When will love prevail over fear? When will unity overcome singularity?

When will love prevail over fear? When will unity overcome singularity? As we watch humanity struggle to combat an invisible enemy, I think to myself... there already is an invisible enemy hurting us more than this virus... it’s an enemy within all of us.  It’s the illusion of separation. It’s the illusion of the ego.  And upon these naive ideas we have constructed our cultural and economic systems.

I may have held more hope for humanity if Bernie would have received the nomination, (maybe temporarily).  Because if he were elected, I would have felt humanity was on the right course…But it seems fear won... again... for the millionth time in a row. And this is not just about Bernie.  My diminished hopes are not solely based on Bernie losing, but they come from witnessing how and why this happened.  Current events are merely symptoms of greater forces at work.  My diminishing hope comes about from witnessing a world on the brink of collapse while so many turn a blind eye to it.  It’s about corruption winning again by spending endless money on campaigns, wars, and environmental destruction all for the cause of economic growth at all costs. And again, it’s fear, ignorance, narcissism, selfishness, and hopelessness that prevail.

It is profound to see that due to this virus that the Earth is under significantly less stress. The air is cleaner that it has been in decades. Some people in India and China are seeing blue skies for the first time in their lives. The hole in the ozone layer is the smallest it’s been in decades. The oceans and rivers are clearer... it’s great to see, but also so sad...because it proves, again, how profoundly humanity is negatively impacting the earth.  Science has shown us that ecosystems are collapsing, coral reefs are dying, forests are shrinking, insect and bee populations (that help us bring 70% of our crops to market) have decreased by over 50%.  Will this virus teach us anything about who we are as a species on this planet? Maybe we are a virus on this Earth? Maybe we are a cancer consuming the world with nothing keeping in check an economic system that is growing indefinitely as it consumes a finite world. I am not saying humanity is inherently this destructive. But currently we are acting this way and have for thousands of years.

Do I think we are inherently evil, selfish, greedy, scared and fearful?  Deep down I don’t think we are because I think we can transcend our ways... but right now... as a whole we are collectively living out some disconnected and deeply destructive impulses. And what does that mean for the future if we do not change our ways? It’s bleak. The children of today will be inheriting a very scary world. If we think the problems of today are something... they will be nothing in comparison to food and water shortages, rising sea levels, profound wealth inequality and an overwhelming refugee crisis that will challenge humanity in ways we cannot even truly imagine right now.  We could not even imagine two months ago that our nation would be on lock down to combat this virus. However, that is nothing in comparison to what our children and their children will face if we do not change our ways.

So what’s the answer? How do we find our way out of this mess? Ultimately, I do not think we vote or protest our way out of this. Any positive outcome that may arise out of those exercises are symptoms of a greater change... I see that real transformative change would come from an inward change among many more people. Only when we emotionally, psychologically, and philosophically change will the changes that need to come about actually happen. Only when we break past the illusion of separation, of the ego, and the subsequent fears that come about when we see ourselves as islands onto ourselves will we transcend this destructive existence.

For a moment lets observe what we have learned about the universe and existence. How does the universe with its seemingly endless galaxies and solar systems compare to the sub-atomic existence we cannot see? Is it true that what is above is also below? We humanity are like the stars and planets that make up the galaxies... we are like the protons and electrons that circulate the neutrons that make up atoms.  Without one component the other cannot exist... and so too is that true for humanity and the entire life sphere. Without the sun we do not exist. Without water we do not exist. Without plants we do not exist. Without gravity, physical relativity, physical matter and dark matter nothing exists.

I am not saying that there is nothing important, significant, or real about individuality, but what I want to point out is that without our connection to each other, to the earth, and to the greater universe we could not perceive the gift of our individuality and separation. So, to exist without honoring the inherent and inseparable connection we all have to this life force is an existence out of touch and incomplete.  It is this ignorance and over consumption with the self that leads to a world of empty consumerism and a seemingly endless array of disposable goods and labor… the pillars to which endless economic growth depends. 

Scarcity and ruthless competition are built into our economic system because we have commoditized everything.  Even water is measured monetarily now.  What else can we exhaust and turn into money?  Endless economic growth depends on endlessly commoditizing everything.  But we are running out of things to turn into gold… and at these rates some day all the fish will be fished, all the oil will be extracted, all the trees will be cut, all the soil will run off, and all animals will either be “domesticated” or go extinct.  Biodiversity will be at an all time low and economic growth will stall.  Cancerous humanity will consume its entire existence before it then withers away as it has nothing left to fuel its growth.  So, while we are running around trying to sustain our precious lives, we will have exhausted all the resources we need to live.  But if we can realize that we are greater than ourselves, that we are all interconnected we may have a chance to change into something more harmonious with the all that is – the divine life force – that surrounds us, connects us, and is us.  Imagine making decisions from this place of being… it would transform the world.

