CLEAR THINKING Rediscovering a Greater Reality They do say, “As is your vision so is your world… for you”. Which may be another way of saying, “When you change your vision of the world changes”. So, as you look outwards and around you what is your vision of the world and of those with whom you share this world. Next time you fly above the world take a moment to look down and notice there are no lines in the ground to indicate where one country ends and another begins. That’s because countries and nation states don’t exist...in reality! Ultimately countries and nations don’t define us or divide us, as they are just ideas. In the ‘greater reality’ there are no such divisions. The Separation of us and them Notice each time you talk about ‘my country’ or ‘that country’ you are sustaining an illusion. You are creating and confirming the illusion of separation, first in your own mind and then in the minds of others during conversations. From that illusion of separation comes the idea of us and them, then us versus them, then our need is to be greater and stronger than them. For so many that means aggression. From this way of perceiving and thinking comes the emotions of fear and anger. And ultimately conflict. The next time you find your self in a factory, an office or any form of business, notice how people are employed, measured, valued and rewarded for their ‘productivity’. Notice how, in the moments that we ‘learn’ to believe in our need to achieve personal productivity we lose sight of our creative capacity. When we are being productive and we need to be taught and told what, how and when to do something. And yet being creative is what we are doing all the time... naturally. As we think so we create. It’s why we are here, to be creative for ourself not productive for others. To create our life, not produce our life! But it’s in going to work that we encounter the illusion of productivity which separates us from our natural creativity. What about you bank statement? Next time you examine your bank statement notice how you measure your wealth according to the digits on the page. And how you get a sense of others wealth as you begin to compare your self with them. Who seems to have more and who seems to have less? The answer automatically creates a sense of separation. A gap between self and them. Another illusion? It’s not that two people can be one person. But material wealth can encourage being close or moving further apart depending on your mindset. Then take a moment to reflect on the question - what is real wealth? If you can have money but not love, if you can have money but not happiness, if you can have millions but not peace - which would you choose? Notice how, when challenged with such questions you become open to the possibility of another kind of wealth. Monetry wealth is simply ‘simulated wealth’. Real the wealth already lies within everyone’s consciousness. A wealth that has no price as it cannot be purchased. You would probably choose it over the ‘material stuff’ as you intuitively sense its real wealth that ultimately generates digital wealth. Then join the dots. Every human being is a source of peace, a source of love and a source of joy. Every human being is a source of the same ‘real wealth’. No one is richer or poorer than anyone else. No one is behind or in front or higher or lower in the ‘real wealth’ stakes! We are all equally endowed with the same wealth. Then there’s FAITH The next time you are in a conversation about religious faith, or indeed the absence of faith, notice how the unity of faith is destroyed by the division of religion, or more accurately, religious belief. If you believe your faith (or it’s beliefs) is truer than mine this will explain why there is so much division in the world. Our beliefs are truer than your beliefs. More separation. Take a moment to define our faiths. Christian faith, Muslim faith, Jewish faith or just religious faith. Take away the bits that define different kinds of faith. What is left? Just faith. Then notice that everyone has faith in something which can be anything from another person to the sun rising in the morning, from a clock to a particular process. Everyone has faith in something, is faithful to something or somebody, which can be anything from an idea to a relationship. In such moments can you see we are each faith itself. Can you see that each and every person is the embodiment of faith itself. But they are mostly not aware of it. There is something beautiful in such a vision. Not to mention it’s a vision that dissolves all the boundaries all the separation between so called ‘defined faiths’. Next time you are in the midst of what we call a mixed-race community notice how people intermingle naturally. How we all speak the same language called ‘mutual respect’ and understanding. No one says this race should stand here and that race there. In the ‘greater reality’ our racial profile doesn’t define us or divide us when we are human beings who are ‘being human’ together. Next time you study or discuss history, whether it’s through the eyes of historians or your own, stand back for a moment. See the broad sweep of human history in all its colours and textures, all it’s moods and movements. Notice how we all share this one story. In the ‘greater reality’ history is the collective story of us all, everyone and everywhere. While it is just a story, with many interpretations, we are ALL in it together! Maybe, when you can see this, separation disappears and oneness takes its place. Requiring only that we learn to see a greater reality at play. Question: What areas of separation tend to show up in all your relationships? Reflection: Separation is essentially an illusion! - find a friend and discuss. Action: What could you do different in day-to-day relationships that will take down the barriers create a sense of oneness? © Mike George