Two Pathways Out of Savagery
There are two pathways out of savagery.
You are not a prisoner of your thoughts. You are the space in which they arise. Echkart Tolle
before we dive in, I wanna tell you a story. Know that stories carry truth across time. They let us see ourselves in other people's shoes. So the lesson lands in the heart, not just in the head. This one is about gates and guards and what happens when force tries to replace both love and reason?
The valley with two gates.
Once there was a valley where people came to trade. At the entrance, stood two gates at the north gate was James. He was steady, sharp, and careful. He [00:01:00] checked the weights, made sure no one cheated. He kept order. People respected him, but the market felt cold. Folks did their business and went home.
At the East Gate was Ruth. Open arms warm smile. She remembered names, hugged the children, shared bread. On her days, the market came alive. People laugh, sang, stayed late, but it also got messy. Arguments broke out and no one stepped in. The Valley split.
Some said we need James. He keeps us safe. Others said, we need Ruth. She keeps us human. Then came along a man named Cole. He sold knives and badges, stamped, superior, and chosen. [00:02:00] You don't need rules or kindness, he said. Just wear these and people will respect you. Power is all you need.
People bought in, they wore the badges, carried the knives, and ran the market with pride and fear. At first it looked strong, but it turned cruel. The valley grew colder meaner. One stormy day chaos broke loose. Carts flipped. Voices rose. A boy threw a rock. A man reached for his knife. The whole valley was about to burn.
That's when little Anna rang the old Bell of Pause by the well. The sound cut through the noise. Stop. She said, take a breath. Name what you feel. Choose the next step that doesn't make it worse. James nodded. [00:03:00] Pause before you act. Ruth nodded. See the person in front of you and the person inside you.
That day, they opened both gates. James kept the order. Ruth kept the heart. Together, the market became steady and alive.
Years later, Anna told the children, reason without spirit is code. Spirit without reason is reckless. But when they walk together, savagery has nowhere to live.
That story isn't just about a marketplace, it's about us. James is reason. He's order, caution, restraint. Ruth is spirit. She's warmth, connection, knife.
And coal is force though. He calls it power. [00:04:00] You see that form of power is control without conscience. Anna is wisdom. The pause that lets us choose better, choose higher, choose in alignment. When reason stands alone, life grows cold. When spirit stands alone, life grows chaotic. But when they walk together... truth with love, clarity with compassion... we remember what it means to be human, and that's where we turn now, There are two ways out of savagery. Two ways to rise beyond the lowest states of mind, where ego rules, where fear drives survival
and where force, that calls itself power, and profit matter more than people.
Those two ways are reason and [00:05:00] spirit, not rivals, not a ladder to climb. Rather, they are a partnership. It's a dance. Reason is the pause, the breath before the blow. The question before the consequence, the steady hand on the wheel when emotions try to swerve us off the road.
Reason gave us law, boundaries, restraint. It reminds us not every feeling needs a microphone, and not every impulse deserves a stage. Reason Pulls us out of superstition, out of believing thunder was a curse from the gods out of treating difference itself as danger. It stops us from dressing cruelty up as justice. Psychology calls it cognitive reappraisal... the ability to pause and ask is the story in my head the same [00:06:00] as the truth in front of me.
Reason doesn't erase the storm. It builds the levee that keeps the flood from washing us away. What I mean by that is reason steadies the mind. It gives us enough space to choose instead of being pushed around by our impulses.
But spirit, spirit is the warmth that opens the heart. This is not religion memorized, but love lived.
Religion without spirit is empty robes and empty titles. The choir robe without the song, it's the pulpit, without the power of love. We can idolize our tribe, our position, our tradition, and still keep the soul in a cage. You see, we can worship belief while avoiding truth.
And because the mind clings to belief more than fact, we can hold on to shadows and call them reality. We [00:07:00] can defend superstition as though it were holy. And when that happens, cruelty gets called righteous. Savagery gets written into policy.
Dr. King warned us. Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
And yet again and again. We see both repeat in religion, in politics, in the very systems we claim keep us safe.
know that spirit softens the heart. It keeps rules from becoming harsh and hollow, and it keeps life warm, connected, and compassionate. and know what happens when one tries to lead without the other. Reason, without spirit grows cold, arrogant, and detached. It [00:08:00] mistakes, facts for truth, crowns intellect as king, and bows only to what can be measured. It forgets. Logic was meant to free us from fear, not strip the mystery from life.
Facts can tell us the weight of a body, but not the worth of a life. They can describe how a seed splits in the soil, but not why its beauty matters when it blooms. Spirit without reason, grows reckless, ungrounded, and easily misled. It can turn passion into chaos and good intentions into harm. Reason without Spirit denies mystery, but spirit without reason denies reality.
Both keep us trapped in the ego's domain. Together, they free us. Together, they lift us beyond the animal instinct of the egoic mind that need to win, to own, to prove, to [00:09:00] dominate, to be right at any cost. Together they reveal the savage within so we can turn it into strength, guided by truth and by love.
Look around you. Superstition gets exploited when we reject reason. Education falls short when we reject spirit. Politicians sell fear because belief outweighs facts. Corporations keep us chasing possessions as if identity could be bought. Social media rewards outrage until cruelty feels normal. Wars are dressed as holy or righteous.
prejudices gets passed down like family heirlooms. This is what happens, when we walk without reason or spirit. So here's a guide for you to follow as you do the dance with life.
First. Breathe before you bite. Three Slow breaths [00:10:00] can save you three weeks of regret. Call it, don't claim it.
Say anger showed up, not I am anger. Naming it keeps you bigger than it. And remember, if every little thing knocks you off your pivot, what does that say about your size?
Also, remember to flip the script. If anger says, fight, lower your voice. If fear says hide, take one step forward.
Check the facts. Ask who benefits if I hold this belief, my ego, my tribe, my group? Or is it truth and love?
And my last tip is to keep it human. Remember, there's a person across from you and a person inside you.
Both of those individuals deserve mercy.
So I invite you to take a vow, [00:11:00] vow to let reason steady your mind, to let spirit soften your heart. Vow to not outsource your conscience to tribe, title, or algorithm. Vow to practice a love that includes facts and a truth that includes the heart. Beyond superstition. Beyond arrogance. Beyond religion without spirit. Beyond logic, without love. There is a space.
In that space, humanity remembers itself not as a beast, not as machine, but as a living truth. Embodied love. this is the work I invite you into. Protect the sacred pause. Keep your heart open.
The mind and the heart, both are like parachutes. They only work when they're open. Let truth and love share the same table inside you [00:12:00] so your next choice serves both wisdom and compassion. So when that space opens, take the next right step. Turn your hurt into something that can grow. Let your pain find a voice worth singing.
Let your anger become a light that guides, and if it brings you peace, speak it. If it frees you, share it. let this be your quiet rebellion and let it move neighbor to neighbor. Breath to breath, not to rise out of savagery, as if still chain to it, but to transform the savage within and return as truth and love embodied guiding others to remember they can do the same.
Gratitude loved one.
