The Little Book
Of
Life
Book One I - Z
Alan Macmillan Orr
Welcome to The Little Book Of Life
This is not a work of philosophy.
This is not a book for intellectuals or learned men.
This a book for every person in the world.
This is not a book for christians, muslims, buddhists or atheists.
This is a book for you,
You and I who are as one – Human
Our words are what separates us from animals. We have the ability to communicate our thoughts and feelings clearly to another human being. Words are vital and so is how we use them. One word can change your life forever.
I love you
I hate you
Think about it
We use words so frivolously without any thought of the true meaning behind them. Together we will go behind the words, and investigate what they mean to us, how we feel when we use them, and how these words ultimately affect life as we know it.
I
An erroneous mental representation
Something many people believe that is false
The act of deluding; deception by creating illusory ideas
An illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers
Some people have said that the world we live in is just an illusion – that it is not real; and that somehow, we are being tricked into thinking it's real! But it looks real enough, it feels real enough, babies really do come from the womb, the trees really grow tall, and it does snow. So what on earth could they be talking about?
Talking of the earth – the photographs and video that the astronauts have taken of our planet prove it’s real enough. A great big blob in the middle of nowhere!
If you look at the sun on a clear day it blinds you, and you do feel its heat, especially when sunbathing! So what do you think? Is it real? If all my five senses tell me this is something physical, something tangible, then it must be. But what does your so called sixth sense (grasping the inner nature of things intuitively) tell you? Think about that for a moment and then we shall begin our discussion.
I have often heard people saying: “Yeah, but we could all just be an experiment by intelligent alien life forms,” said mostly by people smoking marijuana, or drinking beer, both of which seem to loosen our grasp on what's real and what's not! But of course it’s possible. We may think we understand the proportions of the universe, but we might be just a tiny experiment, or a game in somebody's shed. We might actually be much smaller than we think!
During the alien summer barbecue, alien al says to his pals over a bottle of alien beer: “Hey, do you want to come over and see how my human experiment is going? They're so dumb, you should see what they get up to!”
“Wow! That's great, and it all comes in a box?” says one of his friends.
“Sure does, you can get them up at the store. They're not cheap; 699 alien dollars, but definitely worth it! I have hours of fun changing their weather patterns, watching their crops fail, and planting lunatic dictators in countries to see how quick it takes them to kill everybody.” (everyone laughs) “The software it comes with is top notch. You can control everything. You can make people only like the same sex, or you can make people believe in 'god' and get them to pray every day.” (everyone laughs) “It really is funny!” “You can even get them to gain awareness and question the nature of everything. If only they knew.”
“Of course we are not part of any alien experiment! What a stupid idea” says you. “This book gets more idiotic by the page, I wonder if I could get a refund?”
The magicians slight of hand
So I ask you again. Is this world real, or have we been tricked by a clever magician into thinking that the universe started with a big bang, or that there was a god who created us all? Have we been tricked into thinking that we came from the apes millions of years ago, when really, the world has only been in existence for a short time? Do you see the importance of these questions?
We believe that everything is solid here, and it might be. Our houses do protect us from the rain, and our clothes and heating protect us from the cold. What I am talking about is the bigger picture. The one where we attach meaning to this life.
It is perfectly possible that we are no more than a backyard experiment being controlled by “alien al” on his computer. You may laugh, but it’s no laughing matter. Why else do you think science hasn't been able to find the answer to any big questions, like how the universe started? This box we all live in, in the backyard, only started when “alien al” turned it on at the mains, and as it is only a one player game al has purchased, not the multi-player network game, he only gets one “active” world to play with, that's why the rest are “greyed” out and have no life on them! This life we live here could just be like computer simulation games, where we give our characters personalities, likes and dislikes, wants and desires. It may seem far fetched, but if we are to explore our minds, and the universe, we must look at every possibility.
Sci-fi film makers have pushed this point on many occasions, where in some films they saw a world controlled by a computer to make life seem real, but when the computer was smashed the people could see that the world had been destroyed many years previously and they were left in a barren land. Tough break!
There have been many great books and films in which the writer has imagined that this world is but an illusion, and maybe they are right. But for now, we must leave the realm of fantasy, and leave “alien al” in his backyard shed, and come back closer to home, to look at someone we have an intimate relationship with. Ourselves.
Does the eye really “see?”
“Of course my eyes really 'see' what a stupid question.” I hear some of you cry. “I'm not blind, therefore I can see! Jeez this book. Really!”
A friend asked me once: “What do you see with, your eyes or your brain?”
“Your eyes!” I cried out immediately.
“I'll leave it with you,” he joked.
But later I got to thinking about it. Do I see with my eyes?
I was very confused, but the more I thought about it, the more I could see the point to his question. Yes, the eye is the vehicle by which the light from all the objects is filtered through, but that's all it does. It doesn't have its own central processing unit. All “information,” (light) must go to the central processing unit (cpu) for processing.
