Treating Others With Respect

The 2008 presidential elections made my passions flare. I did not agree with the opinions of the Republican party on most, if not all, of their political stances. I became very passionate about defending my opinions to a fault. Lynn had to reel me in quite a few times and remind me that even though other's opinions may vary or be drastically different than ours, we have to allow them to have an opinion and treat them with respect.

It goes back to the golden rule, which really spans most major religions. That is why I think one of the life lessons that I wrote has to do with respecting others:

"Treat others with kindness and respect. All of us have value and worth, even those that have differing opinions or are from different backgrounds. "

I learned on Saturday that it is very similar to one of "Eight Verses of Thougt Transformation" -- the verse is: "Determined to obtain the greatest possible benefit for all sentient beings, who are more precious than a wish-fullfilling jewel, I shall hold them most dear at all times" (Composed by Langri Tangpa Dorje Senghe). You will see in later postings that this verse also applies to some of the other 21 life lessons. I wrote the lesson a couple months ago, well before I knew anything about the 8 verses.

I think treating other's with respect / the golden rule is one of the core concepts to the meaning of life for most of us. I know for me, it is very important, but is a struggle when it is someone who has a different opinion than my own. I need to keep it as something I am cognizant of and practice to the best of my ability.

In the art or creative world the concept of respect also applies. When I was in high school, I had a friend whose mother was taking photography classes. Her class term paper about a famous photographer was on Maple Thorpe. Thorpe's work is very controversial, but as a budding artist my friends mother came to respect Thorpe for his innovation. She did not necessarily like any of his work, but she respected him as an artist. This is something in the creative world, we should all keep in mind -- even though we not like someones work, we should respect them for their vision and also getting themselves out there for others to even have an opinion on their works.