This revelation, at times almost imperceivable, is rarely hinted at in the mainstream news cycles. An hour’s surfing through the major news outlets CNN, Fox News, HLN, and MSNBC will yield little more than a montage of death, degeneracy, degradation and the corruption of the divine human spirit. It is a cultural wasteland where the apex of human achievement is presented to us as a deranged cult of celebrities committing various adulteries and transgressions. We are encouraged to worship the vain and pointless actions of a few chosen individuals who are plastered across our screens 24-7 in HD 1080pi. This pantheon of celebrity is constantly crammed down our collective throats through an array of nauseatingly diverse sources and it is being done deliberately. Whether you are watching gossip shows, news programs, or reading tabloids at the supermarket checkout, it is almost impossible not to get sucked in on some level. The average person on the street is more likely to know the latest happenings of American Idol or Tiger Woods than they will the market price of gold. Is this really why we are here? To consume as much as we can, as fast as we can before we punch out? If you swim in the mainstream, the answer is invariably yes. The fast moving and conformist waters inevitably steer even the most wayward vessel into the straight and narrow path of consumption. It is only once you escape the labyrinthine currents and even for a few moments, leave commotion of mainstream society; that the rumors of awakening can be heard and felt.
Sadly, most of us are too busy doing things to heed the call. “Have to work to pay the mortgage and the car payment. I wouldn’t want my credit score to slip.” We tell ourselves, as we lower our heads and prepare for another day of fear and toil in service to Mordor. The System does everything in its power to keep us in this narrow mind frame. It would quickly collapse without its legions of ignorant but willing slaves. The reality is that we are only here for a very short time, and faster than we would like, the grains of sand slip through the hourglass. Time tarries for no one and invariably we are left old and weary asking the question, “Where did the time go?” Our thoughts chained to our doing; no longer able to stray outside the invisible prison bars we have constructed ourselves. Unable to think of anything but a life spent serving the system, playing with our mechanical toys, selling time for money and consuming everything in sight. This is tragedy.
It doesn’t have to be this way! There still remains a fraction of a second and a glimmer of light can be seen at the end of the tunnel by the keen and discerning eye. As ancient philosopher and sage Lao Tzu said in his timeless book Tao Te Ching, “In all of nature, no storm can last for ever.” We can escape our personal prisons and return to our true nature. Begin by turning off the TV, leave your cell phone on the table along with your preconceptions and take a drive to the nearest mountains or forests. Find a path and walk away from the synthetic existence of the material world and step into the trees. Just a few minutes breathing the fresh air; surrounded by the sights, smells, sounds and feelings of nature will melt away a good bit of your manufactured stress. The fruitless lifestyle of consumerism blown away by a gust of wind, you begin to think of other things. How many storms have these trees seen? How many snows? How many other wanderers have walked beneath these sacred boughs unheeded? Walk the sacred path of the warrior traveler with your mind unencumbered. Do not allow your thoughts to stray back to your earthly cares. Be rather silent and open, unassuming and vigilant, empty yet full of life. No longer a human doing, but a human being, as nature intended.
