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Here we are then, you and I, having left the cave
and tamed the animals, having sown the seed
and grown from village tribe to city state
to a world of warring nations, now we wait
at the borders of our perception, waiting for the vision
to go beyond this nation to be one human family on this Earth.
We look to the eyes, to the eyes that see us,
to the face that looms each day. The mother's face above the crib
smiles and snarls, kisses and barks, and sings the song of the world.
Pushed and pulled as she is by the power outside of her she clings to the clutch of her child
and pours into the new-born being her love for everything
and her fear.
If we retrace our steps along the path that brought us here we can uncover the original
innocence that still exists within us. The so-called sins have been laid on us like cloaks
to cover our nakedness. As a child we were subject to the moods and whims of those who
protected and provided for us, who covered us with cloaks and exposed us to their fears.
This intelligence within each one of us is a pure thing. Even now,
no matter how troubled by life, within you is a pure intelligence using your life.
Honor this continuous energy pulsing within you.
The original innocence lives on, always available at the untroubled center of your being, alive
on myriad wavelengths brought together in you. Honor this original innocence, the foundation
of your life. Bring it with you. See it in others.
The intelligence of the whole being is always available, and the original innocence with
which we experienced our early years is still accessible.
However, our culture requires of us a vast amount of memory and learned knowledge in
order to participate in the way of life. And participation is compulsory. Every child is
made to attend school and to be obedient to authority. Disobedience brings punishment
and guilt, and the young mind is busied with a learned fear. The "powers that be" dominate
the child and the child learns to divide the whole into right and wrong, good and bad.
Therefore as we grow and adapt to the requirements imposed on us, the intelligence of our being
is concentrated in our minds by necessity, and our original innocence is obscured
and unthinkable.
Let's call this culture with its adversarial rule of law and its absolute authority over
the person, with all of its great inventions and its printed money, let's call this way
of life: the Labyrinth.
The Labyrinth includes all that we covet and all that we disdain, a tragic-comic carnival
of clowns and monsters, lovers and haters, winners and losers.
In the labyrinth the warrior belief system is in power: with rewards and punishments,
friends and enemies, persons of power and wealth, and persons in jail waiting to be
executed. The Labyrinth is a maze of opposites where the challenge to fight the battle is
thrust upon us in order to survive, and in order to succeed.
One learns to live with conflict in the labyrinth, adapts to the punishments and strives for
the rewards. A person can become skillful in dealing with adversarial relationships
like the warrior, the lawyer, the politician, or one can be obedient and submit to the flow
and try to make the best of it. But many of us feel trapped in the labyrinth
and are not well-suited for a life of conflict. We don't want to go to war, or fight
legal battles, or run for office; we're much more interested in the pursuit of happiness,
or in the enjoyment of nature, or in some artistic endeavor. We would prefer a more
harmonious way of life than the labyrinth can provide.
We'd like to find a way out from the labyrinth but there appears to be none. No exit is permitted.
The rule of law is universal and compulsory, as are money, licenses and taxes. The legal
and police forces insist on absolute power over each person.
How then can we contemplate a way out? The way out is connected to the way in.
The way you went in is the way out. By retracing your steps and unraveling the knots you've
tied within your mind, by releasing your self from judgment and the confusion of hopes and
fears that you were required to learn, you can find your own way out from the labyrinth,
because the labyrinth is the creation of your mind and does not exist without thought.
In order to participate in the labyrinth we enter a trance, a dream state, in which we
subordinate ourselves, our souls, to a power over and outside of us. We suspend
our disbelief and submit to the ruling voice. Fooled by fear we wander into the labyrinth
doing what's expected of us, just like everyone else.
But we can awaken from this trance.
The way out of the labyrinth is by a change in consciousness.
When the mind rests, and the chatterer is quiet for a timeless time, the intelligence
of the whole being becomes available. When we place ourselves where there is no need
for thought, perhaps on a secluded beach or a mountain-top, then, when our thinking stops,
we can experience that change in our consciousness...
a completely familiar place for each and every one of us. We become aware of a whole intelligence within us that includes all of
our processes. This is the indivisible consciousness of the soul.
The soul comes from a place before birth and goes to a place beyond death, and uses the
whole brain even as the thinking mind is ignorant of it.
As soon as we recognize that the living soul within us is infinitely more aware than our
worded sense, the learned values and remembered knowledge can take a lesser place in the being.
When we awaken to the consciousness of the soul we realize that the labyrinth and the
warrior belief system is a dream, a creation of the mind, and can be exercised or not,
at will. This soul is our original innocence, a whole
intelligence in touch with the essence of life itself. The source of life is within
us, evolving over millions of years to become this, indivisible, beyond judgment, beyond
good and evil, beyond the labyrinth.