The brain is where we see “table,” “happy man,” “angry man,” “pizza,” “wife,” “friend,” “house,” “cigarette,” “attractive girl,” “ugly woman.” Do you see? (excuse the pun)
The eye merely passes the information through to the brain, like a security guard that just lets everybody in. Nothing gets missed.
The brain then instantaneously pulls up record sheets and compares the object with its database record. Object round, has bits on top. Check memory. Had before. Check knowledge. This is called a pizza. Then perhaps the brain’s pleasure centres remember they had one pizza before, says to the consciousness: “I really fancy one of those,” but because you heard it in your own voice you think it was your idea!
Let us explore a little more deeply.
Is a chair really a chair? If you walk into your lounge, close your eyes and touch different objects, what happens? Go on try it sometime! As you feel for shape, texture etc. what is going on in your brain? It cannot “see” the object directly because the eyes are closed, but it is running some pretty impressive calculations. And from the size and “feel” of the object, your brain brings up a card that matches and says that is a chair! How does it do it?
Well, without getting into technicalities here, you were told to look at it when you were young, and your mother pointed at it and said “loook! A chair” and that was all you needed to know. Your brain put the shape and the dimensions into memory and labelled it. Thus chair becomes object number 208,394, and everything that is associated with 208,394 will have links to that object. Do you understand?
I do not know the exact way that the information is stored because I have not studied science, but hopefully you can see what is happening here.
Your eyes are there as an evolutionary adaptation (the earliest organisms did not have eyes). They help us to hunt for food, and water, and they help us to navigate. Everything else is done exclusively in the brain. So even if you have been blind from birth, if someone lets you touch an object and get a “feel” for it, and then says “table,” it is no different. The only difference is that you have a precise visual representation of what a table looks like when you look at it. If you have no eyes your mind will put together a best guess of what a table is based on what it knows or what someone tells it. So now you know what table is.
“Will you 'sit' at the table?,” your mother asks.
You have been told and shown what “sitting” is and you now know what “table” is, so you can sit down. But imagine no one had ever used words to describe anything, and now imagine that you cannot see with your eyes. How would you feel, how would you interact with the world around you? Now when someone says “sit at the table” you ask them what it means. To you and I who have gone through the process already this seems almost too simple but it’s not, I assure you.
Imagine you have someone round for dinner who cannot see, and has never been given detailed descriptions of objects before.
“Sit at the table, please,” you ask.
“What is table?” He asks.
“Well a table is something that has four legs.”
“What is four? What are legs?”
“Well, legs support the table and are made out of wood and four is a number,” you reply.
“What is wood. What is number?”
“Wood comes from trees. Number is something you count with.”
“What is trees. What is number?”
“Trees grow in the ground and have leaves and branches. Number is a shape that you can add, subtract, multiply...”
“What is ground? What is leaves? What is branches? What is divide..?”
“The ground is where the tree comes from. It is made of soil. The leaves and the branches come out of the tree as it grows. I'm not sure what divide really is but I think it is where you take a number and try to... no, that's not right...erm...”
“What is soil?”
“Soil is the earth.”
“What is the earth?”
“It is where you live! Now hurry up and eat your dinner before it gets cold...”
“What is cold?”
You can see how infuriating it would be!
Now imagine you have another guest round for dinner who is not visually impaired but has never been told what anything is either.
“Sit at the table, please” you ask.
What is “table” he asks.
“The table is what I want you to sit at, look, it’s over there.”
And he sees it, and registers it as table. But he still needs to know more information. “I see that it is table,” he adds, “and you have said I should 'sit' there, but I do not know what 'sit' is.”
“Look, watch me. You take a chair.”
“What is chair?”
”...And you sit down like this” ignoring him and demonstrating it instead of explaining it.
So as you can see from our wordy example above, although the child who has vision understands the connection between what he is seeing and what he is being told, and stores the appropriate pattern maybe a little faster than the boy who can't see; the process is exactly the same. The brain is the one who “sees” things, the eyes merely filter in the light. Not that we should take our eyes for granted, they have helped us enormously.
But what harm have they done?
It is the eyes that see the black man in the “white area,” it is the eyes that see the jewish man amongst many non-jews, it is the eyes that see the “muslim” man in a “christian” country. We could go on for a whole book with examples, but I think we both understand?
We have said that in “reality,” it is the brain which is seeing, although the light is captured first by the eyes. A man who has in his mind that he wants to rape a woman, would still want to rape a woman if he was blind, being able to see just makes his identification of his target quicker. Do you follow?
If I do not know what a table is and then you show it to me, it is much quicker than having to explain everything. It is kind of like having a photograph to show someone of the time you went on a camel ride. You could explain it without the photograph, but the visual example has a faster impact on the brain. That's all.
So what is the point of all this talking about the eye not really being the thing that sees, “what difference does it make?” I hear you asking.
Well, if it’s true, it means that the one thing we trust the most, our eyes, are not as reliable as we once thought they were.
