"We all live within the same illusion and are, in our own way and in our own time, trying to understand the truth behind it all. Some may not be looking at the moment or even in this particular life, but ultimately we will all wake up from the dream and remember who we really are. Ultimately, we will all become one..."
"Perhaps one of the most important truths about ourselves that we can realize is that every one of us is filled with the divine nature of the universe and that at the end of the great lifespan of that universe, our faults and shortcomings, and the mistakes we made on this planet, will have had absolutely no significance. Only what we have contributed, and the degree to which we have loved and allowed ourselves to embrace that unity and oneness that we have with all things in existence, will have ever made any relevant difference to the universe at all..." - Aaron Hutchins
"The one thing about life that you can always find to be consistent is that it will always surprise you. You might not be able to see now how the future might be any better, but it always has some tricks up it's sleeve that make us look back at those low times and laugh at the fact that we were ever feeling low to begin with. A lot of my own low times were spent dwelling on all the things that I wanted to do with my life, but didn't make happen. I usued to torture myself for years that I didn't have those things because they were what I thought I wanted, but now I have a bigger perspective on life and I look at all the people who have accomplished what I thought I wanted and can see how their lives are actually no better or more important than mine, as those dreams or ideas of career are not the whole point of life. The point of life is just simply to recognize the fact that you're here right now and the beauty of life is that rain or shine doesn't matter. All of the people who have gone before us had their "go" at life, but their experience is done now, so what matters is that we are still here and that, because we are still here, we are the ones who still have the chance to make our lives into whatever we want ourselves to be... " - Aaron Hutchins
From our emergence into this world at birth, all the way up until our final rest, we're taught to view the world in terms of duality.Good and bad. Happy and sad. Positive and negative. Light and dark. Beautiful and ugly. Right and wrong. In fact, in the whole spectrum of possible experience it seems as if we tend to gravitate towards one polarity or another, when, in all reality, there really is absolutely no difference between either side of that spectrum except for the feelings that we attach to those things. That is to say, for instance, that a thing is only considered "bad" because we ourselves have attached a negative meaning to that thing that says it's bad and therein lies the nature of all things. These feelings we have not only dictate meaning towards the things we encounter in life, but they also fundamentally shape our perceptions of the world. So, in all actuality, everything is neutral until we attach meaning to it and, in this way, the duality that we all experience is really merely nothing more than a projection of our own consciousness.
Where do we get these ideas and interpretations of our reality then? Well, some of these ideas we, of course, develop on our own, but also, I think just by nature of being brought up in any culture, we are subject to being influenced by the collective views of society and by the perspectives of those in our environment around us. The truth is though, that, beyond all those things, everything that happens in our lives, by one means or another, is perfect just the way it is. Granted, there are a great number of things out there that might bring harm to people and, most certainly, anything that imposes upon the will and/or well being of another is a potentially harmful thing to the world, but those things, I think, really come down to more of an issue of common sense. I'm more referring here to all of those things that each of us do everyday that stand as unique and, perhaps even, unprecendented expressions of who we really are as individuals and of what humanity can truly be. We may not understand all of these things to be sure, but I think that as human beings who are just learning about our lives as we go, that there is always something beautiful to be taken in from every experience that we have.
~ You've got an angry person in your life? Well, you can almost bet that they're only angry because they're in the same process of learning some deeper lessons about life as we are.
~ You've been dumped by your significant other? Well, isn't it possible that you're here to have experiences with more than just that one person in your life and that, by opening ourselves up to new people, we can only learn new and beautiful things about ourselves and about the world?
~ You feel uncomfortable around people who look, act or even think differently than you do? Well, could it be that you're just struggling with that fear that we all have of the unknown and of those things in life that we simply just don't yet understand because they're maybe just a little different from the way that we have chosen to live our own lives?
The point is that there really are an infinite number of ways to live a life and, although we will certainly never understand them all, they are all beautiful in their own way. In fact, if we can learn to appreciate and even find joy in those differences between us all, while also allowing others to be what they are and to create their own unique expression of the life experience,I think we'll begin to find that, even after we've probed the virtually infinite depths of the entire universe, all of those different individual perceptions and expressions of life are probably one of the most stunningly fascinating things about life that we may ever encounter. I believe that once we're able to recognize that too, that then we will no longer feel the need to waste our energies struggling against the world or in self-defense, as our world suddenly becomes much bigger and we are able to look out at the universe with new eyes and marvel in wonder and awe at the magic of all that is...
