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Dissolving the Illusion
of Separation From the moment of our birth till the last breath of Life pulsating in the body of flesh given to us for this short period of evolution in the realm of matter, we live under the shadow of the Supreme Illusion, the most formidable obstacle to our awakening that has ever existed: the Illusion of Separation. Separation from the maternal womb, separation from other people, separation from the things we see around us. Later during our life, we learn to disconnect ourselves from our emotions, to develop a rational mind, to cast a cold and distant glance at the miseries and sufferings of this world. And we may even finally cut ourselves from the most important part of our being, from our soul, and, often pushed by an hostile environment, create a rigid and dogmatic set of mind perpetually striving to protect the selfish interests of this hard core of pre-set ideas and opinions we call "ego". Then, most of the rest of our life is a struggle to find again a balance between the inner aspiration to Peace and harmony we continually feel and the endless contradictions of a lifestyle and behavior patterns dictated by the intransigent domination of this self-created ego. This ingrained system of protection of our self-identity in the face of a "hostile" world has all sorts of hidden mechanisms that are triggered by the slightest direct finger-pointing to vigorously assert its domination over the entire conduct of our life. Even thinking about such things as "ego domination" is enough to trigger a strong resistance reaction so as to protect its integrity, which, in a sense, is a normal reaction given the nature of the ego, camouflaged as it is inside the very fabric of our awareness. This built-in
system of self-protection is a common occurrence resulting from the
present nature of our entire social paradigm which fosters the individualistic
values of personal achievement through diplomas, wealth and fame over
the spiritual values of Self-development, sharing and humility. In
times past, when the human civilization was less developed and complex,
the aboriginal societies, living in close harmony with the land and
other life forms were much more connected with the Web of Life and
thus less entrapped within the Illusion of Separation as we are today.
The following excerpt of a declaration made by the Chief Seattle in
1854 is a good example of this awareness of Unity with all Life shared
by the American Indians of this time... "Every part of this Earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sanding shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man. We are part of the Earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat on the pony, and man -- all belong to the same Family. (...) Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This we know, the Earth, does not belong to man; man belongs to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of Life: he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." As we go on today, collectively devastating the Earth on an unparralled scale, we are proving by the absurd the validity of this ancient perception of our place and role in the community of Life. We are destroying the fragile balance, established after billions of years of slow progress, between the unrelenting efforts of Life to take hold on this once barren planet and the sheer forces of entropy counteracting permanently to bring things back to their simplest mineral and chemical expressions. We are simply killing ourselves... This is the ultimate result of a civilization dominated by the Illusion of Separation. Fortunately, in the late sixties we began to see the emergence of a movement calling for a return to simpler values, more in harmony with the natural rhythms and laws of Life, and eventually leading to the ecological movement of the 80's and 90's. Yet, the old dominant paradigm still exerts a considerable influence and threatens, if not quickly changed, to create a traumatic setback to the evolution of Life on planet Earth. And the key of this change... is in each one of us. Dissolving
this Illusion of Separation is our greatest challenge and our best
opportunity to shift from a world of violent competition, war, pollution
and despair, to a world of gentle cooperation, peace, harmony and
hope. And again, Love is the only force that can change the world...
and ourselves. Love within us first, for if we cannot feel Love within
us, we cannot feel Love for others. Then Love for all the other human
beings, no matter how different they are, for what really matters
is not the outside but the inside: the same human body, the same feelings,
the same desire to love and be loved. And above all, the same Life
animating all our cells... and the cells of all the other Life forms
on this planet and everywhere in the universe. This sacred bond of
Love is what makes the Illusion of Separation just that... an illusion.
Jean
Hudon |
