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When I think about Neutrality, I realize it is something I have practiced without fully understanding. For a long time, I thought it meant staying out of things. Letting events pass without involving myself. Not choosing sides so I would not have to carry the weight of consequences. At the time, that felt like wisdom. Looking back, it feels more like caution, and sometimes fear. I was protecting myself from being wrong, from being blamed, from being pulled into struggles that did not feel like mine. As I have grown, my understanding has shifted. Neutrality is not stepping away from the world. It is remaining present while resisting the urge to shape everything to my will. There are moments when I feel the pull to act immediately, to correct what I see as imbalance or injustice, but I have learned that acting too quickly often creates more disorder than it resolves. Neutrality asks me to pause and observe not just the situation in front of me, but my own desire to control it. In that pause, I begin to see what is actually happening rather than what I assume is happening. I have also come to see Neutrality as an internal practice. My thoughts are rarely still. Opinions rise quickly, judgments follow, and emotions attach themselves before I realize what is happening. Neutrality does not ask me to silence these things, but to notice them. When I observe my own reactions without immediately obeying them, I gain distance without disconnection. I can acknowledge anger without acting from it. I can recognize fear without letting it decide my path. This is difficult, and I often fail, but each failure teaches me where my balance is weakest. Neutrality, to me, is active awareness. There are times when action is necessary, but Neutrality helps me choose when action serves balance rather than ego. By not forcing outcomes, I allow space for understanding to emerge. I have learned that clarity often arrives after restraint, not before it. In this way, Neutrality has become less about avoiding conflict and more about understanding it. It allows me to see that opposing forces are not always enemies. Often they are parts of a larger movement that I do not yet understand. When I remain neutral, I give myself the chance to learn from both sides. This does not mean I lack values. It means I choose when and how those values are expressed, instead of letting them be pulled out of me by circumstance. This is where I stand now. My understanding is incomplete, and my practice imperfect, but I recognize Neutrality as a discipline. It requires honesty, restraint, and patience, all of which are harder than reacting or withdrawing. If I am to walk the Path of the Observer, then Neutrality is the ground beneath my feet. ~DiZhu Ikarus~ | |