Ending Xenophobia

Humans seem to have an innate distrust of others who are different. I believe this distrust - called xenophobia - is instinctive and has an evolutionary basis. I also believe that it is a threat to the survival of humanity, and can only be addressed by spiritual means.

Evolution consists of organisms finding new ways to survive and adapt to their environment. These methods are tested by competition, both between species and between members of the same species. Intra-species competition can be just as bloody and brutal as competition between species. For example, males of some species may fight to the death to secure the ability to mate with females. The stronger male will pass his DNA in this way to his offspring, ensuring that the traits that allowed him to defeat his opponent will be available to future generations. I have heard that a male lion who takes over a pride by battle will kill the male cubs sired by the opponent. This seems odd at first if we think of natural selection as occurring at the level of competition between species, but makes sense if evolution is seen as including a competition between individual DNA strains for dominance within a particular species.

Similarly, throughout human history and prehistory there has been war between different tribes or groups. It is no stretch to conclude that strangers - particularly groups of strangers - were seen in prehistoric times as threats to be expelled or destroyed. Xenophobia actually was a survival characteristic then, and it would be no surprise to find that a tendency to xenophobia is incorporated in our DNA as a tribal instinct. Moreover, it must be accepted as a possibility that the emergence of the thinking mind has permitted ego to bootstrap this instinct into a generalized fear and hatred of any people or groups that are different from those with which the individual identifies. This would help explain violence between adherents of different religions, for example.

The point of this discussion is that, whatever its origin, xenophobia is no longer a survival trait. Humanity has evolved beyond the ability to sustain tribalism, and survival is no longer tied to the ability to defend a narrow tract of ground. The instinct to attack and destroy others of our own species who look different, sound different, identify with different groups, or hold different beliefs, has become a liability. Our scientific knowledge has expanded far more rapidly than the spiritual tools that we need in order to use that knowledge responsibly. Our ability to destroy others (and ourselves in the process) has grown to the extent that there is a plausible argument that human intelligence will turn out to be a mistake of Nature, a self-destructive evolutionary dead end. 

It has become increasingly clear over the last several decades that humanity will not survive much longer as a species unless all of our disparate members are able to live peaceably together. It is doubtful that we will be able to rid ourselves of the xenophobic instinct by evolutionary processes in the amount of time remaining to us. This is why a spiritual shift is needed.

A necessary step in the move away from being ruled by outmoded instinct is to be mindful of its expression in our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. If you hear yourself express a xenophobic sentiment, examine your reaction: Does that sentiment really express what you believe? Or is it a knee-jerk emotional response to an imaginary danger? When a negative feeling is triggered by the presence or even the mention of another race, religion, or nationality, choose the appropriate response by reference to your well-thought-out values and principles, not to the visceral response of your animal brain. 

Few if any of us actually believe that every member of a different religion or social group is a threat to us or to our society. It is only because of the defensive reaction of our prehistoric DNA that we fear these differences. If we are mindful of what we say and think - take time to pause before speaking or acting - and examine our propensities in the light of what we know to be true, rather than the fears of our lizard brains, we will learn quickly to control our own xenophobic reactions. If we control the reactions, then disarming the fear that triggers them is a simple and inevitable next step.

Many spiritual leaders, including the Dalai Lama and Eckhart Tolle, to name only two, have called for children to be educated in mindfulness, meditation, and compassion. To take that a step further, those of us who are already adults must also train ourselves to be guided by principles of Love and compassion in every aspect of life. This does not mean we need to change the form of our society; compassionate principles are fully compatible with all forms of democratic societies. It does mean that we should act with due regard for the effects of our actions on others; and that we should realize that, in today's world, the good of one is the good of all. Humanity needs a sea change, if not overnight, then over the course of a generation. Each of us has the responsibility to initiate that change in our own lives, the lives of our children, and, by example, the lives of those around us. This is the new survival imperative. 

