Increasing Wisdom & Responsibility: What To Do In The Face Of Bullshit...?

Life poses interesting challenges.

Such as: what is our responsibility when confronted with bullshit?

Humans are funny creatures. We tend to propagate alot of bullshit. Alot.

As we mature and become wiser, some of us develop the ability to see through alot of the B.S. people - often well-intentioned - buy into and spread. Yet, it's not always clear what the most appropriate course of action is when perceiving others disconnected in fantasy worlds of distorted belief systems.

At some stages of our development, it becomes tempting to become a warrior for "the truth" - taking a stand for the uncovering of "evil lies," rebelling against the forces of ignorance, fighting for a "freedom of mind." The problem is there - given it's merely one stage of an incomplete development - there are still layers of B.S. yet to be cleared, and self-righteous tendencies can often creep in to infect one's fight against bullshit with more covert rose-scented bullshit that goes unrecognized as such.

This often corresponds to the stage of the "awakened," who take it upon themselves to "awaken" others.

The bullshit remains - but it's a different type of bullshit. Kind of.

The first stage of bullshit is that which is observed as projections on society - bullshit we've been "programmed" with, inhereted, learned from culture, taken on as a consequence of our imprintability - or so it often gets framed as such. Here, the victim-mentality is still at work - though most do not recognize or would confess it.

The second stage of bullshit, we are blinded to - for it remains in our blind spots. All fingers point outwards, demonizing the bullshit of stage one while failing to see our own bullshit. It is reactionary.

Neither is "bad." Simply, they are steps of growth.

The stage one bullshit isn't inherently negative. There is no grand conspiracy behind it all of enlightened masters pulling strings to control humanity. It's simply ignorance. The consequence of a species early in its evolution of awareness. Misconceptions and falsehood that were once needed to make some sense of the world, even if it was fictional.

The stage two bullshit is reflective of an individual's will to break out of the collective ignorance. As such, there are the seeds of victory present in it. But, in the rebelliousness, no true individual differentiation is attained - it's only a shifting into a different state, common amongst groups in a different phase of growth, falling victim to their own bullshit without knowing it.

Later on in the developmental process, things become clearer.

The bullshit of both phases make sense. None of it really was "bullshit." Only the consequences of incomplete awareness. Operating from such in both stages does come with consequences. Though, that's life. As long as there are bulls, there is bullshit.

The shift out of the second phase is where maturity begins. Though, it's also where greater responsibility is required to earn that maturity and wisdom through the choices of how to respond to others in the first and second stages.

In the second stage, the ability to see others' bullshit is increasing - and there is an over-enthusiastic desire to call them on it. With a newfound level of awareness, those in stage two feel compelled to call all the world on its bullshit, especially picking apart the imperfections of government, society, institutions, and networked entities forming the infrastructure of our planetary systems - and often blaming individuals for the weaknesses of the systems. The desire to "make a difference" arises strongly. However, there is nowhere near yet enough consciousness to see the holistic dynamics of these systems or their own psychological makeup at this stage.

Coming out of stage one into stage two comes more naturally, like a teenager destined to their teenage angst, revolting at the world. Coming out of stage two is trickier, and many don't. It requires the cultivation of character not present in stage two. It requires allowing the death of the identity established in stage two, along with the belief systems and habits acquired, practiced, and engrained in stage two.

Ascending out of stage two requires an increasing discernment of how to respond to the bullshit of both stage one and two.

We become able to see the bullshit. But the degree of maturity and character exercised in each choice of how to respond determines the degree we rise out of stage two, or dip back into it. And there, lies the challenge...

Sometimes, we get put in a position where the bullshit needs to be called out. But not in the same way as during stage two.

Calling out the B.S. doesn't entail condemnation, hostility, aggression, or judgement. Rather, it requires a humbleness, compassion, diplomacy, and gentleness in the manner we bring awareness to where it's lacking.

Calling out the B.S. doesn't come from a place of needing to prove anyone wrong or ourselves right or smarter. It's no longer a battle or debate. Rather, it's an act of humble service - supporting another in their growth process, with a kind heart.

And then sometimes, it is not our place to call out B.S.

This can be the greatest challenge, while cultivating the character to fully rise out of stage two.

We might be able to see where others are wrong in their judgements, mistaken in their ways, victims to their own faulty belief systems, at root of their own suffering, impacting others in ways that may be more harmful than helpful. But, the self-righteous need to show, teach, awaken, or enlighten to this bullshit has matured and given way to a respect for others' developmental process.

Sometimes, the wisest response to B.S. is complete non-engagement.

Perhaps sometimes, our silence might be the echo chamber in which another's B.S. is reflected back to them until they realize they're sitting completely alone in the madness of their B.S. - a strategy possibly far more effective than trying to convince anyone they're wrong. Or maybe they'll never realize their solitude in the B.S., believing they're part of some "special" "awakened" bunch - in which case, no words spoken from a higher perspective may be able to penetrate the morphogenic field of their collective's beliefs.

