“TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” — Howard Zinn
Some people have pointed to a combination of ignorance, groupthink and irrationality as the root issues causing humanity’s problems, and believe more rational and logical thinking will save us. The Latin roots of animus reveal insight into the model of the rational mind as our savior. It seems that the strong guiding hands of the intellect and logic of “Big Daddy” must save us once again. But in the roots of animus, along with “the mind,” “intellect” and “rational soul in man,” we also encounter the animus of hostile dislike and enmity of the displeased — “Big Daddy,” an avatar of animosity, vehemence and wrath, and the source of piercing logical intellect. Maybe this is part of the reason we seem to worship intelligence. But we have all seen the cold, calculating intellect and its sometimes reptilian, sterile precision. We have all witnessed the battles between feelings and facts, logic and love, and intellect and emotion. We have all noted masculine and feminine styles of command and control, versus communication and cooperation. Yet, for some reason we always turn to the animus, the rational soul in man, for the answers, and we say, “if our rational mind and intelligence cannot save us, what can?”
Rationality alone cannot save us, and believing it can is just another mind trap. We will never “think” our way out of our troubles. We are not solely rational, logical beings, and never will be. We are like cells in a large organism, and we receive and process messages in the same way which is observable in cellular biology. Each cell in the body is being bombarded with thousands of messages at once, from other cells near and far, instructing the cell to divide, not divide or to commit suicide (apoptosis). Similarly, we are also continuously receiving messages from other people through the media, and through our community and families, and we must intuitively synthesize all of this ambient information in order to make personal decisions. How does a couple decide to have a child? They read many messages from the economy and world politics, to their local family and community support, and innumerable other variables. This is very similar to a cell deciding to divide. This colloidal, dynamic and intuitive communication process is complex to the point of being almost magical. We have always used the term “magic” to describe any phenomenon that the intellect can not explain. That is why the individual process of decision making may seem like magic, since it involves all perceptive parts of our total being and is much more than the narrow, so-called rational and logical process.
It is very important to learn to listen to yourself. Where do you get your messages from, your own inner-guide and voice of reason, or Madison Avenue? Is your original voice even yours, or was it branded into your soul through commercials between cartoons? Who are you, really? We must stop allowing propagandists to manipulate our emotions; the steering wheel of our total being. As an organism, your inner-intelligence knows how to keep you safe. As a being of mysterious complexity, listening to the essence of natural messengers will lead you in the right direction, but you must squelch out any external noise, if you wish to hear the sublime voice of reason within. Do not think of this as “spiritual” if you have a problem with that concept or term; just recognize these complex communications as something beyond our complete understanding, beyond science, and beyond full description. We can call it natural or nature (deeply connected to nurture), or we can simply call it being. How many times have you wished you would have listened to your intuition and inner voice? Do not let words, logic, and reason get in the way of your reliance upon this amazing inner awareness. There is enormous power and wisdom in intuition, and in simple, natural beingness.
The intuitive spirit-nature we all possess is a beautiful gift, but too often that gift is suppressed. In many ways people have been denatured and lost that magnificent gift. In the physical realm, the best athletes do not rely solely on knowing all the different technical aspects of their game. While technical knowledge is useful, it is only a small part of a true master’s brilliance. The master of any craft is first a master of self, cooperating with innate intelligence within. They detach themselves from the rote instructions and trust in instincts to emerge naturally to carry them forward to excellence. That is why you cannot create a champion athlete. All you can do is free the person to access their own innate potential. Knowledge works the same way. We already have everything that we need to know in our intuition and our instincts. It is pointless trying to absorb all the knowledge in the world. That is partly because we do not need so much of it, and partly because we can never achieve knowing everything in our lifetime. What we do need is to be open to what we already have within us.
Knowledge can be useful as a tool and reference point, but only as a beginning of a greater journey to something so much bigger, and yet so much more simple and liberating. People who seek after knowledge for knowledge’s sake become trapped in a process where the means becomes the end. That is so sad. They are like a crippled Beethoven forever learning how to compose, instead of simply writing down the beautiful music that is written into the fabric of their souls already. People like that become seekers for seeking’s sake, and they seldom experience the joy of knowledge as a state of consciousness. Instead, they spend their lives trying to learn everything that exists beyond them, in the hope of finding the truth that already lies within. This is the battle between the cunning human mind and the quiet, intuitive inner-self. Connecting with essential truth and knowing oneself is the only way. Surrender is the path to freedom through our unique authenticity, where we experience the flow of life not through the narrow lens of the mind, but through the vast refuge of the heart. As Joseph Campbell said, “follow your bliss.” This concept speaks to the ultimate path as humility and surrender. Nothing else is needed. Freedom is the realization that it is sufficient to simply be a human being.
