the seeds 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.
A few centuries ago we woke up to the fact that
the world was not flat, but a sphere; and our realization was that the earth had always been a sphere,
even while we had thought it flat. So now we are waking up to the realization that humanity
is one whole society, one global economy, one family of beings in a shared environment.
No matter how cunningly we divide ourselves, as good and evil, or Republican and Democrat,
or black and white... Christian, Muslim, Jew, our divisions are imposed on an already
existing unity. This fundamental condition which we share, our human spirit, is unchangeable
by religion or government, or by any authority whatsoever. Our ancestors designed the systems
and built the institutions which we've inherited, with 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 of
British rule, passed down from William the Conqueror, the idea that the ruler,
whether by king, parliament, president or government, wields absolute power over every person, and may force its
laws, punishments, wars, on everyone. In the United States we're still subject to that power in
the form of a national government which recognizes no greater authority than its own. This government sustains
its power over the people by the compulsory rule of law and by an adversarial legal
and political system which 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 our society, 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 perceived 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.
The human self-destruction is sponsored by national governments that recognize no other authority
than their own, and condoned by religions institutions that recognize no other morality
than their own. None of the 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 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 us, and throughout all 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 are already connected by this intelligence on wavelengths beyond
our reasoning, beyond our wildest dreams. Our problem is, the ability to separate ourselves from each
other is taking precedence over our connectedness. Our spiritual wholeness is being ignored in
favor of ideologies which divide us and keep us apart.
If we continue the game as it's being played, 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.
The quest for a more harmonious social order is not going 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.
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.
Man against man is not the answer. Man against man is the problem.
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 percption of oneself as a whole is excluded.
Can we work together for shared benefits, rather than against each other for shared suffering?
By focusing on relationships where a mutual benefit can be accomplished,
where agreement is the goal, our mood 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, more successful and productive in our community.
The way we think is within our personal power.
The healing of human conflict is an inside job.
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, but 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
beyond the chatter there are hidden emotions waiting to be felt, inhibited hopes and stifled
fears waiting to be expressed. The realization is that we are free to be who we naturally are, to feel
our own sensations to love who we love, to be 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. If the mind is rested, and the dualisms
are quieted, one might hear the music of the earth, might step into the
eternal moment and realize the absolute freedom of the soul. Such freedom isn't 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 this planet. 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.
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 our problems or remove our differences.
The truths of our existence are within us and within our personal power.