"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. - Lao Tzu"
Today I awoke with a clarity of vision, an awareness of mind and a deep appreciation for everything that I have and everyone that I know. This new awareness inspired me to make this meme. Hope you like it... :)
I had a really vividly profound dream the other night that I was Martin Luther King Jr. and that I was giving my first speech ever in a small night club that had an open mic for poets and musicians. The club was strictly for those of color and the MC who introduced me enthusiastically was a black woman who had no idea who I was or what I was about to say. I was planning to speak out about all of the inequality that I had seen in the world and about the ignorance and prejudice out there and the lack of rights that we had as individuals with dark skin. I knew how taboo that this was at that time and I could feel the deep fear of what I was about to do before I went up on stage.
Once on stage, I meditated to myself for a moment in silence and then began to speak out fervently from the depths of my heart. As I did this, I began to feel more and more deeply how truly important that speaking about this was. I could feel the burning passion that I had inside for spreading this message of love and equality for all beings on Earth and, as I continued to speak, I looked out and saw the woman who had introduced me. For a moment, I could see the fear that she had in her eyes of the potential consequences of allowing me to continue speaking in this manner and I could tell that part of her wanted to take me off stage. I understood this fear deeply, but I was driven to keep speaking anyway. After another few minutes, I could sense that she had begun to understand, as I had, the crucial nature of this message, as she sat down to listen. Slowly, I felt the hearts of everyone else there as well begin to embrace a sense of unity with one another as they began to acknowledge themselves as the beautiful human beings that they were who had just as much right to live and breathe and love and be free as any other beings had on this planet. As I saw the sheer beauty and intensity of this incredible, pivotal, moment unfolding before me, it brought tears to my eyes.
The next morning, when I awoke, I was completely awestruck and felt indescribably privileged to have had such a dream and to have been able to feel like I had been there to witness a be a part of such a beautiful and defining moment for humanity. I know that it was just a dream, but it was so deep and meaningful that I can't help but feel that to have experienced it was, perhaps, one of the single greatest and most beautiful sensations of my life...
I think everyone has the right to perceive their life and their presence on this Earth anyway they wish, but I've noticed lately that I've been having an extraordinary number of talks with people who seem to, in one way or another, have somewhat of a "god complex". This phenomenon inspired me to make this meme...
“Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.” - Dalai Lama XIV
“Your task is not to seek love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” - Rumi
In this earthly existence, I believe that monogamous relationships are a beautiful tool that are here to help us begin to understand the concept of what "LOVE" for another individual truly is. By this logic, however, it also seems that, in the end, these experiences are merely a rudimentary step along the pathway to our own personal enlightenment in our lives and to the elevation of our soul. In other words, these encounters seem to serve as more of a model for(or a way of)showing us how we should love and respect ALL beings equally andone of the best ways to do this, I believe, is to begin considering these experiences with others as just that...a beautiful experience. In this way we can start to relinquish our hold on one another and our expectations of others by simply not locking ourselves down to the idea of having just one intimate partner for the rest of our lives andopening our hearts to the whole infinite world of possible experiences that are out there for us to explore.
Our Western culture generally recoils at the idea of having amorous connections with more than one person in our lives, but I think we have something to learn from everyone we meet in this life and that people will come and go throughout our lifetime who have something to teach us through our experiences with them. When we become romantically involved with someone, we often unrealisitically begin to expect or hope that it might last forever, exclusively, but that's only because we've been brought up with our own limited perceptions of the world and perhaps even of our very existence itself here in the West.
Most of us have grown up in a culture where being in possession and control of things and of the people in our lives is a thing to be prized. As a result, we most often end up wanting someone in our lives that we can call our very own(and no one else's) in this life. Eastern traditions, however, have known for perhaps thousands of years, that in order for us to grasp mentally those higher understandings of life and love and nature, that we first have to let go of all those external views that are imposed upon us by our environment, as well as, the things inside us that often make us feel like we need to control the world and to covet things for ourselves...and this is done through a TRUE embodiment of love.
