Our Western worldview seems to be characterised by fragmentation & distraction
We see borders between countries, cultures, hopes & beliefs
We see a difference between our mind & bodies, you, me, nature & the objects.
This fragmented view pervades in the way we organise our lives as well
When we are at work, we are thinking of our next holiday destination
On holiday, we are thinking about work
And when we are eating, we are watching television
and when we are trying to sleep, we think about our to-do list for tomorrow
to physically compensate for this unhealthy way of living, we go for a long run.
But while we are running, we turn on our mp3 player not to be disturbed by our own thoughts.
When we travel by public transport, we do the exact same, yet not to be disturbed by others.
Along the way we are trying to avoid the many thousands and mostly irrelevant advertisements, that are trying to distract us.
Meanwhile, we are alienating from each other, are facing issues of greed & inequality.
Our quest for meaning in the 21st Century has never felt bigger.
On the one side, this fragmented view is caused by our language, which has a subject-verb-object structure, forcing us to think in dualities.
On the other side, and ever since the ancient greeks we have developed the scientific method as the only ‘reliable’ means to finding the truth.
Its premises are that any experiment should be intersubjectively testable, quantifiable & expressible.
This has lead us to gear our attention to the external world, as opposed to the internal world.
Now there are some other forces that have been distracting us from taking this inward journey.
Througout the ages we have been busy colonising & exploiting new continents
Enjoying the riches of this life
With industrial & technological revolutions.
Or our latest, space travel.
Somehow, it looks like we are afraid to face ourselves
To see what’s left without all the distractions.
But at the same time this is the main challenge for our 21st Century.
Ourselves.
Now, there are two ways of knowing.
The first is rational thinking. It is perfect for achieving a chosen end through analysis.
But it renders the world as a bunch of fragmented & meaningless objects.
The second is meditative thinking, or intuitive knowing.
It tends to see the world as a whole and doesn’t search for that absolute truth.
But gives a sense of subjective meaningfulness.
It is however useless in carrying out practical affairs.
Both ways of knowing are complementary and absolutely necessary
But it seems that Western man has identified mostly with rational knowing and has neglected intuitive knowing as a source of knowledge.
So let’s focus on intuitive knowing a bit more.
It has always formed the fundament of Eastern traditions
They acknowledge that language is incapable of portraying reality,
..that language is a map which we shouldn’t confuse with the actual territory.
Nature in essence doesn’t know these distinctions at all,
..but it is part of one big resonating frequency field, in which everything influences everything else.
This oneness is called the Tao in Taoism
Dharmakaya in Buddhism
Brahman in Hinduism
…and the unified field in quantum theory.
This natural flow of energy unfolds the way nature intends it…
…and can be seen everywhere in the structure of nature.
It is the urge of nature wanting to be free.
If we block this energy, unnatural deformations happen.
It works the same way in your body.
If your muscles are cramped and block energy, it will lead to illnesses in other parts of your body.
This idea forms the basis of Chinese medicine.
So the challenge is to undo ourselves from all physical, emotional, mental, spiritual blockages & social expectations
To give room for this natural flow of energy to run through us.
As such, our purpose unfolds in what we give to this world.
Now let’s take a small sidestep and have a look at the way we have organised our society.
Five of its biggest industries are drugs, gambling, prostitution, war & banking.
All of these industries are either about materialism, protectionism,
…and as a result of the happiness void we all feel in between, we massively flee into escapism.
Whether it’s drugs, prostitution or gambling.
Change is happening however, as the urge of nature wanting to be free is bigger than ourselves.
Millions of people around the world are unconditionally giving and sharing,
whether it’s software, music, skills and talents, free hugs or places to stay over.
Our governments and business however, still operate from that framework of ownership
and are doing everything they can to prevent this natural urge from happening.
Just have a look at the war on terror,
the music industry trying to protect music,
internet censorship or the whole industry of intellectual property lawyers.
All based on fear of loss.
But knowledge, talent, music, love and compassion do not allow themselves to be encaged in this framework of ownership.
It seems to me that we are fighting against the forces of nature
Sooner or later, we’ll realize that Giving is All we Have
Story: Jeroen Timmers, Audio: Leo Melcherts, Animation: Raquel Ramirez