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My dear friend Robin Artisson is currently living in Lousiana (not NO) and gave me permission to share this letter he wrote. I found it very inspiring:
It is so very hard having to sit back and watch the terrors of Nature turned dark and destructive; to see lives shattered and people split apart from loved ones and any hint of stability or security- not that this world offers much of that.
It's equally as hard watching people all over the world radiate and express such hatred and stupidity; christian "leaders" saying that hurricanes and other tragedies are "god's punishment" and muslims saying that any tragedy that strikes the US is "god's punishment", and all of the boiling ignorance that people indulge in- the single- minded and vacant hatred/ignorance of fundamentalists of any stripe who infect the world with doctrines of absolutism and lies built on fear and hate.
It really will overwhelm a person, if you make the decision- the right decision- to face it, to not turn your head away from it. We must go through these uprisings of terror and vileness, squarely facing them, as though they were appearances of Guardians blocking our way to understanding and peace- which they most certainly are.
And so the test begins- and even less sensitive souls will immediately feel the cold, paralyzing sickness filling them as they stare into the face of darkness. Nothing would be better, the soul immediately feels, than just retreating, turning away, letting these problems just solve themselves, somewhere else. Retreat is what the overwhelmed most want- to go find peace away from the madness.
But there is no peace away from it, either; only denial, I'm sorry to say. There may be a sham peace in denial, a temporary respite, but the problem remains and grows only stronger, the more good people deny it, run from it, cease facing it with full awareness.
I sit back everyday and get overwhelmed by something else- the awe of the majesty of this great event that we call Reality. Even with all the strife and hate, Reality also expresses strong love and endless beauty- it is like a faery-symphony with musical themes of heartbreaking beauty, and discordant, crashing, abrupt movements- no matter how wonderful or repellent you find it, you can't stop listening.
How beautiful the world is, how powerful and deep; and the most amazing thing is that what we experience is not even the whole picture- what other reaches of depth and beauty and fear await, unseen, beyond the veil of common perception? I've had a hint of them, seen beautiful and disturbing things beyond the veils of common sensory reality; in both worlds, I have been in awe- and thankful- that I am a part of it all.
But in dark and difficult times like these, a person finds the old enemy of despair creeping up again, trying to find a weak spot in the armor to stick his crooked knife. You find yourself hovering a bit in your resolve to remain aware and brave. I feel it; it sickens me and bothers me, and forces me to go on my hands and knees sometimes, asking for help from the old powers, they who know more about life than anyone could, for they are boundlessly aware of all aspects of reality- and most importantly, they have lived it all themselves. They understand better than we ever could; where we are now, so once were they; where they are now, so will we be, if we could just remain conscious and aware, and brave.
We share the same circle of Reality with them; we are one. These terrors are needful in the cosmic scheme of Necessity; while the old powers exist in what we might call an "ideal" state of timelessness, they also gain the completion of their divine natures through human life and its endeavors, and through all the expressed motions of Fate. They do not only exist timelessly; they unfold in time as well. There is no time or place unknown to them; they are Whole beings.
When we are whole- or should I say, when we realize our wholeness, it will only be because our timeless natures were likewise fulfilled and made authentic by all experiences.
So there I sit, seeing how beautiful and powerful this great world is, and all things are; I sense the mercurial and invisible spirit about things, the eternity of things. I sense other powers moving, and I sense the Truth there, like my shadow- chase it, and it flees. Run, and it follows. You cannot grasp it, but if you sit still, you find that it sits there with you, next to you, still with you. You just sit still and become one with it, in simultaneity. Truth hovers about us, always with us, though never grasped and controlled by us; it consecrates us with its presence, but never allows itself to be made into another object that we can shape to our ego-whims.
How beautiful and powerful all of Reality is- and this world- just this world- what could be more peaceful and fulfilling than the mere silence of sunset or the coming of the first cool winds in autumn? What about ancient hills and mountains rising up in the distance, filling you with a sense of wonder? You see people pass you in the crowd- beautiful faces, handsome faces, faces full of hope and youth, or age and experience, people who all, underneath the trappings- have all the same desires you have- to be loved, to provide for loved ones, to have children, to live somewhere in peace, to have fun or adventures, to share stories, to be accepted.
So where does it all go "wrong"? Can some not see these simple truths? Can some not just allow themselves to see the majesty of things, and relate to other people that we have FAR more in common with than differences? Why does peace and acceptance seem to be such a feat for mankind?
Because most people, simply put, want to dominate other people. There is no other way to say it. No matter how benevolent they may want to make themselves out to be, leaders are leaders today because nothing could give them more egocentric pleasure than being the rules-dictator, the guardian of order and orthodoxy, the boss, the chief.
It's an overblown manifestation of wanting to be accepted, something we all feel- it is the same feeling, taken to a higher level of intensity. The sort of acceptance they want is beyond just median acceptance- they want to be admired, they want people to listen to them when they talk, and carry out their desires when they say them. They want to be the one in charge- whether it is a "democratically elected president" or a dictator in a third-world nation, or the Pope with his faux-friendly smile, they are all "feeding" on the worshipful stares, the votes, the way people fear them or give in to them, or respect them.
