Stories and Labels (Part 2)
I’d like to spend some more time in this issue discussing labels.
Labels, as interpreted and used by the mind, are not harmless. The labels often create separation and encourage us to judge others. How much hatred and judgment in the world is generated by religious and spiritual labels? We even judge those who claim to have the same label as we do when we feel they aren’t living up to the standards of the label as we interpret it.
Of course, the problem isn’t limited to religious labels. I am going to feel that MY political party is superior to yours. I will tend to view MY country as being better than your country. I will want MY team to beat your team. And although I will not admit it (for fear of how you will label me), I may actually feel some degree of happiness when the best player on your team suffers an injury, which allows MY team to win.
The mind/ego is ruthless and wants to win, to gets its way. I celebrate when my label prevails over your label. It’s a silly game, and yet almost everyone is playing it.
Almost all religions and spiritual traditions teach us to view every person as part of one human family. Once the labels are imposed (nationality, religion, race, social class, etc.), the mind begins to take sides and draw lines of distinction. I defend the labels I believe in, and judge or condemn those I take to be less desirable.
How then can I love my neighbor as myself? How can I love and respect all equally? Once I label and begin to believe in these labels, this becomes impossible. I can say that I view everyone equally in an attempt to be consistent with my religion or spirituality, but these are empty words. Or to put it more bluntly, I am lying.
Let’s take racial prejudice as an example. I grew up in a white neighborhood in Queens, a borough of New York City. The public high school I attended was integrated but I had little interaction with African-Americans outside of school. I consider myself to be an open-minded person who respects others.
But if you ask me whether I am prejudiced, I can answer without hesitation, “YES.” Who isn’t? Society conditions you at an early age to view your race or nationality differently than others. You can’t escape it. And if you asked any of the African-Americans who went to school with me whether they had any prejudice toward white people, I haven’t the slightest doubt that the overwhelming majority (if not all) would say “YES.”
A question naturally arises: if we are conditioned to believe in the significance of our labels, how can we undo this conditioning?
Not an easy question to answer, but I’ll share what I am discovering. There is no need to make an effort to “undo” the conditioning. Some conditioning will remain with us for the rest of our lives, no matter what we do. Let the conditioning be as it is.
All we need to do is shine the light of Awareness on these labels. Simply become aware of the labels and their effect on us.
When you investigate these labels with an open mind and open heart, they will begin to have less and less power in your life. You will catch the conditioning at a very early stage and just smile and acknowledge it. What will happen is that you won’t be as emotionally invested in defending and perpetuating your labels.
The conditioning is still there and you will use labels because they are important for your day to day life in referring to things and drawing distinctions. If someone asks you to describe how a person looks, you have to use labels to communicate. There is no other way.
However, as your awareness of labeling increases, you’ll notice a shift. When you refer to someone who has a different label, you will feel a closer connection with them. You will sense that while you and the other person have different appearances or belief systems, the essence of both of you is beyond labeling.
The quiet, aware mind has little interest in labels. The busy, ego-dominated mind loves to apply labels, and plenty of mischief ensues.
People rarely investigate how their mind uses these labels to separate and judge. That is why they stay so emotionally invested in those labels. When we are unconscious about the use of our labels, we will lie and distort to defend our labels, and we’ll attack those with different labels.
Investigate and see how labels influence your thinking and behavior. As you ease up on your labels, you will feel the lightness of spirit. Of course, you’ll continue to use labels for convenience in the phenomenal world, but you will not use them as often to define yourself or others – or to attack yourself and others.
– Jeff Keller
© 2009