I am not suggesting we ignore ourselves. It is a tremendous undertaking to take care of ourselves. To keep our bodies healthy and whole. Nourished, clothed, and sheltered. And it’s even more challenging to extend those necessities to families if we have them. But if humanity is going to survive on this planet, we can no longer ignore the plight that affects us (the plight that will extend into many generations). We can no longer ignore the reality that we are inherently united. We can no longer ignore that we are all cosmic brothers and sisters and that we only exist because of the life force that creates this incredible universe. The Earth is a gift we can no longer take for granted. Humanity is a gift we can no longer see as separate from ourselves. We need to honor the needs of the whole system, the whole earth, and of the entire humanity. It is the only way a decent and moral humanity will survive for hundreds of years to come.

We all have free will, which in itself is a profound gift bestowed upon us by creation itself.  It is through the recognition of this divine responsibly that we begin to see our true purpose in this life.  So if we choose to unite, consciously, we are not only rewarded as individuals to sustain life and thrive on this planet, but we reward the creator as creation itself has thus created something profoundly divine – an element of itself, that in the darkness of separation, oneness and unity blossom and become sustained through the laws of love and attraction. 

Yes, scarcity and the tools of the economic system that create this division seem so real.  And they are as we honor them through fear and compulsion.  This system of chaos and fear are creations of our collective consciousness.  And just like we have never imaged we would be subject to this microscopic virus in such a way that it profoundly alters our reality so too can we profoundly shock ourselves and create a reality so foreign to ourselves right now that it may seem like the world we have today could never have existed. Yes, resources are finite, but if we learn to honor that limit, we will begin to create systems that respect those limits.  If we created systems that were created out of the needs of our inherent unity and interdependence on each other I know for sure that we would create a just and sustainable world.  A new world is possible.  The first step is seeing yourself for what you really are… inseparable from the world that surrounds you, inextricably tied to the universe that created you, and dependent on the labor and will of your fellow humans.  So, will we honor this?  Will we head the call?

I know how easy it is to feel hopeless.  I often feel hopeless.  Maybe all of you reading this feel just as hopeless as I sometimes do… but you just don’t know what to do.  And ultimately, I do not know what to do...because the answer is beyond me… the “answer” is collective and will come about through an empathic interconnection of life choices we all make together throughout the decades. 

I need to protect myself and my family.  My 3-year-old depends on me to feed, cloth, shelter, and educate him.  But he, as do all the children right now, depend on us to make wise decisions.  To make decisions out of love.  To honor life for what it is.  To not depend on what may seem to be inexhaustible resources… because they are not.  So, when making the choice can we choose to honor our inter-connectivity to each other and to all of life?  Maybe you think that makes me a socialist, a purist, an unrealistic idealist or whatever you want to call it.  Actions and ideals cannot be bound to words or titles.  Just be you.  But remember you are really greater than yourself… you are an aspect of your neighbor, your friend, your parent, your enemy, and the plants, animals, and landscapes that we witness and share among us.  Can we choose to create a life from this understanding?  Maybe then can we redefine ourselves and create a better world…

2019: The State of Humanity

It is becoming devastatingly more apparent to me that towards the end of the next decade we are going to see a level of Environmental destruction unprecedented to the standards of today.  Those observant and sensitive to the Earth see now that we are in the middle of this disaster.  Ecosystems are beginning to fail all around us.  Ice on the poles are significantly diminishing, the majority of all the Earth’s coral reefs have bleached and become relatively lifeless.  We have littered plastics everywhere that have broken down to microscopic levels.  Micro plastics, are just what the name implies, small nearly microscopic pieces of plastic, have been found in the deepest ocean trench 30,000 ft below the surface, the highest mountains on Earth, and in the entire food chain.  Globally deserts are spreading, farm soil is eroding, and fresh water is becoming sparser on land.  It is becoming more apparent that these issues have reached such a level that we should be acting with incredible urgency, but many of us feel so helpless, many of us don’t care, and others keep themselves conveniently distracted (Maybe all of us feel all of these feelings at the same time, in varying degrees).

What do you believe? Are we destitute?  Or do we rise up and create a harmonious society on Earth?  And if we did create harmony on Earth will we flourish as a large population or a small one?  Ultimately, I believe the jury is still out on that because we have free will.  But inaction is an action that will ultimately lead us down the worst case scenario.

There are 7 billion of us.  130 million new souls are born on earth each year.  The immensity of this realizing is daunting.  But this realization can also be liberating.  The dichotomy of life is that we are both unique individuals and one with all.  This is the ultimately dichotomy.  And when one realizes this they can become liberated from their “sin”:  the sense of being without, depressed, unsatisfied.   There is a liberating irony in realizing your complete insignificance, but then also realizing at the same time that you are somehow still miraculously unique.  Imagine being 1 in 7 billion.  Because that is what you are.  You are that incredibly unique.  No one else on this planet is having the experience you are having.

