One fool rambles all days about his great plans, the other laughs at his inflated ego.

One fool babbles all days about all the immensely VITAL matters, all the things needed to be done, all the DUTIES and RESPONSIBILITIES… the other mocks his fervid protestations, his stern sense of responsibility, his uptight disposition…

One fool wants to be GREAT and the other wants to NOT WANT TO be great.

And so it goes. We have this FANATIC, who took the world a bit too seriously. He is miserable, he is hardworking, because there is so much to be done that there is no time to laugh, no time to enjoy oneself, and no time NOT to be stressed out.

Then we have this CYNIC. He keeps running from the world and the duties it imposes on him, and the more he runs the more he hates it, and the more he hates it the more he hates himself — for all the hate is self—hate.

Both are but two sides of the same coin.

 

Cynicism is a bitter escape from the burden of judgement.

When you meet a cynic, you can immediately notice his inner conflict. There ever is this taint of bitterness in their words, whenever they declare their contempt for the workings of the world.

Psychological problems can neither be alleviated by succumbing to them, nor by suppressing them.

You can’t DEFEAT the cancer of ambition by achieving something… by achieving, you are AFFIRMING the problem, you are acknowledging it’s existence, you are perpetuating the paradigm of not being good enough.

You can’t RUN AWAY from the cancer of expectations either… it’s like running away from your own shadow… you can’t run away from it, and the more you try, the faster you run, the faster it runs, and you only feel more terrified, and the danger only seems greater… again, by running away, you are AFFIRMING the existence of the threat.

Hence, the cynic is no better then the achiever. Both are psychologically DEPENDENT on the illness of expectation.

 

…and how does one BREAK FREE from the endless loop, how does one break the chains of one’s own conditioning, expectations, duties…?

There ever is only one approach to psychological problems — and it’s the UNDERSTANDING.

By acting against something, we hinder the understanding. Instead of learning the nature of the problem, we cover it up with the noise of activity.

Psychological problems can’t be covered up. They can only be understood.

ONLY in understanding is there FREEDOM. It is only in the understanding, that we can transcend the problem.

It is then, that the problem is alleviated — when it is no longer fed by either our resistance to it, or our submission.

It is when you understand all the workings or AMBITION, of the false SELF ever attempting to ENLARGE itself, MAXIMIZE itself, it is only then, that there can be FREEDOM from ambition and greed.

Such person is not bitter or indifferent.

Such person is only… free.