|
|
|
|
|
| Summer is almost upon us.� It is the season in which we emerge from the cold and the darkness to be bathed in pure energy.� As I have said, we are nothing but energy given form ourselves.� Our senses perceive colors, shapes and distinctions in reality, but we are all really pure energy.� The energy that we are using now to read this comes from the sun.� The ultraviolet radiation that is bathing the planet emerges in physical form through the process of photosynthesis.� Energy is given form by the� primary producers that we feast upon.� It is through the utilization of this stored and concentrated energy that we have developed complex organ systems that allow us to manipulate, observe and 'understand' the surrounding reality in ever more complex ways.� We are able through application and proliferation of the scientific method to expand our ability to manipulate the environment around us. | ||||
| It is through the proliferation of the western philosophy pioneered by� Rene Descartes that we have created many of the divisions that plague our civilization.� He expounded on the postulate 'I think, therefore I am" to create divisions between man and nature, man and his fellow man, and a linear absolutist philosophy.� The application of western philosophy has unlocked secrets of the universe that have allowed us to travel to the moon, but propel us towards destruction.� | ||||
| Hatred is by no means a modern western invention however.� It is through adherence to archaic philosophies and scriptures that we continue to propagate hatred and ignorance throughout the world. Witness the current conflict between the fundamentalist Islamic world and the secular western world.� The conflict between Hinduism and Islam.� The conflict between Judaism and Islam. �The conflict between Christianity and Islam. The implementation of a rigid belief structure based on archaic writings continues to cause pain and suffering throughout the world.� | ||||
| In our western civilization we feel that we our enlightened, but our civilization is in the midst of an enormous feeding frenzy that includes overproliferation of our species and overexploitation of Earth's resources.�� It is unfortunate that we as a species have not gained sufficient awareness to break from the cycle of overexpansion and contraction.� A species overdominates its environment.� The population exceeds the carrying capacity of the environment and the population experiences a massive die-off.� The population returns to a sustainable level.� The cycle continues.�� We are acting out the scene of� an ancient play in which there is much bloodshed and tragedy.� | ||||
| But really it is all an illusion.� It is just a fluctuation in the energy field that we call reality.� We feel that we have gained consciousness and that we are actually above the rest of the creatures of the planet.� We feel that our forms have unlocked the secrets of the universe, but really we are controlled by the subconscious mind.� The majority of our actions and processes are controlled completely subconsciously.� We are born and die, we experience joy and suffering, we experience enlightenment and we eventually demonstrate that our physical form is returned to the earth and there?s nothing that we can do about it. | ||||
| So what is our duty as human beings in the 21st century?� It is to first recognize and acknowledge our own ignorance. To feel our own humilty.� The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao.� Recognize our own biases and know that we can never really see and understand reality as it is.� We can only see approximations.� We must see that we are one with the people and environment around us.� | ||||
| After all, life is both a comedy and a tragedy.� We are somewhat like an amoeba on a microscope slide.� We think that we know what?s going on, but we have no idea.� All we can do is to live a life that we would like to live over again and again if we could.� Someday we will look back on it and laugh heartily.� It is my belief that consciousness in this world is like swimming through� a deep dark sea of ignorance.� None of us knows when we will get to the other side, but when we do, we will understand that we were only flopping around in a puddle. | ||||
| Composed on a sunny afternoon in June. | ||||
| June 3, 2002. | ||||
| Alameda, California, USA. | ||||