Perception
The representation of what is perceived; basic component in the formation of a concept
Becoming aware of something via the senses
If I see an immigrant walking down the street at night with his hood up, what am I seeing? Am I seeing the shape of a body and nothing more? No. I may see his outline with my eyes, but already my brain has processed him based on the way he walks, his colour, my education, my parent’s prejudices, my fear, my beliefs, my memory, his clothing, media reports or government reports.
In a flash, the message appears in my consciousness: “He is probably dangerous and could attack me, so I'll walk the other way.”
So did I really “see” the man as he was? No I didn't. The information carried in the light through my eye was nothing compared with the amount of information I had to weigh him up with. In a millisecond, I had not seen a man walking, I had perceived him to be a dangerous person, even though he showed no outward signs of it!
One of my favourite examples of perception at work is that of the car crash, and I am sorry if I have used it in another topic.
On a dangerous bend in the road, a car accidentally crosses the centre line and hits another car almost head on. Fortunately, neither drivers were injured seriously, but the police were called anyway as a precaution. As the police were trying to determine what happened, two potential witnesses came up and offered their version of events. The first one to speak was a young man.
“Yeah, I saw, it, some old bloke was coming round the corner not looking where he was going, and must have let his car drift over the road and hit the other car.”
“That's not what happened at all!” said the old lady. “The young driver was coming round the corner way too fast, lost control of his vehicle and crashed into that other man, who was doing nothing wrong!”
“Are you sure you two both saw this accident?” asked the police constable.
“Absolutely!” said both of them, “we were standing right on the same spot.”
So, as you can see, two people can be looking at exactly the same thing from the same angle and both “see” it differently. They would both swear in court that that was exactly what they saw and no amount of questioning would convince them otherwise. How many times do we hear:
“Are you sure that's what you saw madam?” from barristers in court.
“I am absolutely positive!”
Then some new information appears that meant the woman could not have seen the defendant on that day, and she says: “... But... I could have sworn it was him... I know what I saw...” and she would be lead down from the witness box utterly perplexed as to what had happened.
Have my eyes deceived me?
It’s terrible when you can't trust your own eyes, isn't it? “Maybe you need glasses madam?” the barrister might joke, but it is nothing to do with having blurred vision. It is seeing something that isn't there in 20/20 vision, courtesy of our old friend, the mind – master of illusions.
So if it is possible that we perceive things that didn't happen or weren't there, couldn't it be entirely possible that there were things in the world we weren't perceiving? Could it be possible that there is something that is invisible to us?
You see, we mustn't put so much emphasis on old phrases like “seeing is believing,” because it just doesn't ring true. Remember, even the physical lenses by which we “see” the world aren't that good compared with say an eagle who can spot his prey on the ground from high in the sky; or the owl that sees the mouse scrabbling about in the forest floor in the dark. So perhaps we should retire our eyes for a moment, and in the darkness, imagine a world we cannot see with our eyes. A world that is very different to the one you and I live in right now. What would it look like? How would you look? Would you be the same as you are now?
If we are to understand anything about ourselves, we have to open our minds to new possibilities. When we talk about “real,” we are always testing something with our eyes and our touch. “Yes, it is real,” you say, “because I saw it with my own eyes, and I touched it.” But what is really real? Is the thought in your head real? Do you understand?
So perhaps we should drop the word “real” and “reality” from our vocabulary. Everything is real and unreal. It just depends on how you look at it! Ok, so you may be able to touch a “solid” object like your wife, but how long does she stay solid for? Until you look away?
I know this is rather confusing but bear with me. What we are saying is that although I can “see” her with my eyes and brain, and touch her with my hands making her “real,” does that mean she is always existing in that state, or does she dissolve into a different form when you take your focus off her?
“Don't be ridiculous!” I hear you cry. “What sort of a stupid discussion is this? If I can see and touch her one minute she's not going to disappear the next!”
But what we are saying is that when you look away, she has disappeared. Because you can no longer see her! We must not let our eyes trick us.
As we have shown on several occasions during this discussion, our eyes cannot be trusted. And if our eyes cannot be trusted, then we also have to question how much we can trust our own brain, which has been conditioned by parents, teachers, tradition, media etc. into judging what is real.
I think we have to admit to ourselves that we have no idea what “real” is, what absolute reality is, so we should stop professing to know! One thing's for sure. It’s not what we think it is.
Illusion 1 – Human race 0
How many times have we been fooled by a master illusionist, or even an amateur one?
“Yes, I am positive. The ball is in the right hand,” you say. “Yes, I know which card is mine, I saw him put it back into the pack,” and then find that the ball is in the left hand and it wasn't the card you thought it was! How do they do it? They trick you. They divert your attention away for a second and they switch balls or cards.
Some illusionists are ingenious indeed, and to this day, no one knows how they did their tricks; because they were tricks, right? They couldn't actually be “real” could they? That would mean that the man had to be a sorcerer or a wizard (possessing or using or characteristic of or appropriate to supernatural powers) of some kind, and they “definitely” don't exist, do they?