I believe that many of those individuals who have reached higher vibrational levels of consciousness through extremely deep meditation or even those in shamanic or tribal traditions who have, since the dawn of man, taken ayahuasca or payote or other consciousness expanding substances, that push one beyond the infinitely small minded nature of cultural and societal views, standards and expectations, understand this. This is because these altered states of consciousness allow one to step outside of the constraints of the three dimensional illusions of the world and thrust the individual beyond everything they've previously known into a place where, perhaps for the first time in their lives, they are able to think for themselves without the external suppositions of their environment.
That's not to say, of course, to go out and make love to everyone you meet or even to make it your goal to have as many experiences with as many people as you can in this life. It's only to say that beyond looking for someone in life that we can possess and call our very own, that rather, in the natural flow of things, we can be more open to the possibility of the experiences that we can have with people, what we can learn from them and what they can mean to our lives. In other words, we can take what we learned with someone and apply it to future encounters with others in our life, as a measure of refining our hearts and fine tuning our own expressions of love and through that achieve a higher understanding and wisdom of love along the way that moves us into higher levels of conscious thought.
Then, maybe we can learn to love the people we encounter along the way even more, from a place beyond jealousy and the fear of loss in our minds, as we allow them the freedom to be and express themselves as uniquely as they possibly can and hopefully, in turn, they can love us enough to allow us to do the same. The bond between two people is a beautiful thing to be sure, but just imagine all the things in your life that you couldn't have learned had you stayed with that first person that came along. It can be so easy to become caught up in our own whimsically romantic notions of saying that "we've arrived" or that "we've found our one true soul mate", but in all reality, in doing that we are really only closing ourselves off to the endless possibilities of deeper experience that this life has to offer.
There is another way, however. I mean, we can always discover that same true affinity for all beings by the traditional/historical method of simply not being taken in by intimate encounters with anyone at all. This, of course, has been done by the monks, the nuns, The Dalai Lama, The Buddha and so on, throughout the ages in our world, and likely because those individuals who sought true enlightenment realized at some point in their lives that romantic involvement with another might only complicate or distract an individual from the journey towards a pure, unbiased, love for all beings.I'm not completely sure,that we were necessarily meant to follow this route though, as those experiences of love and intimacy most certainly seem to be an integral part of the human experience that are rooted deeply within our souls.
I think that love and even intimacy are experiences that were perhaps meant to be explored with many people throughout our lifetime on many different levels. Our immature culture scoffs at this, however, and tries to tell us that that this is taboo and that we should be seeking "the one that's meant for us" in our lives and, in general, I think we pretty much follow, possibly unknowingly, what culture dictates that we do because it's really all we've ever known in our lives, but, by this logic, I tell you that I think there are many "one's" out there for us to encounter in our lifetime. I understand that this way of thinking is not a generally accepted view in our society, but I think that futher illustrates the point. The point is, we can make the choice right now to be free of fear and control and all the pain in the world if we can allow ourselves to just open up our minds and our hearts enough to just let go...
"NAMASTE"
(which means)
I honor the place in you in which the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you which is of love, of truth, of light and of peace.
Before I begin here, I just want to say that, despite the fact that this post is about death that, if you can get around that fact enough to read this, it is actually a lot more uplifting and potentially liberating than you might think and definitely worth the read... :)
The subject of death is something that most of the world puts off thinking about until those fateful last moments when their whole life flashes before them. Most of us live in a culture where death is not talked about or acknowledged as a fact of life until someone close to us passes on or we realize that our own clock is winding down and we have no other choice but to think about it. I've spent a great deal of my life thinking about death and therefore a great deal of my life keeping it to myself, as it's something that no one ever really wants to contemplate. It's generally considered to be too grim or depressing a subject to think about and the very idea of death often generates fear within the minds of many people. Many times, even those who say that they are not afraid of death and that they have accepted the inevitability of their own mortality, find that they had really only done so to tuck the idea away conveniently in the back of their minds and perhaps quietly prevent themselves from having to think about it as well...and therein lies the fear of it all.
