Can we embrace the eternal while shunning the universal?

Ocean Air Bubble (Mark Tipple, National Geographic)

Human beings pride themselves on their intelligence; yet, they show numerous signs of plain stupidity. One such sign that one can see, very often, is that we seek the eternal but shun the universal. We want eternal joy but we want it only for ourselves. We want eternal peace but we want it only in our own backyard. We want extraordinary abundance but we want it only for a chosen few whom we consider our own. Nations want disarmament but only for others. Leaders want principles but only for others. Businessmen want ethics but only for others. There is no doubt that each and every one of us desires and seeks one’s own lasting peace, bliss and contentment. However, it is almost certain that most of us want love, peace, joy and abundance exclusively for oneself and for a chosen few whom we consider as one’s own, as exclusively “mine”.

Therefore, our very desire for peace and prosperity, for joy and contentment, for love and bliss are rooted in separateness and are therefore, divisive. In their exclusive form, our desire for love sows the seeds of hatred; our desire for peace sows the seeds of war; our desire for happiness sows the seeds of sorrow; our desire for abundance and luxury sows the seeds of poverty and want; our desire for tranquility sows the seeds of conflict. This is so because each of us wants love, peace, joy and abundance only for oneself and for a select few, each of us seeks these exclusively. One does not want others to be rich, peaceful and prosperous. One does not desire lasting love, peace, joy and abundance for all. In ignorance that masquerades as knowledge, in foolishness that masquerades as wisdom, we seek the eternal but shun the universal.

We pride ourselves as being peaceful but do not care if our neighbors are at war. In fact, we may fish in troubled waters. Everywhere, we seek our own advancement and glory, exclusively. In this exclusivity and division lies the grave error of one’s life and indeed, of all humanity. In our very victory lie the seeds of defeat; we seal our own fate and wallow in self inflicted misery. This is the self destructive and recurrent theme in the history of humanity, both individually and collectively. In all these lies the fundamental error of seeking only one’s own good, exclusively. We do so in numerous ways, some even socially sanctified and glorified.

Such are the exclusive barriers set up by divisions based on nationality, religion, skin color, economic status and so on. Little do we know that by seeking one’s own advancement exclusively, by being indifferent to the suffering of another, we ensure our own inevitable sorrow, misery and destruction? This is inevitable and unalterable, as inevitable as the night following the day. This is because we are not two but one. We are, each of us, but one wave in a vast ocean of humanity and indeed, of the whole of creation.

Therefore, separateness is delusion and delusion, however gloriously clothed and packaged, ultimately deludes, deceives and destroys none but oneself. This holds true for individuals, groups and nations. However glorious one’s dream and ideal, if one fails to recognize the fundamental fact of oneness, if one seeks happiness exclusively for oneself or for a chosen few, one has sown the seeds of sorrow in one’s own life. Sooner or later, the shock of tragedy and a twist of fate will demonstrate, in no uncertain terms that our dreams and hopes are built on extremely shaky foundations. Sooner or later, one will be forced, by the sheer force of circumstances, to question and examine one’s own deepest convictions. Sooner or later, one will be forced to re-examine one’s own deepest beliefs and fondest ideas and draw new maps and boundaries within one’s own mind. Unfortunately, in seeking one’s own happiness exclusively, one has lost the way on the journey of self discovery that is life. In seeking the eternal while shunning the universal, we have sabotaged our own dream and aborted our own victory.

Thus, it is of extraordinary importance to see the subtlety and sophistication with which we can engage in self-deception and eventually self-destruction. We define survival in very narrow terms, only in terms of physical survival. Yet, of what use is physical survival if it entails a life filled with endless fear, insecurity, suspicion, doubt, hatred and conflict? Great victories demand a great price. There are no short cuts and magic wands. One has to completely uproot the delusion of separateness within oneself. This is the only way one can discover infinite joy and ecstasy for oneself. Paradoxically, one embraces the whole of creation in a spirit of oneness and joy, shattering the narrow and petty walls of fragmentation and division based on a million manmade notions. In this extraordinary ecstasy is a triumph beyond thought and time.

The triumph of self-discovery is a fulfillment of the purpose of the whole of creation; it is a victory that is both eternal and universal. Thus, to truly seek lasting bliss for oneself is to seek lasting bliss for all; to truly celebrate the eternal is to celebrate the universal. The flowering of consciousness of a single individual, of any one of us, is a triumph for us all because we are not two but one and in the realization of this oneness deep within one’s own heart is endless ecstasy.

Posted in: sociedade e condicionamento, vida