The world as it is

In this article, we shall reconsider how we see the world, how we see ourselves in the world, and how we deal with this in general.

At some point, some of us may have felt this desire to change the world. We want this world to be a different place, a better place. We want to remove the sadness and suffering.

We see this especially in some spiritual philosophies or religions, that this idea exists that we need to make this world a better place. Yes, the idea sounds good, but it may not be practical or possible in the way that we generally understand it. Or, we can rather say, the way we misunderstand this.

See, as soon as we become aware of the suffering of the world, we may feel that we need to do something, that we need to take action. This feeling that something is wrong with this world, and we have to make it right again.

Let's be honest with ourselves, let's check up. Who is doing the discrimination? Who is deciding that the world is good or bad and in relation to what? Who or what is the judging element here? When we check up, we find that it is the ego, the ego is doing the discrimination.

So, what does this mean? That we should just approve and accept all the suffering in the world? Should we just turn a blind eye and keep on trucking? "What to do?" we may ask... let's discuss!

Dealing with the world

When we think about ways to change the world, we may reach a lot of conclusions. We can think of creating more meditation centers, writing more books, or creating more spiritual awareness. We can plant more trees, we can use less plastic. We can even open more bars, with longer Happy-Hours! 

Yes, there are many ideas, but again, we ask the question of who or what is the discriminating factor? It comes back to the ego-mind. Even though we may feel compassionate, feel really sincere, we need to be really sure that we are not acting from an ego. The ego can be very very subtle, and without knowing, we can perform actions lacking wisdom.

If we are not mindful, the ego can get so completely absorbed into some idea it has, and it just takes on another mask, another identity. It plays another role. Instead of intentions arising from the heart, they arise from the ego. There is a very fine line between these two, and we should be cautious, constantly checking the mind while keeping the combination of wisdom and method.

Considering all of this, we may not be sure of what to do, how to take action. The best action we can take is maybe to take no action at all. Maybe the world does not need the ego's actions to 'help' her...

When we look at Eastern philosophy, we may come across something called the Yugas. The Yugas are basically said to be certain ages, periods, or cycles that the world goes through. There are said to be four cycles, labeled the Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali Yugas, and each of these yugas is said to last for a certain period while bringing a certain kind of experience. It starts with a `Golden Age` where spirituality, peace, and harmony reigns, and it gradually declines with each Yuga until destruction happens, which of course leads again to creation.

This is a theory, and quite interesting when we read up on this. The author shall not go into depth here, but the readers are more than welcome to study this on their own.

The reason for mentioning this is because we may be experiencing the world in such a way, of cycles of more peace and happiness and less peace and happiness, but within itself, it is always perfect. Yet, with or without the theory of the Yugas, we can still apply the same antidote, the same method to deal with the 'suffering' world.

Going inward

If we are fortunate, we may realize at some point that we cannot save the world, we cannot liberate everyone from Samsara, as the Buddhist texts say, because this is exactly how it is supposed to be. Imagine a discriminating ego trying to fight against a cosmic cycle, it is fruitless. 

What we can do, is we can go inwards, we can find peace within. Once we find the Source of peace and love and happiness within us, we can share this with those around us. We can offer them peace and love and kindness too, and we can show them where to find this lasting peace and happiness. We cannot change the world, but we can change the way we go about in this world, and we can inspire those around us. We can support those around us, as the world goes through its cycles.

We leave the world as it is, we let the world perform her dance, as it goes, while we dance along to whatever rhythm she is moving to.

When we investigate, when we really check up, we realize that this world is already perfect, just the way it is. If anyone ever had a Satori experience, as Zen Buddhism calls it, they will know that the world is always perfect, always in harmony. It was never 'out' of harmony for a single moment. It remains in perfection.

If we consider God, we know that God is always in control. If we consider Karma, we know that Karma plays out in her own way. If we consider impermanence, we know that this too shall pass. If we consider creation, we know that destruction follows. If we consider a timeless reality, the here and now, we know that everything is in the present, it is perfect. It simply is.

Lastly, we want to remind ourselves again that the suffering we see and experience is not all that bad, all that terrible. As we have said many times before -suffering is a great way for liberating ourselves. A Lotus flower grows from the mud, it needs the mud, in the same way, that we need the suffering. When we are skillful, we can transform each and every poison into medicine, just like a peacock.

To conclude, the best antidote, the best medicine for all this change, all this suffering, whatever we want to label it, is to go inwards and discover the peace and happiness within, discover our True Nature. When we discover this, we can rest in this and simply observe life happening, coming, and going. No discrimination, no desire to change, just observing in peace, in harmony.

As we rest in our True Nature, we become one with the dancing world. We become the rhythm that the world is dancing to. The more we dance, the more we realize that we are the rhythm, we are the world, we are the dance. An eternal dance, in union, in peace. 

Just as the stairs are used to go up and down, serving multiple purposes on our path, the suffering we experience also has multiple purposes. Let's use it with wisdom.