Having just watched
the final episode
of season one
of Apple TV’s “Morning Show;”
I had an epiphany…
SPOILER ALERT!!!
Not only
did executive Fred
know all about Mitch’s
predatory behavior
be he actively covered it up
promoting the misogynistic
culture of silence.
It was Fred’s idea
to protect himself
by setting up producer Chip
as the scape goat.
And yet
when it came time
to fire Chip
instead of being honest
and vulnerable
Fred scolded Chip
for actions
that both he and Chip
knew were actually
Fred’s actions.
Could this sound
familiar?
Could people driven
by lust for power
and greed for wealth
acting with a total disregard
for the truth
sound familiar?
Could there be
a deeper metaphysical truth
at play?
Many people in America
have a passing familiarity
with the bible.
So let’s start there.
Don’t worry my little Buddhist hobbits,
for after our visit
to Judeo-Christian Mordor
I’ll return you safely to the shire.
In the first epistle of John
we read that perfect love
drives out fear.
This reveals a dichotomy
between love and fear.
What if there was
a physiological basis
for this duality?
Neuro-science teaches
that the brain-stem
is the seat of fear and aggression
and that the mid-brain
is the seat of empathy
and cooperation.
In the gospel of Luke
we read that
the Kingdom of God
is within us.
Arguably when we live
from our empathetic mid-brain
we are living
in the kingdom of heaven
and conversely
when we live from our brain-stem:
angry and frightened,
we are dwelling in a hell
of our own making.
This is old hat
and you’ve heard me mention this
before.
So let us take it
a step further.
In the gospel of John
we read that Jesus proclaimed
that he was
the way,
and the truth,
and the life.
And of course
the first chapter of that gospel
equates Jesus with God.
Could it not be reasoned, therefore,
that if God is love
and if God is truth
then if one is estranged from love
then one could also be estranged
from a healthy grasp of reality?
Come, oh Frodo,
let us return to the shire,
er, I mean,
eastern metaphysics.
The fear, and aggression, and greed,
and controlling tendencies
of yang
are hard
and protective.
The empathy and cooperation
of yin
are soft
and vulnerable.
Perhaps when we protectively
harden ourselves to others
we could inadvertently
shield ourselves
from perceiving the truth.
And conversely
when we vulnerably
open ourselves to others
we could also be opening ourselves
to the truth.
Perhaps the price of wisdom
is vulnerability
and the price of self-defense
is an estrangement
from the truth.
When someone is born a psychopath
we are not surprised
when they act without empathy.
Likewise,
should we be shocked
when those defined
by greed, and ruthlessness,
and fear, and aggression
not only lie to themselves and others
as naturally as they breathe
but demand that others
embrace their lies
regardless of the facts?
Jimi Hendrix said:
“When the power of love
overcomes the love of power
the world will know peace.”
Perhaps the power of love
opens us up to greater truths
and as such one takes truth
as one only source of authority;
whereas the love of power
closes us down
to even simple truths;
like climate change,
and the benefit
of wearing face masks;
and one takes authority
as one’s only source of truth:
whether that authority
is one’s quasi-parental figure
such as a real or imagined
celestial being,
or their flesh and blood
self-proclaimed representative,
or a political “strong-man;”
or one fancies himself
a would be autocrat
with delusions of god-hood.
Grasping at either
power or authority
is antithetical
to wisdom.
As we see with fundamentalists
who tragically confuse
the metaphoric
for the literal.
Let us conclude
with a simple
call to action
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