Spend a little time in silence today, in a quiet, calm space with your eyes shut, your mind quiet, thoughts null. Let the silence permeate you and remind you of what is most important to you in life, not the busyness, the chaos, the craziness but the pure joy of getting to know yourself on a deeper level than your everyday self. Find connection to the inner self who sits quietly in that silence within, patiently waiting for you to come say hello. That calm inner self might remind you of what’s really important to know and focus on, of what’s really best for you. Sit in silence for a little while and see what happens. In this manner you will begin to make a pathway that one day will open wide and you will realize the truths that have been there all along.
The foundation for belief, in this world, is socialization. We believe what we are told. The advertising industry spends billions of dollars a year to attract our attention, tell us what to believe, and, ultimately, control how we behave.
Although we don’t arrive in this world with a blank mental slate, we are nonetheless most influenced in childhood by the rules and judgments presented to us from primary parental figures, authority figures, and peer role models.
Science, with its focus on material proof, has reigned as a standard for believability for a couple of centuries. However, our current modern world is relativizing this standard of truth, with its emphasis upon the dominant role of suggestion in generating belief.
The power to control the narrative, the words used to describe current world challenges or opinions, is everywhere evident. A statement made on X results in a major loss of revenue, as advertisers run for the hills. Books are banned that suggest values or beliefs one disagrees with. I am not making a First Amendment pitch for free speech, but rather giving a neutral acknowledgment of the power of speech upon belief.
Carlos Castaneda emphasized the power of socialization, above all else, to fixate our belief system—and, hence, the world we generate—through shared beliefs with others. Our current world crises reflect a critical breakdown of a coherent belief system. The real current World War is a war of competing beliefs. Beliefs are indeed the deadliest of weapons.
Beliefs are magical spells. Shamans teach that, at a subconscious level, we incessantly repeat internalized beliefs. They call this the internal dialogue that constantly judges everything, most especially the self. The internal dialogue repeats the slogans from our internal advertising agency, which in turn generates our personal truths and how we see the world.
The shamans are consistent with most spiritual practices that encourage arriving at inner silence to suspend the power of fixated beliefs that color our view of ourselves, and the world. From the vantage point of inner silence, we see the relativity and power of belief.
However, as venerable as silence is to spiritual advancement it is not necessary to advance your beliefs. You needn’t even believe in a belief to materialize it. The only requirement is to attract the subconscious mind to a suggestion, even if you don’t consciously believe it. Repeat the suggestion incessantly, like a well-funded advertising campaign. Eventually the subconscious will be influenced and change your world.
Of course, if your suggestion is denying something, like a truth you are uncomfortable to face, though you will experience a shift eventually, you will also generate a latent karma. Karma is merely the outcome of our choices. If we choose to generate an untruth, the effects of that untruth will generate their own suggestions, which will impact the course of our future life. That’s nature’s basic law of balance.
So, what’s best to believe?
Suggestions that promote spiritual advancement experience the karma of fulfillment. We learn how to believe through rote repetition of beliefs that then manifest. As they manifest, even the Doubting Thomas conscious mind gains faith and believes in the power of the subconscious mind to change the world, within and without.
Suspend judgment of self and other in order to experience the joy of freedom. Freedom is the clarity of mind to know the truth, to experience the silence of the busy mind and the emptiness of negativity. Freedom comes in the silence within and the observation of silence without, in seeing what truly is: the spirit in everyone and everything. In this manner discover what love truly is, for it is energy flowing through the universe, through you and through everything else too. Love is energy to be used for the greater good of all.
Patient waiting calls for detachment from outer events so that when the time of renewal comes all is calm and energetically prepared for an easy birth. New life is naturally preceded by a state of inner silence. Like the seed that eventually bears flowers and fruit, first it must sit calmly in its casing and wait for each stage of emergence. So is it necessary in the lives of the human being to take into account that there will be such times of patient waiting preceding all new stages of growth. Wait patiently in heart-centered knowing that indeed times are always changing, that new life is making headway, and beauty is sure to come again.
