Excerpt from Justin Time: Autobiographical Stories from An American Spiritual Master
Some years ago, I was in Thailand doing social work with a group of people. When our project was completed, some of us took some time to travel around to different places, and one of the places we went to was Malaysia. We ended up going to a sleepy little island called Lankawii. It was a beautiful island that the government was planning to turn into an international resort. In order to do that, they signed a contract with Sheraton Hotels to build a super exclusive resort on the island. Of course, we didn’t know that at the time. We thought we were going to a picturesque little island with cheap shacks lining the beach, such as is popular in Asia.
When we arrived at the boat dock on this island, a lady in a business suit came up to us and said, “Would you like to go to the Sheraton resort?” We told her we had nothing like that in mind, but she explained that we wouldn’t have to pay for anything. Evidently, they had just opened the resort, and were looking for Westerners to find out about the place, so we were being asked to stay for free. That wasn’t a difficult decision to make, so we went.
The place was truly outrageous. They gave us a chalet that was all of solid teak. It was magnificent – swimming pools, tennis courts, everything. They even had brand new windsurfing equipment with all the latest gear. As luck would have it, I had been windsurfing for a couple of years, and was capable of doing pretty well if the conditions were okay. The people in charge of the equipment didn’t even know how to put it together, so they were thrilled to have us show them how it worked. We went out in the water and did a little showing off, and a little instructing.
Later that day, I was standing on the balcony of our chalet watching a guy pick up a windsurfing rig and head out into the water. The way he was handling the sail, it was clear that he didn’t know how to windsurf. Something you learn early about windsurfing is that if you don’t sail with the tide, the swell will take you down wind, and you won’t end up where you started. You could end up anywhere, and in this case, the wind was taking this guy out to sea.
I was looking out from my balcony, and I saw this man heading out to sea. I knew what was going to happen because I know windsurfing, and I knew the guys who gave him the equipment don’t. So I went down to where the equipment was, and told the guys who have a boat, that this man was in bad shape. They tell me, “He’s okay, he’s a strong swimmer.” I tried, but I couldn’t convey to them that there was a problem.
As it was, the bay had a mouth to it, and as this man was drifting out to sea, he managed to get hooked by the edge of the land. I was looking through my binoculars and could see that he was exhausted. He barely managed to get to the land. He was a mile away from the hotel beach, but at least he was safe. As I was sitting there watching him, he jumped in the water and started to swim back, leaving his board behind. I also see that there are swells in the ocean, and I reasoned that this guy was not going to be able to swim a mile back. He’s just not going to be able to do it. So I ran down to the beach again, and showed the guys there that he was trying to swim back without his board.
At this point, even they can see that the situation was bad. When you’re in the ocean, the only thing you have going for you is your board. After I showed the guys on the beach the situation, they quickly got their boat ready and set out. I went back to my chalet and saw, through my binoculars, that they picked him up.
I never saw him again, but I know he made it back. I don’t know if he ever knew that somebody saved his life, but that’s basically what happened. I saw that his life was in jeopardy, and I acted accordingly. It was a bit of a challenge to go up to these guys on the beach a second time, since I had already approached them the first time to warn them, and they told me not to worry. The thoughts in my head said, “Why are you pestering these guys? They probably know what they’re doing.” But I went down anyway, and this man ended up having his life saved.
The reason I’m telling you this story is because we have a parallel situation going on here. We are dealing with two very tangible realities. One reality is that thousands of people on the planet are starving, dying from diseases that are easily preventable, victims of natural disasters and man-made disasters. It’s easy for us to recognize that need. Some people even respond generously to it. Many people give to charity; a lot of people make efforts to help those less materially fortunate than themselves.
We are in the curious position of possibly recognizing another need, a quest other than the one for physical well-being and survival – the quest for spiritual survival. We recognize that need. We are the people who recognize the possibility of spiritual decay or dying. We’ve been given binoculars, which are our eyes, and we’re being asked to volunteer to be the lifeguard – to sit on the balcony and watch our peers, and if anybody appears to be in jeopardy, we could run down, jump in, and save that person.
I’m not talking about having to save your peers at your own peril. I was never in danger of any kind while watching that windsurfer from my balcony. Sure, there was inconvenience, maybe even a little bit of embarrassment. It may even seem like a small thing, but how many of you would go on a list to help someone who has fallen in a spiritual hole? Are you willing to put yourself on that list? “I’ll be their lifeguard; I’m responsible, I won’t ignore the danger, I’ll respond if they need me.”