Let us not get lost one end of that spectrum.  Let’s not wallow in fatalistic depression, or cling tight to our individuality that we lose sight of the ultimate truth.  That we are both these things, one with all and the separate individual, we are both the experience of being with and being without.  And in this we realize were both love and fear are born.  Here we are, all together, existing on this living sphere in the emptiness of space and the universe, surviving, experiencing, and communicating.

I feel that in regard to humanities survival, the best cast scenario will depend on us choosing love over fear in all aspects of life. We have to not be afraid and fight our oppression, our apathy, our unconsciousness both individually and collectively.  The fight starts within, with ones ego.  Knowing this brings us half way there.  But we need to fight the apathy within ourselves that keeps our minds away from the reality that we are, as a species, slowly killing ourselves.

Thing is, we won’t ultimately “get there” into we all do as a society.  The Truth is, we have the ability to create a society where everyone prospers.  But we need to be wise to envision this.  My gut tells me we will get to this place, but I am unsure of whether or not it will be in time.  As a general rule, if you think you see the future and you do not like it, why not try to try and change it?  I do feel humanity will exists on Earth, but I think the jury is still out on whether we not we flourish as a large population or a small one in the next century. 

Democratic Socialism Is What the World Needs

We need to come from a place of empathic understanding that we are one human race, one species infinitely interconnected and sprawled out among the Earth.  We share the earth’s recourse and because of life’s physical requirements our fear of not having enough, tied together with an egoic perspective that see’s that our own wellbeing as more important than anything else, we have created a race to the bottom.  We fear that someone is coming after what we have, our job, our money.  It is this fear that forces us to live in a way that thwarts social and personal evolution.  A society that has most of its expressions – its culture, norms, and the way it organizes through government – based in this under lying fear will not solve the crises facing humanity.  However, if society expressed it self with a great sense of empathy, love, understanding, and acceptance, we would easily confront the biggest problems facing humanity.

Our actions are directed by two emotions – love and fear.  The choice is ours, both as individuals and as a collective society, to choose which of these two emotions to lead our thoughts and actions.  Today if we are to organize a political movement that can re-invigorate a society to rise up and solve humanities greatest challenges – poverty, famine, clean sustainable energy, climate change and environmental degradation, over population, and other local challenges like education and access to health care, we need a movement that molds policy and society in a way to tackle these issues.

Democratic socialism in America is part of the solution.  In its foundation it seeks to galvanize a compassionate movement that sees that it is not just our own self that we need to care for, but our fellow man.  We will try our best to eradicate war, poverty, environmental destruction, and economic enslavement to elite run institutions.  If we do not we do not stand a chance to thrive on this planet as a society – and our existence teeters on the brink of inevitable extinction. 

A reason why some may see Democratic Socialist as extreme is because these folks see that the world now is in extreme shape, and Democratic socialists know that the status quo is not the solution.  democratic socialists are unafraid to go into uncharted waters to progress society in a way that it needs to to ensure its own survival.  For those that do not see the urgency of the situation, that there is a degree of apathy that has over taken them –the distractions of society and our own egos have disabled us from being more sensitive to the reality as it really is.

Democratic Socialism is an ideology.  It is a sane pathway forward that is voted upon democratically.  What we need now is to organize to shape a more evolved society, to enlighten people to reality, and make the changes needed to survive justly on this planet.  Simply put, the democratic socialist movement is a movement for people to rise up against what has enslaved us, and compassionately direct legislation so that policy reflects the objective truth – that all human beings have the right to be educated and have health care, and to have just economic opportunity.

Capitalism as it is today is a form of institutionalized fascism.  Elite controlled institutions have taken increasing control over our lives.  An “inherent” scarcity built into our banking systems and modes of distribution is a product of our current system.  The 0.01% buy elections, politicians, and our democracy.  Democratic Socialism sees this and is moved to change our society so that these imbalances move towards something more harmonious.  There will always be some with more than others.  You can observe similar patterns in nature.  However, a smaller and smaller portion of our society hoards more and more while an increasing pool of people increase to struggle and become poorer in our country and in much of the world.  This perverse imbalance, the same imbalance that is destroying our Earth is not sustainable.  A Democratic Socialist sees the truth and seeks to change it.

Today, the democratic party tied to large donor money will not be able to foster the passion needed to galvanize a movement to solve the major issues before us.  They are separated from the masses of people, and this is one of the reasons that voter turnout in America is so low.  The establishment party further alienates the populous.  The republican party has become the party which perpetuates the goals of the oligarchy while the democratic party at best compromises with elite and at worst sustains their desires by compromising with the republican party.  However, and thankfully, the democratic party is split into two major factions right now.  One of the groups is open to the democratic socialist movement and were inspired by the Bernie Sanders campaign.  They see the wisdom in this way of thinking.  They are not afraid of change, but rather are motivated out of an intense sensitivity to the ills of society.  They desire to see society progress towards a future that sees that the needs of the society are equal to the needs of the individual – and that in actuality the two are two sides of the same coin.  These people see that their own physical, psychological, and long term economic needs are inherently tied to the health of society as a whole – as well as the health of the Earth.

