Last night, I dreamed of the Apocalypse. Buildings all around me and infrastructure of every kind were collapsing in destruction, killing many people without explanation. I cried and sobbed into the arms of another when I learned of the loss of my brother and sister and eventually I awoke, alarmed and fearful that my dream had somehow carried through into reality...
Of course, the world did not end on December 21st. Nor do I believe it was ever implied that it would from any source other than the misdirected fear of people who create their world from the perspective of victimization. But perhaps the Apocalypse really did occur... So, as I listened to the radio today, and the commentators reported about the recent tragedy of Sandyhook, I contemplated the Apocalypse that had occurred for a small community, and a group of families, whose known worlds ended in a burst of gunfire.
I desire to write tonight about the responsibility of SELF CONTAINMENT in mastery. Freedom in this world can not exist without the conscious direction of intention, of thoughts, or the guidance of emotional response to the many happy and horrible events that occur around us.
So, how do you experience Freedom in the face of the senseless massacre of 20 children and 6 adults?
How do you find safety again? How can we come to agreement as a society about how we should handle the owning of weapons? How does a small community ever recover from such a disaster of human design?
Some of the questions raised by an event like this will never be answered in justice. Those that insist upon the protection provided by privately owned fire arms will forever be bound by fear and mistrust, still unable to prove that gun ownership could prevent such tragedies from occurring. Those that insist that outlawing the ownership of these weapons will prevent tragedies will never convince an opposing viewpoint to let go of the need for protection, nor will they serve to truly provide safety to themselves or their loved ones.
The Apocalypse that has occurred is not the physical destruction of the world. It is the ending of a world which can be controlled by Society's restrictions upon the Freedom of individuals. The world which emerges from here is one which is created solely by the collective convictions of the individual. One which will no longer abide by the laws of man, but by the creative power of thought directed by the individual's will, and by the strength of the individual's emotions.
SELF CONTAINMENT is accomplished when an individual takes full responsibility for and realizes with accountability that their thoughts and energy truly shape the entirety of their reality. That no outside event, no other person determines the shape and experience of reality. While this idea takes a very hard look at the nature of tragedy, it also points toward a path which leads to a more brilliant future.
The horrific nature of the tragedy in Newtown seems to rule out the possibility that ANY interpretation of this event by an individual is even possible. Our proximity to the needless deaths of 26 innocent people make it abominable in our minds and produce powerful negative emotions. But I believe it is significant to also consider that these 26 people are not personally known by the vast majority of Americans or others watching around the world.
Compare this event to the deaths of Afghan civilians as a result of U.S. led bombing operations in Afghanistan from October 7, 2001 - February 28, 2002. During this period the L.A. Times reported that at least 1,067 Afghan civilians lost their lives directly as a result of American air strikes. You most likely do not personally know these 1,067 people either. And while at Sandyhook there were 26 people gunned down in a single day, imagine that more than 7 fathers, mothers and children were killed every single day with American tax dollars for a 5 month period. In other words, Sandyhook was repeated every 4 days in Afghanistan on your dime, on your watch, on your Presidential vote. But we don't think much about that. We don't grieve for them. We don't dwell on that tragedy in the media. Those 1,067 people were regarded as a necessary SACRIFICE to secure our American Freedom.
Some might say that the events I point to in Afghanistan are fundamentally different to the tragedy at the Newtown elementary school. They might justify the actions of the U.S. military and speak about unavoidable collateral damage. But does this argument mean anything to an Afghan father forced to deal with the deaths of his wife and child? Is his reality any different from the father of one the children who died in Newtown? I have no interest in making a case for BLAME. I only wish to point out that our well justified grief over the tragedy of Sandyhook is an INTERPRETATION of events only. And can our grief for those in Sandyhook have any meaning when we ignore events like the 1,067 deaths of civilians in Afghanistan?
How does SELF CONTAINMENT have purpose in the face of these events?
Many are asking questions about God, about Law, about Society and about Individualism as a result of these events. In my own path of Freedom, it is the mastery of directed thought, the understanding of my interpretation of the world and events around me that lights a way from the darkness of tragedy. I can't say that focusing upon thoughts of peace and safety will ever heal the wounds of the parents and families of the ones who died in Sandyhook or Afghanistan. But as a world consciousness, I can say with certainty, that safety from tragedy will never be assured if we collectively react with FEAR, with MISTRUST, and with unbridled EMOTIONALISM.
Don't get me wrong. I am not condemning the collective or individual grieving that is the dominant response for many to these tragedies. I only wish to bring light to the possibility for a more brilliant future.
FREE WILL is an inalienable part of our existence. With that truth is implied the responsibility to direct our inner energy, our thoughts and emotions to create our interpretations of the uncontrollable events of the world. Freedom can only exist when one accepts this responsibility. And we will only attain the brilliance of our potential Selves if we exercise our ability to interpret reality, thereby proactively CREATING our experience.
Is an Apocalypse in dream form any less real than that experienced by the parents of 20 murdered children? Does it matter if those parents are from Newtown or Kabul?
The actions of one individual can never be controlled by a society. Nor can the actions of an entire society be controlled by one individual. This is the price of our Freedom. OR... If you choose SELF CONTAINMENT, this is the reward of our Freedom.
Choose your world. The Apocalypse has already come and gone. So make it good.
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I am free of attachments.
I am the eternal witness of what is.
I am the cosmos and the eternal presence.
I am letting go of Abhasa, of all the ambiguous, false and all fallacies reverberating in the fragmented perception.
I am truthful and, through truth, I create reality.
The Great Master remains attentive and watchful as a conscious witness of what is, not labeling anything as good or bad - just living in the reality created by the eternal presence of Source... in the present moment.
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**Excerpted from "The Great Master" by Toby Alexander.