Love and spiritual growth

We are all connected by our fundamental Oneness in Spirit. Together we form an intricate web of life energy, and what happens to one part of the web affects other parts. As sentient nodes with free will, each of us can use our connectedness for the benefit or detriment of all.  In particular, we can either support or block the free flow of the healing energy of Love through the channels that connect us to others. Becoming a source and conduit of loving energy benefits the sender and the receiver. Love nourishes the growth of Spirit in the individual, and the more freely it flows, the greater its power to cleanse and brighten the dark corners of the small self and remove obstacles to the flowering of the soul. Love strengthens the bonds between us and helps us understand the importance of the well-being of each individual to the well-being of all.

Ego tries to block the flow of Love because Love is antithetical to its goals. Ego seeks to direct attention to itself to the exclusion of others by denying our connectedness. Ego erects barriers of pride, distrust, and hatred to keep the small self from recognizing that it exists only as a part of the web of life. The closer the individual comes to realizing the infinite and intimate connectedness of that web, the closer that individual comes to accepting Oneness as the principle of its existence. Accepting Oneness means recognizing the welfare and happiness of others as equivalent to the welfare and happiness of the self. Indeed, those qualities exist in the self only as reflections of their presence in the whole.  To the extent ego succeeds in cutting the individual off from the web of life, that individual's development is stunted by the lack of access to spiritual nourishment and to the realization of Oneness.

All of us have egos that, left unchecked, will try to keep us from sharing in the flow of Love. The antidote is, first of all, to meditate on Love and compassion so as to raise the awareness of loving connection. Second, to be mindful of the influence of ego on attitudes and behavior. Third, to direct loving consciousness into the web of life, breaking down ego's barriers and seeking out the connections that lead ultimately to the realization of Oneness.

Namaste.

A Visit From Elvis

I dreamed I met the spirit of Elvis and he greeted me like a brother. “Man,” he said, “it’s good to see you.”

“I’m honored to see you,” I said, “but please tell me where you have been? What is it like there? Do you know how many people there are on Earth who love you and would like to have you back?”

He laughed an Elvis laugh, throwing back his head with a grin. “I am there, just not in the same way. I never left! It’s just that I am everywhere else too. Everywhere, everywhen – it’s impossible to describe. The Universe is a big, exciting, vibrant state of being.”

I was blown away. Elvis clearly had transitioned to a higher plane. My head swam with visions of flying through space and time, communing with other spirits and with the Divine. What unfathomable mysteries had he experienced since leaving our planet behind? What wisdom could he teach me? What questions could I even ask to begin to tap this unexpected source of spiritual knowledge?

“But can you tell me at least a little about what it’s like? Was there a hard transition? Did you meet God, or Jesus, or Krishna? Or your parents?”

He looked at me and his eyes were full of love. There was no derision or superiority in his voice when he said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but there is no explanation you could understand. To begin with, I am not ‘Elvis’ in the way you think.”

Images of space zombies sprang involuntarily into my consciousness. He saw the look on my face and laughed again. “Nothing like that!” He reassured me. “It’s just that the notion of ‘me’ as an individual separate or different from others, or from the fabric of the Universe, doesn’t exist outside your plane. You’re not just seeing Elvis; you're seeing yourself in another form. And Elvis. And every other manifestation of the Universe.”

“The best that I can say – and it doesn't begin to express the full dimensionality of the experience – is that I met Love.”

There at least was a concept I could grasp. I decided to try another approach. “Can you see what’s happening on Earth from where you live? What advice can you give me about how to live a better life? To prepare? Or does meeting Love just solve everything?”

His manner was like a wise man speaking to a very small child. “I – or we – are aware of every aspect of the Universal vibration. Because we are not affected by time or distance, our consciousness includes everything in your world and everything else that is a part of that vibration. Naturally, we are indifferent to the objects that absorb most of the attention of beings on your plane. Your consciousness is dominated by separation; we know only Oneness.”

