I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet . — Mahatma Gandhi
A week or two ago, as I awoke, I heard the “Music of the Spheres.” The sound of the trash trucks and the traffic passing by and the curtain by my bed gently tossing in the breeze, were all one symphony, one movement, one harmony. (I confess, I had been reading some pretty high-end stuff before going to bed the night before.)
And then, hearing the music of the spheres, I felt the “dance of the cosmos.” How everything was connected with everything, and all moved in perfect harmony. For a few minutes—or more likely moments—as I lay in bed, I could consciously bring back this experience: the Music of the Spheres, where everything I heard, from dishes being done to dog scratching his ear, were part of the same magical moment. And the dance of the cosmos—how every movement, from the twitching of my little toe to the earth turning on its axis—were part of a singular movement.
I confess, such a high-level, high-consciousness morning waking is not usual for me. In fact, for the past year or more, I’ve been waking with a certain dread, a deep frustration, unending irritation, unrelieved angst. All due, I see now, to a misplaced faith.
Thus, I’ve now come to realize that it is a personal necessity for me to peaceably overthrow the powers of the U.S. Government. And more precisely undo how these powers are operating in my interior environment.
My own angst, frustration and disbelief at what is happening in Washington tells me I’ve been giving way too much power to the U.S. Government—placing too much faith, hope, too much authority in that government. I sense that my angst is directly due to the fact that my faith has been misplaced, my hope misdirected.
I see that I had assumed that the U.S. Government was a set of institutions we could turn to for justice and equality and protection against foreign tyranny. That’s what we have been taught from childhood.
But my angst with what is happening in Washington D.C., the high-level waking experience helped me see, is in direct proportion to my failure to understand and believe the promises of Jesus, and the insights of Buddha, and the wisdom of Gandhi. So now I accept what is happening in D.C. as a perfect opportunity, and challenge, to deepen my understanding of the real government here in charge of our daily lives.
That real government is not the U.S. government.
Congress does not decide when it should be summer or fall or winter or spring. The President can not offer an executive order about the temperature of the sun. The congress has absolutely no sway in the sway of the galaxies. Sometimes, it’s necessary to overthrow one government—at least in one’s own thinking — to glimpse the true governance here in place.
In that regard, I assume that Jesus—a radically peaceable revolutionary in his own right — knew what He was talking about when He had us pray, “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done,on earth as it is in heaven, ” and later in the same prayer, “Thine is the kingdom, Thine is the Power. ” I assume that Jesus had the inside scoop on the true nature of government.
When Jesus, the most powerful pray-er to ever walk the earth, prayed, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” I have to assume that His prayer was quickly answered! So I have to assume the kingdom IS here—as He himself pointed out. (Luke 17:20-21, “the kingdom of God is within you.”)
The Zen Scholar and Master D.T. Suzuki, when asked about the correlation between the teachings of Zen and that of the Christian visionary Emanuel Swedenborg—whom Suzuki had translated—gave a very simple, Zen-like answer. In explaining Swedenborg’s teachings, Suzuki picked up a spoon and told his inquirer, “Right now, this spoon in paradise.”
Right now, the kingdom has come, the will has been done. I know it’s true. I’ve even experienced it.
Further, Buddha said, ‘The gift of truth excels all other gifts.’ So if a leaders does not have the “gift of truth,” what other gifts can he possibly offer that are worth more than this? So Buddha would guide us away from any leader who does not have the “gift of truth.”
Having opened this essay with a quote from Gandhi, makes sense to close it with words from the same wise soul, to remind each other where the real power is:
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
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Would love to hear some feedback on this:
Thanks.