The Taliban used fear and terror to beat down an entire population; they became the kings in the same way European monarchs did- at the tip of a sword. The Vatican hierarchy took power the same way, with the help of kings; to the most local level, preachers and "christian group" leaders want to be in the spotlight, dominating the minds and wills of other people. They'll use whatever ignorant claim to authority they can get their hands on; the bible or the koran are just easy ways to get people to obey.
All people being in awe and humbled by the immense beauty of Nature, and working together as equal humans, for the good of all- such a simple dream simply cannot be in the same world where the Darwinian "power over others" impulse exists; humans are not uniformly strong-willed; strength of will is not equally shared. A few will speak, many will listen. The many can be convinced to put aside their own feelings and hearts and minds, in exchange for the will of the few, or the abusive individual/cabal that sets itself up as the leadership.
It takes strong will to be sure of yourself in life; most would rather not have that responsibility; they will happily trade in their own "sacred kingship/queenship of the self" in exchange for the rule of another.
On some level, I guess they think that if it turns out to be a disaster, they can always blame the bad ruler, and avoid blame being put on themselves. But I say that people who give up their duty to self and to true self-awareness make the larger, more serious crime than any crime that may be committed by those they turn the power over to.
Hitler's crimes were not as bad, in my opinion, as the collective invisible crimes of denial committed by the people who gave him power, and blindly followed him- yes- harsh though it may sound, Hitler didn't act alone; he had millions of accomplices that carried out his will, simply because they didn't want to live for themselves, AS themselves. They forgot about their own hearts and lived AS Hitler.
I know that I am not alone- a time has come now, in Fate's seasons, where people are gaining in awareness (hard as that might be to believe at times) and more people are aware of our responsibilities to true awareness. The proliferation of alternative spiritualities are only one example of this emergance of a new awareness- what IS the ocean of alternative spirituality, if not a vast movement AWAY from the old power-brokerage of the past, that masqueraded as "religion" and "Spirituality" for so long?
It's not just a christian "god" we want to break with; it's all the outworn power structures that we KNOW, deep inside, violate the heart of the world itself. We are aware now of the violence lurking inside people, the will to power, chiefly because aware people know that power from meeting it inside themselves.
And anyone who is aware of it knows already how it stands to poison the world that could be- peace cannot be had until we stop giving our bodies and minds to the armies of people like Fred Phelps, and the funamentalist preachers who storm hatred on the world, and the churches that abuse people on multiple levels, while riding on the coat-tails of their "tradition", thinking that their great age and the fact that so many generations of people 'believed' them gives them some immunity to modern realities. They need to make compromises, and radically change their way of thinking and abandon the hateful, anti-social philosophies that they endlessly apologize for and try to make acceptable, all in the name of "truth" and "Tradition", or failing that, they need to become extinct.
A famous political writer once said "The people get the government they deserve"- and how true this is! The vast majority of people tolerate evil in our governments and even in their churches- although they have clever ways of hiding the evil under names like "morality" and "order" and "custom" and "tradition" and "procedure". They look the other way while outdated, dangerous, unstable, and harmful machinery creaks and grinds away, spilling blood constantly and greasing itself with human suffering.
The inertia of it is too great; few have the awareness of it, because it is the LAST thing anyone wants to look directly at; and few have the will to stop it, because they feel like it cannot be stopped- it's too old, too strong, too far gone... or worse yet, they feel like it should NOT be stopped- the evil of the entire ugly habit of denial has become too much a part of what they call "holy" or "normal" or "right".
And what is at the base of it all? Greed for power, the will to dominate others, to be in the spotlight, to be the smartest, the most clever, the strongest, the richest, the rule-maker, the master. The men and women who want that, will use anything and anyone to get it, as I said, even masquerading as the righteous clerics or priests or preachers; and sadly enough, some of them will really think that they are doing "right", and not acting on ego at all.
When you become just aware enough, you find the terrible truth- the ultimate guardian- the fact that you can no longer be comfortable or "integrated" into society, like everyone else. You feel like an alien, a person awake among sleeping bodies. You don't want power; you either want everyone else to wake up, or you want to get up and get somewhere else, quick. The weakest of the awake simply want to go back to sleep, back to pleasant or terrible dreams. At least they wouldn't be lonely, then.
What can you do? Lie there awake and look at the sky, listening to the massive drone of the snoring masses around you. Don't go back to sleep; you've slept long enough. Watch the sky, feel the firm ground. Wait and see what happens. You may start to realize that your true companions are laying there, looking around too. What can you all do? Agree that the awesome reality that we all share, asleep or awake, is amazing enough to just sit and watch for ages- and agree to be kind to one another, while we do. It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life, after all.
RA
Copyright 2005 Robin Artisson
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