Sacred and Profane

The greatest cultural differences may have to do with the way we differently divide the realm of the Sacred and the Profane -- as we all tend to do, psychologically.
I experience the sacredin that which is partly ineffable. Preserving its own internal state of equilibrium, in a state at peace with itself, recalls a sense of the Sacred. The Sacred is that which is powerful without having to use force. Any obvious or intentional use of force undermines the mystique of the Sacred.

The Sacred maintains its power by the use of the most subtle register of communication. I encounter the Sacred in its most sublime moment when justice is seen to be done. Everything returns to its sublimest level of unspoken equilibrium. When I'm not sure if it is the Sacred or not, I credit it as being part of the sublimity of the Sacred.

This is why I am not easily intimidated:

That which speaks -- and by speaking out sets forth to convey its views -- immediately desacrilizes itself to some degree. That which intends to intimidate by speaking desacrilizes itself absolutely.

Many these days seem hell bent upon desacrilizing themselves because of the ideology of the unique self. To speak to me in an aggressive and hostile manner means to me that I'm encountered the level of the Profane. I don't know how to see the personality in someone who has lowered themselves so decisively and absolutely to the level of the Profane.

I know, however, that the opposite reaction is expected from me, and that I'm expected to experience precisely the quality of the Sacred in another person's passionate demand that I honour their brand of personal uniqueness. The Revelation of themselves in a state of anger, fear, anxiety or in a state of rampant rage is supposed to make me weak at the knees, as civilisation's superficial clothing is stripped bare to reveal the Actual Human Being who lurks beneath these robes.

But my reaction is never what's expected by those who approach communication in this way. In stripping themselves down, they immediately lose their chance to represent something of the Sacred. The more they continue to reveal their true anxieties, the more their appearance solidifies the impression of the Profane in my mind.

And the Profane, unlike the Sacred, has no power to intimidate.