If the part is a representation of the whole, and each life form is, in a sense, a holon of God, then the orders of magnitude and classifications of life which we impose upon the lifeforce are, in essence, meaningless. One effect of this is that it doesn’t matter whether someone has squashed a jumping spider or committed crimes against humanity. The magnitude of the “crime” is the same.
Killing off of lifeforms is inevitable, like when we careen down the highway and mash corn moths in our car grills, or when we drown a bacterium in our spit while chewing leaf lettuce. This isn’t an excuse to go off and spray a crowd with bullets. Though the act may be meaningless in an ultimate sense, it still interferes with the narrative here in this world. Here, on this level of existence, actions have consequences.
When I walk out the front door in the morning, the stakes are either everything or they’re nothing. I have a feeling that nothing that I do here ultimately matters. That may be an affront to my ego, to my sense of importance, but it helps to remember not to take myself or anything else all that damned seriously.
You’ll note that I made an important qualification: actions here have consequences. I believe that everyone in this world is in a way a representation of myself. Some people may regard this solipsism as narcissistic, but I liken it to a dream. Everyone in a dream is just an aspect of myself. In any event, I’m connected to everyone in the world, and what I do them, in essence, I do to me. So what I do to others in my waking life is important. It’s an indication of my level of awareness, of my spiritual status.
Yet when I dream, it has no ultimate consequence. It may scare the shit of me while I’m dreaming, and I may do something pretty dastardly in my dreams, but when I wake, it’s gone. It has no consequence. I can’t be punished for it, though I may punish myself.
So I need to let up, and not take everything so seriously. I’m playing poker, but without any stakes. I’m not betting any of my money. I’m playing with house money, and when I look down at it at the end of the game, I realize that it’s just Monopoly money. The stakes? They’re nothing. What do I have to lose by going all in?
© 2024 by Michael C. Just