An Unconscious God: Part I
Stop right there. Leave whatever personal idea you think you have about people, their philosophy, spirituality and any speculation you might have in this little box I set aside for you. You'll be able to pick them up on the way out. [ ] Did you put everything in there? No? Think about plucking from your brain all the things that you think makes you better than any other human on the planet and put them in the box. There. Good -now let's move on. Here's mine: [ ooo ] Those are the little ideas I have about the world that limit me. They are shortcuts to the larger problem of categorizing who's opinions I should value and who's I should not. They are the petty, limited and cheap judgements I have about people who are pushing 30 and talk about video games, keep their cars lined with fast food garbage and listen to Jimmy Buffet. I can make those judgements in a second and while I freely admit that they're not always fair, these shortcuts have served me well. They're personal pet peeves and things that might stand out to me alone, but I have learned to recognize them immediately as a sign of something potentially more troubling going on. Are they valid? Of course they are, to me, because they guide me away from the kind of life I think that I don't want to live - but I'm getting ahead of myself. We don't have to look far to find an individual who has thought about what the meaning of their life might be, if any. We've all done it, but there is a difference in the way that we come up with answers to arenas of inquiry that fundamental science hasn't reached as of yet. More often than not, we assume, or move on the assumptions of others - even without realizing it. Nothing should seem any less real or powerful than the old houses of dogma would claim they are showing us, only that, for things to work, we need to reinterpret what our definition of power is. In my own culture, our most prevalent myth serves war and claims peace. It churns the population into a fury and creates a veritable maelstrom out of the popular opinion. One that would swallow any opposition. There are good examples of this myth benefitting the community, but the teachings involved are much simpler than the spoiled verses a politician or pastor might massage into the collective masses to bolster their agenda. Unfortunately, we as a population demand more. In film, the hero hashes out revenge narratives, glorifies luxury and allows those not directly supporting them to suffer and fall. We internalize those concepts and poison the pool that our beliefs and motivations draw from. That's where we're at. Only recently have we even seen what interaction takes place between the conscious and the unconscious mind. The conscious mind is who you are now, living in a single storied home above ground while the unconscious is a mad genius in your basement, mute, but working with a vast array of equipment and all the time in the world. This mad genius is looking out for you. Aloof and not communicating directly, but there. Get it yet? Getting the two to work together is no easy task and without words, one might think that the old man's communication methods are much more subtle. Maybe he zaps the mind every time you see the number 135 in a single day or draws your attention to the way the wind blows through a tree, making your mind wander under the force of a particularly beautiful and relevant moment. The forms these messages from your unconscious take can be anything and the messages don't always get through to you but when one does and seems oddly specific, the feeling can be one of an outer, more powerful will imposing itself on you. One could say it feels almost, divine-like. So, if we can imagine that our conscious mind is being backed up and guided by a much more powerful form of awareness, then what keeps us from taking notice? [To Be Continued]
