In Dostoevsky’s /The Brother’s Karamazov/, he warns us to be careful of the ideas we
plant in others, because the ideas we plant in others can tilt them towards being a better
person or a worse one, and whether people move towards a better or worse version of
themselves has a profound impact on the world we all collectively live in.
And how do the ideas we plant in others impact the world we live in?
Dostoevsky wrote, “all is like an ocean, all flows and connects; touch it in one place
and it echoes at the other end of the world.”
Everything is connected, and all life depends on other life.
So the quality of the world we live in depends on the quality of our relationships, and the
quality of our relationships depends on how we treat each other, and how we treat each
other depends on what we believe, and what we believe is based on our experiences with
each other, and our experiences with each other determine what kind of seeds we plant
in one another.
So the seeds we plant in each other play a critical role in determining the kind of world
we will live in.
And what kinds of worlds can we live in?
In the final analysis, I think there are only two worlds we can ultimately move towards:
a world of division or a world of unification, a world of power or a world of love, a world
of deadly competition or a world of liberating cooperation.
Let’s take a look at the first world: the world of division.
What exactly is it?
Imagine a world where every exchange you have with others is unfair.
In this world, people lie, steal, cheat, and take advantage of you to get ahead.
What do you think is gonna happen to you in this world?
I’ll tell you.
Your trust in other people will start to erode, because bad seeds have been planted inside
of you, and now you’re nurturing them.
And as you nurture these seeds, you’ll start to take advantage of other people too, and
as you take advantage of others, you’ll teach them to do the same.
And so you’ll plant bad seeds in them which they might nurture and pass on.
And this process creates a downward spiral.
Everyone begins developing mistrust for one another and living in a selfish way, since
living honestly only means you’ll get taken advantage of.
And as everyone becomes more divided, the world gets progressively worse for everyone,
until the game becomes a pure struggle for power: everyone is divided against everyone
else.
Everyone is in constant fear, looking over their shoulders, expecting to be attacked,
taken advantage of, or betrayed, and peace becomes relatively rare, as life becomes a
war for survival.
But how does that compare to the second world: the world of unification?
Imagine a world where every exchange you have with others is fair.
In this world, people make honest trades with you and support your growth, and no one tries
to benefit at your expense.
What do you think is gonna happen to you in this world?
I’ll tell you.
Your trust in other people will increase, because good seeds have been planted inside
of you, and now you’re nurturing those.
And as you nurture those seeds, you begin to trade more fairly with others, and as you
trade more fairly with others, you teach them to do the same, and so you plant good seeds
in them.
And this entire process creates an upward spiral.
Everyone develops a greater trust in each other, and they live in a more honest way,
since living honestly increases their freedom.
And as everyone becomes more unified, the world gets progressively better for everyone,
until the world becomes a pure expression of love: everyone unified with everyone else.
No one has fear, because they completely trust one another, and peace becomes the norm.
So what determines whether we move reality towards unification or division?
The seeds we plant in each other and the ones we nurture in ourselves.
And how do we go about planting good seeds in others and nurturing them in ourselves?
It all comes down to how you get what you want from others and how you allow them to
get what they want from you.
And there are really only two ways to get what we want from others.
As Dostoevsky wrote, “‘Shall I take it by force, or by humble love?’”
The first strategy to get what you want out of life is force.
If you use force as a strategy, you don’t really care what the other person wants.
You’re only interested in getting what you want from others, whatever the cost may be.
You’ll take advantage of people’s trust to get ahead in life, and so every interaction
you have with others will plant a bad seed in them, because you will undermine their
trust in the world.
And as a person’s trust in the world decreases, they start to live more selfishly, and so
the world moves towards greater division.
The second strategy to get what you want out of life is humble love.
If you use love as a strategy, you’re always interested in what the other person wants.
You’re interested in making fair trades with others, and only getting what you want
by benefitting the other person too.
You never take advantage of people’s trust to get ahead in life, and so every interaction
you have with others will plant a good seed in them, because you build up their trust
in the world.
And as a person’s trust in the world increases, they start to live in a more cooperative way,
and so the world moves towards greater unification.
So in the end, you have two strategies you can use to get what you want out of life:
love or force.
And the strategy you use will determine what kind of seeds you plant in others.
And it will be up to each of us to tend the gardens of our own minds and choose which
seeds to nurture.
How will we allow others to get what they want from us?
Through force or love?
And this combination of planting seeds in one another and nurturing the seeds we’re
given will determine the reality we live.
So what strategy will you use: love or force?
And where do you wanna go: towards unification or division?
That concludes my exploration of Dostoevsky’s teaching in /The Brothers Karamazov/.
As always, this is just my opinion and understanding of Dostoevsky’s teaching, not advice.
Feel free to use this information however you like, and if you have a different take
on the his words, I’d love to hear your perspective in the comments.
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And if you’re looking for another video to watch after this one, I recommend watching
my video “Dostoevsky - Don’t Become A Slave to Pleasure”.
I’ll put a link to it in the description below and in the top right
of
the screen
right now.