In a lifetime of thinking about death, however, I can tell you that there is nothing to fear and thatpeople who think about death as much as they think about life are not dwelling on the morbid side of things, but rather they come to know a great, fulfilling, secret about life and about why death is truly not a fearful thing because they begin to see a fuller, richer, view of what the whole picture of life really is. From birth to death. From incarnation to the grand adventure of life and at last into the great beyond...
These individuals see a more full spectrum of existence as a whole and are therefore often much more aware of the things that are truly important in one's lifetime. Rather than having all those regretful epiphanies in their last moments of how much more they could've loved their life and the world, how much better they could've treated people, how many more places they could've gone, how much more they could've explored and learned about nature and so on. They can apply all those things to their life right now and begin living with much more wisdom and love, as they embrace the perspective of life that usually only comes in those desperate last moments towards the end of one's life when they realize that they may not have much more life to live.
The great philosopher Alan Watts, spent a considerable portion of his life talking about death to people and helping to deliver them from the overwhelming fears that people have about it. I think that was an incredible service to have given to the world as, the fear of losing this existence that we all cling to, is really one of the most deep rooted fears that we can have in life and perhaps the most important one that we have to come to terms with. We like to control our lives as much as possible and the prospect of death is likely the most out of control thing that we can ever encounter or think of. We think that if we can just stamp the idea of death out of our minds that it might not be true and somehow that gives us the idea of having some control over our lives and where we're heading. We can overcome these fears of losing control however, just by remembering that while we may fear death, it is something that we simply have no control of...and never did. Death comes to us all eventually and there is a sense of liberation in that. We don't have to struggle against it now or ever because we simply can't.
We're afraid of the unknown...of what might lie beyond the veil...of what awaits us on the other side or perhaps an even more teriffying prospect...what doesn't lie on the other side. The thought of everlasting non-existence. We don't need to fear this though. For, everything that makes us up as human beings...our body, our mind, our consciousness and the spirit of everything we are is made up of energy and even science can tell you that that energy is never lost. It is merely redistributed into the universe, breathing life into other things and creating more of everything that you see around you. Your personality, your life experiences, the feelings you had, the things you created, the people you helped or inspired...they are all energies that you created in the universe and they will never die. Our body may feed the soil one day, which in turn may become a tree that might, in turn, feed the birds and so on and we can live on in this way as well, but you are not just your body. You are YOU...and the essence of everything that YOU are is part of the whole universe and will be absorbed into the universe in one way or another and will most undoubtedly live on forever.
We don't know what comes next, but we can know that we have no need to fear it. The very nature of evolution in this universe suggests that, whatever it is, it will be something better and perhaps far more extraordinary than we can imagine. So, in accepting death and releasing the fear of allowing ourselves to ponder what it is, we can become truly empowered within our life and begin to experience the infinite freedom and joy that comes with TRULY living a life without fear...
Here is a quote by Alan Watts from the video below(9 mins.) of a talk he gave regarding eastern thought on the subject of death and why we have no reason to ever fear it.I hope you watch it and are just as inspired as I was to live more and to fear so much less... :)
"So, the bodhisatva saves all beings. Not by preaching sermons to them, but by showing them that they are delivered...they are liberated...by the very fact of not being able to stop change. You can't hang onto yourself. You don't have to try not to hang onto yourself. It can't be done...and that is salvation..." - Alan Watts
"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it." - Morpheus
Reality is merely an illusion and we all live in this "Matrix" of illusion that Morpheus was referring to everyday of our lives. Ignorance to the truth of reality is the problem and the only solution to this problem is to begin to awaken your mind and set yourself on the path of "The One".
Here are the 5 main things you can do to start following the path to true enlightenment according to the "Matrix" trilogy, the documentary "Philosophy And The Matrix: Return To The Source" and the philosophers throughout time who inspired it:
1)The superman rejects all of the previously established constructs of systems of good and bad and what you're told that you're supposed to do. "The One" will use his own will to do what he wants regardless of what the world says or thinks. - According to the great philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
2) Free yourself of the attachments to singular individuals, platonic or intimate. This includes romantic and sexual encounters. "The One" will learn to love all the same and not raise any one person above the others. - Neo fails at this by holding Trinity up above all others, but the TRULY enlightened individual will not.
