I had a completely different topic in mind for this month’s blog, until again another mass shooting happened in America; until witnessing another act of racial discrimination with an innocent Hispanic doing his job; until seeing more people on social media driving a wedge between themselves and their fellow citizens over politics; until seeing more atrocities in Ukraine being committed under the ruling of a madman who should never been allowed near the levers of power.
Why does all this happen? Why all this insanity that has plunged the world into another Dark Ages, with the sabre rattling of civil war here at home or nuclear annihilation from abroad?
The heading of this website is “Spiritual Exploration,” and indeed I’ve been exploring these dark behaviors of humanity for decades, wondering if the light of Spirit can help arrest the obsidian night from rising on the horizon and transitioning all life into a planetary-scale mass grave.
The Universe, the force of Life, from all spiritual perspectives is – at its foundation – loving. I’ve blogged many times about each of us carrying a spark of this Divine Love and the importance of actively real-izing it. These days, we also understand this Love promotes existence as being essentially playful (Bliss! Heaven!) and that all things are totally interconnected. What’s more, this interconnection is scientifically verifiable and can be demonstrated in the physical world… However, the sad reality is that most of humanity is ignoring this Truth and thus dealing with its horrific ramifications. Why do we ignore our unity and the divinity of Life behind it?
Any search throughout history reveals the answer. All the way back into ancient times and into the modern social and political landscape, the real culprit is screaming right at us – but no one is listening, much less taking action. Unfortunately, new laws and regulations by political leaders of any party or world government will not have any effect until the root of this toxic weed is addressed.
What is it?
The one thing that deep spiritual traditions have told us we must do in order to commune with the Divine: Let go of the Egoic Self.
The ego perception of who you think you are is an abstract construction of ideas you have created about yourself, but these ideas are not who you really are. At the root of this impoverished personal caricature is the notion that you are a separate being in a disconnected world – which is absolute hogwash on an epic scale. Yet, this is most people’s belief (and thus experience) of their reality… and we can all see where this has gotten us. It is precisely this internal drive to prop up one’s egoic self in contrast to others that is the driving wedge which leads to toxic competition, separation from the environment and the obsession to “conquer” it (which is ultimately killing it), and perversion of personal liberties in communion with all others.
Humanity must stop the insane ego-worship; where one is led to believe that to feel valuable, worthwhile, or lovable within, they must be “above” others. This “on top” perspective only further separates the individual by virtue of “status.” It is a false reality. Where is the value in creating ultimate disconnection from others? “Worship me because of my status” is not authentic, rich, significant honor or loving to anyone, much less the Self… The ego is only being fed on sour milk at that point. In this sense, Love is being confused with the notion of Envy. “If I am envied, I must be something.” This, again, is purely egotistical. Yet it is this kind of particular inner landscape which humanity has promulgated for eons, and it has led to nothing but horrendous bloodshed and heartbreaking destruction in every epoch.
One must ask: why do we place so much importance on wanting to be envied by others? Answer: Lack of love within. Perhaps the mindset is: “If I am separate from everyone else, then in order to feel valuable, I need to be envied versus truly loved. I must be coveted – like money – in order to truly be worthwhile.” Why do little girls want to become princesses? Why do so many want to become movie stars, rock stars, reach the absolute pinnacle of their professions? Is it really to be of service to others, to realize their true inner potential and growth, or is it evoke envy with all those around them so they can feel good about themselves inside?
No wonder there is so much frustration and lashing out – especially in American society. Not everyone can be “top dog,” yet our current culture demands that everyone “must be” in order to be perceived as “worthwhile.”
Unfortunately, the noble idea of what America was founded upon has been sorely twisted. Personal freedom for all has been perverted to mean “personal freedom to inflate my ego without consequence, and to impose my ‘righteousness’ on those I perceive as ‘other’ and ‘less than’ from me (because they are too ignorant to know what’s good for them).” It is a distortion of freedom, as each person separates him- or herself from the ego-standpoint of everyone else, then feels the need to elevate that personification to feel worthwhile. Excessive personal greed and selfishness is the climate that results from this ruinous seed, gets passed on to our children, and thus creates future generations which expand the rot. Such selfishness leads to the widening gap in social relations, where the need to “convert” or “stamp out” the “other” is seen as a necessity, because the “other” is too savage or too ignorant. Whether it be indigenous people, people of another race, a different religion, or those of a different political affiliation – the abstract false belief of “otherness” deforms the mind and produces a plethora of excuses for annihilation under the pretense of “it’s for their own good; they know not of their ignorance” or “they are too savage to recognize my superiority, and I need to stamp them out for my own self-defense.”