The answer to so many of our problems is simple balance. The answer is intelligent compassion. The answer is love. The self-revolution of greater individual consciousness is the absolute path to humanity’s next great step forward. All revolution begins with self. How can you create something pure, when you are yourself an unnatural creation? True creation requires authority and authenticity. When you are not free, you are not creating; you are being created. If you are a creation of conditioning, then part of your new creations really comes from what created you. So, in this sense, revolution is really about a personal revolution of consciousness
If you want to be successful at anything you do, it will help you to first be a successful human. Since human life is a social life, becoming a successful human means being there for other people. No time is better spent than that spent in the service of your fellow man. We are here to spend ourselves on others; for each person is a great treasure. Success does not just mean happiness, success means doing the right thing — and this ultimately leads to happiness. The rewards of doing the right thing are usually much deeper and painful. The greatest happiness comes from feeling and expressing our love for other people, and particularly our families. If you think about it, we love most those who we serve most, whether it be children, employees, friends or our communities. And this means that we can bring about a greater love for one another, though a life of simple, but meaningful service.
There is a great indelible interconnectedness of humanity. When we fail our friends and neighbors, and even the stranger down the way, through our vanity, selfishness, greed, envy, fear, indifference, or complacency, something dies in us all. When we fail to even know about, or acknowledge someone’s suffering, which is in obvious sight, much less attempt to ease it, the world is made a darker place. The failure of that individual to act represents an atomic failure of humanity itself. The world markets of optimism and hope can plummet because of the actions or inactions of a single person. The upside to this is that the good works of even one person can represent the whole of humanity’s triumph through that sole heroic act. In reality, one person can make a difference, and a difference that can move through the masses as a seismic wave, transforming an entire ethos overnight. Look at the enormous impact the frail-bodied Gandhi had on two violently clashing cultures, with his simple spiritual exercises of defiance, selflessness, loving other people and valuing human life. And that was even without the power of media to move his ideas around quickly. Like a cultural or emotional butterfly effect, one person really can make a difference. Each person is the revolution.
There are many types of currency, not the least of which is a system of emotional and trust economics that govern societies, both primitive and modern. These economics govern every relationship, whether it be between individuals or nations. In fact, money as we know it does not really exist. Money is a thought-form. Money is just a piece of paper, and outside of our dynamic and collective consent it has no value beyond the value of the paper it is printed on. The only reason money has value is because we all agree that it does. So, ironically, money could be seen as a placeholder for trust. We trust that when we go to redeem that worthless piece of paper (or its digital representation in an account) the recipient will honor its value with real-world goods and services at a fair exchange. In a relationship, when trust is lost, everything is lost. We are all in a relationship with one another. We can become emotionally bankrupt, or even in debt. And this is why it is important that we invest in people with our personal currency of service, restoring those whose personal accounts of hope and optimism are low. There are so many people in need, who are quietly hovering near the abysmal edges of emotional bankruptcy. Life is dynamic, and it can be ugly. Thomas Hobbes wrote in Leviathan that life was, “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” And Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden that, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Too many people are living those lives of quiet desperation. This is one of the reasons so many people anesthetize themselves with a never-ending, gluttonous consumption of mass entertainment, television, technology and fruitless consumerism. The rise of technology, corporatism and consumerism has slowly smothered out a way of relating to the world that seems to be almost lost forever — analogue and in-person. Along with the rise of technology has come a very strange arrogance. There are so many disillusioned and disconnected people out there prancing around because of the powerful technology they use, but what do they really use it for? We have all these shiny, almost magical things, but are we really happier, or wiser? While much of the technology we are senselessly addicted to promises us greater connectedness, people are more isolated, disconnected and lonely, than ever before in history.
People feel more and more insignificant, cut-off and powerless than ever before. We are buried in a mountain of information, technology, gadgets, goods and manufactured complexities. We are lost and rendered nearly invisible in a digital snowstorm of super-connectivity. It is a form of anonymity through mass-connection. True community has been nearly eviscerated, and a tactile-less mockery of community has been put in its place. Houses and apartments have become cubical prison-tombs, where millions of screen-irradiated mummies hide from the sunlight, nature, and genuine social interaction. People have social anxiety because of their lack of experience relating to humans in person. At airports and restaurants people eat alone, and strangers seldom talk. Everyone is texting, emailing, rushing, surfing and being connection-entertained with social media, and yet somehow, we are tragically ALONE.
Absent the vital lessons attained through simple face-to-face community interactions, and tainted by the identity propaganda being mass-ejected out of the media weapons for the highest bidders, people soon become observers of life rather than participants. They begin seeing the “good life” as something to attain through goods, services, and external providers, and forget that the so-called Kingdom of Heaven is within. It is almost as though people are suffering from dissociative personality disorder, where the constructed consumer-self has no close relationships, except with need providers. Even our life partners can become just another external need provider. Modern consumer life is like a mass dissociative disorder which prevents people from experiencing essential truth, real-life community, universal rites of passage and even an acceptable and reasonable death. Consumer life is essentially a social psychology framework, which seeks to keep your consciousness plugged into their head-end of ideals and created needs, for profit. The result of this assault is a growing culture of fear-subdued, disconnected, isolated and mass-distracted people who feel powerless.
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