I won’t ask you to surrender or let go
If you need to keep holding, keep grasping,
that’s not a problem
You held on for good reason,
falling is scary for the best of us
Just know, Love is waiting for you
Love has always been waiting, ready to catch you
At your lowest, most despairing points,
Love was there, and you were so close to letting go
But don’t worry, when you’re ready you’ll know
The African word ‘Ubuntu’ is often translated as “I am because we are”. In this phrase, we find a recognition of our interconnectedness with the whole world. If only more of us could realise that we are not fundamentally separate from each other. That we are all of the same source, no matter what gender we are, age we are, species we are, or what colour our skin is. If we realised this, we would not disrespect each other in the way we’ve been doing, and we would not disrespect nature.
If only we could live in such a way that all our actions took place with the knowledge that we are of this cosmos together, and that, far from being insignificant accidents, we in fact belong to this world. If only we could all extend our reach of care beyond ourselves, to the wider world.
These ideas might be dismissed as airy fairy, or they might be viewed as something comforting to tell ourselves because we fear dying. But that’s only because some people are misguided and, through their misguidedness, try to disempower others. These ideas are in fact obvious when you think about them. We exist because everything else exists. You wouldn’t be here, in the way you are now, without the soil of this planet, the oxygen around you, the plants you’ve been eating, the countless people who’ve shaped your culture, all your ancestors, the positioning of this planet within this solar system. You are not fundamentally disconnected from these things. You move with them, and they move with you. In Buddhist lingo, this insight is often called ‘dependent origination’.
Some people don’t recognise the importance of ideas or worldviews. They dismiss those who deal with ideas as unrealistic or disconnected from the “real world”. They might think a lot of these ideas are abstract and unhelpful, having no practical application. But to my mind, ideas and worldviews underlie all our actions. Until we understand our cultural conditioning, until we understand the narratives we’ve been told aren’t necessarily truthful, until we become truly aware of our own thought patterns, then we won’t grow and evolve as people and as societies. This doesn't mean we should all become academics and extremely well read. But it does mean we would do well to bring awareness to the ways we think about the world.
Thich Nhat Hanh coined the term ‘interbeing’ to describe our interconnectedness with all things. As with the Buddhist phrase ‘dependent origination’, the idea of interbeing shows that we exist in connection with all the other manifold aspects of our world, including things we aren’t normally conscious of. For example, we don’t regularly reflect on how our existence depends on the right level of oxygen in our environment, the soil in which our food grows and the sun which helped grow such food. With the notion of interbeing, we learn that we cannot really disconnect our identity from that of the air, the soil and the sun.
We would do well to integrate this interconnected way of perceiving things into our cultural worldview. If we lived in a society and culture which adopted this more truthful way of perceiving the world, in which our thoughts and ideas were more harmonious with the way the world is, then we would not suffer as much as we do. We would not need to egotistically assert ourselves all the time. We would not try to dominate, control and colonise the world.
When understanding political issues, what's happening in Gaza and the West Bank for example, it is vital to remember that we swim in a world of media-narratives that have little basis in truth. By truth I mean honest, balanced and evidence-based reports of events. Our legacy media automatically produces distorted narratives. Our main media outlets and high-profile politicians, both lobbied by corporations and billionaires, are experts at distorting, framing and omitting information. They are experts at creating skewed and biased narratives. Until we realise this from the outset, at the very beginning of any political conversation, we cannot have coherent, healthy dialogues about world events.
Having been exposed to these distorted narratives for so many years, many people find it difficult to disentangle themselves from them. Maybe it is psychologically easier to go along with what the majority of people are saying. Or what our supposedly trusted news outlets are saying. Maybe it takes a lot of effort to go against the grain. This means that when someone does go against the grain, when someone manages to decondition themselves from such narratives, such a person is labelled radical, extremist, unrealistic. Or they are laughed at and ridiculed.
