As I discovered in my sales jobs previously, the notion of courage was used as a selling point to convince me that I should ignore my instincts and ignore social decency. The one who just pushes through will get many things. But I think it may be like the songbird inside the egg. Brute force will not unlock the jeweled clockwork egg. Only the skilled hand of the expert will bring out the bird’s song.
I think that courage may in fact be a lie. Courage may be a vehicle for preserving class hierarchy. “Have the courage” to do what we say, and we will elevate your status. Refuse, and we will label you a coward. The community will oust you, or relegate you to a shameful rung of society. You will be looked down upon until you comply with what we call the “courageous” thing to do.
That which is often hailed as “courageous” is often alienating to the outside world, by design. The more you comply with us, the more offensive your behavior to an ordinary decent person. Thus, those who we elevate will be increasingly alien to the outside world. As we exert increasing force on the outside world, however, your “courageous” status will begin to transfer more readily.
Now, I will consider that there may be a quieter kind of courage, one that does not come with any automatic elevation in status. Perhaps that is the true essence of courage. Perhaps we are dealing with the problem of discerning actual courage from counterfeit courage. One might postulate that any act which guarantees applause is, by definition, not a courageous act. But the real gold at the end of the rainbow is fearlessness.
The Course in Miracles says that “love casts out fear as light casts out darkness.” Could it be, then, that love is the antidote? Classic fables depict heroes enduring dangerous rites of passage in their quests to save the princess and earn her love. But is it really the princess’s love that the hero seeks to win? Or is it the heart of self? Does the hero simply need to complete the hero’s journey in an effort to discover who the hero really is? And when we know who we truly are, does fear disappear?
In all walks of life, I can see false counterfeit varieties of ideas, and rites of passage now come to mind as an extension of the principle. Rites of passage can be designed to impose order and control human behavior in their darkest and lowest form, such as gang initiation rituals or the slightly less harmful variety of college fraternity initiations (although the latter has been known to have lethal consequences). Moving up the pyramid from savagery to true conscious evolution, we can see the possibility of creating a true rite of passage, where those who care for us will witness our growth and expansion into a higher form of self.
In everyday reality, the light blends with the shadow. We may undergo rites of passage designed with the best of intentions, but as the generations wear on, the dirt and grime of human wickedness creates a hypnotic and manipulative element. For instance, you can witness a drama-filled wedding dominated by drunkenness and passive-aggressive behavior from family members, a gluttonous Thanksgiving dinner, or a spoiled child throwing a fit when the desire presents didn’t arrive.
The Triad is the key building block for elemental courage. Only in small groups can we create new traditions, imbuing each instance with the Breath of Life.
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