PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

1. ADAPTATION:

"To go against the evolution of things is to go against yourself."

Throughout our lives, we are exposed to inevitable changes: for example, the body grows old, children move away from their parents, the beloved ones die, traditions are abandoned. Sometimes we fight against these changes and we suffer. If we are able to accept those changes, we feel better and we avoid unnecessary suffering.
This principle does not mean to accept everything (for example, many diseases, even severe ones, can be treated), just those situations that are truly inevitable.

2. ACTION AND REACTION:

"When you force something towards an end, you produce the contrary."

Very often, when we have a strong desire to have something, we do everything we can to obtain it without paying attention to other people's needs and feelings. And we end up forcing someone to do what we want. Sometimes we get what we want, but a little later we lose it all cause we produce a reaction opposite to what we expected. We can force others to obey, but sooner or later they will revolt.
For example, we try to force someone to love us and we insist so much that this person - on the contrary - rejects us.

3. TIMELY ACTION:

"Do not oppose a great force; retreat until it weakens, then advance with resolution."

This principle means to retreat only in front of situations that are stronger than oneself that are not worth fighting and not in front of the small daily life problems. Yet, we need to recognize the suitable moment to face this great force and by making small experiments, little attempts.  If we realize that the force has weakened, we have to fight it with all our energy, until we overcome it.
For example, it may happen that we have to work to make a living and that is why we have to stop going to school, but we should not stop trying to find a way to get back to our studies as soon as possible.

4. PROPORTION:

"Things are well when they move together, not in isolation."

Sometimes we are very busy with one major thing and put very little energy into others, even if they are important to us. As time passes, this might create problems. Or we would like to do something we like but other obligations prevent us from doing it. In order to be happier, we have to find a way to move everything that is important forward in our lives. We might devote more time to some things and less to others, but not give up any of them.
For example, a married woman with children might have difficulties participating in the activities of the Humanist Movement if she would like to participate.

5. ACCEPTANCE:

"If day and night, summer and winter are fine with you, you have surpassed the contradictions."

Day and night, summer and winter represent opposing situations in our daily lives. We like some of them and wish they could last forever. And there are others that we do not like and we try to avoid them; and if we can't we suffer and feel bad.
In another words, if we consider everything that happens to us an opportunity that serves us to learn something, then even the less pleasant situations and problems will not make us suffer so much. Every single aspect of life can serve in our development.

6. PLEASURE:

"If you pursue pleasure, you enchain yourself to suffering.
As long as you do not harm your health, enjoy without inhibition when the opportunity presents itself."

Continuously pursuing pleasure makes us always feel dissatisfied. It makes us dependent and we tend to consider others as means to satisfy our desires. Yet more, it is absurd to harm our own health with exaggerated pleasures. Experiencing pleasure yet feeling guilty at the same time or after leads to suffering.  So we should not chase pleasure but benefit from the opportunities that we meet with freedom and joy, as long as they do not harm our health.

7. IMMEDIATE ACTION

"If you pursue an end you enchain yourself but if everything you do is DONE as though it were an end in itself, you liberate yourself."

When we have a goal, we may tend to put all our concentration on it giving little attention to the steps that lead to the goal; and that distresses us. We feel that we're losing time. This suffering seems to be the price we have to pay to achieve our goal since we are convinced that we will not be happy before that moment in the future. But these steps are in fact important and should be most positively considered. They have value because they are a part of our lives.
All actions that we do are important, they have impact on others, they teach us something and they help us develop our qualities.

8. WISE ACTION

"You will make your conflicts disappear when you understand them in their ultimate roots, not when you want to resolve them."

Almost everybody faces their problems without trying to understand them from the roots so they'll never be truly solved; they may disappear but later they will come back even more complicated and create other problems. So when we deal with a problem, we should understand it profoundly.

9. LIBERTY

"When you harm others you remain enchained, but if you do not harm anyone you can freely do whatever you want."

If we harm others, then the guilt, the fear of the consequences, the mistrust towards others, invade us. And we become prisoners of these negative feelings. So it's better for US not to harm others.

10. Solidarity

"When you treat others as you would have them treat you,
you liberate yourself."

This great moral principle appears in all cultures and religions, it can give a coherent direction for the existence of individuals as well as large communities. When we apply it, we experience a feeling of profound agreement with ourselves, a feeling of peace, of being close to others in a way that we wish to repeat this kind of action.
We feel that we have made a step forward in liberating ourselves from egoism and prejudice that often guide our actions. And that gives us confidence in ourselves, in others and in the future.

11. NEGATING OPPOSITES

"It does not matter in which faction events have placed you. What matters is to comprehend that you have not chosen any faction."

This principle invites us to consider that our positions have been influenced by the times we were born in, by the environment we're living, by the education we have received; which means: by the things we did not choose. Applying this principle helps us avoid intolerance and at the same time understand others' positions. This frees our spirits and allows us to build bridges to others even if their ideas are different or opposite to ours.

12. THE ACCUMULATION OF ACTIONS:

"Contradictory or unitive acts accumulate within you. If you repeat your acts of internal unity, then nothing can stop you."

Contradictory actions are those that give us the feeling of internal violence and betrayal of ourselves. Unitive actions are those that give us a feeling of being in agreement with ourselves, a sense of personal improvement, and a wish to repeat them after we do them. Both contradictory and unitive actions leave a trace in our memory, which drives us to repeat them. If we repeat unitive actions, we orient our future conduct towards a growing internal unity and thus a growing happiness.

Those 12 principles guide us to valid, unitive actions and orient us to overcome suffering and to discover a true meaning in life. They were written by Mario Rodriguez Cobos, a thinker and writer from Argentina.