3) Let go of the idea that anything in the future will continue to be like the past. Anything is possible because the limits of the past have only been true up until now. All we know so far is that which was, but that which was can always be changed.
- According to the philosopher David Hume.
4) You must die to the ego in order to attain true enlightenment, immortality and a union with the world and with the divine.
5) Once the spirit has been reconnected with the divine then "the matrix" itself begins to dissolve and the spirit of "The One" will revert to it's natural expressions of light and peace. This individual will then be able to help realign all the dimensions of human existence: body, mind and spirit.
It should be noted that we are all, in a sense, "The One". We all live within the same illusion and are, in our own way and in our own time, trying to understand the truth behind it all. Some may not be looking at the moment or even in this particular life, but ultimately we will all wake up from the dream and remember who we really are. Ultimately, we will all become "The One"...
For A MORE "VISUAL" LOOK AT ALL THIS, CHECK OUT:
Philosophy And The Matrix: Return To The Source - Documentary
If you had a time machine, would you go back in time to kill Hitler? I've been thinking about this age old question recently and have come to some interesting conclusions.
At first glance the answer seems perhaps quite obvious to many of us. After all, killing Hitler would perhaps have prevented the 11-14 million some people from being murdered in the holocaust & would have perhaps prevented a good majority of the 70 million some deaths of World War II. So, it would seem that to trade one life for the lives of millions is easy enough math for any of us to do. The fact that it's still murder by the mind(s) that pass the judgement, the mouth(s) that agree to give the order, the hand(s) that deal the punishment and the heart(s) of those who raise their fists to the sky to rejoice that justice has been done, shouldn't deter us right? In Western culture it seems that many of us would most likely concur that the act be done. After all, we've been breast fed by Western religion and Judeo-Christian values for hundreds, if not more than two thousand, years; ethics which have brought us such visionary concepts as: "an eye for an eye" must be taken, capital punishment must be upheld, penance must be made to atone for one's sins. Toss him to the lions that he might be judged by God for all eternity! (Our brand of)"Justice" MUST be done.
Conversely, many Eastern philosophies and religions, however, might venture to say quite the opposite. That life is a personal journey of one's own consciousness. That one faces the ultimate judgement for their transgressions in life and beyond from one's own self. That the karmic consequences for our actions and our own revelatory realizations of which...and of our connection to all things in the universe...and of the degree to which we loved those things, might be more severe for the soul of the individual than any punishment that could ever be delivered by man.
Western thinking, on the other hand, seems to teach us to strive for one's own, to right the wrongs of others, to intervene in the destinies of those around us in accordance with our own notions of what should be and how this life should be lived. What if it's not our place however, to make such decisions? Did not even Jesus say, "Let him who has not sin cast the first stone"? Was he not saying that no one among us has the right to pass judgement on another? That it is neither our responsibility or our right to punish the wrongful acts of our fellow men and women? If God created man in his own image and we are all children of God, isn't ending the life of another not much different than ending our own?
It is not my intent to discuss religion here exactly, rather more to present the idea that religion has shaped the beliefs and ideals of the entire world since the dawn of time. It's true that there have been many great teachers and enlightened individuals in the past who have taught us a message love, of peace and unity with all mankind, but religion itself has caused great destruction in the world despite those teachings. It has created a great chasm between the hearts of men that has led us into thousands of wars and to millions upon millions of deaths throughout history. It has brought division to a world that has not yet the eyes to see that the Earth and everything on it is in fact one and the same thing. The earth is a celestial body and every organism on it is a part of that body. We and the Earth are one.
So perhaps, personally, if I were to travel in time, I think I would not use that opportunity to exact vengeance on those who have wronged us in the past, but rather,I would head to the future with a sense of wonder and curiosity and I would seek out true wisdom from the universe with a heart filled with love.
The road of life is long, so we have to know that it's ok to not always know where we are on it. However, if every person on Earth, simultaneously, tried to give more to others, to let go of fear and to learn to forgive themselves for their shortcomings, then this world that we live in would discover peace for the first time and the lives of every man, woman & child would find fulfillment in their existence.
