34. Breaking The Rules

The rules that govern our lives often feel solid and permanent. We believe we should follow these rules because they reflect the established way of doing things. We especially believe this when the rules have been written down and formalized into a code or law. We sometimes believe we shouldn’t deviate from the rules or modify them in any substantial way. We might even go so far as to believe that our current system of rules is the only one feasible.

But rules and systems are the creations of human beings. They have force only as long as people agree to follow and uphold them. Beyond this, they are literally nothing. Rules can be changed when needed and, in fact, often do change as we learn more about ourselves and the world.

Too often we get caught up in the structures imposed by our existing rules and systems. We begin to think that the possibilities open to us are strictly delimited by these structures. Not only is this false, but sometimes we must break the rules in order for our actions to be good ones.

To break a rule is not to do wrong, it is just to break a rule. Whether or not there is any wrongdoing is a separate question having to do with whether or not the action causes harm. Rules themselves do not distinguish right from wrong, even though we are frequently convinced they do. At their absolute best, rules are attempts to codify common beliefs about what is good or bad, but they are always necessarily flawed because we are flawed.

Compassion cannot be restrained by rules or any other human construction. Compassion requires that we apply all of our creativity and effort to meet the needs of living beings and to help free them from suffering, without any consideration for rules or structures. To act from compassion is always to do whatever is necessary, even if it means breaking every last rule.