It should be noted that the main distorted narratives we hear come from those in positions of material power. In other words, corporations and billionaires. This isn't talked about by most people, you won't hear it discussed much on the BBC for example. It won't be directly pointed out and emphasised as much as it should be. The most important issues rarely are. Instead, we are encouraged to focus on superficial issues that have nothing to do with where real power lies, such as what pronouns we should be using or whether a celebrity recently defecated. Throughout history, those in positions of material power will use any means to keep such power. They will never, out of the goodness of their hearts, give power back to ordinary people. It is only through protest, unrest and civil disobedience that ordinary people have ever gained more power.
What irks me more than most things is the way that those in power, and the obsequious journalists who support them, lie and deceive to maintain such power. I wish that they would at least be more open and honest about their ambitions, instead of sneaky, vicious and deceptive. An argument could be made that hierarchies are necessary and that there needs to be some wealth imbalance in society. Let's say this position is true. Then why don't those with inordinate amounts of power admit that they want to keep such power. Why don't they admit that they want to maintain their excessive amounts of money? This is because they are frightened and insecure. They probably know that if the majority of people knew what was really going on, if the majority of people had a truthful understanding of the world, then the majority wouldn't stand for the immense injustice we see around us. Presumably then, those in positions of material power don't care about truth and honesty, even though their spokespeople claim to be truthful.
Those with excessive amounts of money and power lobby politicians and the media. Politicians and high-profile media people are paid handsomely (compared with most of the population at least) and I suppose they don't want to lose their jobs by speaking out of line. On one level this is understandable. But if you have integrity and really care about bettering the world, then you will speak truthfully. There is no decent excuse for consistently lying about important issues.
As a result of all of this, the very premises and framings of political issues are inappropriate and skewed, and will very rarely lead to meaningful dialogues about such issues. An example of this is on Piers Morgan's Uncensored channel. Even though claiming time and again that he is concerned with honesty and truth, Piers Morgan's framing of the massacre in Gaza illustrates how much our minds are affected by distorted narratives. By starting most questions with, "would you condemn Hamas?" Piers implies that Hamas are the primary problem and that the current conflict is a result of their actions on October 7th. By trying to illicit a binary yes/no answer, he is trying to simplify the issue. If you are unwilling to play his game, or to say "yes" to condemning Hamas, the obvious implication is that you are immoral and can't be taken seriously. Perhaps he should start each conversation by saying, "would you condemn Israel for the last 75 years?" This would be a framing which is more evidence-based and appropriate, as the Israeli government is the colonial, occupying force in this situation. Most of the violence falls on them.
To sum up, we need to bear in mind how much our culture and our minds have been shaped by distorted narratives. If we truly care about the unnecessary violence and suffering in the world, we need to speak truthfully as much as possible. We need to keep shining a light on those in positions of material power to combat their ceaseless lies and distortions. We would also do well to always practice compassion and love, in combination with truthfulness.
Those poets talk of something I but dimly feel
Yet, though clouded in darkness, I know there is something hiding
In the heart of silence, something whispers to me
Within every hair, fibre and nerve, I sense its presence
Its existence is subtle yet powerful, unseen yet omnipresent
Why does it hide? Why won't it show itself proudly?
Often I forget its there altogether, and despair consumes me
Those poets write with eloquence and grace, yet I write crudely and with roughness
But it doesn't matter, all words dissolve in its presence
And we are all of the same source
You are not sinful. You are not beyond redemption. Your body and desires are not wrong or evil.
The divine isn’t stored somewhere on high, in the distant, untouchable clouds. It isn’t something to ascend to. The divine isn’t something to attain, achieve or win.
You're already divine. If only we could realise what’s always been there.
Your mind, and your most noble, lofty ideas, are surface ripples of the rich intelligence of your body. And your body is not merely a vehicle for your soul. It is an expression of soul. It is an expression of earth and animal intelligence.
You are an expression of soil and plants and water. Perhaps, if we need to do anything, it is to descend.
We need to descend into the present moment. We need to descend into the compost and the earth. We need to descend into the darkness and roots and mycelial threads.
If anything, the angels are below.
