People can only hear what is speaking to them from the within. Anything outside of this conversation is considered non-essential or untrue. We are constantly being “told” what to believe and do through the state of our unconscious mind, which is filled with messages generated from our genetics and the fear that emanates from our DNA.

The human state of being is a treacherous condition. We are built to survive and yet this mechanism is a contradiction to itself, given that the methods we use to survive have repercussions and consequences that adversely affect our environment and wear away at the earth that we so heavily rely upon for our survival. Any scientific and social advancements we make also often become our downfall when what began as “good” often turns into some ugly eventual tragedy.

People will only support what they “like” and/or agree with. Most cannot accept, retain or even hear anything beyond what has been instilled within them through the traditions, opinions and values of the family, society and culture in which they were raised. Their logic and reasoning taints and inhibits their ability to understand anything that is outside the range of common thinking. This becomes a bias that distorts and skews any authentic insight that might be presented to them.

As people get older they “hear” less and less of the Truth while morphing into versions of their family and simply bracing themselves for their final outcome – death. This becomes the acumen of their understanding and hence, they can only comprehend and find significance in what they believe will serve their need for self-preservation.

We live from our basic human instincts in the belief that that is the safest, most logical, rational and intelligent method for living, which requires enormous amounts of emotionalism to act and react from the “kill or be killed” instincts of our DNA. So what do we do in this world when the need for peace and prosperity exceeds our human acumen, abilities, desires and willingness?

Inner awakening takes effort, conscious effort. There are sacrifices we must all make in order to awaken to the meaning of our life here on earth. But any mention of “sacrifice” or the message of awakening is repugnant to the pedestrian mentality, who are only interested in how to “get” without giving and live comfortably without risk.

We do not know what Love is because we are consumed by the fires of self-destruction caused by living solely for pleasure over pain. Hence, we lose all perspective of what true Wisdom is… relegating our lives to methods of self-preservation that create useless and unnecessary pain and sorrow.

I watch people do the most outlandish and self-destructive acts of emotionality in this world, while expecting results that are favorable to their “needs” and comfortable to their emotional state of mind. An example of this is the use of drugs, marijuana and alcohol. Altering body chemistry to try to dull the noise of self-judgmental messages from the unconscious mind causes people to live unconsciously and ruthlessly.

People can have a “knowledge” of the Way, but not the Wisdom to move into the Way when imbibing toxic substances that chemically alter the mind and body, leaving them vulnerable to addictions and substance abuse. People who live in this manner, as so many do, cannot call their lives their own.

So, my dear ones, what are we all trying so hard to preserve? Preservation means conservation, maintenance, upholding, sustaining and perpetuation. To exactly what are we applying these efforts?

In this life and this world, the preservation is to the “self” as being a human entity, an animal that is convinced it is at the top of the food chain. This delusional state of humanity creates a perpetual yearning for dominance in all realms of living: physical, social, political and religious.

What is a “self” anyway? Are “you” the organism that wanders the prairies of mental and emotional anarchy searching for some element or event to give it meaning, purpose and reason?

It is difficult for the pedestrian mentality to understand its own humanness and how fragile and faulty it truly is. The element of the animal that we live in, identified as the body, is always at war with itself and creates and sustains the strain of human survival as the only importance in this worldly life, to its own detriment. In the end, the body will betray the “self” and, as Buddha stated in the Dhammapada, “…fester, get sick and die.”

We manufacture the “self” through the struggle for survival at all costs, and hence live in a constant state of fear that drives our living. The “self” is crude, brittle and brutal, and has no sense of anything other than its own chemistry. It makes war within itself as well as with other “selves” (people, genders, races and nations) whom it perceives as a threat. Enemies are perceived through the “self” as those who may be stronger or more superior, and hence must be conquered and destroyed.

We meander and wander around this world moving from “thing” to “thing,” and person to person, with the sole purpose of self-preservation in order to sustain a pleasurable lifestyle to help us forget the unsavory elements we have built in our earthly existence.

Only when we begin to question all of this, do we become intelligent. This intelligence can only be realized through meditation. The “self” cannot meditate nor appreciate the state of inner Silence as a means for profound awakening beyond the confines of the fear and hate of human survival. When non-dualism is born and realized through meditation we inherit the “eyes” to see beyond the constraints of the human stain.

We must come to understand that conflict and violence on all levels is utter futility. The meaning of our life in this world is to become One with the whole of Life itself. When we awaken to this Oneness, we discover the meaning of Love. Love is Oneness.

Here is a sweet closing story…about you and I:

A little wave is bobbing along in the ocean, having a grand old time. He’s enjoying the wind and the fresh air–until he notices the other waves in front of him, crashing against the shore.

“Oh no, this is terrible!” the little wave says. “Look what’s going to happen to me!”

Then a second wave came along, and seeing the little wave looking grim, it asked, “Why do you look so sad?”

The little wave gasped, “You don’t understand…we’re all going to crash! All of us are going to be nothing! Isn’t that terrible?”

To which the second wave calmly replied, “No little one, YOU don’t understand. You are not a wave. You are one with the ocean.”

Yes, we are all a part of something immense. It is called Love.

Only in Silence do we find that we are a “wave” that is a part of the ocean of Life itself. This is a monumental moment in living and is the utter bliss of spiritual awakening. But like all elements of Life, this kind of experience requires a great deal of let-go sustained through moment-to-moment discipline.

The existence of the Authentic lives here on earth and within us as the presence of a Love that ushers us into the Oneness of Life itself when we become willing and merciful enough to abandon our self-preservation. To the person who is truly maturing toward the state of the Infinite in this lifetime, the process of giving up the elements of self-preservation, such as pride, vanity and vengeance, becomes essential.

Lao-Tzu once said: “The world is won by those who let it go.” Words to live by.