This is ego-worship at its worst.
We have often heard of “American exceptionalism,” and insofar as that has been engrained into a person’s egoic consciousness, the idea of “personal egoic exceptionalism” is the putrefaction that grows, and which must eventually butt up against every other person – who may also believe in “personal exceptionalism” in relation to everyone else! It’s a tree whose fruit is poisonous to the tree itself, as all the fruits would wish to damage all the others so that they can be “top”, though all are fed via the exact same root system below, united in source of Life and nourishment. What madness!
Personal “one-upmanship” towards everyone else does nothing to serve others or promote the blossoming of Life. In fact, it strangles Life, as one wants others to feel “I have the life; you do not.” Where’s the light of love in such destiny? To make others envious is to put others down and rob them of their own grandeur. One must begin to look within, to find out why the need to be envied is so important. Do we dare ask this question in the age of social media? I think we have to.
Do people feel so disconnected from others, thus unloved or not wanted? Why? Is it – perhaps – a type of mindset the culture has imposed upon the upper conscious mind? Young children do not judge or show prejudice against others until they have learned such “other-ness” from their parents or more advanced peers; therefore, we don’t come into the world this messed up. It’s a cultivated thing.
The pre-occupation with the personal ego has become an obsession, especially in America, and we are seeing the horrors of such selfishness. An orchestra does not deliver beautiful music when each player is trying to be a soloist in order to spike jealousy and/or envy among the other musicians; yet each player is integral to a masterpiece when true harmony is achieved. A real orchestra comes with many different instruments – as there are different points-of-view, races, backgrounds – which brings the composition to life and supplies it with a multidimensional depth of fullness. But at present, we have yet to come into tune as everyone fights for personal dominance – not realizing Life is a song of many different energetic vibrations, and not a sporting match to the death for bragging rights. What ugly noise we are making… when we can actually work together to create a masterpiece composition that inspires awe, beauty, and the desire TO DANCE – and each instrument, though different, is seen as essential to the symphony’s arousing movements.
IS IT HOW WE’RE BROUGHT UP?
The ego is something that gets developed as we grow. At first, a child really doesn’t have a personal ego, per se. In fact, they are not really sure about the nature of their own sense of separateness from the environment – as they want to touch and feel everything around them; to experience what feeling the “outside world” creates within themselves. This is an acknowledgement of unity within the consciousness of the child, in my opinion, and not separation. The babe is affirming its validity and link from its inner world to the outer by engaging its physical senses.
However, parents soon teach the child not to trust the outer environment. “Don’t trust strangers… That thing might hurt you… It’s dangerous…” These lessons turn the upper conscious mind of the child from being inquisitive and affirmative of its link with the outer world into a radar looking out for anything that might cause it harm. Such pivot of mind amplifies a sense of singular identity, as the child tries to insulate itself from the outside world instead of understanding its inherent union with it; it invites suspicion instead of welcoming openness and – as suspicion leads to more growth of separation within the consciousness – creates inner turmoil as we begin to separate within our own selves, i.e., second-guessing and not trusting our own intuitions. Pile on top of that the added courses of “must be exceptional” in relation to everyone else, other levels of “competition” that promote division (look at how much money is spent on competitive sports), “more FB or Instagram ‘likes’”… It is anarchy on a level of upper consciousness that cannot avoid collisions with others of similar upbringing, resulting in horrendous outcomes. Of course, when so much of the world is dangerous and pro-selfish, we can understand a parent’s practical need to protect their child. Unfortunately, this prolongs the problem instead of changing it. I don’t know how to change it or what the solution is, but at least we can clearly see the problem. We feel incredibly isolated and alone as adults because we have spent a lifetime entertaining ideas that purposely separate and divide us from each other, the world, and ourselves – and it’s created a culture that openly threatens the lives of our children. This is what the false ego has fashioned, and why we must purify ourselves in our ascent to reach the Divine – and save this planet from these new Dark Ages.
One is not a “separate individual.” Rather, each person is a unique perspective – like a facet on a multi-planed diamond. In destroying the diamond through the fallacy of the ego, we are only destroying ourselves in a most unnecessary, painful, and tragic way.
(Apologies if this post seems much more negative than my usual ones … But sometimes what the light reveals is harsh and cannot easily be sugar-coated).