The Blind Men & the Elephant

On Fareed Zakaria’s latest show, Kishore Mahbubani (former President of the UN Security Council and current Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore), when discussing the consequences of America’s decline on the world stage, made the astonishing statement that “...for the first time we are living in a world where the experts don’t know what’s happening...I have never seen this kind of global uncertainty...” and all my antennae went on alert.

Of course the experts don’t know what’s happening—they cannot see beyond their limited area of expertise, and they aren’t looking in the right direction. It’s exactly like the blind men and the elephant: each one feels a particular portion of the elephant—the trunk, tail, leg, ear and flank—and interprets the whole based on the singular part he encounters. This narrow vision cannot even see the problem, much less propose a solution. What is needed is the interpretation of those whose vision is broad enough to encompass the whole, whose concern is neither self-centered nor self-serving.

Our politicians obviously don’t possess this vision. With the recent crisis there was an extraordinary opportunity to create real change, and what happened? Rather than changing our attitude and how we do things, transforming the world for the betterment of all, we have been scrambling to restore the status quo with all our might. It’s not gonna happen. While we are loath to admit it, the old paradigm is in its death throes.

With the world leaders all too invested in their own agendas, refusing to see the writing on the wall, and Big Money focused on grabbing as much as they can as quickly as possible before the whole thing collapses, what will it take to create the transformation the world so desperately needs? Nothing less than a global uprising. An uprising of the people—fed up with the machinations of both governments and corporations interested only in perpetuating their own power and wealth—a rEvolution whose time has come. The Evolution Revolution.

The Evolution Revolution is an expansion of Consciousness quietly taking place on the planet through those whose minds and hearts are open to a new way of being. They have evolved from homo sapien to Jeremy Rifkin’s homo empathicus, and embrace the concept of compassion in business and society. They understand our interconnectedness—and that for the few to profit while the vast majority suffers is obscene and intolerable.

Mr. Rifkin, author of The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis, asks whether we can “reach biosphere consciousness and global empathy in time to avert planetary collapse.” At the rate we are going, pouring all our energy and resources into a desperate attempt to resurrect an American Dream gasping its last breath, it will never happen. An answer in the affirmative can only be found in the Evolution Revolution.  

www.evolution-revolution-handbook.com

Withdraw Your Energy from the Chaos

The 'news'—especially TV news—is literally, programming. No matter the slant, liberal or conservative, its purpose is to keep one in a state of discontent. By engagement in this chaotic energy, one becomes part of the static produced to obfuscate our Oneness.

The best way to effect change in oneself and in the world is to withdraw one’s energy from the common, programmed pool, and be a beacon of Peace/Light/Love. The more of us who are cells of sanity in the body of humanity, the greater the Light—and the cancer of the Illusion/madness will be diminished and eradicated.

Whatever one needs to know comes to one’s attention. Rather than participating in and supporting the media-generated chaos, maintain Awareness; enjoy and support a Higher Reality.

Try giving yourself a 'news' break for a week and see what happens when you re-engage. If you’ve been focused and mindful, the dissonance will be obvious.

"Be the change you want to see in the world" by mastering the quality of your energy. It's a moment-by-moment exercise.

Civilization?

What kind of civilization allows and encourages a handful of its members to accumulate untold wealth and live a life of obscene excess while billions are lacking the most basic necessities? What kind of person can observe suffering in another and not do something about it? Only the most unevolved.

The arrogance of humans on planet Earth is stunning.

The aboriginals we look down upon are far more advanced in terms of understanding their place in the biosphere and Universe—while the vast majority are essentially yahoos: mere primitives in Consciousness, yet believing ourselves the 'Crown of Creation.'

For while this human ‘civilization’ has plundered the Earth and accumulated wealth, advancing technology to astonishing levels, most are still driven by the basest of impulses—lust, greed, anger, pride and fear: killing one another over resources, waging wars based on ideology, elevating vanity to a virtue, while oblivious to the machinations of those in power whose smoke and mirrors keep us entranced and in their control—ostensibly free but actually slaves to our senses, spending our days as cogs in the machines of commerce, working endlessly for the sole purpose of acquiring ‘stuff’ or attaining ‘success.’

At the same time, there are a handful who have reached an enlightened state—an Understanding that removes them from the Illusion and allows them to dwell untouched by the miasma of desire—and a growing number who are being awakened to this Understanding.

