The other Side

In my last blog I expressed my deep concern at the racist extremism and deep division rife in today’s society.

 This is only one of the many ways in which greed, hatred and ignorance plague modern life.

Let’s be honest, it’s not looking great for humanity.

One may be forgiven for believing that at some point in the not-too-distant future, nature is going to say “Nah – enough – this human experiment clearly isn’t working, time to do away with them and start again.”

Whilst such a view may well have its merits, the fact is that human behaviour does not simply consist of greed hatred and ignorance.

 A few weeks after writing that blog, it was the annual Run for Life marathon in Leeds.

Knowing this event was taking place I planned my walk with Rita so that we would be walking through the final stretch of the run.

There were it seemed thousands of runners, supported by many thousands more, cheering and whooping and encouraging the runners as they headed for the finish line.

For some you could see that it was taking every last ounce of energy just to keep going.

The mood was buoyant, the energy electric.

It was a joy and a privilege to bear witness to this event.

Every runner was raising money for a plethora of worthwhile charitable causes.

Some of them were clearly literally putting themselves through hell in order to help those in need.

I was both moved and uplifted to see selfless service in action on the streets of my home town.

And it struck me – yes there is the dark side to the hijacking of our instincts by misguided ego – but the human story consists of much much more than this.

This was one event in one town on one day.

Every day all over the world, such acts of selflessness are commonplace, so much so that they get overlooked.

The fact that politics and media focus on what gives rise to fear in the hope of securing votes or selling advertising does not alter the fact that there are many fine human qualities which are carried out every second of every minute of every hour of every day.

True Nature

True Nature is present as much in you as it is in every flower, tree, river mountain or ocean

In spiritual circles there is much talk discovering our “true nature” –  our essence beyond mind body and emotions.

The goal, if you will, is the realisation that we are spirit or awareness or consciousness manifest in this form at this moment.

This is our True Nature.

This is often interpreted as a transcendental view open only to yogis sat in secluded caves in the Himalayas or special people who have been fortunate enough to see the light and traded their egoic identity for something more fulfilling.

I do not share this view.

For me our True Nature is already and always an integral part of who we are and you don’t have to sit in a cave in the Himalayas in order to appreciate and experience this.

If greed hatred and ignorance are the tragic ways in which ego is trying to keep us safe (and let’s not forget for all the bad press ego gets, its function and indeed the reason for its existence is simply to try and ensure our survival), then these are no match for all of our finer qualities which have their source in Spirit – in Love.

True nature is present in every kind, compassionate, courageous, considerate, thoughtful, and selfless act.

It is present in the care we show for one another, for other living creatures and for our planet.

It is present in our curiosity and in our creativity – and is the source of our inspiration.

Once this is understood, you will see our True Nature present every day.

The fact that this goes unnoticed or overlooked does not make this any less true.

You don’t have to go and sit in a cave in order to see this – you just need to see with different eyes.

And whilst ever there is True Nature present, in us, then there is also hope and of course there is always Love.