The problem is power will not let go of its power.  The powerful will do all that they can to ensure that they keep their thrones.  They would even go to the extent to make sure war is perpetuated throughout the world – to ensure their arms deals and military contracts – they will ensure that we continue to use fossil fuels so that big oil stays in control of how we consume energy as a society. – no matter the consequences. The bankers fund these pursuits, collect interest, hold the greatest share, and riddle much of the world in debt so that they remain powerless.  This 0.01% of the population holds the reigns and manipulates the system to the best of their ability through sustaining cognitive divides between people – “democratic/republican” – “white/black” – “Christian/Muslim, on and on.

A conscious person will see that these are ultimately illusions that we cling to as ways to identify ourselves and find some meaning in life – However the truest fact of all of life is that life itself transcends all of these cognitive associations and cannot be bound by them.  The conscious person will see how insane we have become as a society and hope for a better way.  They will see how insane the ego has become and to what great lengths people will take to ensure their sustained level in whatever hierarchy they believe themselves to belong to. 

Thankfully we have an opportunity before us to move into a more evolved society.  But we must ensure that we see the truth that we are one human organism on a living planet – and we must act in a way that sustains our existence.  When we hold the health of society as equal to our own we may be “socialist” – but a conscious person will know that these must be chosen collectively in order for it to be effective, sustained, and meaningful.  And that is where the movement of democratic socialism has its place.

This does not mean that we need to throw away the system as it is.  Call today’s system in America what you will.  But names and titles are just that.  But we simply need to act in away that addresses the needs of our society and our world so that we can build a more evolved society that can sustain itself on this planet.

Think of it this way.  There are 3 types of people on a beach.  Those that throw their litter on the sand and leave it, those that ignore the trash, but try not to make things worse, and those that pick up after those folks that through their trash on the ground.  Democratic socialists are the later, complacent people are those in the middle, and the entitled and selfish are the former.

Modern Day Kingdoms, Tribes, and Subsequent De-unification

It seems that humanity is, ideologically speaking, operating within the same level of awareness that it has been for centuries, if not thousands of years.  I say this because humanity, in many fundamental ways, still condones the same ethics and principles that we have since the dawn of recorded history.  We still act like warriors and kings in search for the next frontier of wealth.  We hoard wealth for our respective kingdoms as we do not know what bounty the future will grant us.  The great tragedy, however, is that we are permissive of the consequences that our way of life fosters.

Like our ancestors we are still motivated by the acquisition of resources, ownership, and individual sovereignty.  Not that these goals are in and of themselves destructive, they are important goals in ensuring survival.   However, there is an underlying dogma within the dominant human paradigm that condones and justifies destructive behavior.  Ultimately, we perceive life as threating and as a society we act accordingly.  We develop governments, institutions, and mechanisms of law that uphold an unjust economic system.  Sadly, we  collectively condone this system, thus we debilitate the ability of society to evolve in the way that is necessary to sustain its long term survival on this planet.

The fear of survival is real.  It is natural to fear pain, starvation, and the cold.  But our fear has gotten the worst of us and we have all taking part in an economic race to the bottom.   This "rat race" has caused modern "Kingdoms" to acquire wealth at the expense of long term ecological viability and long term human sustainability.  More importantly, subverting to this way of life has made people feel a sense of helplessness.  We have humanized this sense of helplessness to such a great extent that it has become a fact of life.  The key, I feel in all of this, is that to some degree, we subvert our autonomy to centralized authority.  That authority can be government, the principles of capitalism, religion.  It can be anything that we submit our power to decide to.  We continue to justify our destructive ways of life by placing spiritual and emotional authority outside of ourselves.  We sustain our religious and psychological institutionalized helplessness.  Thus we believe we have lost the ability to consciously create harmony on this planet. 

We limit ourselves and relegate ourselves to actions that are dictated by our fears.  Thus we lose sight of what we truly are... a unified species living upon a physically limited Earth.  We have a mission to sustain life and experience our magnificence within the cosmos...  Yet we instead perpetuate a way of life that has us pinned up against on another in a race to the bottom of finite resource acquisition and ethical dominance over groups of people who, by design, have perpetually less.

Just as kings sought to expand their kingdoms, just as servants of kings and warriors sought to expand their wealth, so to do we to seek to control wealth and power to secure life for ourselves and our families.  Do not get me wrong...This is a respectful declaration to life.  It takes courageous effort to ensure the survival of the dependents we love so much.  This speaks of gratitude to the lives we have been granted, but when our actions, however beneficial to sustaining life as we know it, divide people to race for limited resources we live by an ethic that will eventually consume the Earth of its bounty and leave future generations without what we have been working for our entire lives... The security to live, the power to control, and the ability to live in peace.  So in that sense we are still living like the ancients.  Albeit, capitalism has created opportunity for not only the kings and queens to be wealthy land owners, it has still led us fighting among each other for wealth without consideration for our actions on local and global scales.  We may not fight with swords anymore, but we still fight and we do so feeling helpless and subsequently apathetic to the consequences of our way of life.