I don't know, you tell me!
We have all read about wizards and witches (a being (usually female) imagined to have special powers derived from the devil), and seen films with them in; and we are always fascinated by the special effects, that have them controlling matter with just their fingertips, or their minds. But then it’s just a film, no one has these powers in real life, do they?
For many thousands of years, ancient civilisations have believed in magic, with one or more members of the society believed to be able to heal through the power of touch. Some tribes still have witch doctors who have “supernatural” healing powers.
Books of spells (a psychological state induced by (or as if induced by) a magical incantation) abound. Come on, you may not believe in all of it, but you are definitely fascinated, like most people. It would be really “cool” to have these kind of powers, wouldn't it? To be able to get someone to fall in love with you, by just putting a spell on them, or conjuring up a spirit, or being able to have all the riches in the world, or to fly without a plane to support you, or turn water into wine, or be able to walk on water...
Some would say that by merely discussing this we should change illusion into delusion! But explore we must.
The problem lies in our thinking, and what we believe.
For example, we “know” that some people create illusions to make us believe they have done something with magical powers, but in the back of our minds, we “know” it wasn't “real,” it was just a stage trick, like special effects are in films. So it makes it hard (or easy) to believe in real “magic.”
Some of us say: “He couldn't have done that, it’s not possible, it must be a trick,” but imagine going back in time a thousand years with a 747 and showing it off proudly flying around the sky! Can you imagine what the people would think of you? They would say you were a great wizard able to command metal to rise into the sky. They may be impressed, and hail you as a god, or they may burn you at the stake. Who knows what people believe..
So let me ask you this question: If I see that someone can move matter, with what only looks to be the power of their mind, what do I do? Do I instantly disbelieve it, or, on seeing that there are “independent” witnesses who have sworn that no trickery is being used, believe it and think to yourself, “that's amazing, I wonder how he does it?”
The problem lies with our eyes and our brain again. The eyes see something which looks “real” but the brain says: “No, this must be a trick,” or depending on your viewpoint, says: “Ok, this guy must have supernatural powers.” But what is supernatural (not existing in nature or subject to explanation according to natural laws; not physical or material)? Supernatural is just something we can't explain. Yet.
Imagine again that you travelled in time and showed the ancient civilisations the power you held in your hands as you detonated bombs, or managed to kill a man without touching him (with a bullet), or you showed them a nuclear bomb being detonated in this distance. What supernatural power would they think you had? It's like everything we don't understand. We either worship it or kill it!
So should we believe that people have healing powers, that they can cure the blind, make cripples walk again and turn water into wine? Sure, why not? Whether they really do have “healing powers,” what do we know anyway? We can't even trust our own eyes to tell us the “truth!”
Maybe some people do have access to knowledge we don't. Maybe they have a complete understanding of the universe and how to control it. Maybe they are from a future time (having discovered that time travel was possible) and maybe there is such a thing as a god, but then surely that would be the same thing as having a complete understanding of the universe and how to control it, no? And maybe they are just deceiving us like a master illusionist does; but how will we ever know the truth of it if we can't trust our eyes, and we definitely can't trust our brains?
Truth is something you experience, so you had better go out and experience it, although even a trick can seem real; so maybe we will never know whether it is possible to gain these magical powers. Maybe we will delude ourselves into believing that there are such things as supernatural beings who have ultimate control over the universe, or maybe we will start to explore all possibilities with our access key to the universe, our open minds, and truly find out for ourselves.
So what if there is no “alien al” sitting in his backyard, playing the latest version of “human universe 2,” and there are no such thing as supernatural beings, wizards, sorcerers, magical healers, and matter movers; what are we to do? What if we are all alone in this dark universe? What if this tiny planet, a speck of dust in the universe is all that contains life as we know it? What if there is no afterlife, no heaven and hell, what if this world is solid and there are no illusions, except the ones we go to see performed on stage? What would we do? How would we feel knowing that this was it?
Well I tell you one thing, I'd make every moment count! And I would make sure I enjoyed my time here and made sure that everyone around me enjoyed it too. But until I know the truth of it all, I will never stop exploring. Neither should you.
Of great significance or value
Important in effect or meaning
What is important to you?
I'll rephrase the question What is the most important thing in your life right now? I am going to take a guess that you are not going to say your sports car, going out for a meal at the weekend, going down to the pub to relax after work, your career, your lovely house, or going on holiday this year. I am going to take a huge gamble and come out and say it. I think the most important thing to you in life is (a) your family (parents/children/partner), their health and their happiness and (b) your own health and happiness. Am I right, or even close to being right?
You see, I think that whether you're a gangster, a corrupt politician, a plumber, a nuclear scientist, a cleaner, a hit man, a clerk, a stripper, a director or a soldier, those are just jobs. Some are more questionable than others, but nonetheless, they are just your chosen professions. Even if you extort money for a living with menace, you still have a mother, or a wife and children to think about. You make money to provide the best you can for your family.
