(I did not read Gary Zukav – he stole my title).
I want to elaborate on Gabor Maté’s comment that “For this society to function, it has to separate the soul from the body. We wouldn’t treat people the way that we do if we thought they had a soul”.
Let’s for a moment entertain (maybe the wrong word) the thought that there is no Soul, that we are simply a machine/robot that functions and that there will come a time when one or two parts of the machine will no longer work and then we vrek. Boom. End of story. We are not connected to others for anything other than what they offer us (food, education, sex, children). These “feelings” are just chemical reactions, our thoughts are simply brain functions, and all we have to do while we are here is to stay on the right side of the law. Work is simply to put food on the table, and the world is ours to have fun it. The only philosophy we are to adhere to is individuation. Just be who you are, to hell with the rest. If we do anything for the greater good it is only because we have the time, we can afford it, and because it makes us feel good/cool/better.
I somehow cannot think that billions of people can manage to live this way. In fact, I envy them sometimes this wonderful state of being, a state of not giving a shit. At least that is how I see it. Because if there is not an inner Knowing, a deeply connected Being-in-the-world, a covenant with the Earth, then why would you give a shit? Brené Brown made me aware of the fact that being mindful, being in Godmind, means that you acknowledge that everyone is doing the best that they can.
Somehow I want to add to that – if you are doing the best that you can, then surely you must want to give a shit. Obviously not. I am not sure.
When you believe (is this the right word?) that there is no Soul, no Divine Spirit, no Godmind, no Nature – call it what you want, does not absolve you from the responsibility to care? (I am not saying that you should have faith, or that you should adhere to a dogma or beliefs, or belong to a church or religious order). Is it not because we are trying everything in our power to deny our Connectedness that we find ourselves in a world of chaos, that we are deeply affected by the horror of others and what they do to the world? Or is it because of the horrors of the world that we do not acknowledge our Divine connection?
Our friends are expecting twins after a long journey of trying to fall pregnant. I looked at them last night and could not help to be in a state of wonderment, a total daze of awe to think that there are two little, in fact, tiny human beings growing in her belly. And they will have eyes and ears and eyelashes, they will have hearts and lungs and kidneys, and they will come into this world and develop Minds… And we will treat them with respect, love them, play with them, educate them, we will dress them up and celebrate their birthdays, we will watch them grow up, and go to university (I will be very old then….) We will adore them. And then, one day when I am no longer here, they might become forgetful. How will the world treat them then? Maybe by then, they will go to a place where they will ll out a form, and get an injection that will end their life. Simple. Easy. Painless.
What is this about? What are WE about? What the hell are we doing here, if not growing, if not connecting, if not being co-creators, partners with the Divine (or whatever it is that you call this Consciousness) in creating a world that is caring, nurturing, supporting, loving, connecting. Figure it out…maybe we should stop trying to control it, stop insisting on denying it, and start embracing our connectedness to something so profound that we actually are stopped in our tracks, that we become silent, to hear our Selves creating love in a world that has lost its humanity.