Evolution of The Mind

Before I get started I think it is worth noting that for the last twenty-plus years I have considered myself very much of the left. A progressive democrat. Like many Americans I was filled with an ineffable dread the day Donald Trump was elected into the white house. However, over the last eight months my understanding around all of these political idioms has been completely obliterated; forcing me to take a hard look at what it is I actually believe.

I’m most interested in what is real.

Our current state of consciousness seems inextricably linked to our hypnosis via social media. We have descended into this place where no one seems capable of having a conversation about anything. The once trusted voice of the mainstream media now only exacerbates this polarity and confusion as there is little to no objectivity left in the realm of journalism. To form and have an opinion of one’s own has become a revolutionary act. If you’re not spouting the high and mighty entitled narrative of the mainstream leftist ethos you might as well be wearing a MAGA cap. From the right, If you’re not donning the blood red MAGA cap you might be considered “un-American”. But the reality of the situation (outside your door) is much more complex, diverse and (I would argue) compassionate than what our screens would have us believe.

This topic is a grand undertaking, but stay with me.

I’ve seen more cringe worthy comments over the last few months than I could have imagined. On top of the constant waterfall of vitriol and venom it has become increasingly difficult to discern what is true and what is not. Science has revealed itself to be the leftist’ dogma. If you don’t spend your days in a laboratory, calling yourself a scientist of one discipline or another you have no business questioning the grand scientific authority that seems to be so worshipped after. When any facet of human creation begins to supersede our humanity; or our ability to discern between doing what is in the best interest of the human creature and what is in the best interest of that external creation itself is skewed, we have gone awry.

I love science. But, science is a tool for understanding, not a religion. And certainly not an enterprise to be worshipped.

With science and media becoming almost entirely corporatized; that is to say serving the interests of the corporations who own and fund them, how is a person to trust either? My intuitive response is that we cannot. No longer can we trust the talking heads emanating from the black mirror. They have only led us into this polarized maze of obscurity that which inhibits us from recognizing any truth lying beneath it all. We must get back to the source of everything. The source of acute happenings, the source of information: How it happened, where it happened, what it looks like and how it functions. Like it or not, good, bad or indifferent it is important for all of us to at least have access to the baseline foundation of what is.

We must continue to communicate. But, that is impossible until we agree on what is real.

The most interesting aspect of all of this to me is that people on both sides claim their righteousness. “How could you do that? Don’t you care about other people? Are you so selfish?” is heard billowing from the mouths of either-side. So, when we put down our masks (pun intended) of culture and take a moment to step into the shoes of one another it is revealed that we both, equally care about each other. We simply have varying means of expression. As we always have. And hopefully, as we always will have. Our differences in all aspects including our opinions on what is “right” is an important part of our existence.

I have a far-out belief of where we need to begin this venture: It starts within. We’ve got a whole bunch of people in a massive amount of pain and fear.  

Contemporary culture (at least in America) is built on running away from our darkness. Running away from pain to seek out that which is comfortable. There is nothing to be ashamed of here. We are simply afforded this new heavenly possibility and it is only natural to seek comfort and safety when experiencing something painful and scary. However, this has not done us any good in the grand scheme of our evolution as people. True healing happens when we gather the courage to sit in the darkness. Make friends with it. Allow it. It loses all of its energy when we do this. We create space to let the light in, to let compassion flow in, to let love and warmth come in. Only then may we be released from our trauma and pain and only then can we see our self-manifested monsters for what they truly are: aspects of ourselves in need of recognition.

The truth is that we are never fully “free” from our pain, trauma, or suffering because it is an inextricable part of us. It is part of our story, part of our dharma, our destiny would not be fulfill-able if it were not for our pain, darkness and hardships. We might as well make peace with it all. As difficult and painful as it will be at first, surrendering to the truth of what is opens the mind and heart up to the absolute beauty life has to offer. 

Man is a star, bound to a body. Fear and darkness his bondage.

I feel compelled to speak on this because I have spent much of my life not looking at those things within myself that cause me pain. Doing everything I can to push the monsters away, to banish them. Constantly steering my mind in another direction any time one of these unpleasant aspects of me reared its hideous head. The fascinating realization is that now having had this experience of allowing them to ‘just be’ whenever they arrive, they don’t look so scary anymore. Now, this is not easy, and it has taken constant work and discipline to get to this place, but, I feel blessed to be here. My work in this life feels to be that I share that truth with as many people as are willing to receive it.

 

We are all doing the best we can with what we have.

This realization always leads me back to the foundation of living with compassion for my fellow humans.

I’ve learned a very interesting and very important lesson over these last few months amid the ‘terror’ of these covid lockdowns. There is no convincing anyone of anything. We all must come to our own realizations in our own time. No matter how righteous or true I may feel my opinion is, no matter how gleaming the golden nugget of truth is that I am sure will change another person’s mind it is a simple impossibility to expect to change another person’s mind until they are ready for their mind to be changed.

Now this is much different than sharing insights, knowledge and wisdom in a manner that allows another person to take the steps to see various truths for themselves. But, in an argumentative setting or any social media plated discussion there is little, if any, chance of convincing another individual of anything of substance. This is a simple truth of human experience.

The moment you share any particle of information that slightly intrudes on the belief system of another there is an immediate descent into the faculties of fight or flight. The person you are engaged with is no longer in a state of being where they would be able to “receive” and/or consider the possibility of your perspective being true. In the fight or flight state the brain goes into the “DEFEND THE CASTLE” at all costs mode. All executive functioning is thwarted and you might as well be swinging a battle axe in their direction. Isn’t this a fascinating conundrum? It seems one thousand-fold more obvious in this strange time of social media driven ultra-sensitivity.

At the end of the roman empire it is said that its citizens descended into a consumerist mentality. It could have also been characterized as an age of decadence. They became increasingly ‘soft’. Unwilling to endure the hardships of human life. There were fewer babies being born. The elites spent their days lusting after and devouring exotic goods rather than cultivating their talents, swordsmanship, or food stores. I’m no historian but it is very easy to imagine the mighty empire of Rome crumbling under its own useless weight through this shift in communal consciousness.

I argue that we are in a similar state as that which ended Rome. Whatever that means, we are surely seeing the end of one age and perhaps the beginning of another. An apocalypse of the mind. A stage of our existence in which our behaviors are no longer sustainable if we are to continue living on this planet.

Your feeling about that will depend upon your perception. For all, this is a profound time. While difficult this will undoubtedly be a very powerful and enlightening time. We are evolving into our next stage of being. For some, this will be a very dark time. Incredibly painful and dark.

This is all OK.

It is all perfect and universally ordained. There is this thing called karma. Whatever you believe karma is it is the effect to your causes. It is the yin to the yang. It is the very thing that you, me, all of us sent out into the universe so long ago that is now back to repay the compliment (or consequence).

We have spent so much time in judgment and denial of ourselves and others that this is in fact exactly where we are. Do you want to continue consuming and drowning yourself in externalities that of which are completely meaningless to the progression of your individuality and the species as a whole? Would you like to go on living into eternity without ever acknowledging the painful, yet beautiful truth that is your life path on this planet?

What are you afraid of? What is stopping you from acknowledging all of that sadness, pain, trauma etc. that lies so deeply in the dark halls of your being? Let it out. Let it go. Set yourself free. We need you.