People who maintain an orthodoxy in their personal action and by that I mean they follow a certain code of right and wrong, a certain code of morality, who are true adherents to that code, will not alter their adherence to that code because of circumstances, will not alter their adherence to that code because of certain compulsions within their being, will not alter the adherence to that code because of the drives of desire.
This gives them in their existence a certain dignity because they don’t stoop. They don’t stoop to satisfy their desires. They don’t stoop to satisfy the whims that the world throws at them. And by not stooping, they save themselves from situations which would denigrate their dignity.
And the word stoop is interesting because one of the things that happens if you’re a female is your dress rides up. If you’re a man, your pants ride down. We all know about plumber’s butt. And these are not dignified things, and they happen because you stoop. They happen because you lower yourself. And even though the actual action that is going on doesn’t involve stooping, the results of bending over are exactly what happens when you drop your dignity. You show yourself in a way that is unbecoming. You show yourself in a way that’s tawdry. You show yourself in a way that’s demeaning.
And the interesting thing is that when people do this, they’re not cognizant of it because what they think they’re doing is satisfying some kind of need that they have. When desires are being chased, everything else gets blacked out. And when you’re in love, you don’t see anything else. So, when you’re in love with your desire, that’s all you see. And the machinations that you go through to fulfill that desire all of a sudden escape your own attention.
So, things that would normally seem shameful, if you weren’t in the throes of the torpor of desire, now become non-visible to you. And you act without any understanding of what you’ve done to demean yourself. And this takes you to a place that doesn’t allow for dignity, that doesn’t allow for you to be the most that you can be.