“But let me tell you this. You take your short time on Earth way too seriously. You all spend most of your time hoarding stuff that will be dust in the blink of an eye. You compete for material things as if they mattered, but they don’t. You behave as if Love and Joy were in limited supply, which they aren’t. You don’t really prepare for the end of your life, because you think existence ends when the body dies.”

“When you do meet Love, which you might also call 'God,' you are totally unprepared. So, many of you turn tail and run right back into the existence you just left. Some have done this thousands of times.”

“Elvis – ‘I’ – was a fortunate one. Even on Earth I knew somehow that the purpose of life was to love and to prepare for the greater, infinite Love. When the time came, I was ready. So I transitioned from your world of suffering and separation to the greater Universe that is Love. I stopped being just Elvis and became a part of Love itself. And yet, maybe because of my preparation, the self-awareness of Elvis continues on this plane.”

“So, my advice to you is just to stop concentrating on and worrying about temporary things. Your world, your very self will not last longer than this instant. There is only one thing that is eternal and real, and that is Love. Put your attention and energy into becoming pure Love. This will bring you bliss in your world, but more importantly, it will prepare you to surrender yourself to Universal Love at the end of this existence. That is the simple and essential truth that so few of your fellow beings understand, let alone accept. It is the path of escape from pain and separation.”

I woke with a start and the vision of Elvis vanished. I shook my head, dazed, and wondered whether it had been more than just a dream. But I realized the Truth in his words, which distilled the essence of every spiritual teaching I had ever heard. I vowed to make Love the center of my life forever.

Awareness of the Source of Attitudes

Jealousy and resentment stem entirely from ego and not the higher Self. Ego always seeks to aggrandize itself and belittle others. Self is aware that it and the other are One, and so does not covet what it already possesses through the other. Feelings of envy cause suffering, whether or not they are acted upon. If your consciousness is dominated by ego, then you will be in constant pain as you contemplate the achievements and pleasures enjoyed by others. Conversely, the Self takes satisfaction in the expansion of happiness and the diminution of suffering in the Universe, regardless of how localized or distant that phenomenon may be. Naturally, the ego and the Self also have opposite reactions to the suffering of others. Ego is smugly pleased by the misfortune that passes it by to strike another; Self empathizes with and seeks to ameliorate others'  pain. Observe whether you are acting from ego or from Self in response to the good or ill fortune of others. You must be mindful of the source of your conscious thoughts and deeds in order to be able to choose whether to continue as you are, or to change.

Meme #1

A year and a half after posting the meme above, I saw this one:

Ego is not the self

It is essential to accept that the ego is not the self. Only the self can realize this. Therefore, this realization is not possible until the self awakes. As long as the individual remains in the ego-controlled unconscious state, the self cannot be realized. This is the conundrum -- self must be realized in order to become conscious,  but how can the self struggle to escape the grip of ego while the individual is unconscious? The answer must be that self is already realized on some subconscious level, and that it can gain a toehold in conscious awareness that allows it to overcome the restraints of ego and manifest itself in individual awareness. Once the individual is aware of the existence of the genuine self and can compare it to the hollow manifestations of ego, there is no possibility of choosing the path of ego and returning to the unconscious state. While self may not be immediately dominant, it must eventually become so. The process can be encouraged by  the practices of mindfulness, compassion, and meditative surrender. As one internalizes these practices, awareness grows that they are the only sources of bliss and inner peace. The empty satisfaction attained by gratifying ego is revealed as a fraud. The  individual will turn more and more to the blessings of spiritual practice and away from worldliness. In this way positive karma evolves. 

INNER PEACE

The Teacher listened patiently to a woman while she poured out her troubles to him. She described a difficult situation with a certain family member about which she was deeply troubled, but which she felt helpless to change.

