This article is about the much quoted and little practiced teaching of the Bible which says turn the other cheek.
Most people will laugh at this teaching and especially if they are not Christians. And in fact to get along in the world and for worldly pursuits you need to be assertive and stand up for your rights. You will not stand much chance in your career and will be taken advantage of in your relationships if you are a doormat.
But in my life I have practiced this teaching with a lot of benefit. I have already spoken about my being harassed. I knew people were treating me badly but did not know why. I wanted to understand the situation and for that I needed to gather information. So in order to have people tolerate my company I adopted the policy of turning the other cheek.
Not literally you understand. Nobody was going about slapping me on the cheek. I was being subjected to ridicule and rude and insulting behaviour. I adopted the policy of maintaining a poker face and being polite in any and all situations.
I am not sure how this was viewed by people. But internally it was immensely beneficial. I obtained – to some degree – the best form of freedom. Freedom from the ego.
When you are insulted it is natural to feel upset. But when you turn the other cheek and respond with politeness and courtesy you can only do so if you disregard the anger and other disturbed feelings. To some extent at least you are free of the ego that wants to hit back.
I followed this policy of turning the other cheek consistently for quite a long time. And now I am reaping the benefits. When someone insults me now I am able to regard it as a pinprick and ignore it. And (although I am no expert) I think I have freed myself from the ego to a greater degree than most other people.
This will be of interest for people who are interested in spirituality. For worldly people it is necessary to be assertive and aggressive at times. The Bible itself says that many are called but few are chosen. Most are not even called. So spirituality is not meant for everybody.
Now you may be wondering whether it was right for me to feel anger and rage at the time I was behaving politely with my tormentors. But Jesus only said – Turn the other cheek. He did not say you had to like it.
When you are treated badly it is the most natural thing in the world to feel angry and upset. To repress and condemn yourself for feeling what you do is to do violence to your own nature and is not recommended by Buddhist meditation and mindfulness methods.
I am satisfied that I have not made any mistakes. And I am happy with the fact that I have attained some degree of spiritual growth and freedom from the ego..
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