Once upon a time there lived a King and a Queen. They were living happily ever after in their kingdom. They had two sons. Two princes, who were equally kind and honest like their parents. After some time a tragedy struck and the Queen died in child birth. Of course even queens died those days during child birth, as there was no established health system in place. You and I are lucky to be born after Alexandar Flemming era. After the queens death the king, married again. This time with a widowed Queen. The new Queen had a son too.
All the three princes were fond of each other. It was a sight to see when they played in the garden. As time went by, they became teenagers. Getting ready to have the responsibility of the Kingdom. The eldest was the wisest. The middle was the bravest. The second Queen's son was neither wise, Nor brave.
One day they went out on an adventure into a nearby thick jungle. All alone by themselves. They were exploring unexplored land, and had great deal of fun. Climbing trees, steep rocks and discovering new teretories. And they came to a beautiful pond middle of the jungle. They all decided, they should stop there, have a bath and turn back home as it was getting dark. So they jumped into the water, all three of them. They did not know there was an ancient monster in the water. Within seconds the monster Jumped from the depth of the water and captured two of the princes in his two hands. He roared loudly, as the third and the eldest prince escaped to the bank in a flash. He dragged his sword and firecely stood against the monster to fight back to save his brothers. The monster so powerful and enormous, and wise too. He knew their language very well, like all the monsters do. He laughed and said,
"You pathetic little boy, Are you going to fight me? You will have to step into the water. As the rule of the God, I am allowed to eat anything which enters water, and the moment you step foot, I am going to eat you alive too. So run! while you can"
The eldest prince was not afraid. He observed everything, and said. "I am not just a boy, I am the Eldest prince of this kingdom. You are holding my brothers, Unless you release them now, I am going to summon an army and destroy you."
The monster said. "Even if you do that, your brothers will be dead by then. It is a battle you have lost from the beginning. So, I will give you a choice."
"I will eat one of your brothers and save you the other, and never come back to this pond again"
The eldest Son, thought for a while. Given the choice of saving one is better for the little trouble. He is at the verge of never seeing both of his brothers. And he knew he had to agree, that is the best he can do. If he do not do that he would loose both of his brothers and kill the monster, but to what end. So he agreed.
He told, "Spare me the youngest brother, You can eat my own brother, the bravest"
The monster was suprised of his choice. And said. "So, you decided to sacrifice your own brother? What a coward you are. Are you afraid that he will grow up one day and steal your kingdom? Is that what you were thinking you cunning prince?"
The eldest spoke. "No, that was not what I was thinking. If we go back with my own brother and tell all the people there is a monster who ate my brother in Law, Nobody would believe us, we will have to come back here and kill you to show everyone that is true. But If I go back with my brother in Law, and tell my own brother was killed, everyone would believe his eyewitness, as he has no reason to lie against me. He stand more a witness than my own brother. (Less conflicts of interest as we call it in ethics)
The monster hearing the prince's talk became very happy. So He decided to let go of both the princes captured. In return they did never come back, letting the monster live a peaceful life in his pond.
On conflicts of interest.
Imagine you are a CEO of a government own firm. And you are interviewing set of candidates for a major position in the company. One of your relatives or neighbours son is there as a candidate. Although how much you try to avioid, there will be either positive or negative bias, (You would either favour or deny their chance of getting through the interview) and That is Conflict of interest. So, if you do not declare that this relationship and avoid being in the interview board, it would be unethical and unfair by the others, or the candidate.
There are many situations like above conflicts of interest occurs. Like the situation the elder prince faced in our story. Saving the brave prince,and the brother would be a better option for the country, but who is going to believe them? everyone smell a foul play even if there is not any.
Conflicts of interest - is a form of greed which occurs in our minds. Sometimes we even do not feel that this is at play. However this appears everywhere, more than we think. As greed, tend to be working in stealth mode, most of the time during the day.
Remember the In -law fights, they are universal. Although we think we care for the others, there is a subtle form of greed which expect something from our loved ones. And when this is denied, there will be a fight. So, for the Mother in Law and the daughter in law, the son or the husbands affection is a conflict of interest. I can show you why with a little example.
More examples of conflicts of interest at play.
Imagine a play, that you went to see. Your little daughter is taking a part in it. You are sitting at the back bench, cheering up. And boy! they have put their item at the end of the day. You are waiting and waiting until your daughter appears on the stage. And finally she does appear. And that is a treat for your eyes. You observe every move of her. When she does it perfect you are happy. When she does not, you smile for her silly mistakes. You compare her to all the other children. That there is a conflict of interest. Your eyes seek the sight of your daughter and you want her to perform better than any other. You would do anything ethical to make it happen. So, even within the framework of standard ethics we cannot avoid conflict of interest.
To understand the difference you have to look at the situation from stranger's eyes. So, I put Jesus on the audiance. When he look at the stage, he sees everyone. There is no specific attachment to your daughter, or someone elses daughter. Even ones who are not doing well, crying in corner, or even the ones who are agressive are equal in his eyes. He even see you. And everyone else. When I say "Everyone" it means every living being. Even the aleans and other Gods. And see all of them equal. So he wants the happiness of even microbes like demodex. He, surely do not possess any conflict of interest!
How not to have confict of interest.
So, as you can see it is not easy for someone to have no confilits of interest. That is why we declair it beforehand and avoid being in situations this occur. But can we really not have conflict of interest?
When we think about it, we know that this is a platonic form. There cannot be a human being, without conflicts of interest, as such a person would love his children same way as he loves his dog. And this interest would not be more than what he is having for himself. Can you imagine such a person? Even in extream situations this person would not act, unethically. Like, when his son is drownning, together with his dog, he would not have preference to save one over the other. I am sure everyone would say it he is insane he tried to save the dog before his son. However, I am not saying there are no such minds existing. Such conciousness are very rare, and insanely difficult to find. And I believe this is the highest form of self we should aim to achieve during our lifetime.
So, are you willing to steer your ship to those unknown deep waters? Let's help with a little wind from mindfulness wisdom so you can reach that destination faster. As mindfulness is the eyes which makes us see our internal conflicts of interest.
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