Where are you in this process? Are you still striving for the ‘American Dream’ or are you one of the fortunate who recognize there is something greater? Have you gotten caught in the Intellect, priding yourself on your capacity for complex thought? Or have you joined the masses enrolled in endless pursuit of ‘improvement’—not realizing that commerce in the name of spirituality is commerce still, merely substituting one illusion for another more self-righteous one, enriching the self-styled gurus while the followers chase their tails in fruitless pursuit of relief while still believing in ‘the good life?’

As long as one exists in the realm of ‘mind’ one is subject to the duality of its nature—one cannot go beyond the mind with the mind. One cannot think one’s way to the next level of being.

Fortunately, there is a transformative energy emerging on the planet: an expansion of Consciousness called the Evolution Revolution. The Evolution Revolution is calling us to open our Hearts & Minds and allow ourselves to be awakened to a Greater Reality—a reality where Compassion is the coin of trade, and Harmony the measure of success. A reality that recognizes that harm to any is harm to Self, and all Life is sacred.

The Evolution Revolution is progressing apace—embrace it and evolve into your True Self.

The Importance of Self-Observation

In the 1970's Werner Erhard's seminars were intended to bring individuals from self-awareness to Self-Awareness: eliminating the identification with ego in daily life. For me, there was one concept that made a deep impression, and one exercise that I have used successfully on both self and others.

The concept states that the primary function of what we call the 'mind' is to perpetuate its own existence. Thus, spiritual practice (without the self-observation that facilitates the dissolution of the false identity) only serves to intensify the phenomenon, as the mind, believing it 'knows' something, now shows up as spiritual ego—a much more insidious creature. One has convinced oneself that one is now a 'spiritual' being—and while one has the intellectual understanding of something greater, and is able to talk the talk, the walk is often lacking, as self-identification is still running the show.

The exercise—based on the principle 'what one resists persists'—is a simple one utilized to eliminate a headache. One focuses attention on the headache, which actually dissolves in the Light of that attention. That act, of looking at the pain in one's head unflinchingly, is similar to the exercise of self-observation. By the diligent practice of observing one's thoughts, speaking and behavior, one begins the process of separating oneself from the identification with the personality.

As this separation begins to occur, a space is created that allows the Self to arise; bringing the Awareness that is its essential Nature. This Awareness, the presence of Consciousness, is expanding Itself on the planet via the Evolution Revolution. What is most remarkable is that it is happening in so-called ordinary people—usually those without great investment in self – the so-called 'meek'.

Along with the presence of Consciousness comes Love and Compassion, and a sensitivity to one's environment. One notices both the flock of birds wheeling in the sky, and the person in one's vicinity who might need a helping hand or a kind word. One recognizes one's own Self everywhere, and the Oneness that is the Truth of existence.

As a well known Master has stated: True spiritual life is that which teaches unity or Oneness, and makes us selfless and full of Love.


www.Evolution-Revolution-Handbook.com

Love Your Neighbor

The Potlatch Song

(Rap to a slow groove)

©2003 saharadevi

When I'm walkin' in the heat

and a cloud rolls by

I say "thank you"

I say "thank you"

And if I want something to eat

and there's money in my pocket

I say "thank you"

I say "thank you"

This world is like a movie

and we're each assigned a role

sometimes we're Cinderella

sometimes we're Old King Cole

We need to realize

that it's a roll of the dice

sometimes we get Beluga

sometimes it's beans and rice

But what we do with what we've got

is what reveals our nature—

are we kind and generous

or nasty and voracious?

To be livin' the good life

is not eating 'til you puke

stop yappin' on that cell phone

can't you see that you've been duped?

The American Dream

has turned into a nightmare—

humanity is in a trance

and no one is aware

*****

When I'm out on the street

and there's someone there who cares

I say "thank you"

I say "thank you"

And when I need a place to sleep

and I have a bed to lie on

I say "thank you"

I say "thank you"

This world is like a movie

and we're each assigned a part

sometimes we get the horse

sometimes we get the cart

We have to understand

that there's something far greater

than crystal chandeliers

and shoes of alligator

What we do with what we have

will show us who we are

will we educate a child

or buy another car?

