“We see contradiction in us and about us, and what we are, the world is”
Krishnamurti [1]
May peace come, the expected stability forever!
Peace is a great ideal. But as we gravitate towards this desire, our minds and hearts harbor the nervous energy of the daily struggle for survival, which strips us of clarity and energy.
At the same moment that we cry out for peace, we receive and express criticism and corrections to others. We keep hurting and being hurt. Why do we want peace so much and cannot experience it in our lives?
It is important to understand why we do this.
Universal wisdom says that we are a world in miniature. Everything that happens outside of us is a projection of what happens inside. Thus, if internally we experience conflicts and confrontations, we fight wherever we are, because the colors of our internal struggles dye the place where we step.
A key issue in reflecting on our internal conflicts is being aware that we are self-centered. We live centered on ourselves. We come first and all others come much later. Our actions and reactions are aimed at self-defense and self-preservation. This results not only from our ancestral biological consciousness, but also from our individual and collective unconsciousness, our beliefs, education and the environment in which we live. We do it without realizing it, automatically.
We compete, criticize, judge and isolate ourselves in tribes and bubbles in the illusion of feeling well. Every person we pass on the sidewalk thinks in the same visceral way and therefore fights for space with us and acts to protect himself. It’s a hostile environment. We are more against each other than we are with each other. This separateness is a major disease of the human soul and distances us from the peace we long for.
If we don’t want wars, if we seek peace, the change that needs to be made is in us, and it involves distancing the opposite poles. As we broaden the perception of our own interior and approach the middle path, little by little, we reach the active, but not indifferent, condition of neutrality.
Another kind of life awaits us
We seek another life, but where does this idea come from?
Examining our internal conflicts in the field of spirituality, we see that this desire exists because we have the memory of this possibility, the restlessness and the longing for life in Unity. The true way of life – which we know in our depths – is the opposite of the separateness created by our egocentrism.
If we empty our consciousness based on the past, conditionings, automatisms and accumulation of knowledge, we will open space for the inner perception of our real being, the immortal principle that lives inside all of us. However, as we still only have eyes for ourselves, we do not see the light that flickers – like the momentary flash of lightning – evoking that there is something beyond our personality.
The activity of this spark of light that we only perceive in a furtive, unconscious way, provokes our being and makes us uneasy. It brings the feeling of not fitting the world and we long for another life. We feel intense restlessness, but because of not understanding what we lack, we try to attack the unknown, which is the immortal in us. There we go attacking again. It’s a mistake.
On one hand there is matter and, on the other hand, there is spirit, different aspects of the same reality. We need to connect ourselves to our inner being, allowing the consciousness to be the interlocutor between these two aspects, and integrating them within us.
In this process, self-knowledge, as a perception of our inner state, is a powerful tool for deconstructing our egocentric structure. This opens space for new values, new ideations, and new energy.
An important aspect of egocentrism is attachment. Detaching oneself from the manifestations of consciousness (thoughts, emotions and reactions, in addition to material things) will bring fear and anxiety, as we will enter the unknown. However, as egocentrism is overcome, anxiety and fear will also be overcome, in a processual manner, giving space to a more spiritual consciousness.
It is a purifying process so that it is possible to hear the voice from the deepest part of our being, or the voice of the Universe within us.
Spiritual self-initiation requires a continuous effort that we are not used to making, and a lot of vigilance. It is necessary to reach a state where we do not feel threatened by each other, but where we recognize each other as companions on the journey.
The precious ‘peace’ we seek is not at the extremes, but in the middle way.
Reference:
[1] Krishnamurti, J. “The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, Volume VI – The Origin of Conflict”, Krishnamurti Foundation America, Ojai, CA, 2012