Even gangsters are in love. Think about it. Even people who kill other human beings are capable of love for their family. It's inbuilt. Hard wired. As far as I know, even presidents who start wars that kill millions of innocent people, love their wives and their parents. So for me it really comforting to know, that no matter what people do in life, whether violent, or peaceful, there will always be an emotional connection to our parents, and we will seek someone to love, and share that love by having children with them. Perfect!
What we are in fact showing here, is that even if people are beset by anger and hate, they still have the ability to show love for another human being. This is the single greatest step towards a more peaceful world. Just loving one person may not solve all the world's problems, but it's a good start.
My parents are the most important thing to me, not because my partner or anyone else isn't important, but because my parents have always been there for me when I needed them; and as they will (probably) die before me, I want to get to know them better. I want to understand more about their lives. I only seem to know them as “my parents:” two people who brought me into the world and looked after me – not as individuals with hopes and dreams; successes and failures; sadness and joy. So can someone please try to help me understand the following. If love is the most important thing to all of us, why do we act in ways that are the complete opposite of love?
Love
A strong positive emotion of regard and affection
We say we love, but how quickly we forget what that means when we hurt another. So how can we know love when we only apply it to one specific group of people (e.g. our family).
How the soldier cries, when his brother is cut down by a bullet. He loved his brother so much. He will avenge his death. He will find the person who did this and make him suffer for what he did.
Love and hate may be the opposite of one another, but they are closely linked. You have hurt the one I love so I will hurt you. The example of the gangster, who loves his family but is prepared to kill anyone and everyone who gets in his way is a great way to show the hypocrisy (insincerity by virtue of pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not really have) of the human race. I do not believe we really know what it is to love. We may like people, or feel bound to them because of a genetic or matrimonial link, but to love is so, so different. If you love you cannot hate, and if you hate, you cannot love. Please try to understand what we are discussing here, it is of the utmost importance.
The mind, like a camera lens, cannot focus on more than one thing at a time. When you bring one thing into focus, the other goes out of focus. You cannot love and hate at the same time. Even as a soldier, if you say “I don't hate the enemy I am killing, I'm just doing my job, I'm just following orders,” please see that in the very act of killing, there is an absence of love and compassion for another human being. In the same manner, you cannot say you love animals, whilst enjoying a nice juicy steak.
So let’s not pretend we are full of love as the priest who blesses the troops going into battle does. Anyone who takes another life or sanctions the taking of life does not know love.
It's time to stop pretending and find out what it really means to love, that is the important thing in life.
Of great significance or value
Important in effect or meaning
When questioned about what is important, it is fair to say that most people do not want to appear selfish. That's why we say: “The most important thing to me, is family;” but in reality, that isn't the case. I think we should stand up and be honest with each other, and say, “Do you want to know what's important to me? It's me. I am what's important to me.” Is it true?
All my life, I have only been concerned about me. My job, my car, my problems, my desires, my money, my holidays, my stress, my relationships, my struggles. The world revolved around me. But a few years ago whilst travelling through a poor country in asia, I suddenly thought, “Stop! What am I doing? Am I so concerned for the “me” in life that I am forgetting everyone else in the world?”
Of course, some will say: “You have to look after number one. If you don't, who will?” And I'm all for people looking after themselves, and working to provide for their family; but what I'm talking about is the realisation that whatever I do in life, affects others. This isn't about suddenly becoming philanthropic (generous in assistance to the poor) or running off to india or africa to help people who cannot fend for themselves. It is the clear realisation that we are all connected.
Connected
Being joined in close association
Joined or linked together
How is it that we are all connected when we are geographically and culturally so diverse? Well, the first thing that connects us is that we are all human! Oh, sorry and let’s not forget the animals who provide us with milk, or the animals who unwillingly give up their lives so we can taste their flesh, or the streams that flow into rivers to give us water, or the trees that provide oxygen for breathing that we cut down for paper. I think you get the idea!
Not only are we connected to each other by way of being of the same species, but we are all connected to the planet and all forms of life are connected to us. We are all interdependent. Whatever we do can affect the planet and whatever the planet does can affect us (for example: tsunamis, volcanoes exploding, earthquakes, floods, crop disease, animal disease).
If I were a human, I'd be treading very carefully on this planet; it seems as if we could unbalance it very easily. Oh, I forgot, I am a human; and am I treading carefully? No I'm not.
Some of us on earth feel strongly about certain issues such as hunger, war, poverty, health, the environment, or global warming (which are all worthwhile causes I grant you), and we campaign tirelessly to “Stop The War!” “No More Hunger!” “Stamp Out Poverty!” But are we missing a vital clue in how to solve them?
There are a million campaign groups out there, each with their own agenda, each lobbying parliament; although some are successful, the fact remains that individuals have the most important part to play in the world. An individual thinking and acting independently, whilst acknowledging that they are connected to everything in the world, can solve any problem.
