Beyond Rightdoing and Wrongdoing

“Out beyond ideas

of wrongdoing and rightdoing,

there is a field.

I will meet you there.

-Jelaluddin Rumi, 13th Century

This thought from Sufi mystic Rumi is framed and sitting on a bookshelf in my living room. I first encountered and, as a result, developed a keen appreciation for Rumi, upon reading Khaled Hosseini’s And The Mountains Echoed. It’s quite a powerful thing, the idea of transcending right and wrong.

This piece continues:

When the soul lies down in that grass,

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase "each other" doesn't make any sense.

In this modern day, living in 2019, toxicity is a daily commodity. It’s something we see on social media, in the news and often in person, either directed at us or someone near by. We like to think ourselves as above the fray, but we too often traffic in it as well. I know I do, despite my best intentions. But more recently, I’ve steeped myself in the idea of moving beyond it all. Not in a supercilious, smug or vindictive manner; rather, because I’m tired. I’m so tired of the fighting, of the toxicity.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the free debate of ideas. It’s essential to a society like ours, and luckily we still live in such a society where debate can be practiced (at least, what’s left of it). However, when the day ends and voices are course, whatever ill-wishes and anger has built up must be let go. As human beings in the pursuit of agenda and truth, there is no right and wrong. Our humanity and spiritual connectedness is beyond that. In her book The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown defines spirituality as “recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connections to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion.”

So let’s continue the debates, the heated discussions, the passionate colloquy, the prying war of words. But never let the battle of ideas suppress the spirituality of others; never become numb to the idea of the intrinsic connection that exists between you and that person.

The concept of “each other” not making sense anymore brings to mind a melting of souls, a mollifying of our inner selves that fails to differentiate the other from our own self.

And such a place, such a field, is where we need to rest.

Continue building relationships, and rest in the field.

The field is beyond rightdoing and wrongdoing. It’s beyond the concept of “our truth” and “their truth.” When the world is too full to talk about, rest in the field. And right now, in 2019, I would argue that the world is getting pretty full.

Watercolor art cover photo by Jodi. Read about her here.