This is partly inspired from my last post. It's a continuation of my thoughts, that I'd like to share.
While I was in India, on our last Sunday afternoon we decided to go for a swim at the beach. To our surprise, the beach was loaded with people. What we soon realized, is that it was full of people enjoying their sunday family time. There were vendors on the beach, people flying kites, and spots where people would gather to watch local dance, or musicians. There were tons of people in the water. In the Indian culture, people swim in their clothes, and are more covered. Anyway, we decided walk along the beach and take it all in.
Again, what I noticed, is how everything just seemed to flow. It all seemed harmonious. I was very touched by all of it. It got me thinking about how we live and the evolution of consciousness.
The evolution of consciousness is a simple, yet profound concept, because it requires an understanding that we all have to elevate together. In order to do that, we have to first understand that there can't be a separation between any living thing. Next, we have to understand that elevating consciousness doesn't stop bad things from happening. That's all part of the life cycle, no matter what. However, what it does mean, is that all we need to continue to hold steady through all the twists and turns. The next thing that we need to embrace is that EVERYTHING WE DO MATTERS! EVERYTHING! Every single interaction, and action has an effect. This is a big fundamental disconnect. We live in a society where we have been conditioned to believe that nothing matters, and that we that we don't have to accept consequences for our actions. This "Who Cares" vibe has more or less become a cultural norm.
So now, chew on this...Newton's Third Law of Motion states that for every action in nature there's an equal and opposite reaction. So in other words, if "Thing one" exerts a force on "Thing two," Thing two will exert an equal and opposite force on "Thing one." These forces result from interactions. Newton discovered these laws in 1686. This scientific law has been around for over 300 years. So, my question is, "How can we apply this scientific law to human interactions?" Let's keep going.
We also know that in 1905 Albert Einstein proved that matter and energy are the same thing, which means humans are a compilation of energy and matter. So, if we can safely say that we are a compilation of energy and matter in motion, this would inadvertently mean these laws of physics would apply to us as well, right?
Why do I bring this up? Well, because these scientific theories are directly connected to our evolution. You might be asking, "How?" Well, let's take these scientific theories and apply them to our lives. Think about what happens when you engage in a negative conversation. If you are the aggressor in the conversation, and spew negative, dismissive, angry, hateful words, or actions, does the person on the other end respond with a warm-fuzzy, "I love you?" Maybe, but in most cases, it fuels them up to retaliate in some way, right?
Now, think of a moment, where someone, or something touched you with kindness. What was your immediate reaction? Was it violence? Or was it, more like, "Oh wow, thank you, I'm grateful for this experience." Did it make you want to return the kindness in some way? Did it make you want to reject it or retaliate in a negative way? Either one could happen, but without diverting off onto another topic, probably the most common response is to return the kindness in some way. Can we see, by these examples that our actions, have an affect? Our actions are energy. So, if our actions are energy, and we understand Newton and Einstein's theories, let's think about what kind of energy we want to take in and put out. Why?...because it all matters.
Here's another example. If we dump garbage on a garbage pile, what happens? The garbage pile gets bigger, right? Well, if we take some garbage off the garbage pile, what happens? The garbage pile gets smaller. This theory can be applied to anything and everything in our conscious existence. This is also the fundamental principles of Yoga and Ayurveda. One of the basic rules in Ayurveda is, "Like increases like." For example, if you have stomach acidity, and you continue to consume hot sauce at every single meal, you will continue to increase the acidity. What's needed in this case is something that has a cooling property, like mint leaves.
Let's take a breathing technique as another example. Let's say this person has hypertension, and the teacher is providing a breathing technique. The teacher instructs the person to hold the breath for as long as possible. What do you think the result will be? It's like putting a lid on a pot of boiling water and waiting for it to bubble over. What is needed is a calming and flowing breath that will decrease tension, not increase it. Keep in mind, I'm giving general examples here.
How does all of this apply to the evolution of consciousness? Based on what I just mentioned, we can maybe start to see how everything does matter, and everything has a reaction, right down to the piece of paper we throw on the floor. If you can understand that everything matters, then the next question becomes, "What role do you want to play in this?" Think about this. Think about it in terms of yourself, your health, your immediate environment, and the world. It's all a ripple effect, how we take care of ourselves and our health has a direct effect on our immediate environment, and our immediate environment has a direct effect on the world.
I bring up the world, because another interesting observation is that we often don't realize that our actions, have a global impact. If we are all energy in motion, how can we think that our actions won't have a global impact?
One of the things that lead me deeper into thinking about our evolution was observing all the creatures in India. I'm only using India as an example because it's all exposed there, as opposed to hidden and compartmentalized here. There's street dogs and cats everywhere. The animals flow with the people and the people flow with the animals. A Living thing is a living thing, regardless of the species. After a few days of observing this, I decided to take the food that I wasn't eating and feed the animals. So every day I would find dogs, cats or chickens to feed. Being in the mix of animals that are constantly hunting for food, made me realize how humans are not much different from animals. We are all in search of basic needs for survival. I remember thinking to myself, at least this handful of food will do something. It certainly wasn't enough to sustain them long term, but I chose to keep doing it, regardless of the outcome.
In Kerala, on one of our beach walks we found a newborn litter of 8 puppies and a mama dog who was hunting for food. These puppies were probably a just few weeks old. They had made a home in a very dangerous spot, in between some rocks. They were up high enough where the tide wouldn't sweep them away, if they stayed put. However, when mama would leave to look for food, the pups would make their way down the rocks, trying to follow her. We would put the pups back by the rocks but they wouldn't stay there too long. I found a broken plastic cup that I poured my water into so they could drink a little.
Once we discovered them, we made it our daily task to feed them. I bought 2 containers and filled one with water and one with rice and leftover food. I would fill the containers every day. We brought mama dog some ghee with milk to help nourish her. Every day we would pick these pups up and put them back by the rocks. The tide would come up to the bottom part of the rocks and we knew this was a tricky situation for mama and the pups.
One day we got there and we could only find 4 puppies. We found mama dog on the beach with her breasts filled with milk. We knew what had happened. We fed whoever was there and looked at the ocean and said a prayer, and continued onward. Some might say, "What a wasted effort, all that work to bring them food, for what?" What would you say?
There's a lot to think about here, but it all boils down to what I mentioned in the beginning...ALL beings need to elevate together. The big difference in the consciousness of animals vs. the consciousness of humans is that animals have group consciousness. This is because they function in groups, flocks or packs. Animals need human interaction to help them evolve. Humans evolve through serving other beings. Do you see the connection? Every being, needs another being. Simply put, everything matters. We are not separate from other living things. All beings are energy and matter. So, everytime we hurt another being, we also hurt ourselves, and all beings. When we reject another human, we also reject ourselves. Self rejection keeps us stuck in an endless cycle where we can't evolve. It's an exhausting endless cycle, unless we choose to change it.
Love is the absolutely the only way to break this cycle. It has been scientifically proven.
There's one common thread that every single living thing needs for survival and evolution, and that is love. Love will elevate all beings, all the time.
The next time you say, "Who cares," or "It doesn't matter," stop and reflect on it.
The big question to ask yourself is, "How do I want to live?
This question is a big one, because the negativity that you may be carrying, will have an affect on everything. It may be big or small, but it will have an affect on EVERYTHING!.
~Just think about it ~
