What is Offense?

[Santiago Ram]

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Offense is the impediment of my Will. It is the frustration of my desires. That is what generates Pain and Hurt.

From this definition we can infer two things:

 1. Having few desires will lead to fewer Hurt.

2. Aligning my desires with those of others will lead to fewer impediments and thus less Hurt.

Edited March 21 by Santiago Ram

[Hojo]

I'm going to say sudden 'negative' shift in your worldview directed by you to yourself. The offense is the ego lashing out against it.

Edited March 21 by Hojo

[Santiago Ram]

@Hojo I don't see it as negative. It is desiring for others what they most desire for themselves and desiring few things for myself.

Forgiving those that have impeded my desire.

But, above all, helping others as my primary Will.

Edited March 21 by Santiago Ram

[Santiago Ram]

Also, aiming to defend Truth even if it Hurts

[Santiago Ram]

If you want to understand Christianity you need to understand Offense.

Forgiveness, character building and amends. Living a Godly life.

Offense is the basis of evil according to what Ive learnt from Conflictology and Christianity.

[Hojo]

People don't normally feel good when they are taking offense so I said negative. You can say its good cause it shows you where you are egoic.

Edited March 21 by Hojo

[Yimpa]

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What is Offense?

 

[Santiago Ram]

Quote

When are my desires frustrated? First identify clashes with others.

 

Quote

Then treat everyone how they want to be treated. For what you desire is what they desire as well

 

[LambdaDelta]

Will and desire have a deep mutual relationship. God's Will is the desire to express itself fully. Yes, aligning yourself to God's Will (part of which are the needs and wants of your fellow humans) indeed reduces hurt and leads to incredible fulfillment. It won't eliminate pain, more likely will add to it, but you'll be too conscious to mind. 

Something I noticed reading forum drama and from observation in general - all offense and negative emotional reactions to things are False. There's two ways you can get offended, either by truth, when someone points something out about you that you don't want to admit, so you blow up and project, that's the most common way. And the second is the opposite, when someone says false things about you, like spreading rumors that you're a thief or rapist when you're a really virtuous person. But notice something, you get triggered because your identity is being undermined, and this limited human identity, however saintly you've made it, is still False, your only real Identity is God.

Offense is always a defense. Defense of what? Not of Being, Truth, God – those don’t need defending. They can’t be threatened. It’s always a defense of some construct: a story, an identity, a preference, an image.

 

[LambdaDelta]

Had a follow-up insight regarding my second sentence. It's deeply connected to Impermanence, when you're this small fragile ego you can't stand impermanence, you want to subsist no matter the cost, you want to own and dominate parts of reality, so in that way you impede God's Will of full self-expression, or rather resist it, because there's no way to thwart it. Life must go on without you, be content with being a temporary, but essential part of the cycle of Division and Unity, and remember that you can never truly die, what awaits after that is still God.

[Aaron p]

Well the word offence literally means to attack, advance in martial arts. I legal realm it means to break or breach a rule or set standard. In simple emotional terms I think it probably means just that someone has advanced past your boundaries and broken your set standards. If I'm not mistaken this means that offence and anger are often closely related and intertwined.  I'm pretty sure that this directly relates to you are sense of self and your identity which has been formed since you were a child. If you have a dense ego you will probably experience more offence and anger.

Check out this cool insight about the subjectivity of offence; I heard that in a certain Asian country if you don't burp during or after your meal, this can be offensive for the chef or cook! Lol

[Breakingthewall]

An offense is when another person tries to belittle you. If you live in a city, it can be annoying; in a tribal setting, it's very serious because it lowers your position if you don't defend yourself and command respect. The consequences can be your children's status as poor, less food, etc. Usually, any offense was resolved with a duel to the death.

For my part, I learned early on that whoever intentionally offends you is trying to steal your energy, so when in doubt, it's better that it's their energy that's being sapped. You have to fight; that's life in society.

Regarding the Christian saying, forgive those who offend you. It's perfect once they're crushed and you're listening to the lament of their wives. Then, they're forgiven.

[Breakingthewall]

Self help like sadhguru, Tolle, etc, says: nobody can offend you if you don't get offended. Bull shit. You are not an island , human dynamics are real

[gettoefl]

Seek out those who offend you the most. The Trumps, the Tates, the Thunburgs. You need these people to teach your triggers and indeed your required work. When you can be with them happily, you are arriving. Sticks and stones break my bones but words they never hurt me. Everyone is good.

[Breakingthewall]

3 hours ago, gettoefl said:

Seek out those who offend you the most. The Trumps, the Tates, the Thunburgs. You need these people to teach your triggers and indeed your required work. When you can be with them happily, you are arriving. Sticks and stones break my bones but words they never hurt me. Everyone is good.

The problem is when your cellmate wants to force you to suck his dick. Then all that self-help stuff falls flat.

[gettoefl]

2 hours ago, Breakingthewall said:

The problem is when your cellmate wants to force you to suck his dick. Then all that self-help stuff falls flat.

Offense is weak sauce. Suck it up. Pun intended.

[Yimpa]

 

[Breakingthewall]

34 minutes ago, gettoefl said:

Offense is weak sauce. Suck it up. Pun intended.

If all humans were absolutely integral  ,absolutely open-minded and open-hearted, without greed, comparison, or competition, offense would not exist. But it seems that's not the case, and therefore offense always occurs. This is how war arises, and from war, humans evolve. Life is hard; it's not a game.

[Breakingthewall]

Do you notice something rough inside you? A barrier between you and others? That's offense. Abuse, non-acceptance, aggression, the theft of vital energy, manipulation, humiliation. All of that is offense, and it makes for a nearly always rough life for humans.

[Santiago Ram]

@Breakingthewall Exactly. Offense is the barrier between self and other.