Respect

 Why should I respect somebody?

As a kid, if I don't "find" a sensible answer, I might only end-up going through the socially acceptable gestures & also making the right kind of noises.....😜

This "idea" was presented to me by "clever" kids around. Make a show of respect, and get done-away with it. Avoid avoidable nuisance.

But the question kept haunting me. This 'respecting the elders' is ancient.

Like many other secrets of life, I happened to stumble upon "sensible" reasons for this act of respect. 

One community has a few people who don't respect Sun at all. Their logic is stripped off, its reasoning. ( in computing technology,  if something works only logically, with useless results, they warn the programmer. Concepts in place, are syntaxes and semantics).

The logic they use is "moon" is worth respecting. It lights up during darkness, and hence, useful. Whereas, that stupid sun keeps burning wastefully in broad_daylight. Who needs the light of sun during day_time? ( aren't they missing the "truth"?)

Am I missing any "truth" behind this excercise of "cultivating respect"?

It dawned on me.

Sun is not "looking" towards any respect from earthlings. It shines on everything around it!

Coconut tree doesn't "look" for any respect from me. It bears nuts even when washed onto the shores of ag desolate Island. Only that the nuts are lesser in number and of poor quality, when nature is unable to nourish it. So, if I respect that tree, I am doing it for my sake! I won't harm something that is of UTILITARIAN value to me! I can learn_better,  the VALUE of respect, from tribals. Among humans, they respect most, the nature around us🙏...   Slowly, I learnt to respect cleanliness, hygiene, health etc and removed the hurdles that dilute the utility of these items.  Next level was, to respect people who teach me by the way they handle their lives!  It is here that I grasped a deeper concept called reverence!

What to do when a fellow older than me hasn't cleaned up the garbage in himself, to allow intellect to function? ( negative emotions and its consequences do not allow "intellect" to function. Mind cannot quieten when negative emotions are hyperactive.... my own observations.  It works for me👍)

So, a safe rule, when dealing with strangers, or any unfamiliar situation.  "Everybody is a gentleman until they prove it otherwise " but, take necessary level of precautions while respecting such unknown people. Give them a fair chance to display their goodness. It not-only worked, but it kept my mind open to find out "some of the useful qualities in them, which can be imbibed by me too, for my own good👍🙏". My actions towards adverse people is independent of my inner respect for them( like, Arjuna sent a few arrows to fall at the feet of Bhishma and Drona, despite his resolve to kill them in a fierce battle of mahabharata.  This "respect" helped him to avoid underestimating their expertise in warfare. They had taught him to fight😜)

Do we "teach" the reason "why" to our children ?( why to respect?). Unless we learn to respect for a scientific reason, this quality of respect is going to serve us only for logical reasons, without the semantics🤣 . In the process, we lose scope for reverence to help us evolve into the highest human possibility,  called moksha/liberation.

Respectfully yours,

psn(14 jan 2025)