In such a case - as is the case with many in stage two - they are not held captive by any external forces or agendas they claim to rebel against, but rather the limits of their own awareness, as set by obstructions in the evolution of brainwave cycles. Namely, low theta - a consequence of judgement.

Perhaps it's been the "hero's journey" archetypal fable that's become so deeply engrained throughout our culture, that many of us have taken upon some felt need to "save" others or the world. Perhaps the overemphasis on "taking responsibility" as preached through self-help and new-age "spirituality" has overextended itself to blur the limits of what is and isn't ours to claim authorship over.

Perhaps that drive to "right the wrongs" of the world and "awaken" the "sheeple" comes from some deeper soul purpose to serve humanity's evolution in its ascension from the darkeness into the light.

However, with maturity, also comes the wisdom to know when it is and isn't our place and time to intervene.

Much powerful knowledge was conveyed through the school of the ancient Tao - key within its most fundamental of principles, that the world inevitably sorts itself out. Nature knows what it's doing.

And in nature's evolution, there is bullshit. Darkness. Ignorance. Illusion. Delusion. T'is all an inescapable part of the holistic collective journey.

In our youth, it's tempting to think we have to be the force of change.

In some situations and contexts, maybe we do. In far more, we probably don't. Rather, we've probably been fucking arrogant in attempting to force our ideals and will on the world and others and they make their way through it.

Bullshit is everywhere.

Including right under our nose, wrapped in the judgement of what we observe as "bullshit" in others and the world.

Though whether you label it all as bullshit or merely universal artifacts of nature sorting itself out in the midst of man's ignorance interference, it all has its time and place. Alot of it might look chaotic and unnecessary from our vantage point - though we'd only be slipping back into stage two by deeming it worthy of our setting it right by calling it out as B.S.

And it can be tough to distinguish when to speak out and when to stay silent.

Sometimes the answers others yearn for are so clear to us. Sometimes we can see the causes of others' or the world's most pressing conflicts with absolute clarity and a knowing of how the conflicts could be solved.

But it isn't always our place to do so.

Sometimes the bullshit is written loudly on the wall, seemingly for our eyes only. Yet, sometimes the emperor wants to prance around with no clothes on. Sometimes the person choking on their own bullshit refuses help out of their inflexibility to deviate from their trains of thought and self-destructive behaviors.

Sometimes we could spell it all out clearly for them, if they were only 100% receptive to listening and we took our time to pace through a thorough articulation of the dynamics of a situation. And sometimes - paradoxically as it could potentially seem - that'd be the foolish choice. Sometimes the higher path might be simple observation of these bullshit processes consume people until they break down through their own struggles and come humbly to their knees asking for help with that they've been unable to achieve through their unconscious arrogance of judgment.

Any one of us could spend our entire lives calling out bullshit. And nothing would be achieved except adding to it.

Or, we could carry on our business - minimizing the bullshit we add to the pile, saving our fucks for where they truly matter, conserving our energy to speak our truths when they're invited and the windows of opportunity are open such that the conditions are ripe for our wisdom to make a difference in transforming bullshit that actually may be our responsibility to clean up.

And to clarify...

There probably is no absolute ascension out of the two stages of bullshit.

We might grow older and wiser, cultivating the character to harmonize with life and maximize our positive impact while minimizing interference with others' journeys as they unfold via natural law.

But maybe there always will be some part of us in stage one, immersed in the bullshit of a collective mindset or morphogenic field. And maybe there will always be other aspects of our character's development in stage two, experiencing peaks of elation in the newfound insights of expanding awareness, ready to position ourselves higher than others because of fragments of truths we've uncovered others might have not yet.

So, none of us are perfect. We're all human. We all shit. Even Kim Jung Un.

So maybe that's part of where compassion comes from - knowing that whatever bullshit others might be believing in, going through, propagating - we too, have been there, or will be there at some point. That just as we deserve a break for not knowing everything along the way and falling victim to our own flaws at times, so do others. And that just as we may have had to go through times of borderline craziness, buying into some really silly ideas and discovering reserves of passion and self-knowledge in those bullshit-filled caverns, so too others must sometimes make their decents, without intervention or judgement for where they're at in their developmental process.

And then again, there are surely situations where not speaking up would be sheer irresponsibility. There are probably shades of bullshit that threaten human evolution through dangerous distortions of facts, and forms of ignorance which are highly destructive. At such times, perhaps we better stand the fuck up and exercise some tough love.

And so it is. The dichotomy of life.

May we grow in maturity, wisdom, character, and integrity - responding to the world we find ourselves navigating, with the best of our abilities at any given time - using our responsibility with the utmost care to best serve other in their adventures through the mazes of bullshit, as deemed necessary in each situation.

And even when it may not be our time and place to step in and intervene when the bullshit's piling up... well, there's always air freshner. :-)