The Teacher said to the woman, "I see you are agitated about your relationship with this person. His behavior troubles you and you have no power to change it. You can achieve inner peace despite this situation. However, doing so will require an important change in the way you perceive yourself and the way you interact with the world. This may be difficult, but it is the only way to escape the controlling web of negative emotions in which you are entangled. Let me explain why this change is necessary."

"The first thing I want you to do is to take a deep breath, hold it for a few seconds, and then release it slowly. Focus on the sensation of air flowing into your nostrils, filling your lungs, and then escaping through your nose or mouth. Let this absorb all of your attention. If thoughts of your family situation or any other problem come to you, set them aside temporarily as you allow your breath to become the center of your awareness. Continue this breathing exercise until you feel that you have calmed yourself and re-established control over your attention."

"Now, expand your awareness to the rest of your body. If there are places in your body where the muscles are tense, try to relax those muscles and allow your awareness to flow through them in a calming fashion. Focus particularly on the muscles of your face, jaw, and neck; shoulders; and lower back. Draw a relaxing breath and allow any strain or tension that you find in your body to be expelled with the exhalation."

"In this way, you will establish that it is you, and not your problems, that are in control of your self and your attention. Having done so, it will be possible for you to examine your life situation with greater objectivity. You can become aware of the source of your emotional anguish, which is the first and most important step toward escaping it."

"Consider this: no problem exists outside yourself. The actions of others or the existence of certain circumstances may create a situation, but that situation does not become a problem until you label it as such. It is your mind that observes a particular situation and decides that it represents a problem. What you perceive as a problem, others may not. So, for example, the behavior of your family member is a situation, but it does not create a problem for you until your mind observes the situation and is disturbed by it. It is that disturbance that causes the mind to label the situation a problem."

"What is the source of that disturbance? Most likely, it is your attachment to the notion that your family member must behave in a particular way in order for you to be happy. In other words, you have chosen to make your happiness hostage to the behavior of other persons. This may be because you feel that others must treat you with a certain amount of love, consideration, or respect; or because you are genuinely concerned that they may harm themselves or others. Either way, you can regain your ability to be happy by reclaiming control over your happiness independent of the actions of others. You can view the actions and life situations of family members with concern, any may even act compassionately to help minimize the damage that they do to themselves and others if you believe it is necessary to do so. But your actions will be more effective if carried out from a base sense of happiness and well-being that has its foundation within your own awareness and is not dependent upon any other person."

"It may surprise you to know that your awareness includes more than one sentient intelligence. Much of your day-to-day activity is carried on by the intelligence I call Ego. This is the awareness that is attached to your body and particularly your brain. It evolved along with the brain and its function is self-preservation. Originally a set of genetically programmed reflexes, Ego developed in tandem with the increasing complexity of the human brain, and eventually acquired the capacity for abstract thought. At that point, Ego was able to conceive of itself as an entity separate from the body and its environment. As a result, Ego's original beneficial purpose to maintain and protect the body - the existence of the individual as a physical entity - took on the additional purpose of preserving Ego itself. It is no exaggeration to say that Ego now believes it is the body's function to serve and protect Ego, and not the other way around. Ego therefore seeks to dominate and control your awareness, and to exclude from it other intelligences, including the intelligence I refer to as the higher Self."

"Unfortunately, because of its roots in the primitive centers of the brain and nervous system, Ego also is the channel of negative emotions. Many of these - anger, fear, and related emotions - have their origins in the fight-or-flight survival reflex. As long as Ego dominates the awareness of the individual, these negative emotions will have an important role in behavior. They are useful to Ego's pursuit of control over awareness, since their natural self-preservation purpose requires them to supplant other mental functions while they are active. These negative emotions are a primary source of the disturbance you are experiencing. Because Ego sees itself as the center of the universe, it seeks to control not only the individual in which it resides, but all other individuals with which it comes in contact. Any resistance to that control by others (or by the egos of others) is interpreted as a threat, and generates fear, anger, and aggressive behavior."