The ordinary interpretation of the word ignorance,is not to know something. But there is another meaning for that word; ignorance is ignoring. It’s knowing something and choosing not to see it – choosing to say that something is not worthwhile enough to respond to – choosing to see it as too small or unimportant to be inconvenienced by. In a western movie, a cowboy will say, “I’ll cover you,” that means someone is watching to see that you’re not getting into trouble. That’s known as, I’ve got your back. That’s the opposite of ignoring.
When one of your friends does something questionable, you could ask yourself, “Does she need a mother or father right now? Does he need a lifeguard? Does she need someone to set her straight, someone to lift her out of the trench or the groove she’s in? Does he need someone to ask him,what’s going on?”
If a kid is creating some trouble, someone will ask, “Whose kid is this?” In our situation, in any moment, any one of you could be that kid. You could be the one straying from what is good for you. You could be the one doing something self-destructive. The person observing that self-destructive behavior can immediately become the parent. But since you don’t see your friends as your kids, you don’t say anything.
Ignoring is self-destructive behavior. You have to allow yourself to pay attention to others, so that you are asking yourself the question, “Is this person in need of a mother or a father right now?” Not a mother or father who has opinions, but one who is concerned. A kid does something, and the parent thinks, “Is it good for them? Will they come out stronger on the other side?” They don’t know. Is it good, is it bad? They don’t know for sure. As their parent, are they concerned? Yes.
Think of the simple circumstances that have been given to us to practice caring for each other. We don’t need to create it. We don’t have to travel to far-away places to get that. We don’t have to learn exotic methods that existed in times past. We don’t need them in order to learn to have concern. No one is in the position of always being the child. No one is always in the position of needing to be rescued from the water. You may have established that position for yourself to avoid responsibility, but always taking that position is a distortion. Sometimes you’re the child, and sometimes the parent. You are not helping yourself with that ignoring. Anytime you think, “I can’t help because I don’t know what is the right thing to do,” that is never a bona-fide excuse, because if you had a child, not knowing what to do would not stop you from being concerned.
Having concern for each other will tie us together in a way that we are not tied together now. If you have someone’s kid or pet to take care of for a few days, someone you feel responsible for, you have a certain attitude toward that kid or pet. Think of that attitude. Feel that attitude.
That attitude is not one that we have adopted toward each other. By having concern, the possibilities are huge for us to learn how we are not separate. How are you going to learn that? Are you going to learn that from seeing auras? I don’t think so. If you ever really learn to see auras, it won’t be because you learned a technique. It will be because the separation between you and other people has dissolved to such a degree that you are they, and they are you.
Having concern for others does not mean you have to take on another’s burden. There are moments when someone is in front of you. You may not even know their name, but they’re in front of you. If they fall down and are lying there, you don’t think, “I can’t take on another person.” If they’re in front of you, all you have to do is be there with them in that moment. If you see something is off, and you are there with them in that moment, that person is your child.
If someone is falling down, in any of the ways a person can fall, and you don’t feel concern, you’re missing the fact that the Creator has put a face and a body in front of you. Your concern will help you to learn all the magical things that can be learned about that person. There are things that you cannot learn any other way.
We’ve been given each other as a gift. You’re not going to invent something better than that. No supernatural phenomenon is going to replace our basic opportunity to look out for each other. When the gazelles go to the water hole, they take turns watching for predators, so they can warn each other if there is trouble. We don’t warn each other.
You think that you’re getting away with something, but you’re not. I say this, because having concern by being a lifeguard for each other is not an extra on the spiritual path, it’s a basic learning principle on that path.
As a human being on this Earth, your position in this life is very similar to what mine was sitting on that balcony. It’s not okay to watch someone floundering and think, “They’ll be okay, they can swim, the winds will change,” or some such thing. The reason you make those assessments is because you don’t want to make the effort to respond. You have your own problems to think about – there’s some commitment or embarrassment or inconvenience involved. You think, “Someone else will take care of them,” and that’s not okay. If you see someone tripping and falling physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, and you’re witnessing it, then there isno one else. That’s why you’re there. You are their lifeguard.