Look to the skies for guidance on how to remain detached and yet fully energetically connected! – Photo by Jan Ketchel
The key to actualizing our human potential is energy. If you have enough energy you can do just about anything. Recognizing the value of conserving and retrieving energy, shamans discovered that the human being’s most lethal energy drain is offense. Being offended, by anything and everything, costs humans the lion’s share of their vital energy.
When we feel offended by the words and deeds of others we have emotional reactions, like anger, fear, and resentment that tax the central nervous system. We lose our balance, as we become emotionally charged, seeking relief in some kind of action. Often, obsessive thinking continues to replay the offense, which sustains and feeds this state of emotional tension.
Is it possible to have an objective reaction to another’s offensive behavior without being personally offended? Yes, through gaining conscious control of our instinctive emotional reactions and deciding, on the mental plane, to not be offended by the behavior of others, regardless of how ruthless it might be.
Who could forget Robert De Niro’s “Are you talking to me?” in the movie Taxi Driver? Instinctively, we feel the growing tension of his mounting anger, as he incessantly repeats this famous line. Truthfully, many are drawn to such unabashed expressions of rage and contempt, which vicariously satisfies our own unexpressed rage and resentment.
Now, if Robert De Niro had simply walked away, the movie would have flopped. On the other hand, if we want to start saving our vital energy, we must be willing to let go of the many dramas our internal dialogue ignites through its constant interpretation of offense, throughout our everyday lives.
This is not to say that there is not significant horrific behavior that must be addressed. At issue is the subjective state of offense that accompanies one’s reactions to those behaviors. One can assess a situation and decide upon a course of action, unencumbered by emotional reaction. In fact, this is a core teaching of all martial arts.
When one becomes emotionally offended by an opponent’s move, one loses one’s edge, fights poorly, and generally loses. As in shamanism, in the martial arts the key to success is to not become attached —offended— by one’s opponent’s behavior. The objective is to stay present to what is and completely conserve one’s energy in order to be fully engaged in one’s most efficient counter response.
In fact, when one becomes offended one actually gifts the opponent one’s own energy. Offense can lead to hopelessness, powerlessness, and surrender, as one’s vital energy reserves become depleted. Bullying behavior is actually a strategy to catch one’s opponent in the net of offense, weakening their game. Muhammed Ali was a striking example of such tactical behavior leading up to a fight, as he would mercilessly insult and demean his opponents.
Instinctive reactions can be, and often are, life saving. What we take as an instinctive reaction, however, is very frequently the ego’s decision to be offended, whereby calling forth the troops of passionate reactions to exact retribution, in some form. This is a hybrid, instinctive reaction that serves only the ego, not the true needs of the self.
Ego must learn to be a servant to the true needs of the whole self, rather than just its own self-aggrandizement. Even if the ego has been directly insulted, the ego must consider the energetic impact on its central nervous system, and its energy reserves, before determining its course of action.
If the ego faces the fact that we live in a world where life feeds upon life, it can come around to the fact that we live in a predatory universe and not get offended by it. Of course, this does not stop our need to defend ourselves, but how much stronger and more clearheaded we would be if we didn’t burden ourselves with being offended.
When the shamans speak of detachment, they are targeting what we typically judge to be offensive behavior. They promote inner silence to avoid offensive dramas when navigating oncoming time, to best be prepared to respond appropriately, with the least taxing of our energetic reserves. Inner silence entails quieting the mind, pulling into the heart center, and waiting patiently for the guidance that shows us how to act in a way that is truly right.
In addition, they recommend a thorough recapitulation of one’s relationships in life, particularly circumstances that left one feeling offended. Recapitulation frees one’s energy stored away in offense, but also frees one from being triggered by current circumstances that reflect one’s unresolved past.
The truth is that there are highly sadistic, abusive people who commit horrific acts. Recapitulation does not change this fact, but it does free one from draining one’s vital energy by being eternally offended by them. Detachment means accepting the truth of what was, and fully harnessing one’s freed energy to be redeployed in new life.
I send out the intent for unbending detachment, as we collectively advance our world into new life, beyond offense.