Think about it. Most people believe that the only way to effect change is through outside pressure, through convincing someone else to act, but the importance lies with us. Our individual thought, followed by our resulting actions, all affect someone or something in the world. Everything we do; from the time we get up, until the time we go to bed, is having an effect – positive or negative. And because we think mainly about ourselves and our families in isolation, we don't even realise we have had an effect! We are so unaware of ourselves in our surroundings that we can't comprehend the idea.
So just for a moment let’s step outside the me to look at real life. One day in the life of alan, an average employed working human being in the west. You may not see anything in this day as significant, but try to look deeper and see the connections.
“I get up in the morning and I take a nice long hot shower to wake up. I have a quick coffee, it's from the finest beans in costa rica, but it's quite cheap at the supermarket. I like to have a dash of warm milk, and I'm sorry to say, a couple of sugars. I always get up a bit too late in the morning to have anything to eat for breakfast, so I usually grab something on the way from the takeaway cafe to eat in the car. The journey takes me over an hour in the morning thanks to all the traffic, but my car's much more comfortable than public transport.
I usually arrive at my office a bit stressed, but after another couple of coffees and a cigarette, I feel better! I work for a multinational organisation with offices in twenty countries. We make everything from security products to aviation products, and even have a food division. Sometimes sitting at a desk all day can be really boring and the hours are long, but the pay is pretty good, and the life I have been able to make for my wife and my four children has been great. We have a nice house in the city with all modern appliances, although there isn't really much of a garden to speak of.
My wife has to work as well, as the mortgage is so expensive on the house, so we have to scrape enough pennies together to pay for child care so that there is someone to look after the kids when they get home from school. Hopefully they will all go to university and get good jobs with better pay than I get, then they can look after us in our old age! At the weekends we go out on family trips in the car, and we always go to church on a sunday...”
So what was significant in that little story? Anything? Nothing? Did you see anything of yourself in this example, or did it all go over your head? That's ok, it is hard to see that anything you do is having an effect, whether negative, or positive in the world; but it is precisely that lack of awareness that is causing us so much trouble.
I am sure none of us really set out to make trouble for ourselves and other people, and most of you would be really offended if I told you that most of what our example character above was doing was having a negative effect on himself, his family, the community and the wider world in some way or other; but you have to start to look beneath the words. I don't want to spell it out to you here, but please look back over the short story as many times as you have to.
It was in understanding something similar that set me off on my own journey, which has enabled me to write this book. Something along the lines of, “Hey, if people eat fast food, they drop lots of litter, where does that litter go, and anyway, why do they need fast food...?” Ahh, because they work in jobs that take them miles from home, and who are the companies they work for miles from home? Certainly not companies that are serving the local community, and why do the job anyway? Ah ha! To get money to pay for a house and pay off the credit cards you have been running up buying stuff. And so why do you buy stuff? Well, to keep up your status in the community, to keep yourself happy, and why do you need to keep yourself happy? Because you are afraid, so what do you do? You go to church and pray that everything will be ok, and a man reads from a book that tells you everything you need to know etc. etc. and this book was born. So you see how important it is to see the connections.
You don't have to force yourself to look. Just start to be aware of one thing, and see how it spreads to other things. For example, whilst watching the news, there may be a short piece on a war that soldiers from your country are taking part in, just ask yourself a question like: “Why are they there?” And wait for a response! Your mind will start opening up, I assure you, but as soon as you start agreeing with the tv, your mind will be closed once again.
To make the connections, you have to ask questions; and you must watch your mind carefully so it doesn't reply with a conditioned response (because it will, as you are already conditioned by the society you live in). When it does, ask another question. Challenge the conditioning. Ask another question and another. Pretty soon your mind will have to open its doors to one who knocks so loudly.
Question, question, question.
Why? Because all is not as it seems in the world. It is of the utmost importance you make these connections. Do not wait or hesitate. Find out for yourselves. Right now.
Having authority or ascendancy or influence
Just what is it to be important? I am the managing director of a company or the president of the country. I may have a job which affects a good many people, but that's just a job; what I want to discuss is the psychological feeling that goes along with that job. We have worked our way through the ranks (or not) and we are at the top. The apex of our lives, and we like to let everyone know we are there, that we have made it! But is it real?
I would suggest that this importance is only in our minds. We have the respect (an attitude of admiration or esteem) of others, not just for what we have done, but because we are in a position of authority (the power or right to give orders or make decisions), and we know that this gives us superiority over others. Although this superiority is superficial, in the sense that we are only comparing our relative position in society, this still appeals to our egos. Why do we feel differently about ourselves when we are in this position? We walk taller, we feel stronger, we acknowledge subordinates in a kind of knowing manner; we feel more godlike, in the sense that like the image of god who is above us all, the man in the position of power feels he is above others.
If we think about this rationally, when we all strip off our clothes, the judges, politicians, directors, and army generals are all the same as everyone else – just a collection of bones, muscle, and tendons; although that is not how we like to see ourselves! Why? Let’s approach it from a different angle shall we?