To be livin' the good life

is not eating 'til you puke

Mother Nature's in revolt

and we're being rebuked

The American Dream

has turned into a nightmare

we're like rats on a treadmill:

moving quickly—going nowhere

We've been brainwashed to believe

too much is not enough

we're consumed by our consumption

we are drowning in our 'stuff'

So open up your eyes

and open up your Heart

let the Love flow to your brother

it's time we made a start

We're the children of One Mother

Love your neighbor as your Self

what we give to each other

is our only true Wealth

Listen: http://www.saharadevi.com/home/Evolution-Revolution-love-your-neighbor-2

Just ONE Degree

If a navigational heading is shifted by only one degree, and you leave New York City heading for Los Angeles, with a one-degree deviation you can end up in Oregon.

What if American society had a one-degree shift in Consciousness? What if a critical number of us not only realized but acted upon the understanding that all Life is interrelated, and that any harm done to any portion is harm done to the whole? Does anyone recall, "Whatsoever ye do to the least of these ye do to Me?"

By decimating forests and rain forests all over the world we are profoundly impacting the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. It's as if, as one pundit put it, "We are cutting the very branch on which we are sitting." How can we imagine this is good for us? It seems like mighty questionable behavior for a society that holds itself in such high regard: that considers itself 'intelligent' 'advanced' and 'civilized.'

Exactly how intelligent is it to pollute land, sea, and air—which results in pollution of organisms at every level of the food chain, which results in disease and illness so prevalent as to be endemic, which results in the consumption of substances that may ameliorate the symptoms but might also produce a kitchen sink of side-effects that further undermine health?

Any 'intelligent' being would consider this self-poisoning to be suicidal and even insane—so who exactly considers this an 'intelligent' thing to do? The people who are suffering from these diseases and cannot afford treatment? Unfortunately these folks have been blinded by the powers-that-be and the media with the illusion that what is being done is meant to provide them with comfort and convenience: the 'good life'—and further deluded into believing that 'the good life' means consume until you puke— both literally and figuratively—resulting in a society sated to a stupor and drugged to oblivion—in a literal trance.

No. Those who consider it okay to deliberately pollute and ravage our entire ecosystem are simply those who profit the most, motivated entirely by an overweening and overwhelming greed: short term profit with no consideration of the long term loss.

But the rest of us are responsible because we allow it to happen, either through laziness, ignorance or myopia.

What is needed is for We the People to make a one-degree shift in Consciousness. A shift from 'my' to 'our'—a shift from short-term profit to long-term stewardship. A shift that recognizes we have become a global village and that our family is now the Family of Man. Not only because we are only a plane ride away from being infected by some new mutated virus, but because we recognize that (to paraphrase the Buddha) "when a butterfly flaps its wings in China, the effect is felt around the world."

Consider this: if every family treated their property in the same way we are allowing the planet to be treated, we'd be living in a sewer.

And this: if working class America had to live in the conditions prevalent for millions around the world who are treated like slave laborers so we can buy cheap goods—most of it unnecessary junk that turns into clutter all over the house and fills our closets, attics and garages to overflowing—there would be rioting in the streets.

And this: enough money has been spent every year for decades to clothe and accessorize Barbie to feed a third-world country: is this what we call intelligent?

With only one degree of expanded Consciousness we could change the world. If we shifted from 'How to Look Good Naked' to 'The Big Give' it would be a good start.

Post-religious Americana

Perhaps in the same way that President-elect Obama is intending to create a post-partisan government, it would be appropriate for We the People to create a national post-religious atmosphere of true spirituality: a spirituality that unites rather than divides. After all, at the heart of most religious concept is the same Universal theme: “Do unto another as you would be done to.”

Belief is a personal and private thing, not to be imposed on another, especially not imposed by a government on its population. On this understanding was our country founded. We can observe, both here and abroad, that the desire to impose one’s own belief on others, or that which espouses ‘our way’ as the best or only way, brings naught but suffering.

Essential human goodness is not exclusive to any group, but may be found all over the world, in every race and nationality, amongst believers of many sorts and non-believers alike.

So what if, rather than attempting to make others believe as we do, we simply accept that diversity is as natural a phenomenon in human existence as it is in Nature and begin to choose Harmony above all? After all, most humans want the same basic things: hearth & home, warmth & food, a decent education and opportunity for their children, and good health.

Perhaps in this era of change, we can finally put aside that which divides and focus on that which unites. If We the People universally embrace compassion, kindness, harmony, philadelphia, and selfless service, it would go a long way toward creating Peace in our hearts and minds, and in our world.