Find a reason to be happy everyday and your life will never go to waste. Too often, it seems, we can become overwhelmed by the specifics of daily life and lose sight of this precious gift that we've all been given. Life is a wondrous journey where even the most seemingly mundane moments can have an air of magic about them. That is, once our eyes have learned to see magical things.
Deciphering the mystery of our own happiness is like peeling back the skin of a luscious fruit. At first glance life often appears to be nothing more than a rough and bitter skin, but once we have learned to uncover the sweet nectar within, we can begin to savor all of life's decadent flavors and the seeds of happiness will begin to appear to us wherever it is that we look.
Happiness is something different for everyone and for this reason it can often elude us, but once we allow ourselves to see how exciting it is to discover those inner parts of us, then the process of living becomes a fantastic adventure.
I've been pondering this question about love for some time now. Not just any love, but the kind of love that drives people to have compassion for complete strangers. I think as children we start out this way, but life can often throw us for a curve. The sheer experience of the environment that we're born into, what we're told and the paths that we choose, often shape us in ways that we couldn't have prepared ourselves for and we forget about that love that seemed to come so naturally to us in the beginning.
I spent many years myself living in what I thought of as hostile environments and situations. I went to these places with a real heart for others, along with, a beautiful sense of humor and all the excitement and fervor of a child. What I quite often found there though, were many angry, defensive, broken people who, more often than not, seemed to want to raise their fists or voices at others in anger, rather than extend their arms for a handshake or a hug. This, ultimately, caused me to find myself in a great struggle to hold on to that innocence and beauty of youth that I felt I had once carried inside, as I became worn down by my surroundings and my own personal trauma seemed to allow me to take in more and more of that negativity, with each passing year .
During those years, however, in the midst of much misery, I discovered that I possessed a very powerful gift. I found that I had an unusual propensity for subconsciously observing my environment, down to the most minute of details often times, and that through extreme empathy, I had been absorbing incredible amounts of energy from even the most subtle behaviors and emotions from people in my environment. I would walk into a room and see immediately that a person in the corner was sad, that another person was anxious, that another wanted to talk to someone, but was too shy or that someone was angry, whether I wanted to or not. I eventually began to realize that this incredible sensitivity had, in part, made my life quite difficult in the past and that, as with many gifts, this had the potential to create pure bliss and harmony in my world or complete chaos and destruction.
I would always feel quite saddened, disappointed or even upset by what I saw in these moments, as it always felt so powerful. Many times I would become so filled with another persons emotions, that I found myself unexpectedly mirroring those feelings, which frequently caused me to become so overwhelmed to the point of not being able to share anything with the world for days at a time. More recently in my life, however, I began thinking more deeply about this concept of true compassion in those moments and a love for all beings, which often reminds me of those bright souls who have found the way to make this happen in their lives. People like Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Jesus, The Buddha, the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King, Joseph Campbell, Manly P. Hall, Desmond Tutu and countless othershave chosen to bring that light to the world throughout history and the world is most certainly a better place for it. The Dalai Lama once said, "I have been confronted with many difficulties throughout the course of my life, and my country is going through a critical period. But I laugh often, and my laughter is contagious. When people ask me how I find the strength to laugh now, I reply that I am a professional laugher."
So, why should we reach out to people in this way, we might wonder? What has the world done for me? Why should we want to spread the light of compassion in a world that often seems unkind and, at times, saturated in darkness? Well, I think the answer lies therein. The greatest gift the world can give you is to reciprocate to you the love that you once planted within it as a seed. Without this, love can not grow in one's life. In this way, I think it's truly important that we try to show kindness to others. Even if we don't always particularly agree with other people's ideas and philosophies, I think the trick is learning that that's what makes us all unique. It's also what makes the world more interesting, whereas struggling against the world and the people in it only creates chaos in one's life. Compassion is the key. It's something that we can always use a little more of. Compassion breaks down all those obstacles that we have in life by first showing us that we only have obstacles because we have built up walls within. This life can be quite short, especially when seen in light of the billions and billions of years of the existence of the universe. The billions of organisms within a single clump of moss are as much a part of that environment as billions of humans are a part of the planet earth, as much as billions of planets are part of a solar system, billions of solar systems are part of the galaxy and that billions of galaxies are part of the universe. So, what do we do with that mere snippet of time that we have here if we're not looking to make the most of it, if we haven't tried to accept people for who they are or if we haven't understood that we are all in this together? It seems to me, that instead of spending even one moment struggling against one another, that we might instead do better to try and make this life better for everyone and understand that we and everything in this vast universe are now...and have always been...one in the same thing.
