Finding our Way Back to Centre (Part 2)

The consequences for holding these misogynistic or bigoted views are straightforward. Outside the echo chambers in which this hate can be spewed, these people for the most part are held accountable and shunned by society for their views. If there is any part of ‘anti-racism’ that I can get on board with, it is that this racism should be denounced when it is encountered. But we don’t have to go on a witch hunt in order to achieve this, and the sought effect will (and already does) organically happen by the ostracisation of these people to the fringes of society. In this respect, the powerful disincentive of social exclusion is already at work to temper the proliferation of these toxic forms of thinking.

In response to this would be the claim by those on the woke left that this racism is not a bug that exists on the fringes but a feature of the greater society as a whole. I don’t believe the evidence exists to support this claim, and instances of racism among individuals can’t be expanded out to imbue the whole of society with that quality. To do so not only distorts reality, but it creates an unnecessarily adversarial relationship between those who label themselves as ‘systemically oppressed’ and those who aren’t racist but are labelled as ‘privileged oppressors’ by dint of nothing else than their skin colour. Being itself a form of racism in another guise, we are shown how legitimate social principles such as ‘equity’ and ‘social justice’ are bastardised to serve an ideological agenda in which reconciliation and the movement towards a post-racial future are not primary considerations.

As I have written about previously, it is this bastardisation of moral virtue and the rank hypocrisy which flows from that which animates my scorn for the far left. If we as a society really do care about equity and injustice, it should be focused on those most in need of opportunities or remedial restoration regardless of the superficial identity categories that we place so much stock in. Being preoccupied about one’s race, sex, gender identity (or the intersectional combination of these) only derails this pursuit because it disregards the nuance and complexity that exists in the real world. A good number of minorities enjoy wealth and privilege, many women occupy positions of power and are compensated fairly for their efforts, and the protections of the law apply equally to members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the Western world.

Presented with this clear evidence of progress being made relative to the past, why then are we convinced that things are worse now than they have ever been? Because doing so serves the narrative that we have constructed for ourselves about the place we occupy in the world. This place, unfortunately, too often is defined through the lens of victimhood that has permeated the culture to become valorised as a marker of status or entitlement. So instead of defining ourselves by the fruits of our character and the virtues that we bring forward into the world through our contribution, we default to defining ourselves by our opposition to those ‘in power’ who we perceive have oppressed or dispossessed us of what is rightfully ours. The irony of defining ourselves in this way is that we only victimise ourselves further. Becoming a slave to this disempowering narrative, in whatever form it takes for us, does nothing to transform us into the type of person who can effect meaningful change in the world. Leadership, in this respect, requires us to sacrifice the ideologies at the extremes for a renewal of the connection and commitment to the human heart that unites and offers hope for a more harmonious path of prosperity for humanity.

It is also the case that the loudest minority at these extremes distort our perception of how far these divisions lie. Keeping this in mind can temper our outrage towards those who we don’t agree with. The barrier that is preserved by this online polarisation is that it doesn’t allow us to meet and sit down with other people who think differently than we do. Behind the avatars are often rational and well-intentioned people who are amenable to argument if it is couched in the right way with a shared end in mind. Regardless of what our unique circumstances or understandings are, we clearly have common interests that extend from the present into the future where succeeding generations will have to face problems that should be different from those that we have been tasked with the responsibility for resolving. Slugging it out like two boxers in a ring is no strategy for evolution, and rather than take our licks and inflict corresponding punishment, we should step back to see that ultimately our opponent is not the person in front of us, but the polarising ideological constructions inside us that have us conflate and confuse who we are with what we oppose.   

Observing the Veil of Time (Part 1)

‘But what minutes!  Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day.’ – Benjamin Disraeli.

Our relationship with time is a strange and often dysfunctional one. Cursing that it goes too quickly and that we don’t have enough of it, we frequently waste its gifting by spending it doing things that don’t really matter or move us forward. Couple this with our severe lack of presence in being, and it becomes clear that we must correct our perception of this all important commodity before we can begin to enjoy a deeper experience of life.