The inner person is our priority, not the outside authority, not the judge, not the
commander-in-chief, nor the medical expert. The treatment is from within.
Even the madman murderer must be understood by himself before change is possible.
Murdering the murderer continues the madness.
The path of each person is valid. Each living thing is on its own course moved by an inner
intelligence. If we can honor this intelligence within each person, our conflicts and self-destructive
behavior will be diminished. The only vehicle we have is the person,
nothing less, nothing more. "The People" is an idea in the mind of a person.
If we are to devise a more harmonious way of life it must benefit the person.
We are all here together, a particular species, evolving through birth and death on this spinning
orb, which even now is zipping through the heavens with all of us aboard.
We are in fact sharing this Earth, and totally contained within it. What are we doing here? What's going on? If we could watch a time-lapse film of the
planet over the past century, we would see huge cities erupting with an exploding humanity,
great chains of mechanized energy and new-born millions of people suddenly rushing around
the world. We would see wars like cancers on the body of humanity, a global skin disease
of human self-destruction, exploding before our eyes.
What is this strange disease we suffer which destroys our lives? What kind of confusion
is it that sets person against person and nation against nation, not just in argument
but with atrocities to the death? Why can't the children of Abraham share their resources
and work together for their mutual benefit? Why do we habitually choose to kill and maim
each other? Is this the same confusion that sets the cells of the human body against each
other? We say of course that a healthy human body does not have cancer. But do we say that
a healthy human society does not have wars? Not yet; we're still defending ourselves with a vengeance.
Our belief system is based on the idea that the mind can control the whole person.
If I believe I am centered in my mind, then worded language and the Rule of Law can perhaps control me.
But the whole person includes an intelligence beyond the comprehension of the mind.
The mind, the worded sense, is inadequate to deal with the complexities of the whole being.
The facts of life in Western Culture include the imposition of a false idea:
that human intelligence is under the direction of the human mind.
This is so obviously absurd that one thought is sufficient to refute it: the human mind
does not understand, and nor can science explain, our own uncharted brain which functions
on wavelengths beyond the reach of thought and remembered knowledge.
As long as our belief system places the mind and its book of laws at the center, then awareness
of our soul is obscured. Only when the mind gives up control or attempted control, is
there a possibility of the soul-consciousness emerging.
The soul is the living intelligence of the human being. Each of us is essentially an
intelligent living soul. Our mind is developed after our
birth and created by the soul for the benefit of human relationship. The soul is in touch
with all aspects of the life being lived, including what is explainable in language,
and what is not. Including what is conscious and what is unconscious. If we truly understand that the soul uses
the mind, rather than the mind uses the soul, then our belief system becomes a personal
spiritual process rather than a mental compulsion of laws and punishments.
The conductor of the life being lived, the user of this intelligence, the possessor of
this uncharted brain, is a living soul.
Not far from here there is a cage, with hundreds of unhappy people locked inside.
Outside the cage armed guards are watching. A boy is trying to squeeze out through the
bars of the cage. The boy's mother is embarrassed as people around
her snarl angrily. She pulls him back and scolds him.
"If you go out there, bad things will happen," she says, "you could die!"
Again and again he tries to escape. Again and again she scolds him.
Then, one night when the moon is full and everyone is sleeping,
the boy sucks in his breath. He squeezes and squeezes,
and the bars seem to bend, and suddenly, he's through... he's outside the cage.
A guard lies snoring next to the gate, he's chained to the cage.
The boy notices the key to the cage is around the guard's neck, but no one has noticed, he's free.
He runs into the woods. When he's far away from the cage, he climbs a tree and rests.
Over the next months the boy learns
how to take care of himself by helping others. He helps a farmer during harvest,
and a shepherd with his sheep. And he grows bigger and stronger.
And every day he thinks of his mother and all the unhappy people trapped inside
the cage. He resolves to set them free.
One day he sets off on a journey back to the cage.
He arrives at night while the guards are sleeping. Carefully he takes the key from around the
guard's neck, and unlocks the gate of the cage.
He finds his mother and gently wakes her up. "Quick!" he says to his mother. "Let's go! The gate is unlocked, and I have the key" She is horrified.
"Come on," he says to the unhappy people, "you're all free!"
No-one wants to leave the cage...
So, taking the key with him, and leaving the gate unlocked,
he leaves the cage once more. disappointed and sad to leave his mother behind
but now that he's found his freedom he will never let it go.
A soft rain is falling as he runs through the woods to the open fields beyond.
A few centuries ago we woke up to the fact that the world was not flat, but a sphere;
and we realized the earth had always been a sphere, even while we had thought it flat.
