As I start to write my blog for the next week, it is November 11 today. Known as Veterans Day in the US, and Remembrance Day in the UK, it got me to thinking of the many men I have met or have been told about who fought (and died) in the various wars of the past 250 years. War is not a normal way for humanity. The fact we are so traumatized by it is proof to me that it is not who we truly are. With the exception of occasional psychopathic types who actually get off killing people legally and indiscriminately, most coming back from the wars are always damaged in some way even if they have no scars to display.
I recall as a young boy, playing outside with my friends, coming across an old man sat on the curbside with his feet in the gutter, crying and with his hands clasped tightly over his ears. Down the road was a work crew repairing the road and using a Pneumatic hammer drill. We went up to the man and asked if we could help. He asked that we lead him away from the very loud hammering noise. A few minutes later when the noise was far away, he composed himself and thanks us for our help. We were curious as to what was going on with him. He told us that the loud noise had triggered memories of trench bombardments during World War One. What struck me as a young boy was that decades after the experiences, he was still suffering. Social Critic and comedian, George Carlin, talked about the language used to describe this trauma and how we have managed to somehow sanitize the idea to make it more acceptable – while focused on American wars, it is true in any country (see link from the 1980s).
That war mentality has been prevalent within human conditioning for thousands of years and it is also why we have focused on the natural world as a ‘thing’ to be conquered and defeated. If we insist on letting ourselves continue to react to the media pressure triggers of Fear, Hate and Greed, then we allow ourselves to remain deeply separated from the natural world. If we are to thrive, we have to fight the big Tech companies that use algorithms to increase human engagement with the social media platforms that continue to drive these triggers – it what maintains our conditioning and how we stay hypnotized into following political and corporate rationale to go to war with just about everything in our world including the natural world, which we rely upon. Total insanity really.
The good news. You can easily break out of this conditioning by simply being aware that it exists. Philosopher Christopher Whybrow (My Soul’s Human Experience) wrote a beautiful piece about this: “Mankind, the manipulated Being. For hundreds of years, maybe thousands, man has lived with his SUB-CONSCIOUS mind. In his manipulated, programmed biological computer.
Programmed from birth, at school, in society, in church and by his political beliefs, TV, the media and marketing, only believing what he is being told. He buys things, gadgets and identifies himself with possessions. The ego, the false self, that is not his true face! He is destroying his own home and he doesn`t give a dam, `cause he`s got enough money, he can buy, buy and buy his happiness. In a state of confusion, in a state of destructiveness, governed and motivated by the ego, he will go to war for the want of more. Caused by his greed, lust for power, or just thru his fears. His ego has separated him from the “web of life “and now he stands alone. What he does not understand, he will fear. What he fears, he will kill. Due to belief systems and an ideology, for Queen, King or Country. Mankind has committed and accepted, slavery, torture, murder and unrest, at home and around the Globe. His intelligence used unwisely is no more than stupidity!
Many a philosopher gone by, many Prophets alike, have described man’s condition, man’s SUB-CONSCIOUS condition, as dysfunctional, mad or a mental disorder, because natural disasters haven`t killed as many people, as mankind has each other in their wars, revolutions and ethnic cleanings. It is programmed as the “norm”, to allow the wars that give him more. He doesn`t see, just looks away, accepts the wars all around him, it is the “norm.”
So, empty your mind, rid yourself of those thoughts, it is time to awaken, it is time of awareness, now is the moment. Forget the past and tomorrow will come all on its own, in due time. Be aware of the moment, the CONSCIOUS mind. Question what you do not understand, stop what you do not like. Know yourself and not the borders of your Beliefs. You are a “Human Being” not a Human Doing. Listen, see, smell and feel the life that has always been there, but your thoughts were of yesterday or maybe tomorrow. Be in control of your thoughts and stay in the present. Do not let your mind wonder off with the clouds. The present moment is beautiful, peaceful calm and real, and your thoughts in the “now “will become your new reality, your new world. For you are the “Truth”, go be what you want, go do what you feel from the Heart. If all that you do is on the basis of LOVE. Now with your ego diminished and your soul set Free. Your CONSCIOUS mind is your new found Life. Our COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS, our new found world. Then, only then, can this paradise on Earth be enjoyed by all. So, re-program your biological computer, with data from the heart.”
Becoming conscious is about the inner spiritual journey. And (again) as I have said many times in this blog, you don’t have to be religious to be spiritual. It is about seeing the connection to all of life. Environmental philosopher Aldo Leopold (A Sand County Almanac) never mentions spirituality, but like his contemporary, Rachel Carson (Silent Spring), both emphasized the simple need to recognize the intelligent wisdom presented to us by the natural world. Leopold’s Golden Rule of Ecology: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”
In his book Sand County Almanac, he guides the reader to think consciously as he leads them to consider the idea of humanity being a member of a global community (e.g., see links 1 and 2). His revelation is the recognition of a new ‘Land Ethic.’ “The ‘Land Ethic’ simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land. In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such… I have purposely presented the land ethic as a product of social evolution because nothing so important as an ethic is ever ‘written’… It evolves in the minds of a thinking community.”
We are entering a new world if we are but willing to step forward with courage to embrace it, as WE create it from the chaos of the crumbling control systems that have enslaved us for so long. It can be scary to do something completely different, but believe me when I say that change is coming, whether we want it or not – it is nothing to fear. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the ability to act despite it. It is a conscious decision to push beyond the boundaries of fear and refuse to succumb to its limitations. It is the ability to say, “Sod you fear, I have better things to do.” It begins with not letting your fear laden ego drive your thinking. Being heartfelt. Being kind. Being respectful of life and all it represents. You want a better world? Make that a personal conscious choice. Then continue to make it with like-minded others.
To Be Continued ……………….
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