The development and implementation of technology has been societies biggest achievement.  It had aided us to live 7 billion proud on this planet floating in the cosmos.  This population explosion would have been impossible without advancements in medicine, agriculture, industry, etc.  However, only a relatively few dictate the use and implementation of current technological advancements as well as future technological implementations.  Centralized authority, the kings and queens of our day, have intentionally set these limitations, for it is their control of technology that grants and sustains their power.

For example, think of how we, especially in the United States, use our taxed wealth.  Over 50% of tax money is used to sustain the military.  Many researchers estimate that it would cost 30 billion dollars to eradicate world hunger, however the world spends that on military endeavors in 8 days!  We also use our tax money to subsidize and aid the biggest oil and gas companies.  With record profits most years, why should we continue to aid companies like exxon-mobil?  Shouldn't we instead use our hard earned tax base to supplement projects that would eventually end our dependence on fossil fuels, which would by consequence help alleviate "our need" to be at war with each other?  We all know that our way of life is rapidly destroying our planet.  We are currently in the middle of the biggest mass extinction event Earth has seen in hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years.  But its no secret as to why we do not see change happening at the rate we need.  It is because those who hoard power and wealth depend on these current economic and political systems to ensure their kingdoms stay in tact.  But for how much longer can we stay apathetic to the facts?

What sustains the power of the current ruling class is our apathy and sense of helplessness.  In our helplessness we feel like their is no way of changing anything.  So then in a moment of defeat and complacency we tell ourselves, why should I not secure my "piece of the pie" if someone else is going to take it?  And I like you, try to do what I can to ensure that my family is well feed and secure.  But for how much longer can we condone a way of life that is clearly detrimental to life on Earth?  Scientific analysis is showing us that we are in great peril.  To some, these discoveries fuel their apathy and fear based way of life.  "I will be dead when that happens," "I need to secure what is mine to ensure my survival while I can," and so on....  We can all empathize with this, because we all fear our own suffering.  What is more noble than protecting our precious lives and taking care of those who depend on us?  But what we fail to see is that unless humanity undergoes a rapid paradigm shift we will self destruct.  The realization of humanity becoming united in mind, body, and spirit, I believe, is the only way forward,

A great psychosis has developed.  Our young have become increasingly ADD as society over stimulates their developing minds.  Adults grow more apathetic, schizoaffective, and narcissistic, in light of what everyone see's... A hopeless future and a dying planet.  We have come to identify so much with this sense of isolation and individuality that we have become so lost in our minds - our seemingly last refuge from our pain (Ironic I know).  Thus we continue and perpetuate duality and fail to see our true nature... that we are inherently unified and that our survival depends on this.

Our society is on the verge of becoming a product of our technology and our ideologies - and when a society becomes a product of its technology and ideologies it becomes impossible to consciously evolve and sustain itself in a manor that is in line with nature.  We submit our power to technology and to the elite that controls the implementation of these technologies to their benefit.  This is a sum zero game a far as the evolution of society is concerned. 

I am about to say something that most of the world would think is blasphemous.  You are God.  It is we who are here to create reality.  God herself has profoundly bestowed upon us the ability to create in her likeness.  God is the entirety of the cosmos and the infinite that holds it all together.  We are the the entirety of God, but we are certainly "a part" of that...not "apart" from that.  Dogma keeps much of the world enslaved to limiting belief.  Not only have we let the elite and technology control us, but so to have we been controlled by religion.  Whether it is our religion or their religion we justify our divisiveness and condone brutality.  Ironically, it is religion that keeps us further from God, that is unless that "religion" speaks of the divine nature of unification.  The truly religious person seeks unity and is not bound by dogma.  It is the institutionalized religious person that submits their autonomy and depends on a doctrine to help them decide the rights and wrongs of life.  But the ultimate "right way" is something that can only be decided upon from insights that come from within.  To see that we are unified is not a vision that comes from mind, but it is a vision born from the heart.  What nature begets of us now is that we seek answers from deep within... as compassion arises from the deep well of understanding our true nature... That we are ONE.

The only way to secure the future is to be the solution.  We cannot wait for some outside authority.  We instead need to realize that true authority comes from the voice within.  And it is this voice from within that fosters altruism, empathy, and the vision of collective survival.  Our most primitive emotions within the spectrum of love knows that we are nature, that God is nature, and that the laws of nature clearly show that if we do not act as one unified race the wealth of the remaining kingdoms will be rendered worthless.  So then I ask all of us... Can you see that I am your brother?  Can you realize that the stranger is your family?  Or will we let fear keep the illusion of division alive?  The choice is ours... and the consequences of either action will be our reward.