So now we are awakening to the realization that humanity is one whole society, one global
economy, one family of beings in a shared environment.
No matter how we divide ourselves, between good and evil, or Republican and Democrat,
or black and white, or Christian, Muslim, and Jew, our divisions are imposed on an already
existing unity. This fundamental condition that we share,
the human soul, is unchangeable by religion or government, or by any authority whatsoever.
Our ancestors designed the systems and built the institutions that we've inherited;
each generation modifying the social structure according to the priorities of the time.
When the American colonies threw out the British and constituted a new government, they kept
one very important ingredient from British rule, passed down from William the Conqueror, the
idea that the ruling power, whether by king or government, wields absolute power over
every person, and may force its laws, wars, punishments, wars, on all.
We're still subject to that power in the form of a national government
that recognizes no greater authority than its own, and sustains its power by the compulsory
"rule of law". Each person must submit to an adversarial
legal and political system that requires that we struggle with each other for justice, and
for power. We have been taught to struggle as a way of
thought, and as a way of life. This condition pervades every aspect of the
culture enforced by an absolute authority over all.
Our predicament is we've inherited a social system that works well for a society of opponents
and adversaries. So long as we divide ourselves between friends and enemies, and winners and
losers, then the present order of society is workable. However if our vision is of a
more harmonious social order in which human society is perceived as a whole, and in which
human conflict is seen as a condition to be avoided, or healed, then the present system
won't get us there.
Today we inhabit a new age, a global age, that includes all the races, all the religions
and every nation. We are living together here, sharing the same origins, the same conditions
and the same destiny, and yet all around the planet we are stuck in the mode of man against
man, nation against nation. Many of us see the absurdity and the tragedy
of man against man as a way of life, but feel powerless to intervene. Human self-destruction
is sponsored by national governments that recognize no other authority than their own,
and condoned by religious institutions that recognize no other morality than their own.
None of these governments serves humanity as a whole but each pursues its own supposed
national interests regardless of its effect on the rest of the human family.
There have been radical changes in the human experience over the past few centuries but
our governmental, political and legal systems have not kept pace. Our social institutions
were designed and built many years ago by warriors for warriors with ideals of dominance,
and conquest, and defeating the opposition. Now our need is for a new generation of institutions
that function for the benefit of the individual person and the whole human family, and
in fact, the whole planet.
There is an ancient truth that humanity has known forever but which remains a secret to
this civilization. We are directed from a source beyond our reasoning. This source is
not in the legislatures, not in the seats of power, not in temples or churches.
It's not outside of us. The source is within our selves.
We are possessed by an unconscious intelligence that somehow has arranged our moving parts
into a living whole, that does what it is doing whether or not we think, whether or
not we legislate. This intelligence is the pilot of this life, using the mind as one
tool, one sense in a symphony of sensations. This intelligence is at work within each one
of us, and throughout humanity.
Just as our individual bodies comprise billions of cells mysteriously unified by the living
intelligence into one whole being, so humanity comprises billions of beings mysteriously collected
into one whole existence.
We're already connected by this intelligence on wavelengths beyond our reasoning, beyond
our wildest dreams.
Our ability to separate ourselves from each other is taking precedence over our connectedness.
Our spiritual wholeness is being ignored in favor of ideologies that divide us and keep
us apart.
So how are we to transcend the organized conflict of man against man?
If we continue to join the conflict, if we pick sides and fight for what we believe and
compete for power over others, our personal, social and environmental problems will remain
unresolved; and we will continue to suffer.
Man against man is not the answer. Man against man is the problem.
Our quest for a more harmonious social order is not to be achieved by conflict with each
other, but by the acceptance of ourselves individually and collectively as a whole.
Rather than working against each other, our need is to work with each other.
We can more easily work together for shared benefits than against each other for shared
suffering.
If we can free ourselves from the compulsion to struggle, we can then perceive the wholeness
of our condition and our inclusion within an already existing unity.
The way we think is within our personal power. The healing of human conflict is an inside
job.
By focusing on transactions and relationships where a mutual benefit can be accomplished,
where agreement is the goal, the mood of our relationships is transformed. We become creative
and caring rather than defensive and greedy. By concentrating on what is mutually beneficial
we are happier in our family, and more successful and productive in our community.
Our difficulty is that the requirements of our culture distract us from fulfilling our
deepest needs. If the mind is chattering on, hoping for this, fearing that, then any perception
of oneself as a whole is unlikely.
In order to heal our divided selves we must first notice, then pay complete attention
to our inner dialogue, the ongoing chatter of our personal mind.
This is the first step on an inner journey.
The purpose of the journey is not to correct oneself. The purpose is to accept oneself,
to know one's own mind and to face the actualities of the life being lived.
