Aristotle once said, “The law is reason free of passion”. Now, I’m by no means greatly familiar with the writings of Aristotle, but I find this particular statement to be quite powerful and applicable in our current time. I believe he is using law, in a general sense, as a higher ideal. The law in this case would include all we hope to bring forward into society and the world in order to improve our condition. Reason, of course, involves our ability to think about or conceptualize what that exactly is and why it might be important. To bring these higher ideals to fruition, and have them work effectively for us, they must be relatively free of passion, or excessive emotion. In order for us to truly use these ideals as intended, they must be applied equally and fairly to all. The word liberty, being one of these ideals, implies freedom, does it not? Freedom is what we hope to attain. Our goal is to learn what it means and how we can apply it most effectively in every aspect of human living. Liberty, or freedom, is the highest ideal that the United States of America intends to establish. This intent or purpose is of such a high level of importance and inclusiveness, that it truly does apply to every country of our world. It is an objective for all of humanity. Our ideals indicate who we are becoming. They are the things we strive for, as we always intend to ultimately become more whole and complete. What we need to keep in mind is that the higher the ideal, the more inclusive it is, and the longer it will take to become established. Patience and consistent effort will assure our success. We work very hard and very long to make these ideals real within the fabric of our society and the world at large. Freedom is a goal worth pursuing, for it indeed applies to each of us in our efforts to express ourselves and thereby become true participants in the creative process itself.
These higher ideals we have in our minds, for this is where they are created, need a form through which they can express themselves, and therefore become real in an objective or physical sense. The vehicle for the creation of liberty or freedom uses a system of justice as a means to establish itself. We normally think of justice in terms of our present legal system, as it involves the process of individual accountability and so forth. Higher law and justice, however, are really about our ideals as they pertain to us as a group in all aspects of our life and daily living. These are the norms, if you will, that we as a society have adopted, through the understanding of our experiences and what we currently need. They provide the boundaries or parameters of what we believe to be acceptable and unacceptable. Our ideals, our laws, our norms also contain what we believe to be important and what we hope to achieve, or that which we hope to obtain for our everyday use. Our ideals then become practical. What we often forget is that our highest of ideals provide for us a way to grow and change, and thereby improve upon our own condition. Liberty and justice is one of these higher ideals that will indeed help us achieve those ends. The establishment of freedom in every aspect of human living has become our number one priority, whether consciously recognized or not. This particular ideal comes from such a high place that it truly is all-inclusive. It pertains to every human being and every human endeavor. There are challenges and problems to the bringing forth of any ideal, as we know. Let’s take a look.
Idealism and Realism
An idea, whether beneficial or not, begins in the mind. To bring it forth into reality, we add an emotional quality to it. In this way we are able to “feel” its importance, relevance and value. We now have created an ideal of which we intend to live by. Initially, this is an essential part of the process, as it gives our idea meaning and movement, bringing it closer to actual reality. The problem we encounter, however, is that we attach too much significance to the emotional part of the process. How we feel about things becomes more important than the actual value the ideal is intended to provide. Yes, we now have made it personal! Our idealism then becomes a mission rather than a practical application. We have lost sight of the original idea, its meaning, and its intended benefit as it applies to all. If we consider the idea of freedom, then, we make it be about our individual freedoms rather than the inclusive freedom of expression that is intended to move through humanity itself. Every time we have an excessively emotional approach to our ideals, we narrow their focus, you see. We must keep in mind that each individual has their own level of understanding about any given ideal. Generally speaking, the more emotional a person is in their approach, the less real understanding they have. It is therefore much more likely they will attempt to prove their perceived correctness in any way possible. In other words, their limited understanding, temporary of course, is not providing them the secure foundation that is required to be comfortable in their expression of the given ideal. This is what we see happening all across the world, through such undesirable activities as oppression, violence, and manipulation. Each individual, each smaller group within greater humanity, has its own limited understanding of the intended positive effects of true idealism. They are influenced by the emotional nature, which is, unfortunately, separative in its effects. Idealism becomes realism when we detach ourselves from personal need and personal importance. In order for our ideals to be practical, they must have the broadest interpretation, and yes, the broadest application. Freedom must apply to all if it is to express its greatest value.
Inclusivity, Exclusivity and the Power of the Heart
To have our ideals work better for us, we must understand the difference between emotion and real passion, as they are not the same thing. Our emotions only apply to ourselves at the moment, and they are indeed fleeting and temporary. Passion is more substantive, longer lasting, and can only be found in the heart. You might notice the word passion to be found in another important word, compassion. Compassion is an aspect of love, as you well know. These are “higher” feeling states, not to be confused with the volatile and temporary emotional nature. The inclusive nature of the heart is where everyone and everything has a home. We all belong. So, in order for our ideals and values to serve any real purpose, this is where we need to be. The more personal we make things, the more exclusive we become. The more emotional we allow ourselves to be, the less value our values really have. Unfortunately, there are many individuals and groups who wish certain higher ideals such as freedom, of which we all aspire to, only apply to them, at the exclusion of all others. Higher values, intended to benefit all, become perverted and twisted to serve selfish interest and need. Given an honest look, every institution, whether religious, governmental, or otherwise, finds itself operating within this limitation. But you see, my friends, we are well on our way to establishing the greatest freedom of all. We intend to be free of limited understanding and a limited perception of reality. We accomplish this by realizing the need of every human being to be included, and therefore be able to participate in, the process. To believe it’s acceptable for one person, or even a group of persons, to have everything is not freedom. They may believe they have attained freedom with what they have acquired, but they have simply created a prison for themselves, of which there will be no escape. We will, through our compassion, continue knocking on their door, for we wish to have them join us in the light of truth, where all are free.
Reason Free of Passion
Pure reason is, in actuality, a very high mental state. There are very few human beings who have access. So, thanks, Aristotle, for indicating to us this high spiritual principle, but we need to get real. We need to be practical in our approach. To be free of passion is not realistic for the majority of us at the current time. However, what we do have is the ability to think. To understand the value of passion, we must learn how to think from the heart. It is here where everyone can participate. Unfortunately, we have reduced the idea of “liberty and justice for all” to a mere platitude, through our own self-importance and lack of understanding. We can return to its original intent, meaning and value, by understanding love to be a working principle in our lives and our world. Freedom may be the highest ideal of all. To implement it fairly and quickly will involve a free and flexible mind, and a free and inclusive heart.
All my love and support, be well