In the above quote, the former British Prime Minister teaches that time as we conceive of it and measure it, is layered over the present moment in which we engage with life. Blinding us to its significance, we take for granted its gifting and by so doing forego the grounding and centeredness that comes when we attune our being to life’s pulsations. Being the integrative movement that allows us to experience each moment as an expanse (or a day to use Disraeli’s hyperbole), this entering into life is what we can facilitate when we choose presence over having our attention be consumed by the construct of time and our attachments to it.

When we are preoccupied with our calendar and the chunks of time that it structures for our mind, it is very difficult to embrace life at a meaningful level. Reacting emotionally to the substance of our schedule, we are less responsive to life’s movements, and the impact that they seek to make on our consciousness is diminished as a result. This explains why so much of our emotional life is weighted in the negative. Being stressed about our obligations and fearful that we will not meet them, we struggle to see the joys and the goodness that surrounds us when they are right there staring us in the face.

To mitigate against this state of disconnection, it helps to practice mindfulness or other forms of conscious awareness of what is unfolding in the here and now. Removing the scales from our physical eyes, these practices require a surrendering of the ego that is dependent on time for the construction of a reality in which its objectives can be met. As we allow ourselves this liberty, we can shield ourselves from the fear and stress that our faithfulness to time enables in part. Having nowhere else to go to enjoy a serene mind and communicative heart, we can allow that experience to wash over us.

As much as the mind is receptive in a mindful state, the heart speaks of the virtuous substance that infuses and enriches our present moment experience. As proof of this, when we are still and silent, insight will be unveiled and an awareness of our incomplete conceptions of self will be made manifest. One of the first dominoes to fall here may involve our relationship with time itself. So many of us subscribe to the narrative that the past defines who we are and that we can’t break free from the person who we were yesterday, despite the limitations of that identity. While we might find comfort in that delusion, it also provides a convenience in getting us off the hook for the work that it takes to grow into a more integrated version of ourselves.

More generally, the conditioning of the mind that is held hostage by the ego teaches that it is normal to obsess about the past and the future. Wanting to control these two ends of an illusory spectrum, we engage in this frivolity and waste precious energy in the process when we refuse to accept that the past is gone and the future may never arrive. Just because we have evidence of living in this moment and in moments past, doesn’t guarantee us an experience of future moments in the years ahead or even in the next minute (as the victim of an unexpected heart attack would attest). Yet, we persist in taking this sliver of life for granted and suffering in the interim.

Ennobling the Warrior Within

Each of us has a warrior inside of us, but this is nothing to fear or deny. Lying at our core, it is this spirit that fights not to kill but to liberate. One with the truth, it is this warrior who bravely stands their ground when the unconsciousness of the world threatens to take them over. An agent of virtue, these are the rules that the warrior lives by. Being able to exercise restraint in the presence of great temptation to harm, they harness their power to bring about a greater good. Taking the form of flesh is their immortality hidden from the world, but not forgotten by the heart that knows its true origin.

The other day I was talking to a friend about his passion for martial arts. Describing the love that he has for the practice, he mentioned a foreign word that stoked my curiosity. Asking him about his approach to the discipline, he responded with only one word, ‘bushido’. Furrowing my brow to convey my unfamiliarity with the concept, he went on to explain just what that word meant for him and how it has guided him not only in the dojo but also in every other area of his life.

‘Bushido’ is a Japanese term for the way of the warrior. A code of conduct of the samurai of Japan, it embodies the virtues that one must possess if they are to defeat not the enemies in the world but the enemies that lie within. Standing for courage, self-discipline, rectitude, benevolence, respect, honour, honesty and loyalty, it has as its theme mastery of the self. Timeless in the wisdom that it captures, the word is as relevant today as it was many hundred years ago when the samurai were considered among the elite in Japanese society.

Bushido to me means to face the world from your source of strength. Being the spirit, it teaches to give the best of what you have regardless of what adversity you face. Whether it is at home with our family, at work with our colleagues, or alone in our most private moments, we can all summons this capacity to live wisely if we are willing to do the work of looking deep within. As we evolve and mature, I think that we come to integrate this warrior part of ourselves more fully. Being something that is natural to us, it emerges to supplant our naivety and benign posturing when we come to the realisation that we are not yet who the world needs us to be.

