There seems to be a million pathways, secret teachings, mysteries and ways to find out answers in life. It is mind boggling. There are religions, dogmas, philosophies along with techniques, rituals, and spiritual new age, traditional and even ancient understandings available to the seeker through self-help books, videos, tapes, lectures, missions, travel and everything else. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent with gurus, ministers, priests, psychologist, psychiatrists, teachers, shamans, medicine men and women, drugs and the like to search the otherwise 'unknown' for answers and, indeed, even questions.
It is interesting to me that all these 'keys', or paths promote self-fulfillment, prosperity, good health, etc and most folks go from one discipline to the next fairly disappointed in the results. Why don't they work, or why do they 'sorta' work for a few, but not for others. What exactly is the mystery and why can't it be obtained?
We have precise explanations, exact ways to go about finding out and an over abundance of 'experts' telling us how. Yet, the only ones that all of this seems to be helping is the folks giving the lectures, writing the books, living the exercise, devotees giving up their lives to the discipline in which they think is the best way to 'enlightenment.'
What if it was not a secret? What if it was not a mystery? What if it wasn't in a dogma, a church, a ritual, a rite, a lecture or a book? What if it was as common as the preverbal apple pie? What if it was right there within you and out side of you all along? What if it were so common and familiar to you that you just didn't see it, never really thought about it, and because it was so innate, you barely paid it any attention at all?
Many have said, and you have no doubt felt it, too, that all of the 'ways' have a bit of truth, knowledge in them, but there is always something lacking - the question comes up, 'Yes, I know that, but it just doesn't work.'
We are a product of our past. Not so much what has happened to us in the past, but how we judged it, what we think of it, and what we think of ourselves because of it. We have 'mind-sets' that we have grown to trust over the years growing up and in our adult lives. We have judgements of others and of ourselves. We have myopic views, we have understandings that we group together and call it a truth and we react and act upon them as if they were universal truths.
They are not. They are false images. They are false belief structures and we live our lives with these guiding us. Yogis and such, and even Christ, talked about 'looking within.' No one else can know what we are thinking, what we are feeling or why we judge things the way that we do. Every now and again, those judgements are set aside, the veil of self deception is melted and we get a glimpse of major universal truths.
Why can't we find those truths throughout our day, every day, every minute of the day? The truth really is that we can. In order to do so, we have to give up a few things that block the understandings from presenting themselves. We also have to recognize the veil of past experiences that cloud our vision of the reality that allows the truth and the real answers to be available to us.
This planet, the stars, the sun and moon and all of the other solar systems are made up of energy. Energy is the basic component of which all things are created. That includes you and me, individually. We are a part of the world, the universe. The same energies that are in the stars are in us. Different proportions, perhaps, but the basic same ingredients/energies. If we realize that, if we consciously admit that to ourselves, then a really deep understanding starts to exist within us. The so called mysteries, the secrets melt and become 'just the way it is.' As simple as that.
The spot of bother in it, or it becomes troublesome when we can't turn lose of those prejudices, those presumptions, the angers, the guilts and above all the fears. Those are the feelings, the emotions that taint our knowledge, that color our world and add smog to our view of reality. That smog or tainted view is harmful to us and to others.
All those things are personal within us. No two people have the same filters that they look through. They may think that they agree, but in truth, they do not nor can they ever agree exactly. They aren't supposed to, really.
Before any of the 'ways' can work, we have to first clear out our filters, blow out the prejudices, and come to an even-ness and an acceptance with and of ourselves and others. The old judgements and fears have to be looked at and acknowledged - not accepted as truth, just acknowledged that we have that tainted view. Then, when we are looking for the truth, searching for the answers, we will know if they are coming from our tainted view and are a-skewed or if they are a universal answer holding truth.
Facing oneself, looking at ones internal goings on, really delving into one's own psyche is arduous and sometimes painful and always scary. We fight ourselves the whole way. We lie to ourselves, we trick ourselves, and try with all we've got to make excuses. Once we breakthrough that veil, however, plane clear answers come through The answers come quickly and we soon realize that all we feared, felt guilty about, judged ourselves and others about is really healed and gone. The rocks, sticks and stones in our path have been cleared.
We cannot find a clear path without looking within, and cleaning out our own house, our own garbage, cleaning our own windows. It just won't happen. Until we clean out our own baggage, we continue blaming others, finding excuses for ourselves and believing that we are the all knowing person in the room.
There is another element amongst us these days and that is the sociopathic crowd. Sociopath: a personality disorder characterized by an abnormal lack of empathy combined with abnormally immoral conduct despite an ability to appear normal. The political arena is full of them. The private sector is full of them. You sometimes have a difficult time identifying them, but if you take a close look, you'll find them everywhere.
Is it a product of the 'me' society? I have been in conversations lately and the whole time is filled with 'their' stuff, 'their life'. They have a difficult time talking about anything else, seemed bored if you bring up another subject. And they certainly won't 'trouble shoot' the world's problems with anything that even hints of helping their fellow citizens. The seem not to be concerned with anyone else, but themselves.
What I do sense is that the division between, those of us that have delved within ourselves to find answers and become better human beings understand that we need to work for the 'goodness of the whole.' We realize that we are no better off than the weakest or poorest among us. We will not be able to experience the most joy unless our fellow citizens and our earth is feeling it as well. We are all connected in a way that is almost UN-understandable. It is undeniable, however, that each of us has an affect on the world around us. We live in a sea of thought, and feelings. Whether we realize it or not, we have an effect and so do others.
