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Monday, September 21, 2009

Zombie Nation

True consciousness did not occur until I was halfway through my 46th year. That's a fact. Tolle's book, "A New Earth" described that unconsciousness perfectly. I was completely hostage to a self centered- false sense of who I thought I was or how I wanted the world to see me.

I'd normally be ashamed to tell you that it took me 46 years-if in fact I did not know hundreds- perhaps thousands of people who are absolutely clueless. But I do know two that are not. Two out of a thousand. That will give you an idea of the size and scope of the problem.

The worst part of becoming conscious is seeing all of the unconsciousness that surrounds you. That's the bad part. You can't do a damn thing about unconsciousness for anyone else. Real emotional freedom, consciousness, is only available to those individuals who seek it and get it.

Imagine trying to tell a pig that if he had wings he could fly. The pig might look at you and think, "what an idiot, pigs don't have wings." And in fact, as he looks around the pig sty, he doesn't see one pig with wings nor has he ever. The pig is so entrenched in his belief that he dismisses you as completely insane. But in fact, this time the pig is correct. His belief is true. Pigs don't have wings.

But what if you told a human being that he was unconscious? That he had lived his entire life a complete slave to his false sense of self. An ego that had to be better, faster, smarter than everyone else. An ego that fears and hides those fears. An ego that blames everything but itself. Do you know someone like that? Of course you do. An ego that justifies and rationalizes every thing it says and does? An ego that is never wrong. We are surrounded by egos like that. It is an epidemic.

Just like the pig, this unconscious soul thinks you are insane. He rejects your claim that he is insane because as he looks around the room, he sees a bunch of people that act just as fear driven, self serving, rationalizing, and justifiable as he does. They are talking, walking about. They appear to be conscious. I am doing the same thing as everyone else. And so he simply doesn't understand. He thinks you are crazy. He dismisses you. But he in fact-is incorrect. Just as wings on a pig are ridiculous-dismissing an ego that you cannot see or that is intangible is also ridiculous. Unlike wings, egos do exist. And in fact, I have not seen a soul yet that doesn't possess one.

So let me make two bold and two very true statements. Pigs do not have wings. That's a fact. Bold statement number two. The vast majority of people I know are unconscious and do not even know what that means. Why would they? Like pigs without wings, they are incapable of comprehending their own unconsciousness because their ego says it doesn't exist. It does that to preserve itself. Your false sense of self or ego desperately wants to survive. It will do anything it can to preserve itself and so it does. It tricks you and it survives. It is very, very, real. And that ego of yours is the biggest barrier to engaging in meaningful and loving relationships.

As a police officer, I used to see the frustrated parents of uncontrollable teenagers. The teenagers were uncontrolled because they had been taught to be that way. When I saw uncontrollable teenagers, I always knew I was viewing parents that lacked the same skills. This ain't rocket science. If a kid is acting out, he learned that somewhere. My prime suspects were always the same-those parents dragging Johnny into the police station.

Child abusers raise child abusers. Drug dealers and alcoholics raise drug dealers and alcoholics. Controlling and angry parents raise out of control and angry kids. Materialistic parents raise children who measure themselves in terms of net worth or simply quit trying if they fail to measure up to some ridiculous ideal. This is not always true-but the percentage is so high-well you get the point. And yet, those parents would come into the police station all mystified. Mystified because that false sense of self and ego just couldn't lay the blame where it belonged-but instead blamed everything else. It's Johnny's friends that mislead him, its those mean teachers, or maybe its the cops. Our kids don't have anything to do. Blame anything, anybody, but us. But sadly...

It was none of those things-Mom and Pop. It was you. It was always you. Complete and utter unconsciousness and whatever skills you had or didn't have that raised those kids.

This cycle of unconsciousness is virtually unstoppable. It is self perpetuating and undoubtedly handed down. Some folks simply accept faulty beliefs and opinions as true. Others have a complete and opposite reaction and thus go to extreme measures in order to ensure that their children do not suffer the same emotional trauma.

But make no mistake about it-it is all learned behavior. Much of it unconscious beliefs.

If we are ever to evolve out of this cycle of masked egos and fear we must recognize the insanity of the human mind. A bunch of crazy beliefs and opinions that cause conflict and death over nothing. Imposing our fears and idiotic beliefs on the people around us like those opinions that we hold were divinely given and anyone that disagrees-well they must be the enemy.

That's how I see Zombie Nation. So what about those two guys out of a thousand? One was taught spiritual beliefs and one guy wasn't. Both are completely aware of their egos. They do not engage in "one ups man ship" nor do they ever launch attacks or counterattacks. They are very humble. They do hold beliefs but they do not impose those opinions on others. They do not try to control anyone other than themselves. They take nothing personally-choosing instead to let people be who they are, both good and bad. They never blame anyone but themselves for inadequacies. They never choose to see themselves as victims and thus never feel self pity. They are completely in control of their egos. They also happen to be the two most upbeat and happy people that I know. And so are their kids.

Imagine that.