. That advice is for our own children and/or children we may work with professionally as educators, counselors and mentors, within the legal guidelines, rules and regulations of our organization and business. When it comes to adults, life itself and the experiences that come along with their behavior is what will change them -if they live to tell about it. Of course we must make knowledge born or share advice with people to save their life, yet when we realize they're not in a place to receive it, we must move out of their way and all of the obstacles they're creating. If naysayers have something negative to say about you, remove yourself from the situation and let your positive works be the consistent response to their criticisms. They project upon you the idea that you think you're more because they actually believe they're less and have less than you. They criticize what you're doing to assist others to try and keep others from critically examining what they're really not doing to assist. They never learned that in a universe that's one, where every force and object is interdependent, it's impossible for someone to have something you don't. In fact, there truly is no "you" and "me" essentially, it's only "we" and "ours" that represents the collective "All." How we reconcile that reality, with our dependent or independent ideas, will define the degree of peace and happiness in our lives. It also sets the cooperative stage to advocate any society of men [women and children] or group for one common cause. The only way we can truly want for our brothers and sisters what we want for ourselves, and genuinely support each other in what we do, we must know and understand that we are one. That degree of unity and sense of cooperation cannot be taught to some of us. Through the growing pains of experience, it must be driven out of us.

Peace,

Saladin