Eternal Solutions for a Temporary Society (Part 1)
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This article series is dedicated to understanding the many problems we face, as a species and as individuals. It addresses our global society in the context of the new millennium, with an emphasis upon honest evaluation. Are you prepared to be honest? I ask this because the following is not for the weak at heart. What you are about to read is designed to make conscious Masters out of consumers. It crystallizes the solutions to our problems in the most practical, day-to-day terms. In order to accomplish this purpose, we must consider the nature of truth itself. Without acting on truth, there can be no right action. So before we discuss specific social and personal solutions, let us clarify now what the word “truth” really means; Truth is eternal, and is the basis for REALITY. There is no such thing as “creating our own reality” in the most literal sense, other than through psychological delusion. Reality already exists. Although it is true that we manifest changes in our environment through our intention, those manifestations still occur only by virtue of natural laws. Reality will continue to exist regardless of what we think of it. Reality/truth existed prior to human beings, and were we to perish, it would continue to exist for unlimited eons thereafter. The first and foremost solution to ALL of the world’s ills, is none other than truth itself. Only IT can provide the way out of the modern crisis facing us all. The very basis for enlightenment and human progress of all kinds, can be no less than the everlasting truth. Likewise, no personal problem can be overcome, except through the recognition of the honest truth. Truth is not a matter of opinion. In fact, our opinions about the truth are completely irrelevant to how IT functions. We may BELIEVE anything we wish about any given subject, but this belief does not in itself change reality. To progress spiritually, each person must eventually realize this, or never significantly progress on the path to greater enlightenment. Nations must also realize this, or destroy each other through misplaced loyalties and untrue assumptions. There is only ONE truth, not many, just as there is only one unified entity which is called God, (consciousness). Truth is a composite of interactive laws, as expressed in Nature. These are often called “natural laws”, as opposed to those often arbitrary rules and regulations created by human beings. Examples of natural laws include: inertia, resonance, dissonance, vibration-frequency-wavelength, gravity, spectrums-bands, 2+2=4, diffraction, radiation, polarity, (electron-proton/male-female relationships), convection, mitosis, that consciousness is composed of Intent, Awareness and energy, multi-cellular organization and specialization, photosynthesis, etc… Truth can be described in various ways, yet any given description has no real bearing on the qualities of existence. What one may comment about a tree for instance, does not in itself change what TREE IS. TREE exists as it does, regardless of any commentary or speculation, as does the universe in general. The same is true of all the forms of nature. This is why true science and the scientific method is about eliminating bias in the asking of any question. Bias cannot be completely eliminated until we identify with consciousness rather than thought, (see Part 2 of this article). Every religion and philosophy has its specific approach, in describing that which is eternal and everlasting. The same may be said of governments and political parties, learned lecturers and authors, to varying degrees. The careful observer will note that although almost all religions claim nearly exclusive copyright on their description of truth, these descriptions vary widely. Many of these directly contradict one another. Simple logic therefore suggests that not all of the assertions of religions or governments can be true. One might even be so bold as to suggest that ALL religions, governments and philosophies are at least partly untrue, if not almost completely so. How can this be so, you may ask? Because humankind went astray from Nature/spirituality and the Truth it reflects, many millennia ago. This trend has been compounding ever since the beginning of recorded history, (and perhaps before) up until today. We have the common belief that truth is whatever you happen to make up, or feel comfortable in believing. Such a view will be the death of human civilization, unparalleled by any other, if it remains unchecked. It is both the need and responsibility of the spiritual practitioner to ascertain what the universal truth is, and to live by it. This is not a process of “belief” therefore, but of clarity. It is popular to refer to “my truth and your truth” as though truth is relative to the individual. Many use the analogy of the three blind men, who one day touch an elephant. The one touching the leg declares, “An elephant is sturdy, strong, supple and pillar-like”. The second upon hearing this while holding a tusk declares, “No you are mostly wrong. An elephant is strong alright, but very rigid, hard and long”. The third fool, holding only the elephant’s tail, emphatically denounces both points of view, saying, “the elephant is a spindly, but very agile creature”. Amazingly, many use the elephant and three blind men analogy, to defend their view that truth is relative to the observer. For obvious reasons, this thinking is faulty. It first assumes that human beings are blind, and that they have only one method of determining the whole truth at their disposal. Second, it assumes that human perception is the epitome of reality, as its very basis of existence. This is also reflected by the popular question, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it really make a sound?” Of course it makes a sound. Such implied human arrogance is something Nature will not forgive. Third and most importantly, it denies the essential reality of an elephant from an elephant’s experience. Very few bother to consult with the elephant as to what an elephant is, just as very few bother to find out what reality is, devoid of any social preconception. Just like the blind men, our religions and governments argue over minor points of observation, of a much larger picture of God, Nature and Truth. They do this based on past preconceptions rather than through honest clarity. No one “viewpoint” can sufficiently encompass reality. We must move all around to see it. This is why specific beliefs and faith are the curse of the closed mind, whether they are applied to religious views or patriotic flag waving. We need not BELIEVE in any given thing…we need only See it directly through well focused clarity, and an attitude that Truth is not relative to our personal preferences. If it were, our very species, our planet, our galaxy and the laws of physics would not exist. If the reader of these words will not apply the above to themselves, then they will remain lost in the quagmire of society, until such a time as they decide to be completely honest. All hope of true progress in both self and society in general, is lost until we do so. Until truth is both acknowledged and applied by the majority, we are just a dead race which is merely waiting for the hour of our demise. Again I must reemphasize the essential fact that it is does not matter how you react to these words. What matters is how you apply them, not whether you like them. It is one of the biggest lies of the modern age, and also among the most foolish, to imagine that personal preference and comfort outweigh the eternal. They do not, and those who think their comfort is supreme, will die a miserable death at the hands of their own ignorance. So will this modern society as a whole, which also assumes the same thing, until our center-of-the-universe thinking is altered. Ignorance is not bliss, it is the agony of blindness. The truth of the modern world is that we have only a limited time left on a finite planet, to remedy our collective madness. The name of this madness is “materialism, patriotism and consumerism”. The Earth simply cannot sustain us much longer, especially given our wasteful, war-for-profit and self-indulgent attitude, as a global species. This is a mathematical certainty, and a natural fact. You may like to think otherwise, but your belief is just delusion if you imagine that some external force or sheer chance, is going to magically save us from our own self induced peril. Why should it, and what would we learn, finally, if all our mistakes are given absolution? The child that is so indulged learns to change nothing. Lessons learned are made through taking responsibility for our own actions. This is a part of why we are here as souls in bodies to start with. The present world condition is all the more reason to take your spiritual practice seriously, and to reject the falsehoods of our day, which are peddled unscrupulously in every form of media. Meditate on this and the essential self that is soul, today. The Truth about modern society
is as follows:
The expansion of consciousness means; 1) self realization as soul,
rather than job title, gender, religion, culture or nationality.