The Dichotomy of Love and Pain

Life is always changing. On one end this is amazing because it brings new people and experiences into our lives.  However, change will inevitably "take" away people and experiences so that we must say goodbye.  I must humbly admit to myself that there will come a day when my wife is no longer in my life.  There will be a day when my parents and my family are no longer in my life.  And there will be a day when all of those whom I have come to love as dear friends will no longer be in my life.  I am having a hard time with this concept.  The impermanence of life makes life both beautiful and tragic.

How do we then make peace with such a dichotomous reality?

Due to our social nature we allow ourselves to become vulnerable so that we may develop meaningful relationships.  It is the act of opening ourselves up to others that creates both the experience of joy and love as we developed a bond with someone, however it also creates the potential for hurt and loss.  Becoming vulnerable, for practically all of us, is not a choice.  Many of us have close bonds with family and childhood friends all the way into adulthood.  And even when it is a choice, we choose to develop close bonds with others so that we may feel and give love.  It is love that is at the crux of this dichotomy.  However, becoming vulnerable is a necessity to create and foster the experience of love.

Yes, Zen Buddhism, and other philosophical practices may teach us about the principle of non-attatchment, but I do not feel that these ways of being dismiss the painful reality due to the loss of love.  Yes, we can be grateful that the experience of love happened, but we will still be saddened by the loss of any love.  This is the bittersweet reality of love.  Non-attchment may teach us to not identify with the loss and pain associated with loss, but the fact still remains that loss, pain, and tragedy are real aspects of life.

What is one to say to a parent that loses a child "prematurely"?  What is one to say to someone who "loses" there wife, their husband, or their best friend to some sort of tragedy?  There is nothing to say to pacify the pain except showing support to the person that is hurt.  Even in the faith that we will be united with those that leave us behind we still feel the pain of separation.  Faith may bring us peace in knowing that the loved ones are in peace themselves, but it still does not dissolve the pain of separation.

Maybe in these writings I am open to the idea that I have lost my way.  Maybe I have lost that strong connection I once had to my faith and to God - or maybe as I get older I realize that it was easier to isolate myself in my ideals and naivety as a younger man.  Either way, I am where I am and this is how I now feel.

Lately I have been questioning this feeling of discontent with life that I think most of us feel at some point or if not all the time - just beneath the surface of our experience.  So then, what do these ideas of impermanence, loss, and pain, have to do with discontent?  Is my feeling of discontent a feeling of bitterness I have towards life because I cannot find absolute peace?  Can I not find peace because the dichotomy of love and pain is to much to fully grasp - even thought I seem to keep trying to think my way into a solution for peace?  Am I, and so many of us, rushing through life and distracting ourselves so that we do not have to deal with the inherent existential dilemma that life puts in front of us? - that life is both beautiful and tragic?  Because we all know, at least in the back of our minds, that we will loose what we love at some point?

Is this why many of us become addicted to something?  Are we trying to distract ourselves from this reality?  The addiction can come in many forms - work, drugs, our egos, food, etc.

To face life in all of reality takes great courage.  Humility takes a strength that has nothing to do with toughness, but rather I think it has to do with allowing ourselves to be sensitive.  It is this sensitivity that opens us up to being vulnerable - all the while being conscious that we know we will eventually lose the love that we have opened up to.  To be aware of this existential dilemma yet maintaining a desire for intimate relationships and closeness to others takes great courage.  It's a strength born in sensitivity, humility, and a willingness to accept and deal with tragedy.  So then, I ask the creator, why?

Remembrance & The Holy Ghost

It is the Holy Ghost that brings us the messages of God.  It is the holy ghost that shows us why we are here.  It is the Holy Ghost that shows us how everything is interwoven.  The glory of this life is found in remembering who we are, why we are here, and how God serves us (and of course how we serve God).  God serves us by giving us the opportunity to evolve, in all facets of our lives.  For if God gives us the opportunity to evolve God in turn serves God.

If we remember to re-member (to unite with the Holy Ghost) we live in the moment.  When we live in the moment the past, and its influence, begins to dissolve. When we stop living out the engrained conditions of the past we open our spirits to the energy of God.  It is at this point that the Holy Ghost can make its way into our consciousness.  Thus we enhance our lives by living in accord, more so, with the will of God.

The will of God is the push of live to make itself manifest in all things.  God is not just all things, God is also the energy of life which drives everything to be what it is.  Love is an ever evolving Godly force upon the universe...the universe, we must remember, that we are a part of.  The profound and the "inconsequential" are equal expressions of God.

Remembering this brings us in touch with our spirit.  And it is being in spirit (being inspired) that enables us to be in contact with the Holy Ghost - the voice of God.  It is this human act that brings peace...into our lives and into the world.

