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| Bob Reynolds | profile | all galleries >> A Journey of Awakening - The Spiritual Gatekeepers >> Escape Velocity | tree view | thumbnails | slideshow |
September 4, 2014
Escape velocity is defined as the speed that is necessary for a ship to "escape" the gravity of Earth and travel out into space. Airplanes must also reach a critical speed in order to gain enough "lift" under their wings to fly through the air. Likewise, cars require a certain amount of horsepower to propel them in a "forward motion".
What do space ships, airplanes and cars have in common? These are all the "machines" of humans. But what about humans themselves? What is our escape velocity? Or is it just escape? I think that somewhere along the line, much of humanity forgot about the "velocity" component of travel and choose to concentrate more on the art of escape instead.
How do humans escape? Over the years, we have become quite proficient and creative in the methods that we use to escape. Let us count the ways...
The list above is just a brief examination of human escape"isms". In fact, an entire book could be written on the many creative methods of escape that have been devised by humanity. However, I think that this is sufficient to make the point. I'm not suggesting that all of these forms of escape are bad. They are only harmful when they take the place of experience, learning and growth. When some of them are used together (in balance) with experience, learning and growth, they can actually act in a synergistic manner with this process.
Attempting to escape via material "consumption", is not only consuming to the planet, but is also consuming to our souls as well. In my experience, the people who have the most stuff are usually the most unhappy, while people who have only what they need are usually the happiest. There comes a point when one realizes that the pursuit of happiness through the novelty of material "collection" is a never-ending game, with ever-diminishing returns. As the saying goes, we don't really possess things, they possess us. That is not to say that we don't own things. Rather, it is suggesting that when we collect too many things, they can weigh us down to the point that they begin to own us. Actually, the greatest wealth of all is already inside of us and in the natural world around us.
Why do we feel we need to conform to some idea of what physical beauty should be? Everyone is unique. And it is our uniqueness that attracts other unique individuals to us. When we conform to the superficial ideas of what society thinks beauty should be, we usually attract more superficial "beauty" to us. Outward beauty doesn't always equate to inner beauty. Escape by way of physical modification, can actually result in "escape" from true love. What if that "one person" simply walks on by us on the street because our "new look" makes us look the same as everyone else looks?
From the time of our birth (onward), we are programmed and conditioned to be unhappy with who we are and what we are naturally capable of becoming. As result of this programming, the natural development of self-confidence and self-respect is often hindered. What would normally evolve into a state of internal strength and balance, gets pushed instead to one extreme or another in an attempt to (over)compensate for artificial unhappiness. Typically, this overcompensation results in a state of duality where people either kick the ego into overdrive, or they take on a victim mentality.
This is another example of extreme states of polarity. Why is this dual-state desirable? Because it allows the "very few" to control "very many" through division (within ourselves and within society). Usually, what we end up with is one group of people that aspire to be "gods" (a corruption of freewill and responsibility) and another group that desire to be the "subjects" of "gods" (a forfeiture of freewill and responsibility).
We have not even begun to scratch the surface of human potential. Yet it seems like much of humanity can't wait to escape into something different. How does that old saying go...the grass is always greener on the other side? What if it is not greener? What if the green of today, is actually brown, black and gray in the future? What if, in the future, we have become so modified (physically, mentally and spiritually) that we can no longer recognize that we are prisoners in a prison? Oops, that is already occurring today isn't it? Okay, what if that future prison is far beyond anything (any nightmare) that we could imagine today?
Human escape"ism" usually involves hiding our consciousness by either moving it around from one place to another (physical escape, running away), by creating various external disguises (modifying outward appearances or collecting external possessions) or through psychological masks (internal disguises or willful ignorance).
Human "escape velocity", on the other hand, involves confronting the dark areas of our consciousness and doing the work that is required to "escape" ignorance (personal and collective darkness) so that our consciousness may be free to "ascend" to higher states of Being (reach true escape velocity).
Why is there such a collective "drive" to escape? Is it because deep down (subconsciously) we all know that we are prisoners (on some level)? Is it because we know that we have been programmed, conditioned and traumatized from birth to behave in a certain manner? There is no need for all of this pain and suffering in the world to continue. But it will continue, unless we make the choice to stop it, and change it.
If we choose to escape into illusion, then we will walk into a prison. However, if we choose to walk out of the prison, then we will walk out into freedom.
Which way will humanity choose to walk?
Run
(Pink Floyd)
Rocket Man
(Elton John)
In Your Eyes
(Peter Gabriel)
In your eyes...whose eyes? Hint: Walk into the bathroom and look above the sink. There you will find the light, the heat, 1000 churches, the doorway and the resolution. Potentially, it's all in your eyes...God, Source, Spirit, Creator, Universe...it's all within us (and all around us).
As we learn to love that which is outside of us, we must also learn to love that which is inside of us
As we learn to respect that which is around us, we must also learn to respect that which is within us
As we learn about responsibility to others, we must also learn about responsibility to ourselves
As we grow in the external environment, we must also learn to grow in the internal environment
As we learn to put fear behind us, we begin to see that love has always been within us, and all around us...As within, so without (about)
All my instincts, they return
And the grand facade
So soon will burn
Without a noise
Without my pride
I reach out from the inside
The Greatest Love of All
(Whitney Houston)
This song is not about a love of the ego. Rather, it is a love that is developed through the realization of self-respect, self-achievement and self-potential. Growth of inner-self, helps lead to growth of outer-self. Growth of outer-self helps lead to collective-growth. The growth of the "independent collective" helps the world to become a better place for all to live in. Internal love, reflects to the external environment. And external love, reflects to the internal environment.
Running Down a Dream
(Tom Petty)
Running down a dream
That never would come to me
Working on a mystery
Going wherever it leads
Unwritten
(Natashia Bedingfield)
No one can speak your mind, like you can speak your mind
No one can feel in the same way, that you can feel
No one can contribute to Creation, in the same manner that you can contribute to Creation
No one can shine, in the same way that you can shine
Be yourself and grow within your own uniqueness
Never stop learning. Never stop growing. Never stop being (or believing in) yourself
Don't let society write your book for you. Create your own pages and your own (true) story
Be comfortable in your own Being
Footnote: Letting go of inhibitions can mean letting go of
self-suppression and living up to our true potential (our gifts, our talents and our creative force). Or it can mean letting go of morality (or engaging in moral relativity). The first type of "letting go" promotes forward movement, while the second type promotes backward movement.
The Battle Between the Light and the Dark
One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
Communicating with Nature and Creation
A complete index of all segments in this series
can be found here:
The most recent posts in this series
can be found here:
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