Iole Lebensztajn writes: “Ethics and Compassion” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 73, Summer 2011:

***********

“I can do no other than be reverent  before everything that is called life. I can do no other than to have compassion for all that is called life. That is the beginning and the foundation of all ethics.”  Albert Schweitzer, German Theologian ~ 1952 Nobel Peace Prize

How immensely have we humans developed technologically. And how slow has been our spiritual progress. Maybe because the time we dedicate to our spiritual growth is much less than the time we devote to play with all our electronic gadgets. I am not referring only to the amount of time we spend praying, meditating, even jumper cabling! I am talking about how little we pay attention to the way we treat each other, to how we treat Nature. To me, this is the difference between talking about spirituality and actually practicing it. Our relationships reflect our spiritual maturity much more than our cultural background or our knowledge about all esoteric and spiritual laws and connections.

When I think about the way we treat each other, the concept of Ethics springs to mind. Looking up the definition of Ethics, I have found: to be in conformity with a code of fair and honest behavior based on high principles for proper conduct. And this made me realize that Jin Shin Jyutsu Physio-Philosophy beautifully defines Ethics when we remember “Jin”, the man of compassion.

In a context of compassion, ethical conduct unfolds naturally. The true ethical way to treat each other is with compassion, understanding the points of view and feelings of others. Acknowledging if I had the same life story, the same life circumstances, the same belief system, social, religious and cultural background, maybe I would behave the same way. In fact, the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, is the only necessary rule of conduct there is. All other rules and laws would be disposable if we followed the Golden Rule. Jin is the human being who recognizes that if s/he doesn’t want to be mistreated, ignored, disrespected, exposed, manipulated, deceived, exploited, s/he will not do that to anyone.

Looking at each of the attitudes, we know that when we are stuck in one or some of them, we created disharmony in our own lives. But the thing is we often end up hurting people around us because of the way we react, rooted in the five attitudes, guided many times by an “automatic pilot” that disregards ethics. On the other hand, by observing the qualities of the Depths we can find ways to bring more ethics and compassion to our daily lives. This is what I would like to consider below:

1st Depth: our boundary, the surface skin, our limits, the principle of containment. Oftentimes I need to contain myself, my desire, my needs in the pursuit of my happiness, so that I do not cause harm to others in the process. I will not attain real happiness if I am causing suffering around me. Ethical containment consists in acts which take the well-being of others into consideration. I stop worrying about myself, my difficulty, my material needs and open my awareness to how I can be more involved with what is around me, contributing to the manifestation of a better life not only for myself but also for others.

To be continued…