The rest of this article will be dedicated to three distinct areas of self and social improvement. These three categories are not separate considerations…they enhance each other through that ultimate spiritual purpose, which is the expansion of consciousness. These three are: 1) The refinement of the
physical vehicle.
Please note the following
statistics, in clarifying our problems at the physical level. Although
they are generated from American society, they never the less represent
a global trend in all the nations of the world;
· By the time a baby
born the United States reaches age 75, he or she will have
· Amount of motor
oil sent to landfills or poured down drains in the U.S. each year:
Is our dream a nightmare
for the earth?
· Minerals due to
run out in 50 years: copper, lead, mercury, nickel, tin and zinc [49]
· Number of acres
of cropland we lose to erosion each year: 1 million [53]
Is our dream a nightmare
for us?
· Average increase
in consumer spending when credit cards are used instead of cash: 23% [62]
(from chapter 1 of the Survivalist’s
Guide in the WMS Library at http://www.eoni.com/~visionquest)
That the more expensive an object is, the more valuable it is assumed to be. That the presentation of image is more important than reality. That success in life is literally defined by money and social position. That whatever the majority believes as true, defines the nature of Truth itself. That government, religious institutions and others of “official expertise” know what is right for us, to a degree that is well beyond our own comprehension or experience. That human kind is above nature and does not need to observe natural laws, but only the laws of its own making. When an idea is made law then it is instantly justified. When an idea is made illegal it is instantly disgraced. That the items to be bought by money are more desirable than what we already possess or can cultivate in our own selves, even more so than spiritual growth, clarity, wisdom, good will, love, happiness or any other natural consideration. That the public has a general
lack of intelligence which makes it incapable of being self governing,
which implies that it must be controlled and guided, by propaganda or force
of arms if necessary.
All of these beliefs are false, and need to be discarded utterly, as does the society which promotes them. Along with a change of physical habits then, it is obvious we also need to re-think our mental views on the purpose of life. At present, Life is seen as something to exploit and use up, as are our fellow human beings. “The single most important
contribution any of us can make to the planet is a return to frugality.”
To remedy the personal and social problems which materialism creates, our need is to; 1) Return to simplicity and
natural ways. Demanding less of the material world means not having
to spend all your time in its accumulation or maintenance. Live a
simple life of few possessions. Do not contribute to those
applications of science, industry or government, which go against the methods/laws
of nature. Employ alternative energy sources, whenever possible.
Matthew Webb
*Suggested reading regarding the above 6 items; The Survivalist’s Guide for the New Millennium in the WMS Library TERROR, LOVE, AND
THE STATE OF THE WORLD
Approximately 6,000 people perished in the September 11th attacks . . . But those who died from the attacks on that tragic day were not alone. On September 11th, 35,000 children worldwide died of hunger. A similar number of children died on September 12th, and again on the 13th, and on every single day since then. Meanwhile, we in the U.S. feed 80% of our grain harvest to livestock so that a people whose cholesterol levels are too high can have cheap meat. To advance human security and control terrorism, we must not only find the brutality of the September 11th attacks to be totally intolerable. We must also find intolerable that one billion people worldwide struggle to survive on $1 a day, that more than one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and that 3 billion people have inadequate access to sanitation. If we are serious about stopping terrorism, then our goal must be to reduce the level of pollution, fear, and poverty in the world. The cost of our initial military response will easily top $100 billion (on top of our already enormous annual defense budget of $342 billion). What could we accomplish if we spent even a small fraction of that much on programs to alleviate human suffering? In 1998, the United Nations Development Program estimated that it would cost an additional $9 billion (above current expenditures) to provide clean water and sanitation for everyone on earth. It would cost an additional $12 billion, they said, to cover reproductive health services for all women worldwide. Another $13 billion would be enough not only to give every person on Earth enough food to eat but also basic health care. An additional $6 billion could provide basic education for all. These are large numbers, but combined they add up to $40 billion - - only one fifth as much as the $200 billion the U.S. government agreed in October 2001 to pay Lockheed to build new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) jets. What if we were equally as
dedicated to eradicate hunger, to provide clean water, to defeat infectious
disease, to provide adequate jobs, to combat illiteracy, and to end homelessness?
What if we understood that, today, there is no such thing as national security
as long as the basic human needs of large portions of humanity are not
met?"
For further suggested reading... Matthew Webb
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