I've been thinking back recently to a trip I took last year to see the Mayan ruins of Mexico and Guatemala. I've always been fascinated with the magic of the region and with Mayan culture, beliefs, architecture, creation myth, etc. This has been particularly true as we near the end of the Mayan long count calendar; an intricate system of time keeping which spans the 5,125 years from August 11, 3114 BC to the winter solstice on December 21, 2012 AD.
Many translations say that the Mayans predicted the end date of the calendar to be the end of a great world age. In fact, it seems the Mayans thought that at the end of this 5,125 year cycle we would enter what they called "The Time of No Time"; a period which would bring with it phenomenal changes and transformation on the earth. These changes, they believed, would propel us into a great evolutionary period on this planet, which would carry our world into a time of new beginnings and deep spiritual growth.
When thinking to myself about all the mind blowing structures that I was privileged enough to experience at each of the ancient sites, I was reminded of just how much of a feeling ofawe and reverence, as well as a deep reflection upon one's own spiritual nature, that each of these spectacular monuments seemed to command. This was a defining experience which planted the seed within me to find more peace and harmony within myself, as well as letting go of fear, that I might one day come to understand more the true nature of existence and reality. Many of these concepts, I feel, have lead me to a place of comprehending, that the road to enlightenment is more than just a quest for personal knowledge. It's about learning compassion and coming back with all that you've learned, with a burning desire to share with other's what following that call within your heart has taught you.
This burning call to action, that all of us experience at one time or another in our lives, got me thinking about the book, "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell. In the book he introduces the concept that all the great journeys in our lives that make epic stories, help us achieve difficult goals and even perhaps lead us down the path of ultimately becoming better people, unwaveringly follow the same progression of events, which he called "The Hero's Journey". Fascinated with this concept, I started researching more about the hero's path, as it no doubt mirrors the path of one whose goal is to seek true inner peace and enlightenment. This can be seen here in this short clip from the fascinating documentary, "Return To The Source: Philosophy And The Matrix", where they briefly discuss Joseph Campbell and "The Hero's Journey", through Neo's path to enlightenment, in "The Matrix" movie.
Now, looking more closely at these steps as a process of spiritual illumination, I began seeing instant parallels with the enlightened figures of the past, such as Jesus or The Buddha, for instance. In both cases, their lives seem to almost precisely mirror this process in perfect sequence. Particularly, the story of The Buddha's life, I think. I've been looking pretty deeply into Buddhism lately and have been completely fascinated with the life of The Buddha, as it is such an inspiring story of giving up everything that feeds "the self" in order to attain a completely pure state of love and compassion for all that is, as well as the obstacles that one must face along the way.
As far as my own "Hero's Journey" is concerned, I have most certainly experienced "The Ordinary World" & I have many times heard "The Call To Adventure", of which I have many times followed. Regarding, the particular call towards deepening my own level of enlightenment, however, I have definitely experienced "Refusal of the Call" more times than I think anyone would care to admit. Perhaps, that phase of the journey though, is by nature, designed to ensnare most any one of us, if only for awhile. I'm not sure I have specifically had my "Meeting With The Mentor" yet, although I have become quite inspired the last few years by the writings, documentaries, talks and teachings of many different spiritual masters and intellectuals advocating the exploration and development of consciousness, compassion and love, as well as refining our ability to perceive who and what we are beyond the veil of the physical world. I've hardly "Crossed the First Threshold" by making some minor changes recently towards helping myself refocus my energy in the direction of this goal. Though, it seems those "minor changes" have already presented me with some rather major "Tests, Allies & Enemies" to be regarded.
So, I am pretty far from my goals in this endeavor. I suppose though, enlightenment, is probably the most trying goal a person can set for themselves in this life, but, then again, I do like to make life difficult. Nonetheless, after many years of deliberation & "refusal", I have embarked on this journey; not quite a "hero" yet, but it's a start and I imagine every hero's story begins somewhere.
