Evaluating our beliefs
There are monuments for “war heroes.”
It is country A fighting with country B. Each one has its heroes, those “who will be remembered for years to come.” Most heroes are famous for fighting, killing the “enemy” in war.
Life works through “cause and effect.” There is no room for human reasons as to who is “right or wrong.” A person consciously killing another will experience the consequence of that action. No matter how many pretty labels we may use to cover that action. No matter how many beliefs we may have in “protecting our freedom,” or how much we believe that “God is with us.”
Patriotism is insanity. Chauvinism is sickness. It is violence through the exclusion of others. It is a search of personal identity through the collective consciousness. It is the herd mentality in action. A truly spiritual person does not have a flag in his heart. The world is where he belongs.
Anyone killing on the name of “god,” has no respect for their own God. Executing someone on blasphemy charges, is to go back to the dark ages. The “true” meaning of a word is in the feeling behind them. Most, talk without it.
The staunch followers distort teachings, for they lack sensibility. Those are followers looking for respect by imposing fear, violence. Respect is naturally earned. It is not something that we could push into another.
The human race displays violence everywhere. It is important to be able to discern when a cultural tradition is no longer serving a higher purpose, the common good; but rather becomes a source of further violence.
Our society teaches through suppression: “Don’t do this. Don’t say this. Don’t think that.” That is a violent teaching as we impose our values onto another.
We seldom observe those beliefs. You see, this idea of trying to change another on what we consider “right” for his “own good” is more violence in action.
When a person is given the chance to observe and evaluate his own beliefs, he will find out that his own Life is defined by his cultural conditioning. When that person is ready to walk away from this conditioning, that is the time when the room of his consciousness is empty and ready to receive newness. Without this emptiness there is no way to pile newness on top of something old; for then this newness will only be accepted as a continuation of the same old thing.
Unlearning is the way to learn newness.
How do we unlearn violence?
By being frequently in touch with our inner space, our inner peace; that is when the outside artificial busy noise and the inside chattering of the mind are not. That creates sensibility. It is through this “newness,” how we are able to walk away from violence without trying, without thinking about it. It is like a magnet, attracted to that silence, to that new found sensibility. There, we are not repelling violence. Simply, there is no compatibility with something which is not in the same frequency.
While being in Nature, we may feel a connection, a link. As this link strengthens, the cultural pull of noise diminishes. Secluded in walls and cement, we become used to noise and cement. The first step of courage is needed to start the journey. Life awaits.
In society we tend to allow ourselves to be defined by others. Most have a label, a definition to describe us. Our tendency is to live in a predictable way. That belief may need to go away.
Undefined, unpredictable, dangerously unexpected… Society is afraid of that person. He doesn’t fit in.
Beliefs will keep us defined. When we live to fit a definition, we are living in the safety of being confined just like a flock of sheep; safely waiting for the shepherd to take us to new pastures, an incapable of doing that ourselves.
Beliefs serve a purpose, a particular timing in our lives. Once the time is up, those need to go away for newness to follow.
Exploring the Depth of Living 