Death of the Ego

When we feel life's perfection, we feel that glory of the moment, and we realize that all is working out just as it should.  However it is the ego that brings us back from the timeless awareness of life's miracle. The ego has us questioning and judging. The ego does this because it feels threatened. Threatening because judgment, of life, of oneself, and of others becomes rendered irrelevant.

Many of us can only hold that "in the moment glory" for only short amounts of awareness.  In the moment of realizing life's perfection the ego witnesses that it's judgments are irrelevant so it acts to reconcile its annihilation.  The ego fears losing its identity so it utilizes the unconscious mind to fear oneself into doubting perfection.  Because it is the realization of perfection that abolishes the ego.  It is death in a sense, however only in the ego's death are we liberated from the illusory separation from spirit.

The ego can rest assured though.  As there is no such thing as complete annihilation, for it is spirit that created creation, of which ego is a by-product.  The knowing that we are alive after the ego's death is what brings absolute peace.  Because in the ego's death we know, without question, that we are a part of something larger then the perceived self.

The Purpose of Life

Purpose is a moment to moment experience. The word purpose is synonymous with motive, cause, reason, and intention.  Our life's purpose has everything to do with how we choose to live. Yet like life, our purpose is ever changing.

When we seek to understand our purpose we seek to understand our reason for being alive 

Maybe our life's purpose is to be a father, a mother, the mailman, a teacher, an entrepreneur, or a seeker of knowledge.  Our life's purpose can be expressed in infinite ways and it is multi-faceted by its nature.  Our life's purpose is the foundation of our intention...and this is our declaration to the world.  So we must honor what we do, think, and say, because these mediums are the gateways to the experiential relationship we have with ourselves and others.  But I wonder, is there something about the "purpose of life" that transcends our individual pursuits?

Is there a purpose to life that is all encompassing... a universal intention that is beyond us?

I believe that if we ask ourselves this question we peer deeply into the "fabric" that holds life together. I feel that asking ourselves this question is imperative to breaking free from our egoic isolation.  Pondering beyond ourselves, I believe, will actually bring us deeply in touch with who we are... and who we are be becoming on a planetary scale.

What is it that we are becoming anyway?

I have no idea!  I could propose a few ideas, but they would fall short because my words and ideas can never touch the ultimate truth; the ultimate experience of what life is.

There is a philosophy that proposes that the ultimate purpose of life can only be understood from the perspective of the collective.  It is the proposition that the sum total of all of our intentions, including the intentions of seemingly unconscious entities (the Earth, the stars, and everything in between) determines what life, as a whole, is creating.  This movement of creation then is the ultimate purpose of life.  It is "on purpose," and meaningful beyond comprehension.  It is a view that holds that nothing is "random" and that everything is born out of intelligence.  If it a purpose beyond definition, but a purpose of the upmost significance.

Ultimate purpose, what is that?

The ultimate purpose is largely out of our control.  It is cosmic in its scale.  And although the ultimate purpose is beyond our comprehension that does not mean that we cannot sense it.  Our intuitive sense is what brings us into emotional communication with the ultimate purpose of life... and if we listen to this calling within we will see that our life becomes meaningful to a greater degree.  

When I hone in on this sense I feel that I am in communication with the universe, with God, or the movement of creation (call it what you will).  It is comforting to me because it makes me feel connected to something greater than myself and it frees me from the imprisonment of my egoic isolation.  It is a sense that makes me remember that I am never alone - even when my mind tricks me into believing I am or that my life is of no consequence or meaning.

The root of our forgetfulness and disconnection from Ultimate Purpose

It seems that we are so overly concerned with self image that we forget to see life beyond the self (or life beyond humanity).  I fear it is our narcissistic tendencies that blind us from seeing the interconnectivity of life's purpose.  I feel that narcissism and our obsession with status, image, control, and power, is at the root of all social dysfunction.

Could it be that our narcissism is a coping mechanism?  Is narcissism our attempt to block ourselves from the loneliness and or guilt associated to being blind to our inherent unity and how this perceived separation has caused all the destruction and division we see in our world today.  We deny our ability to communicate with the universe, with god, and the movement of creation.  Thus, I feel a deep existential lack is born because we deeply believe in our separation.  Our differences are real, but our similarities are much more profoundly similar.

Becoming conscious of how our disconnection has led to so much destruction can be saddening.  It may make us feel like our individuals life's purpose is vain, meaningless, and unimportant.  However, even that in it self is self destructive, because our individual life is part of the cosmic whole.  Our lives, our passions, and our individual missions are very important!  Yet, when we align our life's passion and purpose with a deep sense of connection to the world, with others, the Earth, and the cosmos, we will actually feel deeply rooted to a purpose greater than our own.

No one person is to blame for for the human condition as it is.  It is a way of life that we have become conditioned to live.  It has been going on for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, but now in the dawn of a forced new age our technology has clearly made us see how connected we.

