Labeling

The propensity to label. In the material world, we label everything. Friend, enemy, good, bad, beautiful, gay, black, white etc etc. Of course…how else can we distinguish matter and material qualities? Therefore, labeling in itself is not bad or unfavorable. While trying to explain a phenomenon, we need to clearly define and part of defining; we label things, objects, people and everything under the sun. Because of this conditioning of labeling people, we create prototypes in our own mind and evaluate an object, thing or people based on that labeled prototype.

Politicians win lots of votes merely by labeling people. One politician will say “we are against gay marriage”. The other may say “we are against racism” etc etc. When people use such labels on other people, the subject becomes superficial. For example, when we say “against gay marriage”, what is it that we are talking about?

• Is it that we are against two individuals (male or female) of the same species getting together…then it would be just a matter of liberty and free will? or
• Is it that we are against the sacred concept of marriage that God intended marriage to be between man and woman? or
• Is it that we are against illicit sexual relationships between people that it will defile the sacredness of marriage?
  

So, when someone uses the label “gay marriage”, it can be anyone of the above three points or a combination of all. The point is the listener will support or reject the idea of gay marriage based on how he or she defines the label “gay marriage” and depending on the conditioning of the audience, time and circumstance; this label will be defined in multifarious ways. The same can be argued in the aspect of religion. No one clearly knows what religion means yet we charade in public as if we know exactly what we talk. This is one reason why people are against spiritual knowledge because “religion” has a negative label in the community. It is considered dogmatic, archaic and less sophisticated.

Therefore, although labeling is necessary without which one cannot communicate efficiently, however, today labeling is the primary cause of miscommunication. If we have to cross this deep material conditioning of mental archetypes that come via labeling, then we should cultivate the qualities of tolerance and open mindedness. Not the type of tolerance where “everything is right and everything is ok”…but where we are informed of the eternal nature of things, and beings. When we are informed of our eternal nature, then everything we label will be connected to our eternal nature versus relative nature.

As part of our eternal nature, we should seek the essence of the thing or being and not get stuck in the external properties that define the object or being. Therefore, gay marriage or heterosexual marriage, or anything in between, what we care is the essence and that is the concept of illicit sexual relation.

Therefore, labeling people and judging them in accordance to our knowledge of the label is a sign of material conditioning. As devotees of the lord, we should not get caught up in the external qualities of a person (as that is influenced by time and matter) but see the eternal essence in the person and that the eternal essence emanates from the Absolute essence.

Hare Krishna