Nemesis

"The word Nemesis originally meant the distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, simply in due proportion to each according to what was deserved; then, nemesis came to suggest the resentment caused by any disturbance of this right proportion, the sense of justice which could not allow it to pass unpunished."


This is interesting... 


Does the progression of the meaning of the word show the course humanity is taking? In the past people sought to understood the workings of destiny, they were peaceful and comfortable with what fate delivered as they knew they were reaping what they sowed. In the past there was no need to "resent" the process. To resent the process would of been foolish, as each individual themselves, creates through their own actions - what they are due to experience in the present.


Interesting then, that the meaning changed to relate to "resentment". Which also translates to lack of "taking responsibility" for ones own choices/actions of the past! The resentment came to mean -  that there had been a disturbance to the so called "right portion" that one was due. 


So suddenly it becomes humans declaring what is their "right proportion", and fighting against their fate. (As if they even know what it is that they truly deserve!)  So arrogance/pride becomes higher. Justice becomes important too. This causes people to forget the causes of their current conditions. The cause being ones former actions. 


Instead of remembering, they begin to blame others, and see others as the cause of problems for them, and then they lash out with claims of seeking justice and punishment.


A lot of what is thought of as Justice in the modern age is extremely petty, and revolves around people trying to escape the results of their own actions. If a person is randomly hit by an egg from a passing by car of hoon kids, they may seek justice upon the kids. It would usually not cross the persons mind to accept it as something that they themselves generated in the past through their own deeds. After all hoon kids could choose any number of people to throw eggs at, why would they choose one person over the other?


Isn't every single thing that happens "deserved" or to put it in another way "earned"????


The full implications of what is actually being earned may escape some. Such as the person who is born into a wealthy family and is given plenty of resources (resources that have contributed to the destruction of nature and other peoples lives).... sure the wealthy teenager may cruise around in their fancy car thinking, "wow I earned all this in my past, I have plenty of money, time to enjoy".... but this is just a surface level result. 


The deeper result is the teenager is inheriting all the pain/suffering that went along with securing those resources from his family. If he/she sits around squandering it on their own selfish whims, then it is just like one of those traps, used to capture people in the woods. The earth looks like its there, with leave coverings etc, but as soon as you step over it and apply a bit of weight and pressure, you sink into the hole and then you are stuck. 


It seems that until humans decide to take responsibility for all they have created through ignorance, that they are just going to go around assuming that what they desire for themselves is what they should be given - and then feel resentment/angry when it does not work out!


Also lets add to the fact that most people have very mixed modes of things they are creating for themselves. Intentions are very rarely single focussed and purely in one direction. If people are in delusion about themselves how can their intentions be anything other then delusional also?


The law of cause and effect determines the results whilst one is bound by them, if people truly know this then how can they feel resentful/angry/prideful etc at what they receive? 


So the further back meanings of the word Nemesis seems to point to an earlier time, when people were at least more aware of that.


Now Nemesis means "arch rival" or "enemy"... interesting isn't it? That the current results a person faces in there here and now because of past activities...  suddenly becomes as an - "Enemy". 


Not only an enemy, but a very special enemy. Nemesis in popular culture is often portrayed as a an opponent that one can never really defeat and is always against one, that one literally cannot live without! Without that "Nemesis" they could not be who they are! If they are white, then they need a Nemesis to be the opposite so that they can really know they are white, etc...


Interesting, its showing how humans are now completely inimical towards their own "current results!"


"In the Greek tragedies Nemesis appears chiefly as the avenger of crime and the punisher of hubris"


Yes, so hubris itself is a result of one not being able to humbly accept what they have created for themselves through their own ignorance. So again this is interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis_(mythology)  - quotes used above.


The true Nemesis (as far as popular usage of the word goes) therefore is ones own self. A self that can properly understand cause and effect will not experience "Nemesis" with resentment, they will not feel inimical towards their fate. They will see Nemesis merely as a universal function, the function is not at fault if they receive suffering results - they themselves are. 


A self that cannot properly understand cause and effect, will always received mixed results, and those mixed results will always end in enmity with "Nemesis", and therefore enmity with ones own self. This enmity can be masked as a need to indulge all self-centered whims, self-sabotaging ones ability to truly be free of enmity with Nemesis.