The inner dialogue reveals our confusion as we try to adapt to the requirements and relationships
of an authoritarian and adversarial social system. As we journey inward, beyond the chatter there
are hidden emotions waiting to be felt, inhibited hopes and stifled fears waiting to be expressed.
When we allow ourselves to be who we naturally are, to feel our own sensations and love who
we love, we are free to contribute our own special talents to the world.
The realization is that the self is whole and has always been whole, even while we had
thought it divided.
When we dissolve the riddles of our inner world and accept our indivisible selves as
a whole without judgment, then the soul can be itself and do its own work for the benefit
of the human family. When the mind is rested, and the dualisms are quieted, the awakened
person might hear the music of the earth, might step into the eternal moment and realize
the absolute freedom of the soul. Such freedom cannot be granted by another, cannot be given
or taken away by the rule of law; such freedom cannot be taught or studied or judged, but
occurs according to an inner realization unique to the person.
We share a common condition as human beings on Planet Earth. Each of us has a unique path,
directed, if we allow ourselves to feel it, by the mysterious intelligence of the living
soul within us. This indivisible soul is alive now in its original innocence, here in this
place, at this time, being itself, including what we know of ourselves and also what we
don't know. Our love, our work, our joyful task is to
fulfill the one within. This is the satisfaction we seek. Each of us can do this.
The truths of our existence are beyond governance. No amount of force, no amount of legislation
or punishment can solve or remove our differences. Nor will we achieve a more harmonious way
of life through revolution, or competitive elections and disputed acts of government.
The truths of our existence are within us and within our personal power.
There are three steps each of us can take that can enable us to
transcend the adversarial quagmire. Three steps on our own unique personal journey:
1. Recognize and admit that you can spend your life as you wish. You are choosing your
own path and you are responsible for your own personal fulfillment.
2. Acknowledge the given talents that you are blessed with, and develop your natural
abilities into skills. Become skilful at what you love to do.
3. Now use those developed skills to work with others for your mutual benefit, without
harming anyone. Focus on a mutual benefit in all relationships and all transactions.
Our civilization is in the process of a great change. We're going through a change in the
mythic story of the culture, from one understanding of our condition to another. A new story is
arriving.
The old story is that we are in a dualistic world, divided between good and evil, and
friends and enemies. We have been taught and conditioned by a divisive and adversarial
belief system that insists on conflict as fundamental to the human condition.
Also, we've inherited a way of life that is predicated on the dominance of a ruling authority
that is armed and ready for battle. The old story is of wars and massacres, of
human self-destruction as a fact of life, and it continues to this day.
But now, a new story is emerging that reflects changes in our condition. As the old story
has divided humanity the new story is concerned with the wholeness of our condition and a
more harmonious and inclusive worldview.
Many will say change is impossible, that human conflict is inevitable. We've been raised
on a history of war and conquest and heroism in battle. This is the way we are.
No doubt this is the way we have been, and continue to be. However, we are evolving and
the increased awareness of our actual condition, of being one human species in one earthly
environment, creates a fresh perspective of what we're doing here. The new story is about
a worldview we can all live with.
on each other, as the world looks on, horrified and seemingly powerless to intervene. The
great religions at the root of the conflict insist on separation and divisiveness with
Can we awaken to a fresh vision of the ancient truth we've always known?
Each of us, and each living thing, is in direct contact with the universal source of life,
call it Allah or Yahweh or God. This direct connection within us is sacred,
and beyond the reach of divisive ideologies or any authority whatsoever.
Can we accept this sacred quality in each other? Can we accept this inner freedom, this personal
sovereignty, and at the same time recognize that our world has changed since the ancient
texts were written?
We are no longer isolated tribes in an uncharted world. We are one human family in one earthly
environment. Our condition and our awareness is now global.
The old story doesn't work for humanity as a whole, nor is it concerned with the whole
planet. It wasn't created with a whole planet in mind. We have inherited divisive systems
and customs that were designed for another time that are now no longer appropriate or
beneficial.
Can we awaken to a global vision, including all the tribes, all the nations, and all the
religions, and recognize that we need a more harmonious way of life on this planet? Can
we disentangle ourselves from the obsolete divisions that are causing intolerable human
suffering, and unchain ourselves from the perpetual unforgiving vengeance? Can we honor
the sacred source within each one of us? Yes we can. One person at a time.
So what are we going to do about this and that,
Is there something for someone to say? Can you tell me what's the matter?
Have we lost or found the way? Hey *** *** all pretty questions lined
in a row As all around the answers turn waiting for
someone to know.
There's a Driver moving you along the track One way forward, no way back
The Driver knows what he wants from you You know what he wants
The Driver is you!