Ever since I have been a young boy, I have been fascinated by the human journey. Between my family and my teachers I was filled with the fables of the great humans of yore from the legends, myths and stories of the East. Prince Rama, the Warrior Mantara, Lord Krishna, Veena the maid warrior, Nesan the Untouchable King, Lord Vishnu, Mihindu the Blessed Monk.. so many extraordinary beings who through their lives, challenged their deepest fears, never knowing the outcome of their challenges. At times these giants, conquered themselves in grand adventures and sometimes failed themselves in cruel agonies.
These women and men inspired in me, the desire to truly travel my own journey. They gave me the thirst, the hunger that has fueled all my life. So off I went and here I am writing blogs, sharing the lives of so many beautiful radiant beings, feeling blessed in every breath I take... What a ride! Yeeeeeehah!
One of the first things I learned from listening to all these wonderful tales is that the greatest facet of those who conquered themselves was and is courage. Courage! The virtue that Winston Churchill said was "first of all virtues, for without it, none else becomes possible"!
As I walk amongst the images, experiences and wisdoms of my life, I am struck by the contrasts that I face every day. This weekend, I spent in the company of some enlightened and passionate beings who have set out to create something greater than themselves. Their programme is called "Awakening the Dream" and it was focused at opening the deepest levels of our consciousness to create a new vision for the world and for humanity. Their vision and passion is awe inspiring. How far they have got to now, will bring shivers to your heart. However to me, what was really prevalent in their "space" was their courage. They were stepping into a place of great unknown. They had no idea how they were going to get to their destinations. They had nothing but the strength of their commitment, their impenetrable will and their courage.
What one is struck by is the way these amazing people have stepped into the "flow" and created an extraordinary network of human beings from across the planet in an endeavour worthy of any life. Wow! Breathtaking!
However, as I walked back to the train and got in and travelled an extra few kilometres so i could share some time with some of the participants, I was present to another world. Here I saw many human beings walking through life lost in the reveries of their miseries. They were so caught up in issues that would to most others seem trivial that they missed the brilliance of the sky and the night. One person sat in the train telling her friend how she felt so angry because another girl was wearing the same earrings. Another was speaking on the phone and seemed upset because the person he was speaking to was not agreeing to come out with him.
And outside was a brilliant night with a bright moon and balmy skies.
In the very same carriage was a little girl with her mother and she was filled with the aura and brilliance of her innocence. She was smiling at everything, even though it was close to 9:30 PM and probably well past her bedtime. She seemed tired but at the same time she was definitely alive to everything that was going on. She and I spent the journey just looking and smiling, sharing an energy of love that was blissful and serene.
When I got home, I reflected a little bit about this. Over the past 10,000+ years, we have had some extraordinary teachings come to us. From the Buddha to Christ to prophet Muhammed to Krishnamurthy to the ancient Masters of Wisdom.. so many wonderful amazing people who taught us about life and self mastery. Then why is it so difficult for us as a species to find that mastery? Why have so many amazing teachings and wisdoms just not been accessible to the vast majority of us? Why are we living so removed from ourselves that we have unconsciously manifested widespread destruction on our world and on ourselves?
As I have discussed before, in studying consciousness, I have observed how the dominion of Fear Consciousness has gradually overwhelming humanity, spreading to envelope far flung communities, even the more enlightened ones. Perhaps this is why find it so hard to master ourselves. Let's explore it.
First let's look at the nature of Fear Consciousness. It sees all around it as potentials for threat. So a person operating in Fear Consciousness, will view everything in the world with an expectation that they will constitute some form of threat to her/his well being. Why do you think we are unable to love unconditionally? Wouldn't it be because at some point we expect that there will be a condition within the other that will "hurt" us?
So what do you think happens to us when we see extraordinary teachings? First we judge them. Then we work out whether or not they will work for us. We look for the things that we do not "like". We then select what we believe to be the ones that "will work for us".
Now take a look at this. Does this process actually make sense? How would someone who has never really experienced any of these teachings before KNOW what works and what doesn't? What foundation of knowledge do we base our judgements on? It is funny isn't it?
So now we have used our unknown and untested wisdom to choose what we must do to enlighten ourselves. In itself this is a wonderful prescription for disaster isn't it?
Then, once we have chosen, we collect all the doubts we have accumulated through a lifetime of judgement from a negative viewpoint, onto the teachings. Now we have a battle on our hands. We are now engaged in a battle with ourselves. Our desire to expand ourselves against the Fears that dominates our lives and our time. Ahhhh.. this is what Prophet Muhammed so aptly called the Jihad, the holiest of wars, the war against one's ego.
What do you think would happen if we just learnt how to "act despite"? If we learnt to let go of judgement and act despite our Fear mechanisms? How amazing would that be? Would you be able to have a loving conversation with your husband/wife without reservation and done solely for the expression of your love? Would you be able to wake up at dawn and greet the day even though your Fear consciousness is filled with excuses to justify staying in bed? Would you be able to say "good morning" to the people in the train while looking into their eyes not giving into the fear of looking bad? Would you see in yourself a desire to live at a level greater than your small world demanded by the ego?
So here is a challenge. You will have some great teachings in your hand. It may be from Buddha, Christ, Prophet Muhammed, the Bhagavad Gita or even from modern day teachers like Sri Bhagavan, Amma, Ramtha or Rhainon. Take them upon yourself. Remove every judgement you have about them and go practice them as if you have nothing to lose. Give it a go for one week. ONE WEEK... At the end of that time, take stock and ask yourself has my life become more exciting, enriched and enlivened? I have no doubt of the answer.
Enlightenment is an option that is open to all human beings. All it needs is for people to make a choice if they are willing to challenge themselves; if they are willing to FREE themselves from the yoke of fear. Enlightenment is a journey that begins with but a single thought, a moment in the timeline of your life. Imagine if all human beings become aware of this little set of distinctions. What kind of world would we humans be able to create? What kind of lives will we live? Aaahhh.. the mind boggles does it not?
I leave you with a quotation from a human being i greatly admire, the irrepressible George Bernard Shaw;
"This is the true joy of life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; The being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it onto future generations."
Wow! What a ride!!!!
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