Harmony is possible

We now have an opportunity to move towards something more unified, sane, and responsible (in fact we always have).  If we can understand and remember that the purpose of our individual lives is inextricably tied to the ultimate purpose of life we can create a more harmonious life.  Peace is possible, but we must get out of our own way and get in touch with our inner most senses.  It is the collective purpose that we must move towards.  This does not mean to lose our sense of our individuality, but rather to incorporate our sense of self with the unified whole of the collective.

In reality it is all much simpler than how I make it out to be.  It is about seeing that our individual differences are petty in comparison to our sense of connection.  It is about seeing that no one or no thing is more important.  It is admitting that we do not have all the answers.  And it is living from an ethic that is sensitive to nature and strives to be considerate of all things.

The Balance Between Being Content yet Aspiring Towards Evolution

How do we aspire for a better life without getting caught up in tomorrow?  How can we remain content with life as it is, but still seek to change a situation?

 

As a race of people capable of complex discernment I think it is a natural tendency for us to aspire towards something "better."  If you were a Native American you sustained your existence through fishing, hunting, and agriculture.  You were interested in developing ways of doing these activities that enabled you to harvest these resources with greater ease and success.  This drive within us that wants a better life is what enables us to evolve.  Yet today, where life options are practically limitless, we can become overwhelmed as to how we wish too see our life unfold.

I do not think you need to be dissatisfied with a life situation in order to see it evolve.  Actually, I feel it shows a sense of passion and vigor for life to have the desire to see your life and the life around you evolve.  I use the word evolve because I feel the word describes directed change.  To evolve denotes that change is something that progressively transcends what was before.

Yet, all to often we get caught up in what we want to see evolve in our lives that we lose our grip on being fully present.  Being content with "what is" takes a degree of present moment awareness that is not by our thoughts that want a different reality to exist.

It's about being aware of your desires and observing your attachment to them.  You cannot be content if you "need" change.  It means to have a vision without your emotions being contingent upon the results.  It takes a concentrated awareness to be grateful that life is presenting you with an opportunity to create and to experience who you are.

It seems that finding emotional balance in our modern thought driven world takes a sort of awareness that has us constantly grateful for life and the experiences it brings yet knowing that our visions and aspirations are not in vain, but rather they represent our efforts as conscious human beings to create a "better" world as we desire it.  Yet it also means surrendering to the fact that we are not controlling our lives to the fullest degree.  And in doing so we need to let go of expectations so that even if our aspirations do not manifest we still maintain a sense of gratitude for what is.

There always seems to be some sort of compromise in life.  This job may be more enjoyable, but it pays less or there is another partner "out there" that you may find more sexually attractive but you feel that another is better for you because they nourish your spirit.  The hypotheticals are endless...but compromise teaches us that we share this world, and our lives, with others.  It's about surrendering to the idea that we always don't know what is best or what we should strive towards.  It's about having faith that each new experience is something that is helping you become the person you are destined to be...even if it is a destiny that never would have imagined for yourself.

So keep striving for "better" as you see it.  For that is what the world needs now more than ever. Strive for a life that enriches the relationship you have with yourself and with others... And attempt to have faith that all is in its right place even if you think it's not.

Seeing Oneself as the Nothing That We Are

Without stillness we are lost.  Maybe not completely, but when the mind consumes us we repeat the same few mantras over and over.  We become consumed with mind activity, and thus we lose sight of all that is within and going on around us.  When I am still I find myself.  In that moment I am "found" because I realize there is nothing to figure out, nothing to know, and nothing to be other than myself.  The moment I try and become something I am no longer true to myself.  The moment I try to understand I move away from understanding.  There is no trying... there is only doing, being and living.

Contemplation is important.  I see it as the middle ground between stillness and mental activity.  With conscious awareness it can become an activity that has us hone in on our repetitive thoughts.  We can then choose if these thoughts serve us or not.  Yet do not be fooled by contemplation.  The moment we identify with new thoughts they become the relative thoughts of tomorrow and thus we get back into the same rut of incessant mental activity.

Often times we compare our lives to others in order to see who we are and who we want to become.  Yet, this only keeps us tied to the dominate thought paradigm that surrounds us.  We then become unable, not to be unique, but rather to be ourselves.  We are all beyond definition.  Every person is more than their title in life.  There is no one person more important or less important than another, unless we declare it as so.  And in our modern world we so often use judgement and comparison to figure out who we are so that we may, for some brief moment, feel a sense of worth.  Yet the irony is that when we seek self worth by comparing ourselves to others we loose sight of who we really are.  We paint the picture of who we are...instead of seeing ourselves for who we really are.

You are more than what you think you are.  You are infinitely nothing.  And to see yourself as undefinable is what brings you in touch with your true self.  True being that you are a phenomena of life.  Your experiences are your true worth from which to draw meaning and true power.