"Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
I've been thinking about this for the past few days. I don't necessarily move on from things overnight and the many "social justice" posts from last month are still floating around in my head.
Typically, I like to look for the root issue. Just as the principle in gardening is that diseased plants need to be culled from the root, I believe the same is true of social issues. There are plenty of examples of problems, many diseased plants, but what are the solutions? And where are the roots?
The backbone is dualism. The offshoot is our relationship to love and fear.
People are hungry because at the root, we believe there is not enough food to go around. If everyone is fed, there won't be enough left for us.
Dualism supports the belief that there is not enough to go around so we have to fight and compete for our share. That manifests in war, power-over and hierarchy.
We believe that sharing our emotional resources with others means that there is less for ourselves. If our significant other spends time with friends or work, that must mean that we will not get our share of that energy. It is a perception of limitation. That brings about alienation and fractured relationships.
Dualism supports the idea that we must be either material beings or spiritual beings. We choose material because it's too scary to let go and trust the cosmos that surround us ~ or each other.
The truth is that we are organized as a society, using obsolete social principles. They are obsolete because they reflect separateness. They reflect fear over love. The culture encourages us to believe creating wealth is the primary goal of human work ~ although it certainly is not. We have forgotten how to treat each other as brothers and sisters, although that is certainly what we are.
As long as this continues, we will see these same problems repeating themselves, generation after generation.
We need to consciously let go of these beliefs. We need to consciously examine ourselves for these beliefs, where we hold them and where we support them. We need to let go of the belief that resources are limited, that there is only just so much to go around, that the earth is not capable of producing enough food, that we are not energetic enough to create housing for everyone, that we are not smart enough to create medical care and education for everyone, that we are separate and must fight so strongly for our own identities, both personal or national, that we bring about war. We need to replace fear with the practice of love.
We have to allow ourselves to be transformed.
Peace,
~Chani
"Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed. This is an ancient and eternal law." ~ Buddha
Friday, December 29, 2006
Love and Fear.....
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10 comments:
Dualism is definitely a very big part of it. I don't know if it's the root, for me, but it's up there. Even just our tendency to split everything into halves and create dualisms where there weren't any before--not only does it create all the problems you're mentioning, but it trains us not to see what's really there. Because we're too busy trying to figure out what slot to put something in.
We are indeed a "separate" society even within our families. Too preoccupied with material gain to see what we are loosing spiritually.
It's a new concept to me, but there is probably some truth to it. I'm not sure, however, if we really worry that there isn't enough for us, or whether we really are greedy and just want more for the sake of it. Maybe it's to do with power more than getting enough?
I think AC makes a good point. The desire for power is a part of it, and...control.
It is true that the fastest way to unite a group of people is to give them something or someone to rally against.
Is this what you mean as well? Us vs. Them?
Madame Chani,
I like this. But I have oft thought greed was the root, rather than fear - or do fear and greed share the same root? fear of losing = greedily holding on?
i think further discussion is warranted....tell me more, please.
transformation can be terrifying, most of us shy from it.
I always think, when i see what is going on in the world, and I share some of it with my older daughter, as I appreciate her undistilled views of the world over any talking head i listen to....I always think how wise a child is when they say 'but that is just silly...' (not transformation, but the state of the status quo)
We eat too much, we buy too much, we "want" too much, we live in fear too much...seems the only thing that we don't do too much is LOVE and that's so silly because that's the one thing that keeps multiplying the more we do it !
Always so reflective and thoughtful...
Interesting and I like hearing your thoughts on this. I think you are right about the separateness, the feeling that we are not linked to each other. It's self-absorption. And laziness. It's easier not to care and not to share.
but how to transform?
Chani,
Once again, you take my breath away. You are so right. When we operate from a scarcity mentality, we become fearful, which makes us competitive. Where there is competition, an adversary relationship exists. None of this accomplishes peace or leads to love.
Nearly all the Native American languages have a phrase for "we are all related." And even a cursory study of their civilizations and lifestyles confirms their deepest core belief that there is no real separation between us. What benefits one benefits all, and conversely, when we tear down and destroy one another, either literally or with words, we are all diminished.
You are a very wise woman with much that is valuable to impart. I learn so much when I sit at your feet. I bow my thanks to you.
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