"Not all emotional disturbance has its origin in Ego; some may arise from love and compassion, which originate in the higher Self. Compassion can be distinguished from the egoic emotions by its external focus (on the well-being of others rather than the ego itself) as well as by the fact it does not employ the fight-or-flight bodily reflex to dominate awareness."

"What is necessary to inner peace is for you to learn to step outside Ego and consider your life situations objectively from the perspective of the higher Self. What makes this difficult is that Ego is continuously striving to exclude the higher Self from access to your consciousness through its control over the negative emotions. However, if the higher Self is once able to assert itself, your consciousness will naturally be drawn to it because the higher Self is the source of peace, love and happiness. Tapping that source will enable you to discover a peaceful space in the core of your being that cannot be disturbed by external events. This will allow you to forsake Ego's obsession (and corresponding frustration) with controlling those externalities."

"The higher Self is the core of your being as an immortal Spirit, rather than a transient physical body. It is the kernel of God-stuff that manifests in your awareness. As a part of God, it is the extension of universal love into the space that you occupy. It is something that you do not create, but rather discover through meditation and prayer. It is the part of you that knows that it exists. It sits behind the sense-awareness and world-awareness of more superficial elements of your being, observing without judging; expressing compassion rather than disapproval. When you can choose to live the larger part of your life from this aspect of the Self, you will exist in a state of greater equanimity, free from the need to judge and create conflict in your surroundings. You can relegate Ego and the other aspects of your physical being to their proper function of maintaining your physical existence, while reserving to the higher Self control over interactions with other individuals and the Universe itself."

"The idea that happiness is entirely internal to each individual may seem strange, and Ego will reject it. Few are aware of this inner Source of peace, and fewer still are able to live continuously in the state of awareness with equanimity that it confers. The Source is opposed by the egoic mind, which survives by creating disturbance. Ego seeks to control individual awareness through the distractions it creates. By extension, Ego is driven to attempt to control both internal and external circumstances.It cannot exercise that control if your awareness arises from the Source of peace. It tries to absorb your attention by creating problems and then obsessing over finding solutions to the problems that it itself creates. From Ego's perspective, the best problem is one that cannot be solved. As long as you allow your attention to be diverted to the irrational task of solving the unsolvable, Ego is guaranteed to thrive, feeding off the disturbance in your awareness."

"It should be clear, therefore, that there is no such thing as a problem that is external to yourself. Problems are created and nourished by Ego out of its misguided sense of self-preservation. However, you may choose to found your existence on a peaceful core that is rooted in the loving Spirit of the universe. From that core emanates the peace that passes understanding, that can only be disturbed if you allow it to be. By becoming aware of this core of your being, and focusing your consciousness on it, you are enabled to act compassionately in the world to alleviate the suffering of others, without unnecessarily taking that suffering upon yourself."

"The way to develop awareness of the higher Self for most people is meditation. The breathing exercise you performed earlier is one form of meditation. By focusing all your attention on the breath, you were able to protect your center of awareness temporarily from the strident domination of ego. Other forms of meditation exist, but the key aspect of meditation that will allow your higher Self to emerge is the determination to keep your awareness peacefully focused on a neutral or positive object, turning aside all distractions. As the clouds of negativity are dispersed by this focus, the bright light of the higher Self can emerge. Once you have experienced the deep contentment of living from the source of peace, love, and happiness that is the higher Self, you will find yourself returning to it again and again. Eventually, you will develop the ability to see the world through its loving eyes, and the more you do so, the more you will choose to reject the negative lens that is ego."

"Finally, as you learn to perceive your life situations from the perspective of the higher Self, you will be able to act - or not act - out of compassion for the benefit of yourself and others, rather than out of ego's need to defend itself. With peace, love, and happiness as your base condition, you will find yourself reaching out to share these benefits with others in the way most suited to their well-being. You will be free of self-centered emotional disturbance, which may go a long way to a peaceful and harmonious resolution of any remaining negative aspects of the life situation, and in any case will bring you greater peace."