What if only Donkeys Are Around?
The donkey told the tiger, “The grass is blue.”
The tiger replied, “No, the grass is green.”
The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, so they approached the lion.
The donkey told the tiger, “The grass is blue.”
The tiger replied, “No, the grass is green.”
The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, so they approached the lion.
As they approached the lion on his throne, the donkey started screaming: ′Your Highness, isn’t it true that the grass is blue?”
The lion replied: “If you believe it is true, the grass is blue.”
The donkey rushed forward and continued ′′The tiger disagrees with me, contradicts me and annoys me. Please punish him.”
The king then declared: ′′The tiger will be punished with 3 days of silence.”
The donkey jumped with joy and went on his way, content and repeating ′′The grass is blue, the grass is blue…”
The tiger asked the lion, “Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?”
The lion replied, ′′You’ve known and seen the grass is green.”
The tiger asked, ′′So why do you punish me?”
The lion replied, “That has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is degrading for a brave, intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with an ass, and on top of that, you came and bothered me with that question just to validate something you already knew was true!” (“Short Story of the Donkey, the Tiger and the Lion: When Arguing is Futile”)
Question: When you argue with someone, which one of you is a donkey?
Answer: The one who objects to the donkey is the donkey.
Question: As a result, this tiger who objects to a donkey is a donkey? And there is no need to waste time on these arguments?
Answer: There is no need. The lion is right to condemn him.
Question: Then the question is how can one argue with donkeys, since it happens all the time? You say: “Don’t argue at all.” But what should one do?
Answer: There is nothing you can do. If they exist in nature, then the wisest thing is not to get into an argument with them.
Question: That is, if there is a stubborn person, and you understand that he is stubborn, you don’t have to prove your truth to him in any way?
Answer: In no way.
Question: How will you build your truth if there are, say, only donkeys around you?
Answer: Tell them all that they are right. And if there are a lot of them, let them sort it out among themselves.
Question: Do you keep your truth to yourself and not spread it?
Answer: Yes, of course.
Question: Is this the right thing to do?
Answer: Not only is this the right thing, it is the only right way out of this state.
Question: Meaning, it’s like what is happening now in the country: everyone is stubborn and holds on to his own, precisely his own. And he’ll never move away from it; you know that perfectly well. And you still get in and out of arguments. Why?
Answer: Each tries to convince the other that he is right.
Question: And what does this result in?
Answer: That everybody is a donkey.
Question: But what are my actions, after all? Quietly, calmly build my own on the sidelines, without entering into disputes?
Answer: Yes, mind your own business.
Question: How will I draw my own, non-donkey line?
Answer: Don’t draw it.
Question: How will this be resolved then?
Answer: It will be resolved somehow. If the world is made up of donkeys, then nothing can be done. Understand what it is like.
Question: I will ask you carefully: does the world consist mainly of donkeys after all?
Answer: We can see it!
Question: Yes, we see that everyone defends their position. What is the future of this world then? Surely it has to come to some sort of decision after all?
Answer: No.
Question: Can it continue like this?
Answer: Yes. The last thousands of years that we have known the world, this is how it happens.
Comment: It’s going to go on and on.
My Response: Of course. Give the donkeys a chance to live normally in this world.
Question: What will this result in?
Answer: This will lead to the fact that there will be wars after which there will be little left.
Question: Nobody will give in?
Answer: Nobody. After some kind of war, people will remain by the ashes; they will sit quietly by the fire, drink tea and talk. It will no longer matter to them.
Question: Former enemies, is that what you mean?
Answer: Yes, even enemies.
Question: Will these wars go on again?
Answer: They will, inevitably.
Comment: Wars, I mean even our skirmishes.
My Response: As long as egoism exists, it will not disappear. This is human nature.
Question: How can we change our nature? How can we rise above the “donkey,” to get out of the donkey state?
Answer: Only if people understand the meaning of the existence of the world, countries, and people, will they be able to do something about it.
Question: Then tell me, what should they understand?
Answer: They must understand what we are saying: that the world is in its egoistic development. We have to realize this. We have to rise above our egoism. If we want to, then it will happen; and if we don’t want to, then it won’t happen. Then after some generations they will dig us up and understand what happened here.
Question: I don’t want it to be like this. What do you think might work?
Answer: Only evil can work. When evil manifests more, then we can rise above it. Evil must be realized. It is not that the world is collapsing. It must be a realized evil, that this is the nature of man and only if we decide and shout together to the Creator will we be saved.
Question: So you are talking about the recognition of my evil as such, in everyone? Is this evil?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Then what function is assigned to us?
Answer: I hope that our work will still show its result somewhere. Somewhere it will.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 8/21/23
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