In these trying times of the modern era, I find it more and more difficult to see things from all the angles that they must be seen in. While we are not bound by where we come from or how we are raised, it cannot be helped if parts of our existence are challenged by our upbringing. To use myself as an example, I grew up in a rather traditional Chinese household that has been war-torn and persecuted at nearly every turn. My parents, though probably not by their own design, have raised me with an innate sense of fear and disdain for government and military. On top of that, there is also the societal norms and centuries of stereotyping and stigmatizing that has plagued humanity for so very long.
While deep in my heart, I know I am not racist or sexist or discriminatory in any way but it is not my true heart if my mind subconsciously decides to be offensive or disrespectful to others simply because of what they look like. We are all victims of this curse of the physical eye but we are also blessed with the beauty of the heart’s eye and the power of the mind’s eye to challenge this curse. It is our duty as humans to be united and to challenge these curses we have placed on ourselves by trying to see through the surface. We are all unique both on the outside and the inside and it is these very differences that should also bring us together. This can only be done through the use of our heart’s eye, the special tool that each of us possesses, the tool that allows us to judge others based on who they are and not what they look like.
But there are also those that simply cannot be saved, those that have their heart’s eye open yet have set them on a darker path, a discriminatory one that has no freedom. While we may not be able to break them from this path, we must also not ignore it nor can we openly challenge it. I feel that the best option is to remain strong and united against it, to not fight fire with fire but to douse the harsh flames with a constant and consistent flow of solidarity. It is a brick-by-brick endeavor that requires generations of peacekeepers and centuries of patience and persistence along the right path. Though we cannot simply get rid of the millennia of stigmas and hate, we can do our best to make sure the next generation is more than aware of them. It will take a lot of pain, a lot of sadness and hate and rage; but most of all, it will take a whole lot of love. Because at the end of it all, while our physical eyes see hate and rage and sadness, it is our heart’s eye that sees the love and it is love that makes the world go round.
THE RONIN SYSTEM 