You’ve heard that ‘seeing is believing,’ right? The truth is that ‘believing is seeing.’
What you believe becomes the lens through which you view everything.
What do you believe? Let’s start with the folks around you, your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, the community, your country. Are they all ‘others’ to you? How about people who live on the other side of the world? The other side of the political spectrum? The other skin colors? The other religions?
The more we focus on ‘otherness’ the less we understand about who we really are as individuals. Yes, we have separate physical bodies, but we are all one. We are all one big organism called ‘humanity’ on Earth.
Even the teachings about how we are all connected are trying to explain a concept that goes deeper than that. We Are All One. There really is no separation.
If you’ve heard anything about new science, quantum physics, you’ve probably heard that science understands that particles that seem to be discrete and individual somehow seem to know what other particles are doing without a connection network to transmit that information. (Or, at least, a connection that we can describe and understand at this time!) But if the particles (individuals) are all a part of one organism (consciousness) then maybe they don’t need a communication network. They just ‘know’ what is known elsewhere.
Now, for humans, this can get trickier because we like to think that we are unique individuals and we LOVE the word ‘mine’! From the time we first figure out what that word means, as toddlers, we use it to lay claim to what we perceive is ours, without regard to what anyone else wants. Just ask a toddler to care that you want to play with that toy that they’ve declared is ‘mine’ and see how far you get!
Grownups can evolve beyond this narrow vision of ‘mine’ into ‘ours,’ if they try. We learned to share in kindergarten, we practiced being a sibling or a couple or a family member or a community and we learned about the concept of ‘for the good of all.’ Not everyone, though, has embraced that concept.
In the midst of an election in a democracy, like the US, we hear all sorts of rhetoric and, sadly, lies. Everyone running for office claims to have the solutions for every problem. We often hear fear-mongering to get you all riled up about holding onto what you claim is ‘mine’ vs sharing with others, the concept of ‘ours.’ To back up these claims there are often statistics or stories that are concocted without a basis in fact.
The little toddler inside each voter reacts with that old idea of ‘mine’ and can be blindly led down a path that causes them to vote against their own best interest because they are so focused on ‘others’ trying to take what is ‘mine’ that they forget to analyze, calculate, do the research and educate themselves.
Start with We Are All One. Everything really is connected, so connected, in fact, that it is One. We can share. Just as we learned in kindergarten, it is okay to take turns, to share, to participate together so that everyone is taken care of.
Not only do we have privileges as human beings on Earth at this time, we also have responsibilities to each other and to the Earth. In a democracy, citizenship includes being educated and caring about others who share this democracy with you. As Earthlings, we share the planet with many others and so we have a responsibility to care for and about the Earth.
Get out the glass cleaner and clean off the lens through which you are looking at the world. Start with We Are All One!
Mystic Messages 
Choose to Celebrate! – Richard’s Commentary
October 29, 2014 — RichardThe press does a great job of getting us into fear. This word is the center-point of Rosemary’s post. It seems, especially since 9/11, that there has been a deliberate campaign to keep us fearful. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you will, but think about it; watch the news (FOX or MSNBC) and listen for the undercurrent, the focus of the articles, the energy of the reporters or anchors. What is your sense?
Now, I don’t even want to go into the motivations for this, if there even are any. Sensation sells. And if the commercials on news channels are any indication then the news is all about selling. And maybe it’s that simple.
The key point here is we have choices. We can choose to listen and believe everything we hear on the news. If we do there is good reason for fear! Ebola is big in the news with a handful of people here in the US who have come down with the virus and one unfortunate death. But it is well controlled, contained and the chances of an epidemic here are next to none. So why all the frenzy and controversy? It sells; it keeps us tuned in. We have a choice – to tune out!
I am not suggesting a total “news fast” here, although there are many, including some of my esteemed teachers, who recommend avoiding the news, all media for that matter! I do limit the amount of news programming I watch and I watch with a very critical eye and ear, looking at the underlying story, motivation, nuance. And most importantly I choose how to react.
That said, if you ask Rosemary she would say I often over-react at the nonsense that is being spouted and reported as news. Maybe that’s my choice!
Here’s the key to Rosemary’s Exploration:
There are a lot of fear-mongers who would invite you to feel fear. There are a lot of situations in the world that, when focused on, will generate fear. There are, though, a lot MORE situations that invite us to celebrate.
Rosemary goes on to list many, even down to the functions of our bodies, the meals we eat and the air we breathe. Do you celebrate your stomach for taking care of the meal you just ate?
One of the methods I choose while practicing Qigong is the “inner smile” made popular by Mantak Chia. As my practice winds down and I begin the closing breathing and self-massage, I go through my inner organs in my mind’s eye and thank them with a smile! This is my way of celebrating my health, my body and my physical life. Fear, bad news, horror stories of violence and greed will not give me ulcers. I smile to my stomach and offer my thanks and praise for the awesome work it does!
And if that sounds too weird to you, then choose other ways to celebrate. Maybe it’s your safety record as a good driver. Maybe it’s a fabulous accomplishment by you or a family member. Look for the good news from the simple, everyday successes to the complexities of technology that allow you to read this half-way around the world, instantly.
As Rosemary concludes:
Celebrate! You are reading this. Fear reminds you that you have forgotten to celebrate what’s good, what’s going well. Choose to focus on celebrating and let the fear take a back seat. There’s always something to celebrate, even if it’s just that next breath that you take!