We are not islands
We are not islands. We are born into many histories that have formed and shaped our world, these histories are more than just the stories that have been told and are far more than the books that have been written to tell one person’s or one nation’s version of events.
History is a living entity for its energy and consciousness reaches across time and space to impact how we feel, what we believe and how we think today. The long reach of history informs us who is guilty, who is innocent: Who the bad people are and who the good people are; it tells us who is trustworthy and who is not, it tells us what is safe and what is not safe.
The long reach of history gives us a viewpoint of the world that has been passed down to us by our ancestors, it teaches us about god, the nature of the Universe and our place in it for we hold many beliefs concerning reality and ‘god’ that we simply assimilated without effort or question.
Ancestors are as close as your mother and father and seem as distant as your great-great-grandparents. However, your ancestors are as close as your own heart. Our DNA carries the memories and experiences of countless generations and part of our task here is to evolve from fear based living, that is founded on a false notion of who we think we are, into a more inclusive existence.
However, in order for us to do this we must first acknowledge that we are also our ancestors. When we grasp onto a transpersonal view of ourselves, we bypass one of the most fundamental lessons of human life – the lesson of compassion.
The only way for us to grow within and evolve our ancestral heritage is to fully claim our origins whilst at the same time not identifying with them as the ultimate truth of who we are. This requires balancing. Our transpersonal nature identifies with nothing, it simply merges with all that is. However, as we are in this physical body and must therefore go about our daily tasks, we relate very much through our identity as a human being. Those identities can be male, female, transgender, Asian, White, Black, Arab, Indian, Indigenous, straight, bi or gay. There are many different identities that we as humans express.
What needs to be recognized is that the earth and all of her peoples are an energy and that this energy contains information, experience and awareness; it is alive and it is conscious, above all, it is collective.
As we come into this world we are immersed in the energy field of humanity, we are immersed in the history of our family, our nation and our race and the land upon which we were born and live on.
We have indeed been plunged into humanity as if jumping into the ocean. We are wet, not only on the outside, but on the inside as well. As we swim in this ocean of consciousness we follow the eddies, currents and flows that were started not only by our ancestors but also the great forces of history and nations that shape this world for better or for worse.
When we fully own our humanity, our total belongingness to the human race, it is then and only then that we can really hope to have any influence for good. If we take the position that we are not part of the world then our contribution is one of further separation.
Indeed, what is required is for us to launch ourselves into the depths of humanity where we can fully meet all that has happened and that is happening. When we set ourselves apart or above we will never be able to experience the motives and see the truth behind human cruelty, human injustice, human greed and human frailty.
A big part of this process is the embracing of our ancestors, no matter who they are, where they are from and what they did.
So many who are spiritual seekers and healers in the world are, without full awareness, attempting to pay a penance for the acts, crimes and hurts committed by their ancestors. Some are attempting to pay a penance on behalf of their nation, their race or for someone in their family.
When we are not conscious of this we can end up bringing into the world a sense of guilt, which then sets us apart from the very people we may want to help.
Much of our personal development and education can be stimulated by the hidden motivation to fix what is bad about us. Guilt does not serve anyone and our guilt does not assist those who have suffered, for when we are attempting to fix something bad within us, then those who we are in theory helping are in fact giving us something in return through needing our help – the question remains, who needs redemption?
When we become fully aware that our own personal liberation is tied up with the liberation of those we help through teaching, sharing and healing, humility then becomes our constant companion for then we recognize the equality in both parties seeking liberation from suffering.
By Shavastri (John L. Payne) author of The Language of the Soul, Healing with words of Truth.
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