In most species, there is the leader of the group, the dominant male, and this can be seen in every documentary about the natural world. In the animal kingdom, a male will challenge another male for superiority, territory, and the right to breed with all the females. In the human species, there is always a male challenging another male for superiority. It can be seen throughout history where one man has proclaimed himself “king” and beaten all of his opponents into submission (usually through extreme violence).
In countries where there is a king, he is still the most important person in the land, even when he is just a figurehead and the real power lies with the government. In some countries, he is even revered, but he got to that position by taking out all of his enemies, one by one.
In this modern age, the king is no longer fighting for his position physically, and the title of “king” is handed down through members of his immediate family. He parades around in the finest clothes and lives in the largest houses in the land. His position is on top. He is above everyone else. There is no one but “god” above him (or so he thinks). As can be clearly seen during revolutions, when the people have had enough, the king is the first one to go!
So why do human beings want to be the king? Well, first and foremost, we are still apes, and groups of animals need a leader – especially in the ape world. The only difference is the size of the group. So instead of ruling ten or twenty subordinates, we rule fifty million. The process is the same, it is just that through the creation of a super group (the country), the leader has ended up leading millions of people.
All hail, the supreme ape leader!
So maybe all this need for authority and supremacy is just natural, and it is as much a part of us as the need to procreate, so perhaps we shouldn't worry. All we are doing is expressing a natural urge, and as our minds have not developed much in the last several thousand years, perhaps it will take another million years of evolution for us to no longer need to have authority and control over others. But why should we wait?
We may want to feel important, but it's not really helping us build a peaceful, intelligent, sustainable world, is it? In fact this need for importance is damaging us and the rest of the natural world every day.
We don't have to be a king, we don't have to have authority over others. We do not need this. The world is abundant, there is plenty to go around. We do not need to fight for the right to mate with females, all we have to do is buy them a drink and talk to them! We do not need to build castles and have servants – a simple house is all we require. We do not need to dominate and exercise authority over people who work for us. We just need to reorganise the way we work. Do you see?
Once we transcend the need for status, and we recognise we are all one on the planet, why would you want to be more important than your brother? It's as if there is a tiny switch in your brain that says “On. Must have more importance than others;” but turning off that switch is as easy as asking yourself the question, “why?” And allow your thinking to come up with a million reasons why it is not only good, but indeed essential for you to have more importance than others. As with the previous important topic, the only thing you have to do is keep asking yourself why? Why? Why? And eventually your mind will open, and you will realise in a flash that actually all this feeling important stuff is all nonsense.
**
When you die, how important are you? “Ah,” says you, “but it is better to be remembered by others who will say: 'yes he was an important man,' than not remembered at all,” but that is a mere projection of the brain wanting to keep itself alive at whatever cost. Soon you will be forgotten, and even if you aren't what does it matter! You are dead. You cannot hear the people talking about you, but you would like to, wouldn't you?
“Hello, look at me, I've made it. Look at my riches, look at my wife, I am a leader, I am powerful, I am someone, I am powerful.”
But underneath all of those riches and bolt-on accessories you call having made it, what is left? You, my friend, just you; naked, with skin covering muscle and bone.
Who are you now? Are you still important? Are you still great? Are you the king now? No, you are the same as every other human on the planet – except now you are free. Do you understand? Maybe one day, when you get a minute in your busy schedule, just undress in front of the mirror and stand and observe yourself for a moment. Who are you now? Are you still the man with the sports car, the fine clothes, the credit cards, the business empire, the adulation of others, the authority or the power? No, my friend, you are just like me, and I am just like you.
Our minds want us to think we are something different to give them something to cling on to, but we are all the same. It is time to realise that, and give up our designs on being important, after all, it means nothing.
A collection of facts from which conclusions may be drawn
Knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction
Where do you get your information from? What type of information is it? Who tells you what's going on in the world? How do you know what they are telling you is “the truth?” Like most people, including me, you get information from newspapers, radio, magazines, television, and the internet.
Apart from the internet, the other forms of media have been around for years and have been known to use propaganda (information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause) many times; in fact I would say you never know when the information you are reading or watching is factual or propaganda! That's a scary thought, isn't it?
It might sound like I am scaremongering but that is not my intention. You see, every media outlet is owned by a government, a company or an individual; and at the heart of everything, there is the individual, with his own bias, his own political leanings, his own agenda, ready to push that out into the world. That's not new, as everyone has their own views; unfortunately media owners and governments have a powerful platform with which to air theirs.
Newspapers, magazines, radio, and television are push media. They push the information to us and we have no control over its content, as opposed to the internet, where we pull the content we are interested in. Do you follow?
Whether we like it or not, and even if the media content providers are not attempting to brainwash (persuade completely, often through coercion) us, we are subjected to what they think we should read or should watch. Of course you are at liberty to turn it off or not buy the paper, but that's not going to happen, is it? We love reading all the news stories, we love watching terror on television, it's exciting isn't it? You get to be part of the action without having to take part in the war.
