An essay by Phoebe Wyss, in honour of the sign of Libra starting today
Imagine it’s the night of the full moon. You’re standing on a south-facing beach jutting out into the sea, watching the sun sink slowly beneath the western horizon, illuminating sky and water with streaks of pink, red and gold. And, when its rim touches the horizon, you turn your head to the other side, and there in the east see the great white globe of the moon appearing from below the waves.
And there you stand watching nature’s spectacle of the full moon climbing the sky in the east synchronously with the sun descending and disappearing from view in the west. It’s a visual demonstration of the principle of polarity. And now you know, because you’ve seen it with your own eyes, that on the night of the full moon the sun and moon appear to us when viewed along a level circular horizon as equal in size. There and then they balance each other out.
It’s an ingrained habit of our rational mind to think dualistically. Sun and moon, day and night, east and west, male and female, subject and object, self and other – we see these as pairs of opposites. However designation of the self as subject and the other as its object introduces a polarity into human relationships that draws a dividing line between those we accept and those we reject, those we value and those we don’t, creating antagonisms both in our personal and collective lives.
At the present time of great crisis in the world we urgently need to move beyond the conviction that we’re separate, not only from our fellow human beings but also from the other creatures in our shared environment. We’re becoming increasingly impervious to the suffering of others caused by the wars being perpetrated at present by power-hungry autocrats, and look away – as long as it’s not our country! And the majority of us are still choosing to pollute the environment to satisfy our superfluous needs, impervious to the suffering this causes the wild life who lose their habitats. Looking at the state of the world today it’s clear that humanity as a species urgently needs an upgrade or we will lose our habitat and become extinct!
That there are higher states of consciousness than of present humankind is one thing I’m certain of through my own experience during this lifetime. I believe that it will soon become clear that non-human intelligence as demonstrated by the majority of the extra terrestrials who visit this planet and leave scientifically validated proof, have more advanced states of consciousness than we have. But above all, the examples of higher consciousness passed down to us in the records of the lives and teachings of the great mystics of the past – Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tzu – convinces me.
And I will add to the list the name of Osho, who I was privileged to experience as a spiritual Master face to face in Pune, and on the Ranch in Oregon, before he left his body in 1990. He helped me realise that I was still on a low rung of the ladder of spiritual evolution. But over the many decades since then, practising his meditations and experiencing his teachings through his books, has opened a hole in the solid sky above me that previously blocked the higher view, and encouraged me to climb further. I now understand that what Osho means by the word God is something much vaster than as a Christian I was taught in church:
“How can you be poor when God is showering every moment on you? When he is beating in your heart and circulating in your blood, and flowing into your consciousness, how can you be poor? You are not beggars. Everybody is an emperor, but you are not aware of the fact. You don’t look inside yourself where God goes on making contact with you. You don’t look into your source!”
Osho, I Say unto You, Vol 2, Ch 5
“Are not trees, and the rivers, and the mountains, and the stars, and man, and animals and birds created by God? Doesn’t this whole existence come from God? Is it not flowing from his being? God is the totality of all. Rocks and rivers and mountains are as much his creations as you are, as Jesus is. There is no distinction. All beings participate in God. In fact to be is to participate in God. Otherwise you cannot be, there is no other way to be. To be is to be God!”
Osho, I Say unto You, Vol. 2, Ch 5
Adopting the idea that we all participate equally in the same cosmic whole would make a vital difference to our lives because then it would not be about Me but about We. Living as individual members of our species in one infinite and eternal world, the principles of cooperation and mutual support rather than cut-throat competition and the survival of the fittest, would rule our personal and collective lives. I can imagine a human life lived in a state of raised consciousness, centred round mutual consideration and support. We as homo sapiens would then become more relaxed, joyful, peaceful and loving, and, with such custodians caring for it, our planet could once again become a garden of Eden!
Featured image credit to KAdDigArt
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