When we give ourselves permission to reclaim our sword and cut through the ribbons of fear and illusion that have kept us ensnared in our mind, that is when we can move to deeper levels of consciousness in our life. This battle, fought in the name of love, is an active process that the peace of the world is dependent on. Without our willingness to take up arms, what opposition is the ego going to be faced with in its assault on the minds of those who would otherwise be guided by the light of spirit. To just sit back and accept its onslaught is as unconscionable as allowing ourselves to become a conduit of evil.  

In every moment the warrior is tempted to infidelity with the ego. The adversary that opposes the spirit, it is the challenge posed by the ego that will test the warrior’s metal. A worthy opponent that takes no prisoners, it promises a smorgasbord of promises and temptations as it launches its attack, landing its blows in the warrior’s own chosen moments of defencelessness. Disorientating the sensibilities of the warrior, it is the suffering brought about by their own indulgences that will present an opportunity for insight and the reclamation of power. The warrior on their knees now has the upper hand, for the ego having revealed its strategic method of control has shown the way to victory. In the posture of humility that our protagonist now occupies, they can see how they had fanned the flame of their own oppression by externalising the foe that was in them all along. Having enabled the warrior to perceive this reality, perhaps the ego is not the enemy that the warrior had conceived it to be after all.

The Day that Never Comes (Part 2)

This is one of the great paradoxes of creative endeavour. When we try too hard, we interrupt the process. To try too hard is to believe at some level that you are undertaking the art by yourself. But never is this belief justified. It stops you from experiencing the magic. Real magic is the art of manifesting in the physical realm that which lies beyond that realm. Some people say that those who write are too much in their own heads. Of this opinion, I disagree. The path to creativity begins first in the conceiving heart and then leads to the expressing mind. Without this, there could be no clarity, no coherence, no wisdom to be shared, no meaning to be understood. The attuned mind crystallises what the heart gives birth to. Subsumed, it becomes powerful, and in this service it is an instrument of grace.

The most rewarding experiences of creativity are never engaged in alone. They take place in the company of the spirit. A child is born to both a father and a mother. It can be no other way. The father impregnates the mother with the seed of potentiality. She then allows her nature to guide the process. The result is beautiful. Recognize here who the protagonists are. The father is the force of life; the mother is the animating presence of that life force (the spirit) that nurtures your very being. Ultimately, every ejaculation is an opening to the spiritual realm. Whether the form that takes is a procreative release in the body, or a revelatory thought in the mind, the source from which they originate is the love that sustains us now. What we do with what comes to us is dependent on our conscious will and stage of evolution. We can either make it a blessing or a curse. Given this ability to write, I could choose to convey messages of hate and fear to the world. I could choose to confound rather than to espouse truth. I could give the ego primacy over the spirit.

But who would I serve by doing this? Not those who share my essence. I long only to fulfil my function. This is to love, unite and enlighten. As creativity is expressed, so does the call to serve come. Intertwined so delicately as the fabric of the universe, it is one that cannot co-exist without the other. Love will forever have us move outward. Beginning in the realm of spirit, we then transfer to the realm of form. Empty as we allow it to consume us, we come not with empty hands, for becoming this conduit of love, we bear gifts for the world also. Imparting what we have been given by the spirit to offer, the substance of that creative endeavour finds validation in the world by its impact.

When Pitzer says that procrastination is a sin, what she means is that it is an unnatural act in a world that calls for meaningful action. Inaction is death when we choose against the natural order of things which is to evolve. Having been created to be still in presence, doesn’t equate to standing still, and even as we are still in presence, we grow by staying aligned with our spiritual essence. To stand still is to atrophy and languish in a world where the gravitational pull is towards a full material realization of our latent potentiality.  

I grow as I follow my passion and purpose, not only as a writer, but also as a person. This I do because I surrender to the spirit’s knowing of the unseen dimension of life. Allowing it to teach me about who I am at the deepest level, I am able to serve others by helping them to hold the space in which they can explore this same territory. It takes courage to learn and be led by our curiosity because at the outset we have no idea of where our learning will lead us. Whatever fear that is associated with this process, procrastination is the cover that justifies our recoiling, or so the ego tells us. Better to not be harmed by what we don’t know, it says, but this is no strategy for coming to truth, on which reality and any future prospect of success are dependent.