I don't know if you remember the first gulf war in the early nineties? It was the first real war to be broadcast live across the world. A real media event! We were taken inside the action: Booom, Bang went the bombs. We saw an Iraqi target in the cross-hairs of the gun sight then, boom it went up in smoke. “Yeah!” Went the crowd, ”another damned iraqi blown to bits, we'll show them.” Analysis followed analysis. Reporters giving different angles and views on the stories, 24/7.
But of course, these were our news stories, put together to show the glory of the western troops against the oppressor and dictator of Iraq, and you didn't see reverse angle camera work of the iraqis in their homes just before their bodies were blown to pieces by the bombs, egged on by the viewing public at home, and in the bars shouting: “Yeah! We got ya!”
The next live main event came at the beginning of the twenty first century. Commonly known as 9/11, it was the footage that “shocked the world,” and started a whole new war (with live viewing available).
You all remember the images of two planes supposedly hijacked by terrorists and flown into the twin towers of the world trade centre. About 3,000 people died, but as far as the media were concerned, it was a godsend. Live disaster! Millions of viewers! Massive advertising revenue potentiality in the breaks! What a story that was. Even years on, people are still talking about it. Certain governments are still using it to support their “war on terror,” which is just another excuse to kill people, if you don't mind me saying.
Who knows what the truth really was on that fine september morning in 2001, but there has been growing evidence in the alternative media that all was not as it seemed that day; that perhaps the government had a hand in it themselves in order for them to pursue a cause in the middle east. They do say that truth is stranger than fiction; but then again what agenda is the independent media provider trying to push? He is clearly anti-government, so what's to make us believe that what he is telling us is the truth?
Can we ever be sure that what is being told to us on tv, radio, magazines or newspapers is the truth? The clear answer is of course, no, but this doesn't mean we should all become paranoid we are being lied to, manipulated and controlled, after all, you can turn off the tv and not read the newspapers.
To understand this more clearly, we must look behind the motivation of those who disseminate information, and remember who these people are. First, they are people with their own opinions, second, they are in business to make money, and third, they are easily manipulated by government.
Remember bad news sells more newspapers
Have you ever thought about the content that is pushed to us? There's not much good news is there? Maybe a little light hearted story about a fluffy kitten that was rescued from a tree after thirteen days, read by a smiling newscaster, just to make us feel or nice and warm and fuzzy inside. But you can't imagine them putting on an hour's programme about good news, can you? People would turn off in a second; and they certainly wouldn't buy the newspaper. Would you?
We want doom and destruction, violence and murder, but we also want to see that someone is doing something about it; and of course there is. The government.
If there is a story about a “possible terrorists attacks” in london, there will also be police and government spokesmen telling how the government is introducing a new bill to detain “potential terrorists” for extended periods of time. If there's a story about someone dying in a drink driving accident, there will be a policeman to tell how they are “clamping down” on drink drivers to “stop the carnage on the roads.” If there is a story about a young boy being stabbed to death by a gang, there will be government officials and police detailing on how they are “clamping down” on knives and gangs. If there is a story about heroin dealers selling to children, there will be a spokesman saying they are introducing a new bill to lock up heroin dealers for longer periods if they are convicted.
Fear followed by reassurance
That is what news media do. They make us afraid by showing us some terrible event, then make us feel better by showing what someone is doing about it. I am surprised that no one has picked up on this. This is formulaic news-casting. If you think about it closely enough you will see for yourself..
Images and news stories are used to get us to feel a specific way and that is where the control element comes in. Can you imagine how you would feel if after every story there was no one to tell you it was going to be all right? They know what they are doing in the media. These stories are designed to keep you hooked; to make you scared when the bad guys are around, but eventually the good guys win (ring any bells?). Sounds just like a hollywood movie! And that's exactly how push media should be treated – as entertainment; nothing more.
Please think about this for a moment will you? How deeply interested are you in the topics you read about; I mean really interested in? Enough to investigate more, or just enough to discuss it with your friends, family, colleagues, or your mates down the pub? Everyone likes to talk about the stories they read or see on the news, it makes the day to day conversation more interesting, where suddenly, we can talk about terrorism in a real way, discussing the ins and outs of the potential threats to our lives: But only until the next big news story arrives.
I have even found myself becoming an armchair commentator on such subjects; subjects I have no real knowledge of, and come to think of it, no deep interest in. After all, if we actually thought we could be under attack at any time, we wouldn't just be sitting around talking about it would we? Or would we?
You see, news is something that happens to someone else; we never really imagine that we will be involved in a terrorist attack or abducted by a serial killer, do we? How many of you have been involved in something which was on the news, or even known anyone who was on a news story? Not many probably. News for us is like a fantasy land where the players are actors, and we are just the audience; and that's the way we would like it to stay, thank you very much.